The increasing trend of employing glazed façades to utilize daylight in the buildings has made it necessary to develop measures to avoid excessive sunlight penetration in such daylit spaces. In Thailand, only a few studies have focused on daylight glare, and therefore, applicable criteria are required to fulfill the local preference. This study aimed to determine daylight glare thresholds on the basis of the occupants’ responses. A post-occupancy evaluation with a simplified daylight glare probability (DGPs) model was performed in eight open-plan office spaces located in Bangkok, Thailand. The occupants participated in a survey including a subjective questionnaire; the results showed that the DGPs model performed effectively for glare prediction, with a preference for a lower level than that found in the current references. Statistical analysis helped mark the threshold values for each glare sensation level: imperceptible–perceptible = 0.22; perceptible–disturbing = 0.24; and disturbing–intolerable = 0.26. The findings of this study can be considered as initial evidence for improving the understanding of local occupants’ perspectives and illumination standards, which currently encourage daylight utilization without any specific glare control strategies.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced higher education institutions to switch to online learning for most of 2020 and 2021 for the safety of their students and staff, which significantly impacted campus resource consumption. This study aims to analyze the changes in electricity consumption in higher education buildings based on comparisons of three academic years to understand more about the energy implications of the post-COVID-19 era. The electricity data were collected from 181 samples of the electricity meter records at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. When compared to the typical academic year in 2018, the results indicate that electricity consumption in 2019 and 2020 decreased by 20.92% and 35.50%, respectively. The academic and the library-type buildings marked the biggest change in electricity reduction. The smallest change was found in the research type as its essential work remained on campus. Only electricity consumption in the residence type increased due to the long periods of online learning policies. Finally, the findings suggest that teaching and learning activities have a strong influence on electricity consumption in higher education buildings. The facilities and learning methods related to these activities should be carefully discussed as elements of an effective strategy to manage electricity demands at the university level.

Asian office buildings receive plenty of heat and daylight because of their glazing facades. They also allow the occupants to view outside. These effects depend on the seat position in different distance from the window. A study of building performance regarding those difference effects is required to clarify the occupants’ comfort under contextual conditions. Therefore, this study aims to compare the impact of glazing facades on occupants’ comfort between the occupants in the perimeter zone and interior zone by analyzing the building performance in terms of thermal comfort and visual comfort. Measuring devices were installed to investigate temperature, humidity, and daylight in three office buildings in Thailand and three in Singapore. Simultaneously, occupants’ satisfaction were investigated using questionnaires during working hours. In total, 1,356 samples were surveyed. The questions were fixed for both thermal environment and visual environment in terms of sensation and satisfaction. Furthermore, the opening view and internal blind occlusion rate were noted by visual inspection. The results showed that the thermal environment and visual environment in the perimeter zone were affected by the outdoor environment more than the interior zone. However, most of the occupants were satisfied because they be able to adapt to a wide range of indoor environment conditions. The occupants in the perimeter zone were more satisfied in terms of temperature and view. On the contrary, occupants in the interior zone were more satisfied by the lighting environment. The dissatisfaction survey revealed that the thermal environment has the most influence on occupants’ comfort. However, daylight accessing was revealed to has the highest impact on occupants’ comfort in terms of building-facade effect. The results show that occupants’ comfort levels differed depending on the seat position in the current situation for Asian office buildings. The optimisation of building-facade performance considering its influence on occupants’ comfort is necessary.

Many buildings are being built in Southeast Asian cities due to rapid economic growth. Because large-scale buildings, such as office buildings, in particular, consume a large amount of energy, it is essential to construct environmental buildings for global climate change. Despite the improving airtight performance of building envelopes for effective energy saving, almost no research regarding them in Southeast Asia is done at present. Therefore, this paper aims to determine the current state of energy conservation effects of office buildings in Asian cities. This research adopts on-site measurement and energy-simulation methods to evaluate the sealing performance of the office building envelope in Bangkok, Hanoi, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taipei. In the field survey, the CO2 leakage rate from the building envelope, covered with a vinyl cloth, is investigated using the tracer gas method. In addition, air quality, internal and external differential pressure, and energy consumption are measured. Furthermore, indoor environmental quality such as temperature, humidity, wind speed, CO2 density, clo value and MRT are measured. The evaluation of the energy conservation performance of the target buildings is multifaceted. In the energy simulation part of this study, actual data are used with simulation software to calculate the energy performance of the heating and cooling load. This research is focused on energy conservation in Hanoi because the amount of air leakage was higher there than the other cities in Tropical Asia. Furthermore, we verified how much of the energy conservation is realized by changing the performance of the air leakage in the model. This paper discusses the current situation of Asian buildings in terms of the results and suggests an appropriate energy conservation model for Asian tropical office buildings.

This study aims to clarify the correlation between thermal comfort and discomfort glare. The field survey was performed in office buildings located in Thailand using the comfort indices and the questionnaire survey. The agreement can be found with respect to the glazing performance and sensation level, and the comfort index evaluation must be carefully concerned, as there is a discrepancy in occupants’ responses. It is necessary to comprehensively study the effects of thermal comfort and discomfort glare separately, along with their interactions. The post-occupancy survey is required to optimally enhance the occupants’ comfort assessment.