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ASPECT RATIO OF BUILDING FORM AS A TOOL FOR ENHANCING THERMAL COMFORT IN THE DESIGN OF A TELECOMMUNICATIONS OFFICE BUILDING (MAIDUGURI)

ABSRACT

Thermal comfort is recognized as  a key parameter for healthy and  productive large workspaces found in office buildings. Achieving occupants comfort is a priority that has a great effect on energy demand in buildings, particularly in hot climate zones. The study aims at investigating a suitable aspect ratio of building form that will reduce the costly effects of providing thermal comfort to occupants in buildings in a hot-dry climate of Nigeria.

A  case  study approach  was  adopted  to  study  the  geometric  properties  of  existing similar office buildings which were chosen purposively and a     quantitative research method was used for the collection of data through computer simulation. Firstly, the study examined the thermal performance of different building forms with the same floor area against their volume to surface ratio (V/S). Forms with good thermal performance were optimized with different aspect ratios elongated along east-west orientation. ECOTECT program was used to study the energy performance of the forms on exposed surfaces.

From the deduction of the study,  the west and south surfaces are the most exposed (in terms of heat gain and incident light), both the cube and cylinder forms were optimized with various aspect ratios and simulations were conducted to observe the extent to which solar radiation could be reduced on exposed west surfaces during hot periods and maximized on south surfaces during cold periods.

The study showed that  a slight change in the  volume to surface ratio could have a significant  impact  in  a  building’s energy  performance,  and  also  significant  thermal

environment can be attained during both hot and cold periods when optimized with an    optimum aspect ratio of (1:1.7) as compared to aspect ratio (1:1). 33% and 28% energy are further saved on south and west surfaces respectively when aspect ratio “1:1.7” (ideal ratio) is compared with aspect ratio “1:1”. Also, it was noted that the incident solar radiation decreases from aspect ratio 1:1.7 indicating 71% exposure, 1:1 and 1:2 indicating 72% exposure, 1:2.5 indicating 73% exposure, 1: 4 indicating 77% exposure and 1:3 indicating 78% exposure. Therefore, it could be said that an ideal aspect ratio of 1:1.7 existed for the wide range of ratios from 1:1-1:4.  In conclusion, the thermal comfort  of  the  proposed  building  could  be  optimized  by  applying  the  aspect  ratio  “1:1.17”  of cylindrical/cuboidal form to reduce the effect of west and south solar radiation. It is recommended that prospective designers should go beyond only orienting buildings on east-west axis, rather, effort to experimentally explore different aspect ratios should be considered for befitting  alternative.

VII

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title page………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… i

Declaration……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….ii

Certification… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….iii

Dedication ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….iv Acknowledgements…….….. ………………………………………………………………………………………v

Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..vii Table of Contents ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..ix

List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………………………………………xv

List of Tables…………………………………………………………………………………………………………xviii

List of Plates……………………………………………………………………………………………………….…xix

List of Appendices……………………………………………………………………………………………………xx

Abbreviations, Definitions, Glossary and Symbols………………………………………………. xxi

1.0 INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………………………. 1

1.1 Background to study…………………………………………………………………………1           

1.2 Problem Statement……………………………………………………………………………………………… … 4

     1.3  AIM AND OBJECTIVES …………………………………………………………………………………..          …4

1.4  Research Questions……………………………………………………………………………………..………5…         

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1.5   Scope……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….5

1.6   Justification………………………………………………………………………………………………………6   2.0  LITERATURE  REVIEW ………………………………………………………………………………..7

2.1  THERMAL COMFORT CONDITIONS……………………………………………………………………………7

2.1.1  Comfort zones of hot-dry regions………………………………………………………………………8

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2.2   Energy Conservation in Telecommunication Office Building……………………………..9

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2.3  PERFORMANCE OF BUILDING FORMS IN ENHANCING THERMAL COMFORT ………………………10

