  Electric load profiles of tropical islands in developed countries are
characterised by morning, midday and evening peaks arising from all year round
high power demand in the commercial and residential sectors, due mostly to air
conditioning appliances and bad thermal conception of the building. The work
presented in this paper has led to the conception of a global quality standards
obtained through optimized bioclimatic urban planning and architectural design,
the use of passive cooling architectural components, natural ventilation and
energy efficient systems such as solar water heaters. We evaluated, with the
aid of an airflow and thermal building simulation software (CODYRUN), the
impact of each technical solution on thermal comfort within the building. These
technical solutions have been implemented in 280 new pilot dwelling projects
through the year 1996.
