When the Malaysian government increased electricity tariff by up to 12% in early 2006 and also another increase in early July 2008, most commercial buildings were affected by the move. The hardest hit would be the hotel industry as they are among the economic forefronts of the nation. Already burdened with the rigorous efforts of filling their rooms with guests, they now have to re-strategize to sustain business. Energy bills to pay for cooling have always been the biggest burden. Cooling the air is an intangible and a neverending wasteful activity. Cold room for food is on for 24 hours for obvious reasons. To overcome this, one strategy was considered to be part and parcel of the overall building design so as to contribute to the reduction of the high dependency of energy consumption for cooling. The challenge here is to reduce electricity consumption without compromising the comfort of the guests and also reduce the overhead costs to give a more competitive edge in hotel room rates. Among other passive design elements this paper considers two natural ventilation occurrences and locations that can be relied upon for Malaysian hotel designs.
Natural Ventilation: A Passive Design Strategy in Designing Hotel Lobbies - Cases from Tropical Malaysia
Type
journal article
Year
2009
When the Malaysian government increased electricity tariff by up to 12% in early 2006 and also another increase in early July 2008, most commercial buildings were affected by the move. The hardest hit would be the hotel industry as they are among the economic forefronts of the nation. Already burdened with the rigorous efforts of filling their rooms with guests, they now have to re-strategize to sustain business. Energy bills to pay for cooling have always been the biggest burden. Cooling the air is an intangible and a neverending wasteful activity. Cold room for food is on for 24 hours for obvious reasons. To overcome this, one strategy was considered to be part and parcel of the overall building design so as to contribute to the reduction of the high dependency of energy consumption for cooling. The challenge here is to reduce electricity consumption without compromising the comfort of the guests and also reduce the overhead costs to give a more competitive edge in hotel room rates. Among other passive design elements this paper considers two natural ventilation occurrences and locations that can be relied upon for Malaysian hotel designs.
Citation
Abdul Rahman, Abdul Malik and Abdul Samad, Muna Hanim. "Natural Ventilation: A Passive Design Strategy in Designing Hotel Lobbies - Cases from Tropical Malaysia," in ArchNet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research, vol. 3, issue 2 (2009).
Parent Publications
Copyright
Abdul Malik Abdul Rahman and Muna Hanim Abdul Samad
Country
Malaysia
Language
English
Keywords