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Energy Conversion and Management 49 (2008) 2317–2323

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Passive cooling systems in buildings: Some useful experiences

from ancient architecture for natural cooling in a hot and humid region
M.S. Hatamipour *, A. Abedi
Chemical Engineering Department, University of Isfahan, Hezar Jerib Avenue, Isfahan, Iran

Received 4 June 2007; accepted 14 January 2008

Available online 4 March 2008

Abstract

This article presents useful ancient energy technologies that have been used many years for natural cooling of buildings during sum-
mer in a hot and humid province in the South of Iran. By use of these technologies, people were able to live in comfort without any
electrical air conditioning system.
These technologies include use of color glazed windows, wooden windows frames, light colored walls and roofs, insulated walls, woo-
den roofs covered with leaves and mud. In addition, these technologies made use of terraces, use of louvers, constructing the lanes as
narrow as possible and shading the buildings with the nearby buildings, all of which are now the modern experienced technologies.
Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Energy management; Natural cooling; Building technologies; Passive cooling

1. Introduction
Bushehr is a hot and humid province located in South of
Iran. It is a coastal province located in the north of Persian
Gulf at a latitude of 27°140 N and extends between longi-
tudes 50°60 to 52°580 E. Seven months of the year, May to
November, are the hot months in the province, and July
to August are the months of harsh condition of heat.
Today, during these seven months, about 150,000 home,
use more than 300,000 room air conditioners (Packaged air
conditioning units), and this requires more than 60% of
total annual power consumption of Bushehr [7]. The office
for electrical power distribution of Bushehr has to pass reg-
ulations for decreasing this high amount of energy con-
sumption by cooling appliances.
Extensive research is recorded in the literature about
optimization of energy consumption in buildings. Use of
double glazed windows, colored glasses, light colored walls
and roofs, using reflective roofs [13], high-albedo roof ceil-
*
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: hatami@eng.ui.ac.ir (M.S. Hatamipour).
ing [1], green roofs [12,14], and shaded roofs [8], skytherm1
and cooled ceiling systems [10,11], passive cooling of the
buildings [6], natural ventilation [5], solar control of build-
ings such as shading with plants and proper tree plantation
[2,14], shading with nearby buildings [8], insulating enve-
lopes and external surfaces of the buildings [3,4], sealing
of ducts [9] are effective ways for reducing cooling loads
of the buildings.
A review of ancient architecture of Bushehr revealed
that important technologies had been used for several years
for protection of people against harsh conditions of hot
summers.
This paper describes these ancient technologies that had
been used for energy saving and passive cooling of air in a
hot and humid region in the south of Iran, in a time that
electrical power was not available universally.
1
For passive cooling of buildings, the roof is the part which offers the
most versatile opportunities because it is the element most exposed to the
sky. Skytherm system makes use of the roof as a combined collector,
storage, and heat exchanger system.

0196-8904/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2008.01.018
2318 M.S. Hatamipour, A. Abedi / Energy Conversion and Management 49 (2008) 2317–2323

1. Material and methods

Relative Humidity (%)

100
80
In order to review the technologies that had been in use
in Bushehr for several years, it was critical to obtain 60
enough data about buildings architecture, materials of con- 40
struction, and weather changes. Fortunately some of the Max R.H.
20 Min R.H.
ancient buildings are steadfast and already in use. Some
buildings are historical places and their visit is permissive 0

Jan.

Feb.
March

Apr.

Jun.
Jul.

Aug.
Sep.

Oct.
Nov.

