Abstract
Envelope designs of eighty-three commercial buildings completed in January and June during an 11-year period (1982-1992) in Hong Kong have been surveyed. Four different building envelope types have been identified: reinforced concrete (RC) with tile cladding, precast concrete panel, curtain walls, and overclad ding. RC with tile cladding is adopted for less expensive small development. Most large scale building projects tend to use curtain walls and overcladding. Precast con crete panel is not very common and is used only when a strongly moulded facade is desired. To get some idea about energy efficiency in terms of limiting heat gain through the building envelope, the overall thermal transfer value (OTTV) has been analyzed, and implications for energy consumption are discussed.
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