You are on page 1of 15

Passive Cooling

Just like passive heating, cooling your building using passive strategies is
important for reducing energy usage in your building. Specifically, utilizing
passive cooling strategies like natural ventilation, air cooling, and shades
can reduce your demand for mechanical cooling while maintaining
thermal comfort.
[Natural Ventilation]
Natural ventilation, also called passive ventilation, uses natural outside air
movement and pressure differences to both passively cool and ventilate a
building.
Natural ventilation is important because it can provide and move fresh air
without fans. For warm and hot climates, it can help meet a building's
cooling loads without using mechanical air conditioning systems. This can
be a large fraction of a building's total energy use.
Successful natural ventilation is determined by having high thermal
comfort and adequate fresh air for the ventilated spaces, while having
little or no energy use for active HVAC cooling and ventilation.
You can choose the right strategy based on the temperature and humidity
of your site. The following chart shows how much these different
strategies can extend the comfortable climate range for people.
When not to use natural ventilation:
Sites with high levels of acoustic noise, such as near heavy traffic zones,
may be less suitable for natural ventilation because large openings in the
building envelope can make it difficult to block outside noise. This can
sometimes be solved by using acoustical ventilation louvers.
Also, sites with poor air quality, such as adjacent to busy freeways, may
also be less desirable for natural ventilation. Such sites may overcome
poor outdoor air quality with filters and ducting, though this usually
requires some mechanical fan systems.
Quantifying Ventilation Effectiveness:
To measure the effectiveness of your ventilation strategies, you can
measure both the volume and speed of the airflow.
The volume of the airflow is important because it dictates the rate at
which stale air can be replaced by fresh air, and determines how much
heat the space gains or losses as a result. The volume of airflow due to
wind is:
Q_wind = K A V
Q_wind = airflow volumetric rate (m/h)

K = coefficient of effectiveness (unit less, see below)


A = opening area, of smaller opening (m)
V = outdoor uninterrupted wind speed (m/h)
The coefficient of effectiveness is a number from 0 to 1, adjusting for the
angle of the wind and other fluid dynamics factors, such as the relative
size of inlet and outlet openings. Wind hitting an open window at a 45
angle of incidence would have a coefficient of effectiveness of roughly 0.4,
while wind hitting an open window directly at a 90 angle would have a
coefficient of roughly 0.8.
When placing ventilation openings, you need to place both air inlets and
air outlets; often they do not have the same area. The opening area used
in this equation is the smaller of the two.
Air Speed and Temperature in Buildings:
In addition to volume, you should design for the wind speed inside your
building. Wind speed is a component of human comfort, and the speed
you want depends on the climate.
Higher velocity air causes more effective cooling, because it pulls heated
air away faster, and because it helps sweating be more effective by
evaporating it faster. Even a moderate wind speed can cool perceived
temperatures 5C (9F) compared to still air. This is how fans make
people feel cooler even though they do not change the temperature of the
air.
However, the ability of air movement to cool people depends on whether
it is the air itself that is hot, or if the radiant temperatures of the rooms
surfaces are hot. The hotter the air itself is, the less it helps to move it. If
people are primarily hot from surrounding radiant temperatures, however,
moving air helps more. The ASHRAE 55 standard provides guidelines for
how much cooling is possible with air movement at different speeds, for
different mean radiant temperatures. A 3C temperature rise can be
nullified by a 0.8 m/s increase in air speed when air temperatures are 5C
below radiant temperatures, but if air temperatures are 5C warmer than
radiant temperature, it would require a 1.6 m/s increase in air speed. This
is far above what is acceptable wind conditions for light office work.
Youll need to make sure that wind speeds inside the building arent so
high that they disturb the occupants. Fast winds can blow papers around
on desks, blow people's hair around, etc (refer back to the Beaufort Wind
Scale). Referring to ASHRAE 55 for thermal comfort guidelines regarding
air speeds for interior spaces, the standard suggests that air speeds
appropriate for indoor environments do not exceed 0.2 m/s or 0.447 mph.
ASHRAE also accounts for elevated air speeds that will increase the