Dec.
May
even for tourists. The required data were gathered from
the following sources:
Month
1. Visit of historical places and taking some photos. Fig. 2. Average monthly relative humidity (R.H.) of Bushehr during the
2. Interview with old people. last 40 years.
3. Published articles, mostly in Persian language.
4. Archived documents of municipality of Bushehr. 1.1. Windows
Table 1 shows some typical construction materials for Windows have a significant role with critical responsibil-
buildings in Bushehr obtained from field visits and inter- ity in connecting the indoor environment of building to the
views. Figs. 1 and 2 show the average monthly temperature outdoor. Buildings with large areas of glazing, incur exces-
and relative humidity during last 40 years obtained from sively high electrical demands. One way of reducing the
the meteorological office of Bushehr. As it can be seen, magnitude of this demand is through better window design.
the maximum temperature occurs in July and August, with It has been shown that use of insulated windows frames
more than 80% relative humidity. (like wooden or PVC frames), colored glazing, tinted and
In the following paragraphs, some of the main tech- reflective glazing and choosing the best orientation of the
niques that had been very effective for natural cooling will windows are the ways to reduce cooling load of the
be discussed along with some photos. building.
All of these technologies have been used for several
years in Bushehr. All windows and doors were made from
wood, with small sized color glasses. Fig. 3 shows colored
Table 1 glazed, wooden doors and windows of buildings in Bush-
Typical building materials used in the ancient Bushehr ehr. The windows had a beautiful site with suitable visual
Construction Description access to pleasant views around houses.
material
Shell wall Stone, brick 1.2. Shadows
Roof Layers of board (lumber) supported with wooden poles
and covered with leaves of date plant, clay and dense Construction of deep wooden balconies over the win-
mud dows, shading the windows and openings with external lou-
Interior wall Two cm gypsum plaster
vered screens and shading with terraces were technologies
Window Wooden frame
Glass type Colored small parts glazing used in Bushehr for protecting buildings for more than
Shadow Use of external wooden terraces and louvered screens 100 years. These technologies have been confirmed by
researchers, and are named passive cooling of the buildings
and solar control of buildings for energy saving. Fig. 4
shows the photo of typical external wooden terraces with
Max T louvered screens known as ‘‘shenashir” in native language.
60 Min T
Figs. 5 and 6 show buildings shaded with deep terraces
50
known as ‘‘Tarmeh”.
40
C

30 1.3. Roofs and side walls

o

20
10
The roofs of the rooms were constructed of lumbers sup-
ported by timbers. Thermal sealing of the roofs was
0
achieved by covering the lumbers with the leaves of date
Jan.

Feb.
March

Apr.

Jun.
Jul.

Aug.
Sep.

Oct.
Nov.

Dec.
May

plant and then with a deep layer of clay and hard mud.
Month The thickness of this mud and clay layer was reached to
30 cm. This layer was able to absorb the humidity of the
Fig. 1. Average monthly temperature (T) of Bushehr during the last 40 air at night, and act as a skytherm on day. Therefore, no
years.
M.S. Hatamipour, A. Abedi / Energy Conversion and Management 49 (2008) 2317–2323 2319

Fig. 3. Colored glazed, wooden doors and windows.

Fig. 4. Light colored buildings, with external wooden terraces and louvered screens.
2320 M.S. Hatamipour, A. Abedi / Energy Conversion and Management 49 (2008) 2317–2323

Fig. 5. Coastal buildings with deep terraces.

Fig. 6. Shading the buildings with deep terraces known as ‘‘Tarmeh”.

Fig. 7. Buildings with wooden roofs.

heat can diffuse through the roof. Fig. 7 shows photos of
wooden roofs. In some special cases the roofs were con-
structed from stone and then covered with clay and mud.
Fig. 8 shows the photo of one of the roofs made totally
from stone. The stones are bonded together by use of
mortar.
The side walls of the buildings were constructed from
brick, and the width of them reached to 70 cm. The outer
coating of the walls was gypsum and in some cases it was
made from stone. The main entry of the rooms and main
halls was separated from direct sun shine by a gangway.
The walls of the gangway (passageway) in the buildings,
act as trombe wall and helps for passive cooling of the
building. Fig. 9 shows one of these gangways.
The buildings were constructed toward the seasonal
fresh and cool winds, that breeze from the Persian Gulf.
The buildings were constructed in more than one storey
and were high roofed. The height of each storey was at
least 4 m. The ground floor rooms were suitable for winter
and upper floors for summer use. The rooms in upper
floors were equipped with several small windows and open-
ings in various sides of the building (in one case, 16 open-
ings were considered for a room). These openings and slots
acted as louver for the building.
1.4. Louvers
Louver is a chimney jutting out above the house, with
openings and slots in its sides and a large opening toward
the prevailing wind that captures air from above and forces
it indoors. The construction of louvers goes back to ancient
times, and today it is also customary in desert regions of
 M.S. Hatamipour, A. Abedi / Energy Conversion and Management 49 (2008) 2317–2323 2321

