Available online at www.jpsscientificpublications.com Volume – 2; Issue - 6; Year – 2016; Page: 906 – 910 DOI: 10.21276.iajmr.2016.2.6.10 Indo – Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (IAJMR) ISSN: 2454-1370 © 2015 Published by JPS Scientific Publications Ltd. All rights reserved SHADING OF BUILDING AS A PREVENTIVE MEASURE FOR PASSIVE COOLING AND ENERGY CONSERVATION – A CASE STUDY J. Malarvannan* 1 , C. Sivasubramanian 1 , R. Sivasankar 1 , M. Jeganathan 2 and M. Balakumari 2 , 1 Department of Environmental and Herbal Science, Tamil University, Thanjavur - 613 010, Tamil Nadu, India. 2 Designed Environment Academy and Research Institute, Trichy - 621 213, Tamilnadu, India. Abstract In warm and tropical climates excess solar gain results in high cooling energy consumption. Buildings consume significant large amount of energy for cooling, heating, ventilation and lighting in buildings to create desirable thermal comfort conditions. The depletion of conventional energy and high cost of non-conventional energy enforces a demand for energy conscious designs of buildings. Natural and passive cooling uses non-mechanical methods to maintain a comfortable indoor temperature. Shading is a simple method to block the sun before it can get into the building. Shading minimizes the incident solar radiation and cool the building effectively and hence dramatically affect building energy performance. In this paper, an attempt has been made to study different shading strategies that can be employed to shade the building, which provides natural cooling and finally helps in energy conservation in buildings. Key words: Shading, Natural Cooling, Energy Conservation and Passive cooling. 1. Introduction Energy conservation in buildings can be achieved through proper layout and orientation of building, appropriate shape, insulation, high thermal capacity and resistance of the building materials, good landscape design, proper shading devices, overhangs and external surface finish. The most effective method to save energy and cool the building in summer is to keep the heat from building up in the first place. The most important passive cooling strategy, regardless of mass, is shading. Shading is like putting a hat on the building. Shading is a simple method to block the sun before it can get into the building. The primary source of heat buildup (i.e., gain) is sunlight absorbed by the building through the roof, walls, and windows. Secondary sources are heat-generating appliances in the building and air leakage (Kamal and Najamuddin, 2003). Shading minimizes the incident solar radiation *Corresponding author: J. Malarvannan E. mail: jegann1978@gmail.com Received: 20.09.2016; Revised: 23.10.2016; Accepted: 15.11.2016. and cool the building effectively and hence dramatically affect building energy performance. Shading can reduce the peak-cooling load in buildings, thus reducing the size of the air conditioning equipment that will run fewer hours and consume less energy. Energy savings can range anywhere from 10 to 40 per cent. 2. Shading of building Kumar et al. (2005) evaluated the performance of solar passive cooling techniques such as solar shading, insulation of building components and air exchange rate. In their study they found that a decrease in the indoor temperature by about 2.5 °C to 4.5 °C is noticed for solar shading. Results modified with insulation and controlled air exchange rate showed a further decrease of 4.4 °C to 6.8 °C in room temperature. The analysis suggested that solar shading is quite useful to development of passive cooling system to maintain indoor room air temperature lower than the conventional building without shade. Although shading of the