Investigation of Sealed and Vented Attics for Residential Building in Brunei Darussalam / Awg. Md. Hadry Bukhary Bin Hj. Awg. Yussof

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in the Mechanical Engineering Programme Area of Universiti Teknologi Brunei.

Abstract

Investigating the behavior of air flow in the attics for residential building is very important in order to achieve energy efficient building that utilize minimum amount of energy that will results in high standards of comfort. Heat and air flow in the attic can be modeled using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) techniques (CFD). CFD is the most detailed approach to predicting airflow, but it is more computationally intensive and is difficult to integrate into building simulation programs to determine the impacts on heating/cooling loads and building energy use. The attics will be modeled in 3D using the CFD and the data such as its dimension and pitch angles will be included. The CFD will then automatically shows the end result that is needed. These quantified relationship between roof pitches, airflow and heating load will provide the information on scientific guidance for residential roof design. From the observation of the results, vented attics have lower heat transfer at the ceiling. Hence, when there is less heat entering the house, less energy is needed for the cooling load. As for the roof pitches, it is stated that increasing in roof pitches will increase in cost. So, having lower roof pitches and vented is adequate for a better suited roof pitches in Brunei Darussalam.