PASSIVE COOLING STRATEGIES for

BUILDINGS in HOT-HUMID CLIMATE

WORDS: AR. D.V. RAVINA, UAP
LEARNING KEYWORDS PASSIVE
COOLING

CROSS VENTILATION RADIANT

NATURAL
STACK VENTILATION
VENTILATION
NATURAL
NIGHT VENTILATION COOLING

COMFORT
COOLING

EARTH DISSECANT
COOLING COOLING
Passive cooling refers to any type of architectural or building system
which allows a space to be cooled by the natural process of heat
transfer (CONDUCTION, CONVECTION, RADIATION, EVAPORATION,
AND PHASE CHANGE)
PASSIVE COOLING

The design of a building is fundamental to the

effectiveness of passive cooling system employed.

The subject should be treated in conjunction with

other aspects of architectural design and in the
context of an overall environmental design strategy.

Cooling processes should be considered in close

relationship to;
• Building types
• Occupancy patterns
• Heat gain sources in the various climatic
conditions
 PREVENTION
OF HEAT GAIN

A 3-STEP FRAMEWORK (PASSIVE COOLING DESIGN)

Passive cooling design attempts to integrate principles

of physics into the building envelope. MODULATION
OF HEAT GAIN
This is a 3-step framework in the context of
environmental design that involves:

HEAT
DISSIPATION
 BENEFITS OF PASSIVE COOLING
Passive cooling techniques, as alternatives
to air conditioning, have these benefits:
Environmental and Health Benefits:
• No use of refrigerants
• No pollution due to electricity
production
• Improved environmental quality and
occupant health
• Reduced risk of Sick Building Syndrome

Additional Benefits:
• Savings in capital cost, maintenance and
running cost
• Considerable savings in primary energy
• Reduced strain on national electricity
grids by reduced peak electric demand
• Simplicity and ease of operation
 CONSTRAINTS OF PASSIVE COOLING

Microclimate and Topography

Constraints:
• Potential limitations that may be
encountered at certain sites, such
as
a. Insufficient wind speeds
b. Lot orientation
c. Cloud cover and high
humidity

Other Constraints:
• Conflict with other design
requirements
• Capital costs
NATURAL VENTILATION
NATURAL VENTILATION takes advantage of both wind pressure and
buoyancy in order to drive fresh air through a building. This removes
the need for the use of intensive fans - which can often be expensive
in terms of energy use and installation.

VENTILATION is the contributed airflow into or through a building and

used to circulate air or to replace stale air with fresh air.

Ventilation in buildings has three main purposes:

PURPOSE NO. OF AIR CHANGES/HOUR

1. To maintain a minimum air quality
2. To remove heat (or other pollutant)
3. To provide perceptible air
movement to enhance thermal
comfort
1 to 2 air change per hour
2 to 15 air change per hour
50 to 100 air change per hour
 Airflow is created by differentials.

a. Air flows from a high pressure to a

NATURAL VENTILATION low pressure area.
b. Air flows from high air density (cold) to
low air density (hot)
NATURAL VENTILATION

Natural ventilation as an alternative to mechanical ventilation has

several benefits:

a. low running cost,

b. zero energy consumption,
c. low maintenance and
d. probably lower initial cost.

It is also regarded as healthier, having less hygiene problems with

ducts, and filters, etc., and the “naturalness” in the way that it
connects with the outside, often in conjunction with windows, is
seen as a psychological benefit.
NATURAL VENTILATION
CROSS VENTILATION
 NATURAL VENTILATION: Cross Ventilation
Wind-induced ventilation uses pressures generated on
the building by the wind, to drive air through openings
in the building. It is most commonly realized as cross-
ventilation, where air enters on one side of the
building, and leaves on the opposite side, but can also
drive single sided ventilation, and vertical ventilation
flows.

Wind-induced ventilation takes place whether we want

it or not, since no building envelope is completely
airtight. Older buildings were very porous and
reasonable air quality was maintained by uncontrolled
leakage through the envelope – this is normally referred
to as infiltration.
In modern buildings the correct strategy is to build
an airtight envelope and ventilate with intentional,
controllable openings.

These openings will typically be windows, but will

also include various forms of controllable slots,
grilles and louvers, where the ventilation function
has been separated from the daylight and view
function.

Wind-driven ventilation can be adopted whenever

a building is exposed to the prevailing wind, unless
exceptional site conditions exist, such as noise and
pollution, prohibiting the use of openings in the
envelope adjacent to the occupants.

