Energy usage and energy saving potential of air conditioning Mosque in Penang Malaysia

Air conditioning has become a common feature in
newly-constructed Malaysia buildings including mosque.
Nevertheless, it has been a common practice to retrofit existing
mosque with air conditioning systems of various types and
capacity. Due to their functional and operational characteristics,
mosque buildings relatively consume more energy than other types
of buildings. Energy efficient design and proper operation of air
conditioning system in mosque buildings can offer major
opportunities for reduced energy consumption and contribute to
sustainable development. This paper provides a case study of
energy usage and indices from selected air-conditioned mosques in
Penang Malaysia. Results from 5 sample mosques G1, G2, G3, G4
and G5 shows the large volume of energy has been consumed by
air conditioning system. Mosque G5 has consumed the highest
yearly electricity bills (RM 446,000.00), and followed by G3
(RM28,000.00), G2 (RM24,000.00), G4 (RM 20,000.00) and G1
(RM9,000.00), respectively. Mosque management need to pay this
costs to get a good thermal performance in main prayer. Mosque
G5 produced a very high Energy Intensity Index (323 kWh/m2/yr)
and cost index (RM 153/year/ m2) due to influence factors.
Retrofitted mosques are not comply with MS Standard which need
several recommendation in term of energy saving strategies
application near future.