Active Design Features in Hot-Humid Countries: Summary of a Survey

Although passive design strategies considerably reduce building energy consumption and CO2 emission, they cannot be used alone, as they rely on the sun and wind, which may not always maintain comfortable ambient temperature during different times of the day, season and year. Various active design features are therefore used to complement the situation. This requires practicing suitable active features that match the underlying climate of different regions/countries. As such, the aim of this study was to identify the practice of various active design features for buildings in hot-humid countries like Brunei. A quantitative questionnaire survey of 122 responses from construction industry participants was used. It was observed that seven of the commonly known eight active features are seen to be consistently practiced in Brunei, with the priority of electric lighting system, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, and electric fans. Although practicing these features are not sustainable, such priority might have the roots in relatively much lower energy price. Moreover, some more sustainable active features are practiced less frequently or of low priority, like solar panels, cool roof technology, and heat pump technology. These may be more preferred in some other countries, with high energy price. Respondents are not sure about the application of only one active feature: operable louvers or blinds, probably due to lack of information and knowledge. Similar priority was observed in different groups based on affiliation and profession. The only disagreements observed on the level of importance of two active features by the groups based on affiliation, although the features were seen consistently important in all the groups. The overall results were interpreted as a lack of awareness and information on the sustainability aspect of using energy, as respondents preferred less-sustainable active features due to low energy price. Policy makers are expected to use the outcomes in devising suitable programs and regulation, towards practicing more sustainable design features of buildings in hot-humid countries.