acceptable temperature. The maximum allowable elevated airspeed is 1.5


m/s or 3.579 mph.
It is also important to consider how often the air in a room is replaced, as
an important feature of natural ventilation is that it supplies occupants
with fresh air. The number of times the air in a room is replaced is known
as air changes per hour, ACH, or the air change rate. It is determined by
both the size of the room and the volumetric flowrate of air (Q). Q_wind,
referenced above, is a component of this overall flow rate.
There are standards and recommendations for how much fresh outside air
should be delivered to different building spaces, and to people within the
building. For example, ASHRAE 62.2001 specifies 0.35 air changes per
hour for residential living areas, but also specifies a minimum volumetric
flowrate of 15 ft3/min (CFM) per person.
The equation is:
ACH = (Q / V) * (conversion factor)
Q = volumetric flow rate of fresh air
V = Volume of room or space
Conversion Factor = If the volumetric flow rate, time scales, and volumes
are incongruous units. For example, if Q is in cubic feet per minute (CFM)
and volume is in ft2, youd need to multiply by 60 to get it in terms of
hours. If Q is in cubic meters per second, or Liters per second, the
conversion factor would be different.
Thermal Mass:
Thermal mass can also have an impact on natural ventilation. Sometimes
a space can get too hot for natural ventilation to have an impact on
thermal comfort. However, you can use thermal mass to help maintain a
consistent temperature and avoid big jumps. By stabilizing the
temperature swings, you have a better chance of using natural ventilation
effectively. Best practice design strategies for enhancing natural
ventilation with thermal mass is explained further through night flushing.

[Wind Ventilation]
Wind ventilation is a kind of passive ventilation that uses the force of the
wind to pull air through the building.
Wind ventilation is the easiest, most common, and often least expensive
form of passive cooling and ventilation. Successful wind ventilation is
determined by having high thermal comfort and adequate fresh air for the
ventilated spaces, while having little or no energy use for active HVAC
cooling and ventilation.

Strategies for wind ventilation include operable windows, ventilation


louvers, and rooftop vents, as well as structures to aim or funnel breezes.
Windows are the most common tool. Advanced systems can have
automated windows or louvers actuated by thermostats.
If air moves through openings that are intentional as a result of wind
ventilation, then the building has natural ventilation. If air moves through
openings that are not intentional as a result of wind ventilation, then the
building has infiltration, or unwanted ventilation (air leaking in).
Strategies for Wind Ventilation:
The keys to good wind ventilation design are the building orientation and
massing, as well as sizing and placing openings appropriately for the
climate. In order to maximize wind ventilation, youll want the pressure
difference between the windward (inlet) and leeward (outlet) to be
maximized. In almost all cases, high pressures occur on the windward side
of a building and low pressures occur on the leeward side.
The local climate may have strong prevailing winds in a certain direction,
or light variable breezes, or may have very different wind conditions at
different times. Often a great deal of adjustability by occupants is
required. Consult climate data for wind rose diagrams.
The local climate may also have very hot times of the day or year, while
other times are quite cold (particularly desert regions). In summer, wind
is usually used to supply as much fresh air as possible while in winter,
wind ventilation is normally reduced to levels sufficient only to remove
excess moisture and pollutants.
Site, Massing, and Orientation for Wind Ventilation:
Massing and orientation are important because building height and depth
play a huge role in the structure's ability to effectively pull outside air
through occupied spaces. The massing and orientation pages discuss how
to optimize them for passive ventilation. In a nutshell, upper floors and
roofs are exposed to more wind than lower floors, and buildings with thin
profiles facing into the path of prevailing winds are easiest to ventilate.
Atria and open-plan spaces also help wind ventilation be more effective.
Cross Ventilation:
When placing ventilation openings, you are placing inlets and outlets to
optimize the path air follows through the building. Windows or vents
placed on opposite sides of the building give natural breezes a pathway
through the structure. This is called cross-ventilation. Cross-ventilation is
generally the most effective form of wind ventilation.
It is generally best not to place openings exactly across from each other in
a space. While this does give effective ventilation, it can cause some
parts of the room to be well-cooled and ventilated while other parts are

