Demand Side Management in Tropical Island Buildings. Elaboration of Global Quality Standards for Natural and Low Energy Cooling in Buildings

Electric load profiles of tropical, subtropical and some Mediterranean islands in developed countries are characterised by morning/midday and evening peaks arising from all year round (tropical) and summer (subtropical/mediterranean) high power demand in the commercial and residential sectors, due mostly to air conditioning appliances and bad thermal conception of the building. The work presented in this paper has led to the conception of a global quality standard for energy saving and thermal comfort.These quality standards are obtained through optimized bioclimatic urban planning and architectural design, the use of passive cooling architectural components, natural ventilation and energy efficient systems such as solar water heaters. We evaluated, with the aid of an airflow and thermal building simulation software (CODYRUN), the impact of each technical solution on thermal comfort within the building. These technical solutions will be implemented in 280 new pilot dwelling projects through the year 1996 thanks to a partnership between the French Electricity Board (EDF), institutions concerned by energy saving and environmental conservation (ADEME) and construction quality improvment, The Ministries of Housing, Industry and the French Overseas Department, The University of Reunion Island and several other public and private partners. 1. DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT IN THE THERMAL CONCEPTION OF BUILDINGS There are four French overseas Departments (DOM): two islands are located in the Caribbean (Martinique and Guadeloupe), one situated 400km to the east of Madagasgar in the Indian Ocean (Reunion Island) and the fourth Department is in the North of Brazil (French Guiana). Each experiences a hot climate, tropical and humid in the islands of Guadeloupe, Martinique and Reunion and equatorial in French Guiana. Fig 1 :Growth in number of dwellings Reunion island Each year 20,000 dwellings are built in the French overseas Departments. Three quarters of this development is welfare housing. Initially this new housing is constructed without the comfort of air conditioning or hot water which has led to the haphazard installation of instant electrical hot water boilers and badly situated, thought out and maintenanced Domestic electricity