PASSIVE COOLING

AR TD L&S TROPICAL DESIGN

PASSIVE DESIGN
Definition: essentially low-energy design achieved by the
building’s particular morphological organization rather
than electro-mechanical means.

PASSIVE DESIGN strategies

- set of architectural techniques that are used to
reduce the reliance on mechanical systems for heating,
cooling, and lighting in buildings

6 MAIN Strategy MODES FOR PASSIVE DESIGN

Passive Solar Heating
Thermal Mass effects
Exposed mass + night-purge ventilation
Natural ventilation
Direct evaporative cooling
Indirect evaporative cooling

PSYCHROMETRIC CHART
Definition: a tool for
understanding the relationships
between the various
parameters of supply air and
the relative humidity.
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PASSIVE COOLING SYSTEM

Definition: A cooling system using a building’s design and construction to maintain a comfortable
temperature within the building

PASSIVE COOLING methods used in building design

1. BUILDING CONFIGURATION, SITE LAYOUT AND SITE PLANNING
- A building can be protected from direct sunlight by placing it on
a location within the site that utilizes existing features such as trees
- Trees shade a building most effectively from southeast and
southwest when the morning and late afternoon sun has low
altitude

- South-facing overhangs provide more efficient shading during the midday period when the sun
is high and casts short shadows

- orientation of a building being majorly influenced by the

varying amount of solar radiation falling on different sides of
the building at different times of the day- passive design
strategy concentrated into the design along with the form

- aim of which is to encourage clustered arrangements for

heat absorption and shading opportunities
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- another factor to look at is the orientation of the building along with the directions of the
prevailing winds for optimum cross-ventilation and cooling of the structure.
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ROOM LAYOUT/ LOCATION OF SPACE IN A HOUSE

(https://www.level.org.nz/passive-design/location-orientation-and-layout/room-layout/)

North-facing rooms
The main living spaces such as living, family
and dining rooms should be north facing where
possible.
-have good daylight most of the day
-have solar gain for most of the day
throughout the year
-are likely to require horizontal shading to Figure 1https://www.tlcinteriors.com.au/howto-decorate/open-
prevent overheating in summer plan-living-and-dining-room/

-have good passive solar gain in winter.

East-facing rooms
- most suited as kitchen and breakfast areas as they
can benefit from early morning solar gain
throughout the year and will be cooler in the late
afternoon when evening meal preparation takes
place.
- have good morning light
- have solar gain in the morning throughout Figure 2 https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/modern-
the year to provide initial warming kitchen-ideas

- will be cooler in the late afternoon.

Bedrooms - cooler in the late afternoon and evening,
comfortable for summer
- Early risers generally appreciate east sun in spaces
they will use first thing in the morning such as breakfast
bars.

Figure 3
https://www.bhg.com/rooms/be
droom/modern-bedroom-ideas/
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West-facing rooms
- get low-angle, late afternoon sun, they usually require some shading to prevent overheating
and excessive glare, particularly during the summer.
- have good afternoon daylight
- can overheat in the late afternoon for much of the year
- may require vertical shading to prevent excessive overheating and glare in the afternoon
- provide good direct solar gain for thermal mass heating of living spaces in the evening.
- is suitable as a living area in households where occupants are away from home during the day-
time but at home in the evenings.

South-facing rooms
- are not suitable for habitable spaces as they:
-have lower levels of daylight during parts of the year
-have little or no heat gain.
- garage, laundry, bathroom, toilet, workroom and stairs- areas not used frequently

a few considerations for house design and orientation in the context of Feng Shui:
(https://www.bria.com.ph/articles/what-should-be-your-house-orientation-according-to-feng-shui/)

a. North and South Axis Orientation

- In Feng Shui, the most auspicious direction is considered to be the north, followed by the south,
east, and southeast.
- believed to bring positive energy and good fortune
- front and back of a house should face north and south, respectively
- optimal exposure to natural light throughout the day
- minimizes the direct impact of the sun’s heat during the hottest hours, making the living
conditions in the house more energy-efficient and comfortable.

b. Wind Direction
- beneficial to position the main entrance, doors, and windows to face the direction of the
prevailing winds
- allows for natural ventilation, cooling the interior naturally and improving air quality.
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c. Natural Surroundings
- Avoid building a house in low-lying areas prone to flooding or any location with negative
environmental features, such as cemeteries or waste disposal sites
- Choose a site with pleasant views, natural light, and positive energy, such as open spaces
or lush greenery. The presence of mountains or bodies of water can influence the flow of energy
and impact the Feng Shui of the house.
- avoid building houses facing directly south, as this direction is associated with the hottest
part of the day and can receive strong sunlight.
- west - exposed to harsh afternoon sunlight.

