PASSIVE COOLING

Enlist with sketches various types of design elements to reduce heat gain in the design of a
building.

 Stack Ventilation
 Cross Ventilation
CROSS VENTILATION
Purging heat gains by the introduction of ventilation.
The mechanical system or equipment used to circulate air or to replace stale air with
fresh air.
Passive ventilation is when air is exchanged in a building through openings in the
building envelope using the stack and wind pressures. Ventilation in buildings has
three main purposes:
1. To maintain a minimum air quality
2. To remove heat (or other pollutant)
3. To provide perceptible air movement to enhance thermal comfort
Natural ventilation
 Stack Ventilation
 In stack ventilation cool air is pulled throughout the home while warmer air rises
above the cool air to exit through an opening near the top of the structure.
 Stack ventilation is where air is driven through the building by vertical pressure
differences developed by thermal buoyancy.
 The warm air inside the building is less dense than cooler air outside, and thus will try
to escape from openings high up in the building envelope; cooler denser air will enter
openings lower down.
 The process will continue if the air entering the building is continuously heated,
typically by casual or solar gains.
Cross-Ventilation
 cross-ventilation strategies place air inlets on the windward side and air outlets on the
leeward side of the home.
 Wind-induced ventilation uses pressures generated on the building by the wind, to
drive air through openings in the building.
 It is most commonly realised 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.
1. WING WALL
 Wing Walls Wing walls are vertical solid panels placed
alongside of windows perpendicular to the wall on the
windward side of the house. Wing walls will accelerate
the natural wind speed due to pressure differences
created by the wing wall.
2. THERMAL CHIMNEY
 Thermal Chimney A thermal chimney employs
convective currents to draw air out of a
building. By creating a warm or hot zone with
an exterior exhaust outlet, air can be drawn into
the house ventilating the structure.
 Thermal mass indirect gain walls can be made
to function similarly except that the mass wall
should be insulated on the inside when
performing this function.
 "thermal chimney," a solar-exposed enclosure
tall enough to generate maximum air flow and
massive enough to retain heat and power the
system into the evening hours.
3. COURTYARD
 If this heat exchange reduces roof surface
temperature to wet bulb temperature of air,
condensation of atmospheric moisture
occurs on the roof and the gain due to
condensation limits further cooling.
 Due to incident solar radiation in a courtyard,
the air gets warmer and rises. Cool air from
the ground level flows through the louvered
openings of rooms surrounding a courtyard,
thus producing air flow.
 At night, the warm roof surfaces get cooled by convection and radiation. Courtyard as
a moderator of internal climate
 If the roof surfaces are sloped towards the internal courtyard, the cooled air sinks into
the court and enters the living space through low-level openings, gets warmed up, and
leaves the room through higher-level openings. However, care should be taken that
the courtyard does not receive intense solar radiation, which would lead to
conduction and radiation heat gains into the building.
 Courtyard provide shade. Courtyard with vegetation and water body enhances
humidity.
4. ROOFPOND SYSTEM
 Roof pond is a passive cooling
technique based upon the increased
heat capacity of cheap and widely
available water. In general, the pond is
covered during day to prevent heating,
and open at night to be cooled.
 Roof pond systems Six to twelve inches
of water are contained on a flat roof.
 This system is best for cooling in low
humidity climates but can be modified
to work in high humidity climates.
5. EVAPORATIE COOLING
 Evaporative cooling is a passive cooling
technique in which outdoor air is
cooled by evaporating water before it is
introduced in the building.
 Its physical principle lies in the fact that the heat of air is used to evaporate water,
thus cooling the air, which in turn cools the living space in the building. To enhance
the process of evaporation, fountains were used which mixed the moisture to the air
and increased the humidity.
 Evaporative cooling lowers indoor air temperature by evaporating water.
 In evaporative cooling, the sensible heat of air is used to evaporate water, thereby
cooling the air, which, in turn, cools the living space of the building.
 Methods of evaporative cooling include: • Roof pond systems • Water spraying
Evaporative Cooling
 Roof sprinkling system
This system is based on evaporation of a water
mist layer created by misting spray heads on
top of the roof. An appreciable amount of heat
is dissipated as the water evaporates.

