PASSIVE COOLING STRATEGIES for

BUILDINGS in HOT-HUMID CLIMATE

WORDS: AR. D.V. RAVINA, UAP
Natural Ventilation: Night Ventilation
Night ventilation is the use of the cold night air to cool
down the structure of a building so that it can absorb heat
gains in the daytime.

This reduces the daytime temperature rise.

An overheating prevention strategy which uses little or no

fossil energy, and together with other passive strategies
such as natural ventilation and shading , can avoid the
use of air-conditioning.

This saves energy (and CO2 emissions), and once set-up

would require lower maintenance than mechanical
systems.

NATURAL VENTILATION: Night Ventilation

NATURAL VENTILATION: Night Ventilation
 One passive cooling design technique commonly used in
private, public and commercial applications to maintain a
comfortable indoor climate is night purging – the
removal of heat from a building by bringing in cool night
air without the use of active HVAC cooling and
ventilation.

Typically, this is done by leaving windows and openings

closed in the day, and opening them up at night to flush
warm air out of the building.

Night purging, or flushing, is particularly great for the summers,

when daytime temperatures are so hot that bringing
unconditioned air into the building will not cool it down.

It works via stack ventilation (the idea that hot air rises and cold
air sinks due to their pressure differences) and wind ventilation
(the pull of air into and through building), so night air and
breezes cool the thermal mass of a building.
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 22°C (68 or 71°F).
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
It 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.
• 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
It 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.
Natural Ventilation: Basic Techniques
Natural Cooling is a system that utilizes natural, renewable cooling energy sources such
as the ambient air, the upper atmosphere and the earth.

Several natural sources can be used to provide cooling energy in buildings, such as the
following:
1. The ambient air: Comfort Cooling
2. The upper atmosphere: Radiant Natural Cooling
3. Storage in the sub-surface soil: Earth Cooling
4. Material adsorption capacity: Desiccant Cooling
5. Material thermal mass: Time Lag Cooling

Natural Cooling: Basic Techniques

 COMFORT COOLING

Comfort (daytime) cooling

is the use of ambient air
for cooling. It is desirable
in warm-humid regions
with small diurnal
temperature range (high
to low temperature during
the day), not exceeding 30
˚C.

In everyday language, the surplus heat that has to be removed from buildings in order to maintain the
indoor temperature below some previously determined maximum permissible temperature is referred
to as the cooling requirement.

In other words, the cooling requirement of the building is exactly the same as its heat surplus.

Sun shading devices and landscaping elements contribute to comfort cooling.

Natural Cooling: Basic Techniques

COMFORT COOLING

Use of roof eaves and other sun

shading devices aid in comfort cooling.

Natural Cooling: Basic Techniques

 COMFORT COOLING

Use Ground Cover and Plantings for Site Cooling Use trees and shrubs to channel
airflow toward the structure.

Natural Cooling: Basic Techniques

RADIANT NATURAL COOLING

Natural Cooling: Basic Techniques

EARTH COOLING

Another method for taking advantage

of Mother Earth is to pre-condition air
by running it through subterranean
cool pipes before it enters the
building, or by storing it in a below-
grade rock storage chamber before
use

Natural Cooling: Basic Techniques

 DESICCANT COOLING

System combines induced ventilation to bring air

from underground over an activated charcoal
desiccant and cool the interior with dry air. As the
air warms and exits high on the south wall, it
passes over the saturated desiccant plate, spurring
the evaporative process

Desiccant cooling systems are basically open cycle

systems, using water as refrigerant in direct contact
with air. The thermally driven cooling cycle is a
combination of evaporative cooling with air
dehumidification by a desiccant, i.e. a hygroscopic
material. For this purpose, liquid or solid materials
can be employed.
The common technology applied today uses rotating desiccant
wheels, equipped either with silica gel or lithium-chloride as
sorption material.
Natural Cooling: Basic Techniques
TIME LAG COOLING

The principle is that the transmission of heat

through mass—stone, concrete, adobe-—is
both delayed and attenuated over time.
Depending on the material and the thickness
of a massive wall, the delay can stretch from
two to 12 hours, and the greater the lag the
greater the attenuation of heat transmitted.

Natural Cooling: Basic Techniques

OTHER TECHINIQUE:

EVAPORATIVE COOLING
Swamp coolers, fountain courts, and
atrium pools are all applications of
evaporative cooling, a particularly
powerful technique in climates of
low relative humidity. When a body
of water is placed in a hot and
relatively dry space, the water
evaporates into the air and increases
humidity.
REFERENCES:

Salmon, Cleveland. Architectural Design for Tropical Regions,

John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1999

Watson, Donald and Kenneth Labs, Climatic Building Design:

Energy Efficient Building Principles and Practice, McGraw-Hill,
New York, 1983

Pohl, Jens G. An Introduction to Building Science, California

Polytechnic State University, California, 1977

Butler, Robert Brown. Architectural and Engineering

Calculations Manual, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1984

Natural Ventilation: Cross Ventilation

Provided by Nick Baker: Research Associate, The Martin
Centre, University of Cambridge
Use of Solar Energy and Natural Cooling in the Design of Buildings
in Developing Countries, UNCHS (Habitat), Nairobi, 1984
End of Presentation