Analysis of Window-Opening Patterns and Air Conditioning Usage of Urban Residences in Tropical Southeast Asia

Abstract

Window-opening is one of the most important adaptive behaviours affecting indoor thermal comfort as well as household energy consumption in the tropics. In this study, large-scale surveys were conducted in major cities of Malaysia and Indonesia to extract various typical daily patterns of window-opening, air conditioning (AC) usage and fan usage among occupants in the tropics through a data mining approach based on a cluster analysis. Furthermore, influential factors for window-opening patterns, focusing especially on contextual factors and household attributes, were determined through a logistic regression analysis. As a result, several typical daily patterns of window-opening, AC usage and fan usage were extracted, respectively, even under the same hot-humid climate. It was found that household size, age of respondent, household income and concerns about insects were the most influential factors for daily window-opening patterns. The results of this study will fill the existing knowledge gap in driving factors of occupant behaviour in the tropics in which few studies have been conducted.