Abstract:
Global climate change is generally a cause of greenhouse gas & carbon dioxide emissions due to certain forms of human activity. Energy consumption in buildings and its constructions represent the majority of emissions in Bangkok city, especially Silom-Sathorn, the central business district (CBD) that is relatively considered the most crucial area in Thailand in term of economic development. Nearly 60% of overall building energy consumption was consumed by the cooling system. As Thailand is located in the tropical area, urban structures are inevitably experiencing higher concentration of heat, the air-conditioning system would consume more electric power accordingly. This study aims to identify possible alternatives in reducing energy consumption, which is the main determinant of CO2 emission, by developing massing and building cluster in Silom-Sathorn district and to understand the relation between buildings physical attributes and the efficiency of energy consumption reduction, for example; shape, orientation, height, distance between buildings, in order to suggest urban design guidelines for energy saving (%SAVE) and CO2 reduction (SAVE-CO2e), using computer programs, such as Google SketchUp Pro 8, Openstudio 1.0.10 and EnergyPlus 8.0. The result shows that a well-designed building cluster, concerning energy-saving efficiency caused by shadow, reduces approximately 6% of energy consumption and CO2 emission rate. Shadow caused by the buildings greatly decreases the energy consumption from cooling system, whereas an electric power consumption from lighting rises very slightly. The study also indicates that the top priority shall be given to the orientation of buildings and then considering shapes, building heights and distance between buildings, respectively. Speaking of the study area, CBD has several legal restrictions, including limited sizes of land & public road and setback regulation. These complications will deter an implementation of the study. Due to the aforementioned difficulties, promoting land readjustment scheme, improving vehicular connectivity and providing adequate roads with appropriate width should be determined before applying urban design guidelines to the specific area.