2.3.1  Thermal performance of a  Building’s Volume to Surface Area Ratio (V/S)………….10

2.3.2  Relationship of  Aspect Ratio (Width to length ratio) and  Solar Radiation…………11

2.3.3 Thermal Response of Building Envelope…………………………………………………………….11

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2.3.4  Relationship of  Relative Compactness to the Cardinal Points ………………………………18

2.3.5  Effect of  Self – Shading of Building Forms ……………………………………………………….22

2.4   Summary of Findings from Literature Review………………………………………………….24

3.0  METHODOLOGY …………………………………………………………………………………………..27

3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN/APPROACH………………………………………………………………………………..27

3.1.1 Experimental/Case study Design………………………………………………………………………..27

3.2  INSTRUMENTS OF DATA COLLECTION…………………………………………………………………………28

3.2.1  ECOTECT (ECOTECT Version 11)………………………………………………………………….28

3.3   Criteria for Selecting Simulated Building Forms …………………………………………………..29

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3.4   Dependent and Independent Variables…………………………………………………………………30

3.5   Procedure for Data Collection (Parametric Analysis)……………………………………………..31

3.6   Simulation inputs and assumptions ……………………………………………………………………..32

3.6.1  Analysis of Internal Heat Gain …………………………………………………………………………..32

    3.7  Characteristics of Tropical Hot-dry Climate………………………………………………………33

    3.8  Method of Data Analysis …………………………………………………………………………………..33

4.0  DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION………………………………………………………34

4.1   CASE STUDY ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..34

4.1.1  Case Study I : National Communication Commission (NCC). ……………………………….34

4.1.2   Case Study II: NITEL Headquarters, Abuja………………………………………………………..37

4.1.3  Simulation Input Information …………………………………………………………………………….39

4.2 Thermal comfort conditions and comfort zone parameters for the simulation…….40

4.3  Analysis of Energy Consumption of the Building Forms ……………………………………42

4.4  Analysis of incident solar insolation on varying surfaces of cube and cylindrical 

       FORMS WITH VARYING ASPECT RATIOS ………………………………………………………………………44

4.5  Total Incident Solar Insolation on the Combined Exposed  Surfaces for Overall

        Orientations…………………………………………………………………………………………………….49

4.6  DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS ……………………………………………………………………………53

5.0   DESIGN PRELIMINARIES ……………………………………………………………………………56

 5.1  GENERAL CLIMATE CHARACTERISTICS ……………………………………………………………………..56

5.1.1 Temperature ……………………………………………………………………………………………………57

5.1.2  Relative humidity ……………………………………………………………………………………………58

5.1.3  Sunshine ………………………………………………………………………………………………………..59

5.1.4 Rainfall ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….59

5.2   SITE SELECTION CRITERIA ………………………………………………………………………………………60

5.2.1  The proposed site ……………………………………………………………………………………………65

5.3  Site Analysis ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..66

5.3.1 Topography …………………………………………………………………………………………………….66

5.3.2  Vegetation ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..67

5.3.3 Services / Infrastructure ……………………………………………………………………………………67

5.3.4  Climate ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….67

5.4  SUMMARY OF SITE AND SURROUNDING ANALYSIS ……………………………………………………..68

5.5  Design Inferences from the Site Analysis ………………………………………………………….68

6.0   DESIGN REPORT …………………………………………………………………………………………69

6.1  Design brief …………………………………………………………………………………………………….69

6.2  Functional flow chart ……………………………………………………………………………………….70

6.3   SPACES OF THE TECHNICAL STAFF AREA……………………………………………………………………..71

6.3.1  Network operations room:………………………………………………………………………………..71

6.3.2  Call centre department: ……………………………………………………………………………………71

6.3.3 Contact centre department:…………………………………………………………………………………72

6.3.4  Communications centre department:…………………………………………………………………..72

6.3.5  Information security operation  department: ………………………………………………………..72

6.3.6   Geographical Information System (GIS) room: …………………………………………………..73

6.3.7   Interactive Voice response (IVR) room: …………………………………………………………….73

6.3.8  Transmissions room …………………………………………………………………………………………73

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6.4   Bulk schedule and space grouping …………………………………………………………………..73

