RESEARCH TITLE

Perforated façade Panel Effect Analysis on Natural Ventilation via Building Information
Modelling (BIM) Simulation.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Nowadays, the demand for perforated façade panel as building components is becoming more
popular. Based on the physical of the perforated panel, they are hypothetically associated with
good natural ventilation and lighting impact. Allowing the air movement and lighting to pass
through the holes on the perforated panel may cause a good natural impact for thermal comfort.
This technique is called passive cooling and lighting. In addition, the perforated wall may also
provide attractive aesthetic value due to its flexibility in design that may act as a building
envelope.

However, the real impact of perforated panels to be linked scientifically to natural ventilation
quality is still uncertain. There is still a lack of data on how the opening percentage may
influence the pattern of air movement quality. Therefore, this research is proposed to study the
perforated panel design effect towards natural ventilation using Building Information
Modelling digital simulation.

RESEARCH BACKGROUND
(a) Research background including Hypothesis / Research
Question and Literature Reviews

Figure 1: Perforated Wall by Arrow Dragon Metal Work, Shenzen, China

A perforated façade panel as shown in Figure 1, is a plate that comes with holes and openings
arranged to create the desired hole pattern. A perforated façade panel has two advantages,
where it may bring an aesthetic value advantage to the building and may cause good airflow
into the indoor building spaces (Wahab et al., 2019). The history of perforated panels has
started over the past 150 years in the coal mining industry, where coal miners have used
perforated metal to separate the coal according to the desired size.

The use of perforated panels is becoming more widespread in the modern era, where its use
has diversified according to the sector's needs. In architectural design, the use of perforated
panels is becoming more widespread and growing due to several factors that support this
development, such as the aesthetics value of the perforated panel, functions that meet the design
requirements, optimising natural energy and manufacturing technology that can provide
variations of design according to the tastes and wishes of the designer. It could not deny that
the perforated façade panel has contributed to the new style of architecture and human lifestyle.
As we can see, nowadays, many architecture schools have stressed out the thoughts of the
importance of a sustainable design approach in a building whereby a perforated façade panel
is one of the sustainable elements. The perforated façade panels in the building visualised from
a single house, industrial building, and government buildings.

The popularity of perforated façade panels has become phenomenal lately, and the demand is
not just limited to individual houses or industrial buildings, but it is also widely used in a
religious building like mosque. The Daeng Abdul Rahman mosque in Johor Bahru uses a
perforated façade panel for the entire main wall. It simultaneously acts as a shading device to
filter direct sunlight, and the perforated allows airflow into the building. The effectiveness of
the perforated façade panel had proven physically where the mosque is naturally ventilated,
especially at the main prayer hall. The consistent perforated pattern allows the natural air
entering the mosque to reduce the heat of the prayer hall.

Airflow in the perforated panel is much dependent on natural forces: wind from the surrounding
environment, as well as buoyancy which develops due to temperature gradient inside the
building (Krarti, 2018) Natural Forces (e.g. wind and thermal buoyancy due to difference in
air density indoors and outdoors), move outside air trough custom-built building envelope
openings. Another factor that influences the effectiveness of the airflow velocity is the size of
the perforated. A Lab test conducted shows that a big diameter perforated plate created a lower
pressure drop relatively compering with the small one (Tahsin Basaran & Tugba Inan, 2016).

Building with a good appearance is a crucial concern and generally adjudged a subjective
feature. For a private building like a bungalow, the aesthetic and functional preference directly
judged by the client and primarily judge by their visual perceptions, which always vary
according to the socio-economic factors (Jennath & Nidhish, 2015). Apart from façade panel
treatment, the beauty of the building can also obtain by applying the shape and form. The
production of a unique shape and form will produce good visual quality and the aesthetical
impact to the building that can achieve the purpose of the building design.

The government of Malaysia has urged all the professional and industry players involved in
building construction to uphold the new development policy to realise a zero-carbon city
followed by introducing the Green Building Index (GBI) as part of the objective. The
government's desire to see this success depends on the role of professionals to apply and
practice the construction methods that are in line with the development policy. All
professionals also need to convince and promote the importance of zero-carbon campaigns to
the clients and the benefits of applying the zero-carbon concept in their development. A Green
building spotlights on expanding the productivity of asset utilization such as energy, water, and
materials while lessening building effect on human wellbeing (Saleh M. Algburi1 & A. A.
Faiezal, 2006)
The World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED,1987) entitled Our
Common Future has raised the sustainability idea in the agenda of socio-economic and
environmental dimensions of development to new heights (Hezri & Hasan, 2004). According
to Redclift (1987), sustainable development addresses three major areas as people living today
are entitled to justice and equal rights, environmental degeneration must be alleviated or
eliminated and future generations must not be impoverished as a result of current actions. The
report suggests that sustainable development is “development which meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”
(Suhaida Mohd Sood et al.,2011). Government and policy makers must make themselves ready
to manage and mould the development towards creating positive benefits for all.

