Harnessing the Tropical Sun’s Energy for Efficient Buildings

Figure 1: The Sandcrawler Building housing LucasFilms’ Singapore headquarters incorporating green facade that
minimises thermal absorption and provides shading

Letting the sunlight into buildings to illuminate their interiors naturally, but blocking the solar
heat gain and thereby reduce the building energy consumption. That is the aim of many
designers and engineers working on greening buildings in the tropics.

That’s where the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) comes in. As the
national institute on the development of solar energy technologies for a sustainable energy
supply, you would expect SERIS to look for the best ways to capitalise on what the sun
offers. However, they are also devoting a lot of attention on how buildings can maximise the
light and minimise the heat impact on buildings.

How can buildings be more energy efficient? How can air conditioning systems – which
account for about 70% of all energy used in buildings in Singapore – maintain a comfortable
temperature inside offices and homes while benefitting from the solar light and heat?

SERIS doesn’t yet have all the answers, but they are working on everything from the best
materials to use in building facades, to positioning of windows and shading for buildings, as
well as how the right sort of air conditioning can actually utilise some of the sun’s heat to run
more efficiently.

In a seminar at National University of Singapore (NUS) at the beginning of the year, SERIS’s
Director of Solar Energy Systems Thomas Reindl made it very clear that buildings – which
consume more than 40% of the energy worldwide – can be much better designed and built
to capitalise on the solar energy available and reduce the amount of heat absorbed without
losing the light we can use.
“Energy Efficient Facades and Fenestrations in the Tropics” was the title of the seminar.
While most in the audience could understand what facades were all about, the word
“fenestrations” was a challenge. Simply put, it refers to “the design and placement of
windows in a building”.

SERIS makes it very clear that substantial savings are possible – in energy and money -
through utilising high performance building envelopes and building services, particularly in
the tropics. As you would expect, on-site energy generation through renewable energies can
further reduce the dependency on fossil fuels as well as produce added efficiencies.

There are three areas which SERIS focuses in its Research and Development (R&D) on
relating to energy efficiency and these were covered at the seminar:

1. Facade Technologies

As facades account for almost 50% of the thermal loads in buildings in the tropics, it is
advisable to incorporate optical and thermal properties inherent in materials used in
construction and in positioning buildings for sun and shade. This is particularly applicable for
windows and fully glazed curtain wall systems given the trend for fully glazed buildings.

Creating a model of a building and putting it through solar tests is an ideal way to measure
the effects of the sun. Based on the sun’s path, the effects of lighting and thermal absorption
of the building can also be studied, along with optimising the natural light to reduce use of
electrical lighting at times.

The Sandcrawler Building, housing the LucasFilms’ Singapore headquarters seen in Fig. 1 is
an example of a building designed with the sun in mind. A two-layered exterior allows
daylight penetration without soaking up solar heat gain, while draping plants provide shade.

A study done on a new building under construction on Market Street in Singapore by global
engineering firm Arup demonstrated the value of incorporating a double skin façade, with
greenery between skins in parts. This is to reduce the building’s thermal absorption, while
overhangs provide shading.

It also designed a “cool void”, an induction funnel through middle length of building to draw
cool air from top of building, thereby reducing cooling load, as well as “sunpipes”, to increase
natural lighting into the building.

2. Building integrated Photovoltaics and Energy Simulation

Integrating solar Photovoltaics (PVs) into buildings can reduce the electricity consumption
significantly. Photovoltaic modules can be installed on roofs or over the façade of the
building. Newly developed semi-transparent modules can even replace architectural
elements made of glass, such as windows and skylights. Meanwhile, the cost of installing
and maintaining solar panels in Singapore is now on par with that of using conventional
electricity.
SERIS research shows that with analytical performance monitoring, utilising performance
ratio, measuring yields and energy losses on site, annual electricity savings can be
accurately monitored and daily energy demand and supply matched.

By utilising the now-available see-through solar cell modules which are designed to act as
architectural glass - used in walls and roofs - a building can optimise both the optical/light
values, as well as thermal properties of solar. The Palmenhouse in Munich, as shown in Fig.
2, has incorporated this feature into its architectural design successfully.

3. Solar Assisted Air-Conditioning

SERIS work also focuses on the dehumidification of air in buildings, which is particularly
useful in a tropical, human climate like Singapore. It is possible to power dehumidification
systems via solar - or waste heat – to reduce the electricity demand for air-conditioning
systems significantly.

So whether it is by the way buildings are designed and aligned to natural sunlight – thereby
reducing the amount of electricity needed for inside lighting – or from the choice of building
materials and their responses to solar heat, there is much to be gained by taking into
account the power of the sun.

Solar energy can be a cheaper source of power for a building. Solar cells can also be
incorporated into the buildings structure, in the walls, glass and roof, to generate energy
without taking away the natural lighting.

The sun can provide not only a source of energy but improve energy efficiency as well.

Figure 2: The Palmenhouse in Munich, Germany, incorporates see-through photovoltaic modules in place of glass

For further information, go to www.seris.nus.edu.sg

The article is contributed by Ken Hickson, Chairman and CEO of Sustain Ability Showcase
(SASA) and editor of abc carbon express, who attended the seminar Energy Efficient
Facades and Fenestrations in the Tropics on 7 January 2013.