Zero carbon building assessment for UM Chancellery Building and other UM office buildings

The purpose of this study is to evaluate University of Malaya (UM) Chancellery building in terms of energy usage and indoor environmental quality (IEQ). A triangulation research method was used to achieve this objective. The data was collected using physical measurements of thermal comfort and electricity consumption in the building. In addition, a questionnaire survey licensed by the Building Use Studies (BUS) was distributed to all staff in the building to obtain their perception of the building conditions including comfort, productivity, and health. The last method included a validation of the results using the Integrated Environmental Solutions-Virtual Environment (IES-VE) simulation. The results of a typical floor of the building indicated variability of indoor air temperatures and high levels of relative humidity (between 55% to 85%). Besides, the results of the BUS survey identified the critical conditions that need attention including temperature range (colder), temperature stability (unstable), artificial light (too much), air humidity (humid), air freshness (stuffy), glare from lights (too much), and glare from sun and sky (too much). These conditions have an influence on staff health and productivity as shown by further analysis of the data. Based on these findings, it is recommended to change the operation time of the a/c, increase temperature, enhance ventilation and restrict humid air in AHUs to reduce humidity, install internal sun-shading screen with light shelves to bring more daylight, and coat the internal side of curtain wall glazing with low U-value material to reduce infrared and internal cooling load. The recommendations, although are restricted by the building conditions, can contribute to energy reduction and achieving better internal comfort for occupants in the Chancellery building.