REDUCTION OF COOLING LOADS IN MULTI-STOREY GLAZEDOFFICEBUILDINGS IN GHANA: GHGBC VERSUS ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNPARAMETERS

Abstract

Within the tropics, cooling is inevitable during certain times of the year. This is as a result of the intense solar radiation that hits the interiors of our spaces mostly due to unsustainable design practices. Anumber of researchers are of the view that the tropical regions are the hardest to ameliorate through design due totheharsh weather conditions. With this situation, occupants are likely to use air conditioners in achievingcomfortable indoor environment in tropical climate. This observation will definitely affect the cooling loads for the building. The current paper describes an investigation into cooling load reductions where the Ghana GreenBuilding Council (GHGBC) parameters (such as orientation, geometry, fabric, building formetc.) werecompared with architectural design parameters such as night ventilation, thermal mass, efficient lightingandfacade insulation among others. A glass box (totally glazed building) called the XGL building in Accra was used as the case study with parametric simulation (using the Tas tool) as the methodology. The results indicated that the base case cooling loads for the XGL building was 300.04kWh.m2.a1. This was the total cooling loads for the building in its existing capacity. Whiles the GHGBC parameters led to a reduction of theabove value to 293.78 kWh.m2.a1 representing 2%, the architectural design parameters significantly reducedthe base case cooling loads by 38%, thus 186.04 kWh.m2.a1. It is recommended that sustainable designprinciples should be practised. Again, more experiment should be conducted for empirical evidence rather thanusing parameters from other countries