Building Zero Energy Cooling in African Sub-saharan Tropical Climate of Cameroon

The reduction of energy consumption is a vital challenge today, particularly in developing countries where the building sector accounts for 50–60% of the national energy consumption. Cameroon's Sub-Saharan tropical environment offers opportunities for enhanced efficiency architecture and the use of phase-change materials (PCM) to lower the energy consumption for cooling. In this paper, a typical single-family house in Cameroon's tropical area is modeled using local building practices and materials. The building's energy analysis is conducted by considering various building parameters, including the construction design, orientation, envelope structure, air flow network, self-shading, and the use of PCM paraffin RT26 to achieve zero-energy cooling. The impact of these architectural factors on the indoor air temperature is measured. The results indicate that the annual average indoor air temperature has decreased from 35°C to 25°C. In addition, the house's annual cooling energy consumption may be lowered by 99%.