Soon, it will be cooling to stay indoor - thanks to new technology THE INVENTORS ... Mohd Peter Davis (left) from Universiti Putra Malaysia and Mazlin Ghazali from Arkitek M. Ghazali Inventors of ‘Thermal Comfort Honeycomb Housing. KUCHING - Sarawak will be the first State to adopt Thermal com- fort Honeycomb Housing devel- oped by Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) in collaboration with Arkitek M. Ghazal chers at 1 two million modern Malaysian houses grossly over- heated, causing heat stress to the occupants. “We have solved the problem of overheating in Malaysian con- crete houses by highiy insulating the roof, shading the walls and mechan ventilating the houses at night which flushes the house with cooi outdoor air, stor- ing the coolness of the night in the concrete structure and there- he house for the Mohd Peter Davis, a visi ing scientist at = Institute of Advanced Technology House technology created for the first time in Malaysia, a cool attic space suitable for bedrooms, which recovered the cost of the extra materials. “According to. computer simulation studies at UPM, thermal formable houses with smaller foot- » prints but using the previously wasted, attic space could therefore be built at , no extra cost. As such air-cons are 29 longer mandatory and the saving iljge electricity is enormous, amount cover the 30 years mortgage period to" * the construction cost of the house,” he said. He pointed out that the more-diffi- cult problem of the overheated out- door environment had been solved by an imaginative leap, which promises to transform urban arch from tedious-rows of cedeniimact houses, permitting giant rainforest shade trees to be reintroduced to their previous territory to help:cool | our suburbs towns and cities. Honeycomb courtyard housing is a world patent pending invention by KL based architect Mazlin Ghazali who has been collaborating with UPM in the last six years. All hous arranged in a hexagon (similar beesf honeycomb) and se friendly neighbourhood parks, bring- ing a sense of community and human — Kindness to urban living reminiscent of kampungs and small towns. Meanwhile, Davis said various models developed by UP would be displayed at the upcoming SARBEX 2005 Exhibition to be held here from April 28 fi May “Visitors will be encouraged to fill out a UPM questionnaire to scientifi- cally determine consumer satisfaction with the new housing and urban t nology. Come to the exhibition an talk to the inventors,” added Davis. imilar to the