not. Placing openings across from, but not directly opposite, each other
causes the room's air to mix, better distributing the cooling and fresh air.
Also, you can increase cross ventilation by having larger openings on the
leeward faces of the building that the windward faces and placing inlets at
higher pressure zones and outlets at lower pressure zones.
Placing inlets low in the room and outlets high in the room can cool spaces
more effectively, because they leverage the natural convection of air.
Cooler air sinks lower, while hot air rises; therefore, locating the opening
down low helps push cooler air through the space, while locating the
exhaust up high helps pull warmer air out of the space. This strategy is
covered more on the stack ventilation page.
Steering Breezes:
Not all parts of buildings can be oriented for cross-ventilation. But wind
can be steered by architectural features, such as casement windows, wing
walls, fences, or even strategically-planted vegetation.
Architectural features can scoop air into a room. Such structures facing
opposite directions on opposite walls can heighten this effect. These
features can range from casement windows or baffles to large-scale
structures such as fences, walls, or hedgerows.
Wing Walls:
Wing walls project outward next to a window, so that even a slight breeze
against the wall creates a high pressure zone on one side and low on the
other. The pressure differential draws outdoor air in through one open
window and out the adjacent one. Wing walls are especially effective on
sites with low outdoor air velocity and variable wind directions.

[Stack Ventilation and Bernoulli's Principle]


Stack ventilation and Bernoulli's principle are two kinds of passive
ventilation that use air pressure differences due to height to pull air
through the building. Lower pressures higher in the building help pull air
upward. The difference between stack ventilation and Bernoulli's principle
is where the pressure difference comes from.
Stack ventilation uses temperature differences to move air. Hot air rises
because it is lower pressure. For this reason, it is sometimes called
buoyancy ventilation.
Bernoulli's principle uses wind speed differences to move air. It is a
general principle of fluid dynamics, saying that the faster air moves, the
lower its pressure. Architecturally speaking, outdoor air farther from the
ground is less obstructed, so it moves faster than lower air, and thus has
lower pressure. This lower pressure can help suck fresh air through the
building. A building's surroundings can greatly affect this strategy, by
causing more or less obstruction.
The advantage of Bernoullis principle over the stack effect is that it
multiplies the effectiveness of wind ventilation. The advantage of stack

ventilation over Bernoulli's principle is that it does not need wind: it works
just as well on still, breezeless days when it may be most needed. In many
cases, designing for one effectively designs for both, but some strategies
can be employed to emphasize one or the other. For instance, a simple
chimney optimizes for the stack effect, while wind scoops optimize for
Bernoullis principle.
For example, the specially-designed wind cowls in the Bed ZED
development use the faster winds above rooftops for passive ventilation.
They have both intake and outlet, so that fast rooftop winds get scooped
into the buildings, and the larger outlets create lower pressures to
naturally suck air out. The stack effect also helps pull air out through the
same exhaust vent.
After wind ventilation, stack ventilation is the most commonly used form
of passive ventilation. It and Bernoulli's principle can be extremely
effective and inexpensive to implement. Typically, at night, wind speeds
are slower, so ventilation strategies driven by wind is less effective.
Therefore, stack ventilation is an important strategy.
Successful passive ventilation using these strategies is measured by
having high thermal comfort and adequate fresh air for the ventilated
spaces, while having little or no energy use for active HVAC cooling and
ventilation.
Strategies for Stack Ventilation and Bernoullis Principle:
Designing for stack ventilation and Bernoulli's principle are similar, and a
structure built for one will generally have both phenomena at work. In
both strategies, cool air is sucked in through low inlet openings and hotter
exhaust air escapes through high outlet openings. The ventilation rate is
proportional to the area of the openings. Placing openings at the bottom
and top of an open space will encourage natural ventilation through stack
effect. The warm air will exhaust through the top openings, resulting in
cooler air being pulled into the building from the outside through the
openings at the bottom. Openings at the top and bottom should be
roughly the same size to encourage even air flow through the vertical
space.
To design for these effects, the most important consideration is to have a
large difference in height between air inlets and outlets. The bigger the
difference, the better.
Towers and chimneys can be useful to carry air up and out, or skylights or
clerestories in more modest buildings. For these strategies to work, air
must be able to flow between levels. Multi-story buildings should have
vertical atria or shafts connecting the airflows of different floors.
Solar radiation can be used to enhance stack ventilation in tall open
spaces. By allowing solar radiation into the space (by using equator facing