6.5  Schedule of Accommodation……………………………………………………………………………..77

6.6   Design Philosophy ……………………………………………………………………………………………81

6.7   MAIN BUILDINGS IN THE CENTRE……………………………………………………………………………83

6.7.1 The telecommunication office………… …………………………………………………………………83

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6.7.2 The vocational/technical training unit/restaurant …………………………………………………83

7.0   CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION……………………………………………84

7.1   Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………………………………….84

7.2   Recommendation …………………………………………………………………………………………..85

7.3    Contribution to Knowledge …………………………………………………………………………..86   REFERENCES …………………………………………………………………………………………………….87

1.0 INTRODUCTION

                                         1.1 BACKGROUND TO STUDY

Telecommunication office buildings are essential to the economy; however, they are also significant consumers of energy required to maintain thermal comfort. (Creamer Media Reporter, 2015). Thermal comfort is recognized as a key parameter for healthy and productive workplaces, some of  which are  found in telecommunications building. At the same time, lowering energy use in commercial building is vital if a significant reduction in greenhouse  gas  emissions  is  to  be  achieved.  Traditionally  thermal  comfort  has  been achieved at the expense of significant energy use for heating and/or cooling (Ismail, Jusoh & Makhtar, 2010). In a major study, Taylor, Fuller & Luther (2008) found that a well- designed building should be able to provide good thermal comfort, while simultaneously having low energy consumption.

The thermal conditions of an office environment are very important with respect to the productivity and success of that office. The excessive cost of energy used to attain occupants‟ comfort could lead to decrease in profits productivity, and if this effect is lasting for a longer period, it could be detrimental to offices‟ productivity. (Ismail etal.,

2010).

Studies have shown that employee satisfaction with the thermal comfort of their workplace plays  a  significant  role  in  both  employee  retention  and  productivity.  One study even revealed that employees consider workplace comfort second only to compensation in terms of  benefits  (American  Society of  Interior  Designers).  Since  telecommunication  office workplaces and cooling need expand, it is as a result of the use of servers and other telecommunication equipment that has spread widely in our society, and their importance as  a  social  infrastructure  has  been  increasing.  However,  the  operation  of  telecom equipment generates a large amount of heat and requires year-round air conditioning, so there is a strong demand for reduced power consumption of air conditioning systems. (Yosuke, 2014).

Also, in order to stress the widespread of telecommunication sector that brought about office workspaces and cooling need demand, Olusoji (2000) stated how the Nigerian Telecommunication limited (NITEL) was created from a merger of the Nigerian External

Telecommunication and the Telecommunication Departments of the defunct Post and Telecommunication in 1985. Olusoji (2000) further asserted that the main objective of establishing NITEL  was  to  harmonies  the  planning  and  co-ordination  of  internal  and external telecommunication development and provide accessible efficient and affordable services.

However, almost 20 years or more down the line the Nigeria Telecommunication Limited had roughly half a million (500,000) lines available to over 100 million Nigerians (Nigeria Business Information, 2005).  From a bit above 500,000 NITEL fixed wire line and mobile subscriber in 2001, the industry grew to over 7 million subscribers in 2004; in December 2008, the subscribers in the market grew to 62.99 million, an addition of 22.59 million subscribers in 2008 alone represented 56% annual growth rate. Recent figure as at January 2009 put the subscribers‟ base at 64.16% while G.S.M subscribers are in the range of 57 million, CDMA subscription in Nigeria grew from just 380,000 in 2007 to more than 6 million at the end of 2008. (Nigeria Business Information, 2005).

From the above statistics, it is evident that growth in the telecommunication industry in Nigeria is increasing which in turn requires increase in the number of office facilities as thesame, while putting into cognizance an energy conservation approach in their design as a result of energy they require on air-conditioning.

