Existing non-domestic building stock in Sri Lanka : the problem of indoor overheating and environmental retrofitting

Abstract

The paper presents an overview of the thermal performance of existing non-domestic, inparticular, office and institutional buildings in Sri Lanka. The aim of the research is to identify a scientific basis for environmental retrofitting which is primarily aimed at rehabilitating buildings' thermal performance in order to improve indoor thermal environment, energy demand efficiency and emission reduction targets. This ongoing research highlights the influence of architectural design upon minimizing indoor overheating, optimizing natural ventilation and daylight performance which contribute 10 demand efficiency during building operation process. Diagnostic studies on thermal performance of selected existing buildings in Colombo, Sri Lanka, uncover the indoor overheating conditions in buildings as a main problem which can also be seen as the basis for generating solutions for environmental retrofitting. The paper presents an initial work in respect to this.