2. FACADE DESIGN
2.a. Use of Double-layered façade
- or Double skin
- operates on the principle of using a ventilated double
“skin” with an intermediate shading device. The intermediate
shading device reflects out a majority of the incoming solar
radiation back through the external glass.
HOW?
- consisting of two layers, usually glass, wherein air flows
through the intermediate cavity.
- space (which can vary from 20 cm to a few meters) acts
as insulation against extreme temperatures, winds, and sound,
improving the building's thermal efficiency for both high and low
temperatures.
- airflow through the intermediate cavity can occur
naturally or be mechanically driven, and the two glass layers may include sun protection
devices.

cold climates, the air buffer works as a barrier to heat loss.

- Sun-heated air contained in the cavity can heat spaces outside the glass,
reducing the demand for indoor heating systems.
hot climates, the cavity can be vented outside the building to mitigate solar gain
and decrease the cooling load
Excess heat is drained through a process known as the chimney effect, where
differences in air density create a circular motion that causes warmer air to escape.
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2.b. Low-emissivity glass(Low-e glass)

- glass that transmits visible light while selectively reflecting the longer wavelengths of
radiant heat.
- is produced by depositing a low emissivity coating either on the glass itself of over
a transparent plastic film suspended in the sealed air space of insulating glass.

• created to minimize the

amount of infrared and ultraviolet
light that comes through your glass,
without minimizing the amount of
light that enters
• have a microscopically thin
coating that is transparent and
reflects heat
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Factors used to measure the effectiveness of glass

Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC):
This is the fraction of incident solar radiation that is
admitted through the window. This can be either
directly transmitted and absorbed or radiated inward.
U-Value:
This is the rating that is given to a window based
on how much heat loss it allows.
Visible Light Transmittance (VLT):
The measure of how much visible light passes
through the glass. Light to Solar Gain
Light to Solar Gain:
The ratio between the window’s visible light
transmittance and its Solar Gain Coefficient rating.

Types of Low-E Coatings

1. Passive Low-E Coatings (Hard-Coat)
-manufactured using the pyrolytic process, which
creates a pyrolytic coating.
2. Solar Control Low-E Coatings (Soft-Coat)
-manufactured using the Magnetron Sputtering
Vapor Deposition (MSVD) process, which means the
coating is applied off-line to pre-cut glass in a vacuum
chamber at room temperature.

2.c. Insulation
–, is to increase external wall insulation to reduce
leakages and to lower the ratio of solid glass area.
- reduces the rate that heat can flow through the
elements in which it is installed. In heated and cooled
buildings, this will result in significant energy savings and
thermal comfort.
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EXAMPLES OF CANOPY/ OVERHANG DESIGN

GLAZING & PROPERTIES

- is a transparent part of a wall or roof, usually made of glass or plastic (acrylic and
polycarbonate).
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Types of Glazing
1.Float Glass
2.Heat Treated Glass
3.Surface Coated Glass
4.Processed Glass
5.Application Glass

3. HEAT INSULATION
BUILDING ENVELOPE MATERIALS
- Use less heat absorptive facade materials
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5. SOLAR CONTROL DEVICES (SUN SHADING DEVICES)

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BRISE SOLEIL
- the French ‘brise’ meaning broken and ‘soleil’ meaning sun – therefore, literally
translating to broken sun.
- an external form of solar shading using a series of angled horizontal, vertical,
latticed or patterned louvre fins or blades in an arrangement that controls the amount of
sunlight and solar heat entering a building
- designed to allow low-level sun to enter a building in the mornings, evening and
during winter but eliminate direct summer sun

- contemporary use of brise soleil was propagated by the

influential Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban
planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded
as modern architecture, Charles-Édouard Jeanneret or Le
Corbusier,- common types of brise-soleil, simple concrete fins

EXAMPLES
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TYPES
1. HORIZONTAL TYPES
- Horizontal overhangs are most efficient toward south of southern orientations. Their
mask characteristics are segmental.
- Generally used on the North facing and south facing sides
- Louvers parallel to wall have the advantage of permitting air circulation near the
elevation.
- Slanted louvers will have the same characteristics as solid overhangs, and can be
retractable.
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- When projection is needed for low sun angles, louvers hung from solid horizontal
overhangs are efficient.
- A solid, or perforated screen strip parallel to wall cuts out the lower rays of the sun.
- Movable horizontal louvers change their segmental mask characteristics according
to their positioning

2. VERTICAL TYPES
- Vertical fins serve well toward the
near east and near west orientations.
Their mask characteristics are radial.
- Vertical fins oblique to wall will
result in asymmetrical mask. Separation
from wall will prevent heat transmission.
- Moveable fins can shade the
whole wall, or open up in different
directions according to the sun’s
position.
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3. EGGCRATE TYPES
- are combinations of horizontal vertical types, and their masks are superimposed
diagrams of the two masks.
- Solid eggcrate wind slanting vertical fins results in asymmetrical masks.
- device with moveable horizontal elements shows flexible mask characteristics.
Because of their high shading ratio, eggcrate are efficient in hot climates.

