CFD Analysis of Thermal Comfort Condition Inside Malaysian Traditional House

It is crucial to ensure safe, healthy and comfortable indoor air conditions in buildings. Indoor thermal comfort is an essential aspect of sustainable architecture and is also the key to maintaining a safe indoor environment. The use of natural ventilation has been increasingly recognised as an energy-efficient method to establish thermal comfort. This study is to analyse the thermal comfort condition inside the traditional house using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software, ANSYS FLUENT and to compare the results with the thermal comfort recommended by ASHRAE standards. Previous studies of thermal comfort in hot and humid climate countries like Malaysia. The developed CFD model was validated by comparing experimental and simulated data. The experimental data are compared with the simulation results, which are in good agreement. From the results obtained, the confidence level is up to 99%. A series of simulations are also conducted to determine the air temperature and air velocity distribution inside the traditional house. The results show that the indoor air temperature of a traditional house is between 27.35˚C and 27.60˚C, and the air velocity is between 0.20 m/s and 0.68 m/s which are all within the thermal comfort range of ASHRAE standard. The obtained results indicate that the traditional Malay house's design effectively provides natural ventilation for thermal comfort. In addition, the research result will provide a reference for the modern architect to design houses with local architectural design characteristics.