The Potential of Hybrid Cooling Strategies in Office Buildings to Enhance Thermal Comfort and Energy Efficiency in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The extremely high temperature in Saudi Arabia has resulted in significant energy consumption to satisfy indoor thermal comfort. The country is experiencing rapid development and growth in the construction sector with growing demands for office buildings, especially in major cities such as Jeddah. The current design and building trend of office buildings is dominated by highly glazed façade. Considering the harsh climate, there is no doubt that this type of building design has a high risk of overheating, leading to a further increase in energy consumption. A hybrid ventilation mode allows the building to switch from a mechanical system to natural ventilation, with which thermal comfort can be achieved. This study explores hybrid ventilation strategies and their potential to improve indoor thermal comfort with the aim of reducing buildings’ reliance on air conditioning. To carry out this dissertation, a case study approach is used to explore suitable measures via computer simulation tools. The proposed hybrid cooling approach will be compared against the conventional fully mechanical mode. According to the findings, 40% glazing with louvres and the double-glazed low-e window type with hybrid mode performed best, achieving about 28% energy savings compared with the building trend involving 100% glazing and a fully mechanical system.