As a consequence of this, building form was adopted as one of the important design parameters  that  affect  the  cooling  energy  required  to  attain  occupants‟ comfort  in  a buildings, according to (Erdim & Manioglu, 2011)   . Also, Study by   (Chia, Mohd, & Dilshan, 2007)  in tropical hot-humid region in Malaysia shows that different geometrical forms have the ability to react to thermal comfort differently, due to differences in their geometrical characteristics. Studies by Philip & Alan, (2014) reported that aspect ratio could affect incident solar radiation on the form. Ratti, Raydan, Steemers  (2003) asserted that in order to achieve good thermal comfort, it is noted that during hotter periods, the sun has a high solar angle thus there is need for maximum shading and minimum exposure while during colder periods the sun has a lower solar angle indicating no need for cooling. Ratti,  et.al  (2003)  further  postulated  that  a  building  form  can  possess  good  thermal properties if it has a low exposed area on maximum incident solar radiation in hotter periods and high exposed area on minimum incident solar radiation in colder periods. This study aimed at examining different aspect ratios of building forms in hot dry region and attempts to suitably enhance thermal comfort, within a large office workspace with minimum amount of energy by reducing heat gain into the building during hotter periods and  increasing heat  gain  into  the  building during colder  periods.  Although    previous researches have determine the effect of different building forms on energy consumptions in different climatic region, but there are limited study that have investigated the role of

aspect ratio of building forms on energy required for thermal comfort specifically  in  hot- dry climate of Nigeria.

Therefore, primary design parameters of building should be developed as providing the climatic comfort conditions and minimum energy consumption during the construction and use of the building. Building form is one of the important design parameters affecting the heating and cooling energy consumption in the building.

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                                      1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT

Thermal comfort within the modern office (especially those with large workspaces such as telecommunications office buildings) is determined by air conditioning both centrally for the whole building, and locally at room level by the occupants. Air conditioning systems are typically optimized during extreme summer period in hot dry regions. These air conditioning systems require huge amount of energy to attain occupants comfort . This results in unnecessary energy consumption.

It is in line with this that it is significant to provide an optimum  architectural approach in the design of   buildings with large workspaces that will reduce such effect by exploring different building forms, from which the essential one will be applied  in reducing cost on cooling for telecom buildings  in  hot-dry climates of Nigeria.

                                           1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES

The aim of this research is to investigate the aspect ratio of suitable building form that  will  reduce  the  cooling  demand  required  for  occupants  thermal  comfort    in  a

telecommunications office building in a hot-dry region.

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The research intends to achieve the aim above through the following objectives;

To study the thermal comfort conditions and comfort zones in hot-dry regions.

To study the effect of various building forms toward enhancing thermal comfort.

To optimize the studied building forms with different aspect ratios using solar exposure with a computer simulation. iv. To demonstrate the research findings in the design of a telecommunications office building in Maiduguri, Nigeria.

                                 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

This research seeks to answer the following questions:

Which building  form  reduces  energy demand  on  thermal  comfort  for  a  large workspace office building.

In what   ways   can   the  research   findings   be  applied   in   the   design   of  a telecommunication office building?

                                   1.5  SCOPE

This research is focused on the architectural aspect of telecommunication office building design in hot-dry region, Maiduguri. However, this study will only check and compare different  building forms  and    the  extent  to  which  energy demand  to  attain  minimum comfort level could be reduced  in such way. And not on the technology aspect which has to do with the energy required to run telecommunication equipment.

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                                 1.6    JUSTIFICATION

According to a report from the International Center for Investigative reporting (ICIR),

(2015) which stated that Switzerland has promised to partner with countries affected by Boko Haram insurgency in reconstructing ravaged areas and displaced persons. Among the facilities to be reconstructed as noted by the government are telecommunication facilities which have been completely destroyed and require reconstruction and replacements in Maiduguri.

To further justify the reason why telecom building must be undertaken in this research, another report  by the  African      Business  Central  (ABC),  (2014),  noted  that  Nigerian government makes progress in latest attempt to privatize incumbent Telco and its mobile unit Mtel. Investment vehicle National Telecommunications Commission (NATCOM) has emerged as the successful bidder for Nigerian incumbent Ntel and its mobile unit Mtel.

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