Module-4: Sunderdeep College of Architecture
Module-4: Sunderdeep College of Architecture
Module-4: Sunderdeep College of Architecture
ARCHITECTURE
DASNA, GHAZIABAD
MODULE-4
TOPIC:- PASSIVE COOLING
Wing Walls
Wing walls are vertical solid panels placed alongside of windows perpendicular
to the wall on the windward side of the house.
Air vents
Curved roofs and air vents are used in combination for passive cooling of air in
hot and dry climates, where dusty winds make wind towers impracticable.
Suited for single units, they work well in hot and dry and warm and humid
climates. A hole in the apex of the domed or cylindrical roof with the protective
cap over the vent directs the wind across it. The opening at the top provides
ventilation and provides an escape path for hot air collected at top.
Arrangements may be made to draw air from the coolest part of the structure as
replacement, to set up a continuous circulation and cool the living spaces. The
system works on the principle of cooling by induced ventilation, caused by
pressure differences.
Wind tower
In a wind tower, the hot ambient 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. When an inlet is provided to the
rooms with an outlet on the other side, there is a draft of cool air. It resembles a
chimney, with one end in the basement or lower floor and the other on the roof.
The top part is divided into several vertical air spaces ending in the openings in
the sides of the tower (Fig. 8). In the presence of wind, air is cooled more
effectively and flows faster down the tower and into the living area. The system
works effectively in hot and dry climates where diurnal variations are high.
The section and detail of a wind tower.
Evaporative 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. However
passive evaporative cooling can also be indirect. The roof can be cooled with a
pond, wetted pads or spray, and the ceiling transformed into a cooling element
that cools the space below by convection and radiation without raising the
indoor humidity.
Radiative cooling
The roof of a building can be used both as a nocturnal radiator and also as a
cold store. It is often a cost-effective solution. During the night the roof is
exposed to the night sky, losing heat by longwave radiation and also by
convection. During the day, the roof is externally insulated in order to minimize
the heat gains from solar radiation and the ambient air. The roof then absorbs
the heat from the room below.
Earth air tunnel
The use of earth as a heat sink or a source for cooling/heating air in buried pipes
or underground tunnels has been a testimony to Islamic and Persian
architecture. The air passing through a tunnel or a buried pipe at a depth of few
meters gets cooled in summers and heated in winters (Fig. 10). Parameters like
surface area of pipe, length and depth of the tunnel below ground, dampness of
the earth, humidity of inlet air velocity, affect the exchange of heat between air
and the surrounding soil.
Earth berming
In an earth sheltered building or earth bermed structure the reduced infiltration
of outside air and the additional thermal resistance of the surrounding earth
considerably reduces the average thermal load. Further the addition of earth
mass of the building acts like a large thermal mass and reduces the fluctuations
in the thermal load. Besides reducing solar and convective heat gains, such
buildings can also utilize the cooler sub-surface ground as a heat sink. Hence
with reference to thermal comfort, an earth sheltered building presents a
significant passive approach.
Shows the working principle of earth berming during summer and winter conditions.
Shading by textured surfaces
Surface shading can be provided as an integral part of the building element also.
Highly textured walls have a portion of their surface in shade as shown in
Figure 5. The increased surface area of such a wall results in an increased outer
surface coefficient, which permits the sunlit surface to stay cooler as well as to
cool down faster at night.