In dense urban areas, close to the ground, and in

heavily vegetated sites, the prevailing wind may be
of such a low speed, as to only make a minimal
contribution, and mechanical air supply may have
NATURAL VENTILATION: Cross Ventilation
to be considered.
 PROVIDING DOOR TRANSOM
SINGLED SIDED VENTILATION
(CROSS VENTILATION)

NATURAL VENTILATION: Cross Ventilation

WIND – INDUCED VENTILATION

NATURAL VENTILATION: Cross Ventilation

KEY POINTS TO CONSIDER WHEN USING CROSS VENTILATION?
1. Wind speed and direction is very variable.
Openings must be controllable to cover the
wide range of required ventilation rates and the
wide range of wind speeds.

2. The more the opening area is distributed, the

more likely it is that there will be a pressure
difference between openings to drive the flow
– i.e. many small openings are better than one
large opening.

3. The internal flow path inside the building must

be considered.

4. Bear in mind that the leeward space will have

air that has picked up heat or pollution from
the windward space. This may limit the depth
of plan for cross-ventilation.
POTENTIAL CONSTRAINTS WHEN USING CROSS VENTILATION?

CONFLICTING STRATEGIES

1.The requirement for large openings may present problems

with noise control. Also, the need to provide flow paths within
the building may conflict with acoustic separation between
internal spaces. However, the provision of by-pass ducts can help
reduce this.

2. Closely related to problem of acoustic separation is fire

compartmentation. This may be solvable with fire dampers and
automatic fire doors.
DESIGN PROCEDURE:
Step 1: WIND CLIMATE, ASSESSING THE POTENTIAL OF THE
SITE:
In open sites, regional wind data can be consulted, and this
will give a reasonable indication of the direction and
frequency of useful wind. There are procedures for modifying
the unobstructed windspeed
In urban environments, it is more difficult due to turbulence,
the wind is variable in both speed and direction, in time and
space. In these situations, the rule is to provide as many
controllable openings as possible, well distributed over the
building envelope, should be adopted, rather than make
assumptions about prevailing wind direction.
DESIGN PROCEDURE:

Step 2: SPATIAL CONFIGURATION:

Four spatial types of wind-induced ventilation can be identified.
Refer to the following illustrations:
1. Single-sided ventilation: This relies on two properties of
the wind pressure distribution over a single room facade –
firstly the spatial distribution of pressure. This will cause
air to flow between two openings at different pressure,
even if they are both at a positive pressure.

Secondly, fluctuations in wind speed due to turbulence,

will create a pumping action, where small inflows will be
followed by outflows, via a single opening.
SINGLE-SIDED VENTILATION
For a given total area, ventilation is improved when openings are well
distributed horizontally and vertically. This is because the openings
are more likely to be at different pressure. It also leads to better
distribution within the room.
Consider the average interior air velocity.

Subject Reactions to Air

Movement

VELOCTIY REACTION
< 0.36 kph Stuffy
0.72 kph Unnoticed
1.80 kph Pleasant
3.16 kph Awareness
5.40 kph Drafty
> 5.40 kph Annoying

But under overheated

conditions, air velocities up to
12.00 kph = 3.33 m/s 2.64 kph = 0.733 m/s 4.20 kph = 1.167 m/s 7.20 kph may be welcomed.
1.50 kph = 0.417 m/s 2.75 kph = 0.764 m/s 7.80 kph = 2.167 m/s
2.75 kph = 0.764 m/s 4.45 kph = 1.236 m/s
6.12 kph = 1.700 m/s
SINGLE-SIDED VENTILATION
SINGLE-SIDED VENTILATION :

Install wing walls or vertical fins to enhance airflow.

2. Cross-ventilation single space: This is the classic case where a
single banked room has openings on the windward and leeward side.
With deep open plan layouts, the main limitation will be providing
sufficient fresh air via the windward openings, to meet the demands
of the whole floor (or rather its occupants), without causing
disturbance to the occupants sitting close to the window.

Related to this, is the fact that the air quality will diminish as it picks
up pollutants (or heat) as it crosses the floor. For this reason, it is
unlikely that cross-ventilation of this type is applicable to floor plans
greater than 5 times the floor-ceiling height.

NATURAL VENTILATION: Cross Ventilation

NATURAL VENTILATION: Cross Ventilation
Design procedure:

A variant on this is where the

windward or leeward side of the
room may be partitioned to form a
corridor. Clearly there must be
openings in this partition, equal to
the window openings.

