Analysis of Hotel Façade Thermal Performance with a Special Reference to the City Hotels in George Town, Penang

The present study identifies issues pertaining energy efficiency of high-rise city hotels in Malaysia and aims to examine the thermal performance of high-rise hotels with different façade design configurations. Large hotels in the tropics of Malaysia are found to be energy intensive among commercial building categories. The present study proposes two case studies of high-rise city hotels in George Town, Penang, with different façade configurations to determine their capability to comply the Overall Thermal Transfer Value (OTTV) requirements set by the Malaysian Standards MS 1525;14 and the Green Building Index (GBI). Utilizing the OTTV formula as stipulated in the MS 1525:14, the OTTV of each case study was manually calculated using the identified façade design parameters. Comparative analysis of the results indicate that each of the cases garnered OTTV which exceeded the recommended value of 50 Wm-2. General guidelines and recommendations for improvement in the hotel façade design in the tropics are also included in the discussion.