A Review of Retrofit Interventions for Residential Buildings in Hot Humid Climates

Buildings consume 40% of resources around the world, low energy building is fast becoming a major component of sustainable development. However, limiting the concept of low energy buildings to new builds will only undermine its effects and benefits as there are numerous existing buildings that consume uneconomical energy resources irrespective of how energy efficient the new ones are. Therefore, retrofit interventions to existing buildings is important in decreasing resource consumption and increasing energy efficiency. Some various retrofit interventions already exist towards reducing energy consumption in residential buildings but deciding on a specific retrofit intervention needs assiduous consideration. Hence, this paper focuses on the review of retrofit interventions and their energy performances. It was found amongst others that clay bricks, sand line, and pre-fabricated walls consume less energy than concrete bricks by 16%, 23%, and 25% respectively. Electrochromic glazing system with no shading device was also found to have reduced heat gains by 53%-59% in winter and summer. It was concluded that further research would benefit from the combination of the various interventions to create pathways for building retrofit in hot humid climate, the pathways can be tested with a dynamic thermal simulation software for energy performance.