6. COOLING TOWER
 In a wind tower, the hot air enters the tower through the openings in the tower,
gets cooled, and thus becomes heavier and sinks down.
 The inlet and outlet of rooms induce cool air movement.
 In the presence of wind, air is cooled more effectively and flows faster down the
tower and into the living area.
 After a whole day of air exchanges, the tower becomes warm in the evenings.
 During the night, cooler ambient air comes in contact with the bottom of the tower
through the rooms.
 The tower walls absorb heat during daytime and release it at night, warming the
cool night air in the tower.
 Warm air moves up, creating an upward draft, and draws cool night air through
the doors and windows into the building.
 The system works effectively in hot and dry climates where fluctuations are high.
 A wind tower works well for individual units not for multi-storeyed apartments.
 In dense urban areas, the wind tower has to be long enough to be able to catch
enough air. Also protection from driving rain is difficult.
7. SHADING
 Horizontal shading.
 The most effective method of
cooling a building is to shade
windows, walls and roof of
building from direct solar
radiation.
 Heavily insulated walls and
roofs need less shading.
 Can use overhangs on
outside facade of the building. Each
project should be evaluated depending
on its relative cooling needs:
 Extend the overhang beyond the sides of
the window to prevent solar gain from
the side.
 Use slatted or louvered shades to allow
more daylight to enter, while shading
windows from direct sunlight.
 Reduce solar heat gain by recessing
windows into the wall.
 There are two types of shading system:
• External Shading • Internal Shading
External shading These methods used in
external shading:
• Eaves • Awnings • Screens and
shutters • Louvers • Verandas
• Pergolas • Trees and shrubs
 Overhang is use for shading
 Internal shading
 Internal shading can be provided using curtains and blinds.
 Internal shading can be a useful device when: • The sun penetrates for only a short
time heat build-up will not be major problem. • Windows can he left open adjacent
to them. • It is required to reduce glare.
 8. THERMAL MASS
 A material that has thermal mass is one that has the capacity to absorb, store and
release the sun’s heat energy.
 The best way to cool a building is to build with thick stone or masonry. Thermal mass
is measured in terms of ‘Volumetric heat capacity’
 Thermal Mass Thick walls provides thermal insulation.
 Outer surface shades the wall itself. Arched ceiling helps to cool internal space of the
roof. Part of domical roof is always shaded.
 When the outer temperature is lowered at night, the high emissive property of the
walls allows cooling down the wall surfaces rapidly.
 Flat roofs get more radiations while vaulted and domed roofs prevent the absorption
of heat of the summer’s vertical sun.
9. LATTICE SCREEN
 Lattice Screen (Jaali) Jaali ensures privacy and provide diffuse light and view.
 It controls the airflow and lower down the temperature of internal spaces on the
other.
 When there is sunshine outside in the day, the internal spaces are not clearly visible
from outside.
 however, the diffused light is spread throughout the interiors.
 To get a clear outside view, a cut-out is provided at eye level for the viewer sitting on
the floor.
10. OPENINGS AND GLAZING
 Limiting the area of openings.
 Orientating openings away from the sun path.
 Reducing solar transmittance through openings, for example by reflective glazing. This
might be used in conjunction with low-e coatings that reduce the long-wave solar
radiation transmitted from the outside to the inside.
 87% of unwanted heat in summer comes into a building through the windows and
doors. Glass is a good thermal conductor and as such, double and triple glazing work
to conflict that fact by trapping air or gas that serves as a barrier between indoor and
outdoor.
11. ORIENTATION
 The building should be elongated on an east-west
axis.
 The kitchen on the other hand should be placed at the
leeward side of the building to avoid circulation of hot
air.
12. BUILDING ENVELOP
 Insulating the building envelope to prevent the
transmission of indirect solar gains.
 Reducing the solar absorption of the building envelope. The term 'albedo' relates to the
total reflectance of a specific system. White coloured surfaces can be effective in
minimising heat transfer into buildings.
  The building envelope comprises of walls, floors and roofs, all these elements in a
building can be insulated from either heat gain.
 In hot climates, roof could be made reflective a Reflective Foil Laminate (RFL). In other
cases,
 The use of dense materials like concrete, bricks and other similar materials that absorb,
store and release energy to optimize diurnal extremes should be considered
13. PASSIVE DOWN DROUGHT COOLING
 In this system, wind catchers guide outside air over water-filled pots, inducing
evaporation and causing a significant drop in temperature before the air enters the
interior.
 Such wind catchers become primary elements of the architectural form also. Passive
downdraught evaporative cooling is particularly effective in hot and dry climates.
14. VEGETATION
 Planting to provide shading and
to reduce the solar absorption of
roofs.
 Vegetation provides shade for
the surrounding ground and
reduces its temperature, it also
has the ability to absorb intense
heat and emit so little, this is due
to its low emissivity quality
 Trees and other plants evaporate
moisture especially during a hot
summer day due to their high
cooling potential.
 Evergreen trees can be used for
shade in both summer and sun in
winter. The trees should be planted based on the orientation

18.EARTH COUPLING

 In earth coupling, the moderate and consistent temperature of soil acts as heat
sink to cool the building through conduction.
 This principle is most effective in hot climate and also when earth temperature
is cooler than ambient air temperature
 Passively shaded areas around earth-coupled slabs keep surface ground
temperatures lower during the day and allow night-time cooling. Poorly
shaded surrounds can lead to earth temperatures exceeding internal comfort
levels in many areas. In this event, an earth- coupled slab can become an
energy liability.
19.SHADING OF ROOFS
 Shading the roof is one of the important factors to reduce heat gain as around 40% of
the heat entering the building is through the roof.
 Roof shading can be done by plants, canvas, earthen pots, removable covers, wet
gunny bags, etc.
20. SHADES BY TEXTURED AND REFLECTIVE SURFACE
High textured wall surface helps to reduce heat
gain. Colour of building also helps to reflect the
solar radiation. Light colour helps to reflect the
sun radiation.

GENERAL POINTS
1.Provide maximum ventilation and free air movement by large openings.
2. Orientation of the building; longer axis can be oriented along north – south axis. 3.
Shading in exterior of building can be done by vegetation, shading devices like louvers,
sunshade, fins, etc., and passive water features.
4. Provide sunshade spaces like balcony and veranda space while designing the
building.
5. Light Colour building exterior also plays an important role in cooling.
6. There are various types of insulation material like foam, polystyrene was available
and which can be provided in the building interior.
7. According to the building design approach, low rise building should be placed on
wind direction to protect the walls from receiving radiation.
8. Buildings having large surface areas should opt for compact form to minimize heat
gain.
9. Large overhanging can be used to
protect walls.
10. The usage of reflective tiles and
materials for wall & roof and textured
surface helps to reduce heat gain.
11. Pitched roof is also recommended
for warm-humid climate to minimize
roof exposure.
12. Natural cooling can be separated
into five different categories:
ventilation, night flushing,
radiative cooling, evaporative cooling,
and earth coupling.