6. BUILDING ENVELOPE COLOR

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7. WIND AND NATURAL VENTILATION

7.1. WIND
- the movement of air caused by the uneven heating of the Earth by the sun.
Aeolian landforms- Landforms, processes, and impacts of wind, such as sand dunes and Loess
deposits, which are deposits of silt.
- Differences in atmospheric pressure generate winds
- Winds generally blow from high-pressure areas to low-pressure areas.

low-pressure system
- Warm equatorial air rises higher into the
atmosphere and migrates toward the poles.

high-pressure system.
- cooler, denser air moves over Earth’s surface
toward the Equator to replace the heated air.
The boundary between these two areas is called a
front.

PREVAILING WINDS
-winds that blow from a single direction over a
specific area of the Earth
- Areas where prevailing winds meet are
called convergence zones.
- Generally, prevailing winds blow east-west
rather than north-south.
Northeast Monsoon (AMIHAN)
Cold winds from the northeast that bring rains over
the eastern side of the country
Southwest Monsoon (HABAGAT)
Warm moist winds from the southwest causing rains over the western portion of the country from
May to September
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WIND ZONES
- five major wind zones: polar easterlies, westerlies, horse latitudes, trade winds, and the
doldrums.
a. Polar Easterlies
- dry, cold, y emanate from the polar highs, areas of high pressure around the North
and South Poles
b. Westerlies
- blow from the west at midlatitudes.
- enormous impact on ocean currents, especially in the Southern Hemisphere.
c. Horse Latitudes
- arrow zone of warm, dry climates between westerlies and the trade winds.
- Many deserts, from the rainless Atacama of South America to the arid Kalahari of
Africa
- usually light; strong winds are often short in duration.
d. Doldrums
- area around the ITCZ is called the doldrums.
- Prevailing winds are very weak, and the weather is unusually calm.
e. Trade Winds
- the powerful prevailing winds that blow from the east across the tropics.
- generally, very predictable.
- form over land (called continental trade winds) are warmer and drier than those
that form over the ocean (maritime trade winds).
- tropical storms, including hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons, develop as trade
winds
- Strong trade winds are associated with a lack of precipitation, while weak trade
winds carry rainfall far inland
- The place where trade winds of the two hemispheres meet is called the
intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ).
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Results of Wind
Jet Streams- are geostrophic winds that form near the boundaries of air masses with different
temperatures and humidity.

Hurricane- a giant, spiraling tropical storm that can pack wind speeds of over 257 kph (160 mph)
and unleash more than 9 trillion liters (2.4 trillion gallons) of rain
hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean,
cyclones in the northern Indian Ocean,
- blow through the Indian Ocean in the same way hurricanes blow across the
Atlantic. Cyclones blow in with air masses from the east, often the South China
Sea, or the south.
typhoons in the western Pacific Ocean.
- tropical storms that develop over the northwest Pacific Ocean
- can impact a wide area of the eastern Pacific. The islands of the Philippines,
China, Vietnam, and Japan are the most affected.
- often associated with extremely heavy rainfall.
- have a spiral shape
- swirling counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern
Hemisphere
- Wind conditions that can lead to hurricanes are called tropical disturbances
- If the disturbance lasts for more than 24 hours and gets to speeds of 61 kph (38 mph), it
becomes known as a tropical depression.
- When a tropical depression speeds up to 63-117 kph (39-73 mph), it is known as a tropical
storm, and is given a name
- in alphabetical order, and alternate with female and male names.
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- spin around a low-

pressure (warm) center known as
the “eye.” Sinking air inside the
eye makes it very calm
- The eye is surrounded by
a violent circular “eye wall.” This
is where the storm’s strongest
winds and rain are.

Wind speeds increase with the height above

the ground, and the smoothness of the
ground surface. This variation in wind speed is
known as wind gradient.

As the wind passes over hills, there is an increase in wind speed on the windward side and a more
sheltered area in the leeward side.
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Although towns are “rough” and slow down the wind tail, buildings will often deflect strong winds
down to a lower level.

Permeable wind breaks do not give so much shelter immediately behind them but slow down
wind for some distance.

