CEU eTD Collection (2013); Sum, Christine Hein-Yan: Left in the dark: Prevalence of passive solar design in new urban developments in sub-tropical climates

CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2013
Author Sum, Christine Hein-Yan
Title Left in the dark: Prevalence of passive solar design in new urban developments in sub-tropical climates
Summary Energy energy demand for heating and cooling to maintain thermal comfort comprises approximately 40% of total energy use in a typical home. Since energy in our homes is largelhy fossil-derived, it is an area of policy focus due to its contribution to global climate change. This study investigates the prevalence of passive design as a strategy to reduce such thermal energy requirements of housing in Australia, in light of energy efficiency standards introduced into the building code. Development plans were examined, and it is concluded that orientation for optimum solar gain, is not a predominant passive design strategy in new residential housing, although it can potentially reduce thermal requirements by up to 28%, depending on building fabric. Interestingly, orientation may have less impact on thermal requirements with under projected climate change scenarios. These results have implications for decision making in the building energy efficiency field.
Supervisor Ürge-Vorsatz, Diana
Department Environment Sciences and Policy MSc
Full texthttps://www.etd.ceu.edu/2013/sum_christine.pdf

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