Underground soil and thermal conductivity materials based heat reduction for energy-efficient building in tropical environment

Abstract

In this paper, an alternative way of releasing heat of building is investigated in order to reduce energy demand of building built in tropical environment. Underground soil is considered as a source for extracting heat from building through thermal conductivity pipes. Thermal conductivity pipes are considered to be fixed on the inner faces of the walls and their lower part to be inserted to the ground where temperature is lower than the indoor temperature. The entire analyses were done numerically using ANSYS 11. Heat flow between two systems was studied and the performance of the thermal conductivity pipes was examined. The room temperature in the presence of thermal conductivity pipes as well as mechanical cooling system and other passive energy-efficient techniques of building were also studied. The underground soil was demonstrated to act as a heat sink and absorb heat released from the rooms and the thermal conductivity pipes would play a role in transferring heat from the rooms to the underground soil. The system works efficiently when it is used with other mechanical or passive cooling systems. In this way, energy saving measure could be possible to reduce building temperatures by around 3℃.