CROSS VENTILATION
SINGLE SPACE VARIATION
NATURAL VENTILATION: Cross Ventilation
Design procedure:
3. Cross-ventilation with double (or more) banked
rooms: This can be achieved by openings in the corridor
partition, but is generally unsatisfactory since the
ventilation of the leeward room, relies on the occupant
of the windward room, and, according to the use type of
the building, may also have acoustic and hygiene
problems.
The solution is to provide a bypass route. This
pressurizes the corridor with fresh air, and allows
independent control to the occupant of the leeward
room. The duct could be within a ceiling zone, or a
useable annex to the circulation space, between two
windward rooms.
NATURAL VENTILATION: Cross Ventilation
Design procedure:

The following rule of thumb may be used to assess the potential for
single-sided and cross ventilation. The depth of plan over which
ventilation can be expected to work is specified in terms of the floor
to ceiling height.

Ventilation Configuration Depth to Floor - ceiling height (H)

single sided, single opening 1.5 H
single sided, multiple opening 2.5 H
cross ventilation 5H
NATURAL VENTILATION: Cross Ventilation
Design procedure:

Step 3: SIZING OF OPENINGS:

The flow rate is dependent on the pressure difference (in

this case generated by wind) and the flow resistance of the
openings, which itself is dependent primarily on the
opening area. However, there is little point making precise
calculations, since the pressures over the building will vary
over a large range, due to fluctuations in windspeed and
direction.

The simpler approach is to use a rule of thumb, which

relates the total openable area to the area of floor over
which ventilation is to be provided.
NATURAL VENTILATION: Cross Ventilation
Design procedure:
For the second purpose of ventilation (removal of heat gains),
Heat gains Total area opening
use the following guidelines.
(% of floor area)

Note that the greater the gains, the more ventilation is low (< 15 W/m2) 10 %
needed, so there is always a benefit in reducing gains as
med (15 – 30 W/m2) 20 %
much as possible – using low energy equipment and
eliminating unwanted solar gains by shading. high (> 30W/m2) 25 %

This is the total opening area, assuming inlet and outlet are
roughly equal.
NATURAL VENTILATION: Cross Ventilation
DESIGN PROCEDURE:

Step 4: CONTROL:
The openable window area recommended may seem large, but they are meant to be able to cope in times of low
windspeed and high ambient air temperatures. As the windspeed drops, they will also operate under buoyancy driven
flow (stack effect).

PREFERENTIAL USE OF JALOUSIE WINDOWS

NATURAL VENTILATION: Cross Ventilation
OTHER DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS:

Consider the Relationship of Inlet – Outlet Openings.

NATURAL VENTILATION: Cross Ventilation
OTHER DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS:

Increase the Ratio of Window Width with Wall Width to about

50%, the average indoor air speed increase rapidly.
NATURAL VENTILATION: Cross Ventilation
OTHER DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS:

Air possesses inertia. Once set in

motion, air tends to continue to
flow in its initial direction until
some intervening force is met.

Air flows to the path of least resistance.

NATURAL VENTILATION: Cross Ventilation
OTHER DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS:

The airflow pattern is

dependent to opening
locations.

Air movement is
affected by
directional
changes.
NATURAL VENTILATION: Cross Ventilation
OTHER DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS:

Optimum airflow is relative to size of openings.

When the air movement is perpendicular as it

encounters the inlet and outlet openings in alignment, Skewed air movement will
the airflow will pass through the building in a narrow result in optimum airflow in a
stream. The remainder of the interior space will have no maximum area.
significant air movement.
NATURAL VENTILATION: Cross Ventilation
OTHER DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS:

Air velocity is dependent to inlet – outlet opening ratio.

NATURAL VENTILATION: Cross Ventilation
OTHER DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS:

Study the Airflow Patterns in Building Interiors (Plan)

NATURAL VENTILATION: Cross Ventilation
OTHER DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS:

Study the Airflow Patterns in Building Interiors (Plan)

NATURAL VENTILATION: Cross Ventilation
OTHER DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS:

Study the Airflow Patterns in Building Interiors (Section)

NATURAL VENTILATION: Cross Ventilation
OTHER DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS:

Study the Airflow Patterns in Building Interiors (Section)

NATURAL VENTILATION: Cross Ventilation
OTHER DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS:

Study the Airflow Patterns in Building Interiors (Section)