glazing for example), you can heat up the interior surfaces and increase
the temperature that will accelerate stack ventilation between the top and
bottom openings.
Installing weatherproof vents to passively ventilate attic spaces in hot
climates is an important design strategy that is often overlooked. In
addition to simply preventing overheating1, ventilated attics can use
these principles to actually help cool a building. There are several styles
of passive roof vents: Open stack, turbine, gable, and ridge vents, to
name a few.
To allow adjustability in the amount of cooling and fresh air provided by
stack ventilation and Bernoulli systems, the inlet openings should be
adjustable with operable windows or ventilation louvers. Such systems
can be mechanized and controlled by thermostats to optimize
performance.
Stack ventilation and the Bernoulli Effect can be combined with crossventilation as well. This matrix shows how multiple different horizontal
and vertical air pathways can be combined.
Solar Chimneys A solar chimney uses the sun's heat to provide cooling,
using the stack effect. Solar heat gain warms a column of air, which then
rises, pulling new outside air through the building. They are also called
thermal chimneys, thermosiphons, or thermosiphons.
The simplest solar chimney is merely a chimney painted black. Many
outhouses in parks use such chimneys to provide passive ventilation.
Solar chimneys need their exhaust higher than roof level, and need
generous sun exposure. They are generally most effective for climates
with a lot of sun and little wind; climates with more wind on hot days can
usually get more ventilation using the wind itself.
Advanced solar chimneys can involve Trobe walls or other means of
absorbing and storing heat in the chimney to maximize the sun's effect,
and keep it working after sunset. Unlike a Trobe wall, solar chimneys are
generally best when insulated from occupied spaces, so they do not
transfer the sun's heat to those spaces but only provide cooling.
Herma chimneys can also be combined with means of cooling the
incoming air, such as evaporative cooling or geothermal cooling.
Solar chimneys can also be used for heating, much like a Trobe wall is. If
the top exterior vents are closed, the heated air is not exhausted out the
top; at the same time, if high interior vents are opened to let the heated
air into occupied spaces, it will provide convective air heating.
This works even on cold and relatively cloudy days. It can be useful for
locations with hot summers and cold winters, switching between cooling
and heating by adjusting which vents are open and closed.

[Night-Purge Ventilation]
Night-Purge Ventilation (or "night flushing") keeps windows and other
passive ventilation openings closed during the day, but open at night to
flush warm air out of the building and cool thermal mass for the next day.
Night-purge ventilation is useful when daytime air temperatures are so
high that bringing unconditioned air into the building would not cool
people down, but where night-time air is cool or cold. This strategy can
provide passive ventilation in weather that might normally be considered
too hot for it.
Successful night-purge ventilation is determined by how much heat
energy is removed from a building by bringing in night-time air, without
using active HVAC cooling and ventilation.
Night flushing works by opening up pathways for wind ventilation and
stack ventilation throughout the night, to cool down the thermal mass in a
building by convection. Early in the morning, the building is closed and
kept sealed throughout the day to prevent warm outside air from entering.
During the day, the cool mass absorbs heat from occupants and other
internal loads. This is done largely by radiation, but convection and
conduction also play roles.
Because the "colt" of night-purge ventilation is stored in thermal mass, it
requires a building with large areas of exposed internal thermal mass.
This means not obscuring floors with carpets and coverings, walls with
cupboards and panels, or ceilings with acoustic tiles and drop-panels.
Using natural ventilation for the cooling also requires a relatively
unobstructed interior to promote air flow.
Limitations:

These systems have some limitations due to climate, security concerns,


and usability factors.
Climatically, night flushing is only suitable for climates with a relatively
large temperature range from day to night, where night-time
temperatures are below 20 or 22C (68 or 71F). If the building is
occupied at night, like residences, the ventilation should not be so cold as
to be uncomfortable for occupants. In addition, the location should be one
with adequate wind at night to provide the cooling.
Usability can be a concern, as the opening and closing of all the openings
every day can be tiresome for occupants or maintenance staff, and they
may not always open and close everything at the optimal times. This can
be solved with mechanized windows or ventilation louvers, controlled by
either a timer or a thermostat-driven control system.
Another usability issue is the possibility of rain coming in at night,
damaging property or interior finishes. While rain is not a common
occurrence in climates where night flushing works best, it can be
addressed with overhangs, ventilation louvers with steep angles, and
other structural measures.
Security can be a concern, especially in buildings that are unoccupied at
night. This can be overcome with adequate security structures, such as
bars or screens, or more sophisticated electronic systems.

[Air Cooling]
In very hot climates it's often necessary to prevent outdoor air from
getting into the building un-conditioned during the heat of the day.
However, natural ventilation can still be an option even in hot climates,
particularly in hot dry climates. Two techniques can be used: faster air
movement, and passively cooling incoming air.
Faster air movement on people's skin helps because it encourages
evaporation of sweat, making them feel cooler at higher temperatures
than normal.
Passively cooling incoming air before it is drawn into the building can be
achieved by evaporative cooling and/or geothermal cooling.

Evaporative Cooling:
If the inlet air is taken from the side of the building facing away from the
sun, and is drawn over a cooling pond or spray of mist or through large
areas of vegetation, it can end up several degrees cooler than outside air
temperature by the time it enters occupied spaces.
Geothermal Cooling:
Inlet air can also be cooled by drawing it through underground pipes or
through an underground plenum (air space). The air loses some of its heat
to the surfaces over which it passes. Underground, these surfaces tend to
be at roughly the annual average temperature, providing cooling in
summer and warming in winter. This strategy is best for dry climates, as
moisture in dark cool places can lead to poor indoor air quality.
Many early versions of geothermal cooling used rock stores or gravel beds
for their thermal storage capacity; however, the additional resistance to
air flow was quite high, often requiring a powered fan or pump. Large
open plenums can provide almost as much cooling or warming with only
minimal obstruction.

[Massing & Orientation for Cooling]


Massing and orientation are important design factors to consider for
passive cooling, specifically, natural ventilation. As a general rule, thin tall
buildings will encourage natural ventilation and utilize prevailing winds,
cross ventilation, and stack effect.
Massing Strategies for Passive Cooling:
Thinner buildings increase the ratio of surface area to volume. This will
make utilizing natural ventilation for passive cooling easy. Conversely, a
deep floor plan will make natural ventilation difficult-especially getting air
into the core of the building and may require mechanical ventilation.
Tall buildings also increase the effectiveness of natural ventilation,
because wind speeds are faster at greater heights. This improves not only
cross ventilation but also stack effect ventilation.
While thin and tall buildings can improve the effectiveness of natural
ventilation to cool buildings, they also increase the exposed area for heat
transfer through the building envelope. Sometimes this is good,
sometimes not. See Massing & Orientation for Passive Heating.
When planning urban centres, specifically in heating dominated climates,
having the buildings gradually increase in height will minimize high speed
winds at the pedestrian level which can influence thermal comfort. The
height difference between neighbouring buildings should not exceed
100%.

