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

Building Zero Energy Cooling in African Sub-saharan Tropical Climate of Cameroon | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Building Zero Energy Cooling in African Sub-saharan Tropical Climate of Cameroon Aloys Martial EKOE A AKATA, Achim Geissler This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8808777/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 13 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract 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%. Sub-Saharan climate Cooling energy demand Energy performance Numerical simulation Phase change material Indoor air temperature Thermal comfort Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 23 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 23 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 31 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 22 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 20 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 19 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 12 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 27 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 27 Feb, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 16 Feb, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 13 Feb, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 12 Feb, 2026 First submitted to journal 12 Feb, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8808777","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":593700430,"identity":"d991f3fb-1f8e-47f8-857b-f67415979ca7","order_by":0,"name":"Aloys Martial EKOE A AKATA","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA2klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACHhBRAMTsDQzMDBCaGC0GIMYBiBYgTawWiQQitfDzHD744IeBTeL8mW8MPxdU2DDwSBPQI9nblmzYY5CWuOF2jrH0jDNpDDx8Cfi1GJznMZPgMTicuEE6x0Cat+0wgz0PAYfZn+cx//kHqGX+zDPGv0FaeAhpMeDtMWMG2dJwg8dMmigtEmeOJUvLGKQZbziTVmbNcyaNh6AW/p7kgx/fVNjIzm8/vPk2T4WNHEEtMODYwMABih0GYjUAgwGYUh4QrXoUjIJRMApGFgAAdDA87ZIjElwAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"University of Douala","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Aloys","middleName":"Martial EKOE A","lastName":"AKATA","suffix":""},{"id":593700431,"identity":"599ad7fe-d406-4966-a46b-dd6dea6e4359","order_by":1,"name":"Achim Geissler","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Achim","middleName":"","lastName":"Geissler","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-02-06 15:25:21","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8808777/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8808777/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":103258422,"identity":"b18b5654-66cf-424e-8cb5-eed2388fa285","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-23 17:25:09","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2249900,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"EKOEGEISSLER2026R2.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8808777/v1_covered_eccc2b79-72bd-416a-a228-3af03016e716.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eBuilding Zero Energy Cooling in African Sub-saharan Tropical Climate of Cameroon\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"discover-energy","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"dien","sideBox":"Learn more about [Discover Energy](https://www.springer.com/43937)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Discover Energy","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Discover Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Sub-Saharan climate, Cooling energy demand, Energy performance, Numerical simulation, Phase change material, Indoor air temperature, Thermal comfort","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8808777/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8808777/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe reduction of energy consumption is a vital challenge today, particularly in developing countries where the building sector accounts for 50\u0026ndash;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\u0026deg;C to 25\u0026deg;C. 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