A building design adopted with sustainable characteristics should solve optimal energy
consumption if the design applies the energy-efficient design features. By applying perforated
façade panels, optimising energy use can be achieved where the perforated facade panel is often
used as an outer skin to reduce energy consumption as solve issues as visual appearance (Doris
A. Chi et al.,2017).

Therefore, it is necessary to conduct a study on how perforated size affects natural ventilation
performance and enhances thermal comfort in a particular space.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

The problems statement of this research are:

1. What is the types of perforated walls widely used in the construction industry?
2. How does the perforated wall attached and applied in building design?
3. How does the perforated wall have an impact on the air movement in the spaces attached?

SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH

The scope of this research are: Standard design house

digital modelling being used to test the variety of perforated walls
application. Autodesk Revit Building Information Modelling will be used for the
simulation study.

OBJECTIVE OF RESEARCH

The objectives of the research are:

1. To identify the type of perforated walls widely used in industry.
2. To identify a typology of building applying perforated walls on its design
3. To develop an ideal design of a building with perforated walls via digital modelling to be
tested.
4. To determine the air movement quality impact on spaces with perforated walls.
5. To determine the type of perforated openings linked to the quality of thermal comfort.
METHODOLOGY

Figure 2: Sample of perforated panels and detailing

The research methodology for this study is divided into literature studies, case studies and
analytical studies. The research employs case studies, and the data collection methods will
involve design development using Building Information Modelling (Autodesk Revit and
Dynamo). The modelling will then have simulated using the natural condition of the local
environment and climate.

The research shall obtain information about the perforated walls, the type, material and design
widely used in local buildings based on categories. Site visits and inventory will be conducted
to approximately 10 buildings with perforated walls.

Figure 3: Sample of perforated panel simulation via Revit

The building users will be interviewed to obtain information related to the impact of the walls
on thermal comfort while documenting the physical design of the walls via photographs. Data
gathered from the site visits will then be used in developing designs of perforated walls to be
tested. A set of drawings with coding will be produced for typological findings, and a statistical
graph and percentage will be generated to conclude the pattern of natural ventilation caused by
the perforated walls.
EXPECTED RESULT

The research expectation is as follows:

a. Perforated walls may bring a significant impact on air movement
b. A particular size and pattern of perforated panels may significantly affect the air
movement pattern for the space attached.

REFERENCES

1. Mironovs, V., Tatarinov, A., & Gorbacova, S. (2017, October). Expanding application
of perforated metal materials in construction and architecture. In IOP Conference
Series: Materials Science and Engineering (Vol. 251, No. 1, p. 012027). IOP
Publishing.

2. Jennath, K. A., & Nidhish, P. J. (2016). Aesthetic judgement and visual impact of
architectural forms: a study of library buildings. Procedia Technology, 24, 1808-1818.

3. İnan, T., Başaran, T., & Ezan, M. A. (2016). Experimental and numerical investigation
of natural convection in a double skin facade. Applied Thermal Engineering, 106, 1225-
1235.

4. Abd Wahab, I., Abd Aziz, H., & Abd Salam, N. N. (2019). Building design effect on
indoor natural ventilation of tropical houses. International Journal of Sustainable
Construction Engineering and Technology, 10(1).

5. Krarti, M. (2008). Energy efficient systems and strategies for heating, ventilating, and
air conditioning (HVAC) of buildings. Journal of Green Building, 3(1), 44-55.

6. İnan, T., Başaran, T., & Ezan, M. A. (2016). Experimental and numerical investigation
of natural convection in a double skin facade. Applied Thermal Engineering, 106, 1225-
1235.

7. Chi, D. A., Moreno, D., & Navarro, J. (2017). Design optimisation of perforated solar
façades in order to balance daylighting with thermal performance. Building and
Environment, 125, 383-400.

8. Rahardjati, Retno, M. Faris Khamidi, and Arazi Idrus. "The level of importance of
criteria and sub criteria in green building index malaysia." (2010).

9. Sood, Suhaida Mohd, K. H. Chua, and Leong Yow Peng. "Sustainable development in
the building sector: green building framework in Malaysia." ST-8: Best Practices & SD
in Construction (2011): 1-8.

10. Algburi, Saleh M., A. A. Faieza, and B. T. H. T. Baharudin. "Review of green building
index in Malaysia; existing work and challenges." International Journal of Applied
Engineering Research 11, no. 5 (2016): 3160-3167.
PROPOSED BUDGET

GRANT VALUE: RM 20,000.00

No Item Cost (RM)

1 Pekerja Kajian Lapangan 1 Rm 600.00 X 6 Months Rm 3600.00
2 Pekerja Kajian Lapangan 2 Rm 600.00 X 6 Months Rm 3600.00
3 Revit Specialist Rm 7000.00 Rm 7000.00
4 Presentation / Conference Rm 3800.00 Rm 3800.00
5 Travelling Rm 2000.00 Rm 2000.00
TOTAL RM 20,000.00