Table 2
Some suggested technologies and controls for passive cooling of buildings
and the way that it had been used in Bushehr
Technology Its history in Bushehr architecture
Suitable insulation of Use of heavy external walls made from brick
walls
Suitable insulation of Use of wooden roofs with a thick layer of mud
roofs and hard clay
Reduction of heat gain Light colored walls and surfaces, use of
through walls gangways before the rooms
Reduction of air No ventilation by fan were possible except by
ventilation louvers, which in turn induced cold air to the
building
Reduction of solar Small windows, color glazed windows, use of
Fig. 8. Building with stone roof. heat gain through deep terraces and balconies, shading with
windows nearby buildings
Use of outdoor air for Use of louvers for natural ventilation of
cooling building
Suitable selection of The buildings were constructed in the direction
building direction of seasonal cold winds breezed from Persian
Gulf
Control of heat loss Wooden frame doors and openings, use of deep
from windows and terraces known as ‘‘Tarmeh”
openings
Cooling storage by use Heavy walls with low thermal conductivity
of thermal mass
Thermal comfort Thermal comfort temperature had been
temperature naturally about 30 °C
Reducing green house No temperature increase of air due to work of
effect cars and factories
Use of overhang for Use of Bamboo curtain or wooden sunshade
energy saving over windows
Shading the buildings Use of autumn trees in front of buildings and
Fig. 9. Gangway acting as trombe wall. with trees windows

Iran. Some louvers were designed as a ventilation shaft for

cooling the building. Fig. 10 shows typical louvers in Bush-
ehr. These louvers acted as fan coils in all parts of the
building. Construction of louvers over the water reservoirs
and ponds caused the cooling of drinking water in each
house.
1.5. Other controls
Table 2 describes other suggested technologies and con-
trols for passive cooling of buildings and the way that it
had been used in Bushehr. The summary of the passive
cooling technologies in ancient coastal regions of Iran are
given as the results of this article.
2. Case study
For sizing the air conditioning system for a building, the
cooling load of the building can be calculated. The proce-
dure for estimating the total cooling load of the buildings
is described by Hatamipour et al. [7]. The cooling load of
the residential building is recorded and also estimated by
a computer program named BLC.

Fig. 10. Louvers help natural cooling of the buildings.

2322 M.S. Hatamipour, A. Abedi / Energy Conversion and Management 49 (2008) 2317–2323

For brevity, in this section the procedure and results for The different conditions used in the simulation are listed
this building is presented. Table 3 show the specifications in Table 6 and the results of simulation are summarized in
of the building along with the parameters used in BLC pro- Table 7.
gram. Electrical appliances in the building are listed in The results of simulation showed that the use of light
Table 4. colored internal or external curtains, light colored walls
The cooling load of the building was first estimated for and roofs contributed to cooling load reduction, but more
the base case (present existing conditions), and then by
changing the various parameters (in different conditions)
the cooling load was estimated. The accuracy of calcula- Table 5
tions was confirmed by comparing the predicted cooling Comparison between installed cooling systems and that predicted by BLC
load by BLC for the present case and the installed cooling Building Installed cooling Cooling load predicted by
systems as shown in Table 5. system (kW) BLC (kW)
Residential 5.4 5.56
building no. 1

Table 3
The specifications of the residential building Table 6
Parameter Description Different cases used in cooling load simulation for the residential building