Low bushes will restrict air movement

at ground level, and will deflect the
wind away from openings.
A traditional solution to these
problems is to raise the building off
the ground to avoid dust, etc. and to
reach the faster wind speeds at the
higher level.
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Bushes at low level can be used to deflect

the wind into interiors which would otherwise
suffer from low wind speeds.

STACK EFFECT / CHIMNEY EFFECT

- The tendency of air or gas in a shaft or other vertical space to rise when heated, creating a
draft that draws in cooler air or gas from below
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VENTILATION PRINCIPLES
1. Air is created by differentials. Air flows from a high pressure to a low pressure area

2. Air has mass and possesses inertia (and thus momentum) and it will tend to continue in its
direction until altered by an obstruction or an adjacent airflow

3. Air flows through the path of least resistance.

- Air travelling in a given direction will continue until it is diverted.
- Overall effect of wind is so large that the deflected airflow will tend to return to the
direction and speed
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4. Air movement is affected by directional changes

- Change in direction consumes energy
and reduces velocity
- Greater the velocity the larger the loss of
energy when direction changes

Laminar airflow
- smooth with adjacent airflow moving in a
similar direction and speed
- slow, gentle alternations will preserve the laminar
flow, abrupt alternations result in turbulent flow
- adjacent air currents separate into
swirling, unpredictable directions

5. BERNOULLI EFFECT
- causes decrease in pressure when air is accelerated in order to cover a greater distance
than adjacent airflow
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5. Optimum airflow is relative to the size of openings

6. VENTURI EFFECT
- causes as acceleration when laminar airflow is constricted in order to pass through an
opening. If the constriction is abrupt, the Venturi acceleration is minimized

- Air velocity is dependent to inlet-outlet

opening ratio
- The maximum velocity of air movement is
obtained when the outlet opening is larger
than the inlet opening
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7. Airflow pattern is dependent to the opening

locations, the placement of inlet opening as well as by
the initial airflow direction and the location of positive
and negative pressure areas

8. Cross ventilation requires an outlet as well as an inlet

CROSS VENTILATION
- The circulation of fresh air through open windows, doors or other openings on opposite
sides of a room

9. Openings of opposite walls relieve high pressure on the windward side, creating good cross
ventilation through the interior
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10. If inlet is smaller than outlet, maximum interior airspeed is created, making this the optimum
configuration when people cooling is the goal

DESIGNS CONSIDERATIONS
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- When openings cannot be oriented to

the prevailing winds / rooms with windows
on one wall.
- Use of wing walls or vertical fins to create
a positive pressure at one window and a
negative at another

- Consider average interior air velocity

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- Elevate the ground floor, if possible

- In coastal areas where high humidity levels demand the most ventilation
- Air currents are stringer high above the surface and elevated design keeps the underside
dry
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Use ground cover and planting for stie cooling

-Pavers- for walkways, driveways, parking
-Grass cover- cooler than paved surfaces, does not dissipate heat
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If the inlet and outlet are at a high level, then the stream of air
passing across the room will be at high level.

If the outlet is lowered, then the stream of air is only

altered at the back of the room.

Air movement at the required height in the room can only be

achieved by positioning the inlet correctly.

If partitions are used which give visual privacy, they will

also prevent good air movement at low level.

When an opening is placed centrally on a façade and the wind

blows straight onto the face of the building, the air stream inside
the opening is in the same direction as the wind.

If the opening is not placed centrally, the areas of

positive pressure will be unequal on different sides of
the opening and the wind stream is deflected.
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A central opening with a projection to one side will also have

a deflected air stream.

A slot between the wall and projection will allow

the areas of positive pressure on both sides of the
opening to act on the wind stream.

Louvers, open windows may also deflect air stream.

WIND BEHAVIOR WITHIN A ROOM

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Fin walls can good poor significantly increase

ventilation through windows on the same wall.
• Poor ventilation results excellent good
from fin walls placed on the same side of each
window or when two fins are used on each
window
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EFFECT OF LANDSCAPE ELEMENTS

1. Hedges/shrubs should not be more than 3 meters from building
2. Tree foliage above openings promote air motion into openings
3. Combine tree, hedge and building to achieve air flow control
4. Lateral air channels to direct air flow
5. Arrange trees to determine wind shadow
6. Make use of earth mounds to achieve better air movement
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SOLAR GEOMETRY
1. Rays of the sun vary with time and place (latitude)
2. Celestial Sphere: earth is static; sun moves from east to west
3. The sun moves across the sky at a rate of15.04° per hour
4. The earth’s polar axis is inclined at 23°47’ from the vertical
5. June 21 is considered the longest day =summer solstice
6.December 21 is the shortest day =winter solstice
7.March 21 and September 21 =equinoxes