Exploring Energy Conservation in Office Buildings with Thermal Comfort Criterion Towards Sustainable New Developments in Warm and Humid Climate

India is experiencing rapid urbanization and there is tremendous growth in the building construction sector since the last decade. India has proposed 100 smart cities and the offices/commercial built space is expected to increase fourfold between 2015 and 2030. Building sector consumes 40% of the world's energy and is the single leading contributor to anthropogenic climate change. The office buildings in the warm and humid region in India are mostly installed with air-conditioning to maintain indoor thermal comfort. This system consumes the most energy of all building services representing 55% of the total energy consumption in office buildings and has the largest potential in energy savings. As a case study, a six storey office building in Manipal in Coastal Karnataka, India is documented and simulated for indoor thermal comfort analysis. Various building envelope design strategies are examined in order to improve indoor temperatures and conserve energy towards sustainable new developments in warm and humid climate.