Shell wall Hollow concrete blocks (sand and gravel agg.), white Case Title Description
cement plaster as exterior finish Thickness = 27 cm, 1 Base case Building with ordinary walls and
k = 1.6 W/(m. °C), q = 990 kg/m3, solar heat roofs (mild color), ordinary glass,
abs. = 0.56 without interior curtain (glass
Roof Hollow concrete blocks, thickness = 36 cm, factor = 1.0)
k = 1.4 W/(m. °C), solar heat abs. = 0.98 2 Effect of air circulation rate Like case 1, but air circulation rate
Interior wall Two cm gypsum plaster, Light color doubled
Window Aluminum frame, 1.5 m  1 m 3 Effect of existence of Like case 1, with curtain (glass
Glass type Ordinary glass, 4 mm thick interior curtain factor = 0.05)
Air temperature Tmax = 48 °C, Tmin = 38 °C, Twet bulb = 32 °C 4 Effect of outside curtain Like case 1, but with an external
Air circulation 180 m3/h curtain (45°)
rate 5 Effect of glass type Like case 3, windows with glass with
Persons Five persons in building color coef. of 50%, (glass
factor = 0.40) reflex
6 Effect of color of outside Like case 3, but light color roof
roof (wall absorbance = 0.4)
7 Effect of color of exterior Like case 6, but light color wall (wall
Table 4 wall finish absorbance = 0.4)
Existing electrical appliances in residential building 8 Effect of wall thickness and Like case 7, but walls constructed of
Appliance Number Unit Total Total Energy heavy material brick, total wall thickness = 40 cm,
power power consumption, overall heat transfer coef. = 1.46,
(W) (kW) kWh/day density = 1813 kg/m3
9 Effect of existence of a Like case 7, but a cooking gas heater
R.A.C. 1 2500 2.500 60.0 heating oven inside the is placed inside the building
package building
18000
R.A.C. split 1 2900 2.900 69.6
type, 24000
Lighting Table 7
filamentary 3 100 0.300 1.50 Results of simulation of cooling load for residential building based on
bulb cases of Table 6
Low energy 3 26 0.078 0.40
bulb Case Sensible Latent Total Peak load %
Fluorescent 2 40 0.080 0.40 cooling cooling cooling cooling Reduction
Vacuum 1 1550 1.500 1.50 load, (W) load, (W) load, consumption a, relative to
cleaner (W) (kW) base case
Refrigerator 1 140 0.140 2.10 1 10070 2443 12513 5.56 –
Freezer 1 270 0.270 4.05 2 10945 4556 15510 6.89 –
TV 1 80 0.080 1.00 3 9807 2443 12250 5.44 2.15
PC 1 400 0.400 4.00 4 9482 2443 11925 5.3 4.6
Iron 1 1100 1.100 1.10 5 9441 2443 11884 5.28 5
Washing 1 450 0.450 1.35 6 8316 2443 10759 4.78 14.0
machine 7 8141 2443 10584 4.7 15.4
Water pump 1 300 0.300 3.00 8 7540 2443 9983 4.43 20.2
Total 12.600 150 9 10740 3730 14476 6.43 –
a
R.A.C. = Room Air Conditioner, PC = Personal Computer. Coefficient of performance is considered to be 2.25 for cooling systems.
 M.S. Hatamipour, A. Abedi / Energy Conversion and Management 49 (2008) 2317–2323
pronounced reduction of cooling load was obtained by
increasing wall thickness which was the result of decreasing
the overall heat transfer coefficient. Wrong energy manage-
ment in building, such as using gas heaters in open kitchens
or increasing the building ventilation (especially with warm
air), can increase the cooling load of the building.
3. Summary and results
The basic principles that had been of major concern in
ancient architecture of Bushehr (as a hot and humid
region) can be used today as passive cooling schemes. They
are as follows:
1. The buildings were constructed near to each other
(compact) with the possibility of circulation of air
around each building. For this objective the buildings
were constructed in the direction of seasonal fresh
and cold winds.
2. The lanes were narrow for generation of circulation
winds.
3. Use of louvers (air trap, or ventilation shaft), wooden
balconies and terraces (known as Tarmeh and
shenashir).
4. Construction of buildings in East–West direction and
setting the windows in South of the buildings.
5. Avoiding to establish windows in East and West sides
of the buildings, or if it was an obligation to do so,
their number and sizes was limited, and corrugated
vertical shades (shutter), and color glazing were pro-
vided for them.
6. Separation of heat generating spaces (such as kitch-
ens, bread making rooms) from the other rooms in
the building.
7. Use of balconies and covered porticos for shading the
windows and the walls that are in direct sunshine.
8. Shading the buildings with the trees (the trees that
only have leaves in spring to autumn).
9. Use of colored glasses or isinglass for windows.
10. Installation of movable blade type wooden screens
outside the windows.
11. Construction of high roofed buildings.
12. Use of light colors for flat roofs and outside wall
surfaces.
13. Use of low conductivity materials (such as gypsum)
for shell walls.
2323
14. Providing at least two windows or openings for each
room. One in the direction of wind and the other in
its opposite direction.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by Research Department of
Fars Regional Electrical Office. The valuable co-operation
of directors of the Fars Regional Electrical Office is kindly
appreciated. The authors also thank Prof. M. Moshfeghian
for his valuable comments and the review of the manu-
script prior to submission.
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