Orientation Strategies for Passive Cooling:


Buildings should be oriented to maximize benefits from cooling breezes in
hot weather and shelter from undesirable winds in cold weather. Look at
the prevailing winds for your site throughout the year, using a wind rose
diagram, to see which winds to take advantage of or avoid.
Generally, orienting the building so that its shorter axis aligns with
prevailing winds will provide the most wind ventilation, while orienting it
perpendicular to prevailing winds will provide the least passive ventilation.
The effectiveness of this strategy and aperture placement can be
estimated. Here are some rules of thumb for two scenarios in which
windows are facing the direction of the prevailing wind:
For spaces with windows on only one side, natural ventilation will not
reach farther than two times the floor to ceiling height into the building.
For spaces with windows on opposite sides, the natural ventilation
effectiveness limit will be less than five times the floor to ceiling height
into the building.
However, buildings do not have to face directly into the wind to achieve
good cross-ventilation. Internal spaces and structural elements can be
designed to channel air through the building in different directions. In
addition, the prevailing wind directions listed by weather data may not be
the actual prevailing wind directions, depending on local site obstructions,
such as trees or other buildings.
For buildings that feature a courtyard and are located in climates where
cooling is desired, orienting the courtyard 45 degrees from the prevailing
wind maximizes wind in the courtyard and cross ventilation through the
building.

[Apertures for Cooling]


The simple act of opening a window can often provide immediate cooling
effects. But how do the size and placement of that window impact the
effect you feel? Window design and ventilation louver design greatly
affects passive cooling potential, specifically natural ventilation. Be sure to
visit the wind, stack, and night-purge ventilation pages to learn more
about more specific opening strategies.
Opening Shape:
Opening shape matters and can influence airflow effectiveness. Long
horizontal strip windows can ventilate a space more evenly. Tall windows
with openings at top and bottom can use convection as well as outside
breezes to pull hot air out the top of the room while supplying cool air at
the bottom.
Opening Size:
Window or louver size can affect both the amount of air and its speed. For
an adequate amount of air, one rule of thumb states that the area of
operable windows or louvers should be 20% or more of the floor area, with
the area of inlet openings roughly matching the area of outlets.
However, to increase cooling effectiveness, a smaller inlet can be paired
with a larger outlet opening. With this configuration, inlet air can have a
higher velocity. Because the same amount of air must pass through both
the bigger and smaller openings in the same period of time, it must pass
through the smaller opening more quickly1.
Note that a small air inlet and large outlet does not increase the amount
of fresh air per minute any more than large openings on both sides would;
it only increases the incoming air velocity. Basic physics says that air
cannot be created or destroyed as it moves through the building, so in
order for the same amount of air to pass through a smaller opening, it
must be moving faster.
Air flows from areas of high pressure to low pressure. Air can be steered
by producing localized areas of high or low pressure. Anything that
changes the air's path will impede its flow, causing slightly higher air
pressure on the windward side of the building and a negative pressure on
the leeward side. To equalize this pressure, outside air will enter any
windward openings and be drawn out of leeward openings.
Because of pressure differences at different altitudes, this impedance to
airflow is significantly higher if the air is forced to move upward or
downward to navigate a barrier without any corresponding increase or
decrease in temperature.

Opening Types:
Windows that only open halfway, such as double-hung and sliding
windows, are only half as effective for ventilation as they are for daylight.
Some casement windows and Jalousie windows, however, can open so
wide that effectively their entire area is useful for ventilation.
Casement windows can deflect breezes, or can act as a scoop to bring
them in, depending on wind direction. Jalousie windows (horizontal
louvered glazing) can catch breezes while keeping out rain.
You can also use ventilation louvers instead of windows for your openings.
Their coefficients of effectiveness will be the same as windows of the
same geometry, such as Jalousie windows. Ventilation louvers often open
so wide that nearly all their area is useful for ventilation. They are
typically oriented horizontally to prevent rain from entering; this is an
advantage over most windows. Ventilation louvers also provide visual
privacy, and can even provide acoustic damping.

(http://sustainabilityworkshop.autodesk.com/buildings/wind-ventilation)

You might also like