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Volume 7, Number 4, October 2022 , pages 321-343 DOI: https://doi.org/10.12989/acd.2022.7.4.321 |
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Design review on indoor environment of museum buildings in hot-humid tropical climate |
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Ikechukwu Ogwu, Zhilin Long, Moses M. Okonkwo, Xuhui Zhang, Deuckhang Lee and Wei Zhang
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| Abstract | ||
| Museum buildings display artefacts for public education and enjoyment, ensuring their long-term safety and the comfort of visitors by following strict indoor environment control protocols using mechanical Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems to keep the (environmental) variables at a fixed comfort level. Maintaining this requires constant supply of energy currently mostly sourced from the combustion of fossil fuels which exacerbates climate change. However, a review on the effects of the indoor environmental variables on museum artefacts as well as museum visitors revealed that there is no specific point at which artefact deterioration occurs, and that there are wide ranges of conditions that guarantee the long-term safety of artefacts and human comfort. Visits to museum buildings in hot-humid tropical climate of Nigeria revealed that strict indoor environmental practices were adopted. Even when appropriate micro-climatic conditions are provided for artefacts, mechanical HVAC systems remain necessary for visitor comfort because almost no consideration is given to natural ventilation. With the current global push towards energy management, this paper reviewed passive environmental control practices, architectural design strategies, and discusses the adaptation of double skin façade with jali screens, and the notion of smart materials, which can satisfy the range of requirements for the long-term safety of artefacts and levels of human comfort in buildings in hot-humid tropical climate, without mechanical HVAC systems. This review would inspire more discussions on passive, energy efficient, smart and climate responsible popular architecture, challenging current thinking on the impact of the more accepted representative architecture. | ||
| Key Words | ||
| double skin façade; energy efficiency; indoor environment; mechanical HVAC; museum buildings; passive design; smart materials | ||
| Address | ||
| Ikechukwu Ogwu, Zhilin Long and Xuhui Zhang: College of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Xiangtan University, 411105, Hunan, China Moses M. Okonkwo: Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, 420110, Awka, Nigeria Deuckhang Lee and Wei Zhang: Department of Architectural Engineering, Chungbuk National University, 28644, Chungbuk, Republic of Korea | ||
