Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Abstract. The buildings sector in Indonesia is dominated by homes—the number of which has been growing rapidly to meet population-driven demand. However, most buildings built over the past four to five decades lack adequate natural ventilation and other passive cooling measures suited to tropical climates and rely at least partly on air-conditioning. This study focuses on a parametric analysis of passive and low-energy “whole-building” cooling solutions for the tropical climate of Indonesia, evaluating the benefits of 12 passive or low-energy cooling solutions: solar-reflective “cool” roofs, cool walls, insulated roofs, insulated walls, low thermal- emissivity (“low-E”) windows, solar-control window films, ceiling fans with temperature setback, ceiling fans without temperature setback, exterior window shades, interior window shades, natural ventilation based on schedule and outside air temperature, and natural ventilation based only on outside air temperature. Results indicate that a ceiling fan with thermostat setback (raising the cooling setpoint to 28.1 °C from 25 °C while maintaining constant thermal sensation) provided both the highest nationwide electricity savings and the highest net present value for households, followed by insulated walls, insulated roofs, and cool walls.