Analysis of Night Ventilation Potential for Residential Buildings in Hot-Humid Climate of Malaysia

ABSTRACT: This paper discusses the potential of applying night ventilation as a passive cooling technique for Malaysian terraced houses based on the results of a full-scale field experiment. The results revealed that night ventilation provides better diurnal and nocturnal air temperature reductions than daytime ventilation, full-day ventilation and no ventilation. Night ventilation improves thermal comfort more than the other ventilation conditions based on operative temperature. However, further measure to lower indoor humidity such as by dehumidification or to increase indoor air velocity such as by fan may be required to improve the thermal condition in the night ventilated room in terms of SET*, especially in the daytime. Ceiling insulation may increase the cooling potential of night ventilation in Malaysian terraced houses