BUILDING TECHNOLOGY 5

BT 413

A Written Report for

Passive Cooling Technique

Group (3) Members:

Anzano, Kyleen Jean D.
Delos Reyes, Lloyd Reggie
Gordo, Jalen B.
Salvadora, Rezzilyn B.
Tuling, Sherwin D.

Bachelor of Science in Architecture

Submitted to:
Ar. Vanessa R. Ayllon, UAP

First Semester
PASSIVE COOLING TECHNIQUES
Passive cooling is a building design approach that focuses on heat gain control and
heat dissipation in a building in order to improve the indoor thermal comfort with low or
no energy consumption.
Natural cooling utilizes on-site energy, available from the natural environment, combined
with the architectural design of building components (e.g., building envelope), rather than
mechanical systems to dissipate heat. Therefore, natural cooling depends not only on the
architectural design of the building but on how the site’s natural resources are used as heat sinks
(i.e., everything that absorbs or dissipates heat). Examples of on-site heat sinks are the upper
atmosphere (night sky), the outdoor air (wind), and the earth/soil1.

Passive cooling building design attempts to integrate principles of physics into the building
exterior envelope to:
Slow heat transfer into a building. This involves an understanding of the mechanism of heat
transfer: heat conduction, convective heat transfer, and thermal radiation (primarily from the
sun).
Remove unwanted heat from a building. In mild climates with cool dry nights, this can be
done with ventilating. In hot humid climates with uncomfortable warm/ humid night, ventilation
is counterproductive, and some type of solar air conditioning may be cost effective.

There are 2 basic components to passive cooling: cooling the building, and cooling people.
Cooling buildings is about:
 reducing heat gain (for example, by installing insulation and shading windows, walls
and roofs)
 increasing heat loss and access to cooling sources (for example, by using earth
coupling and encouraging air movement).
Cooling people is about:
 physiological comfort (the physical factors necessary for comfort; for example,
encouraging breezes to evaporate perspiration and increase body cooling)
 psychological comfort (psychological factors that affect our perception of comfort, for
example, levels of acclimatization and air movement, radiation and conduction).
PURPOSE OF PASSIVE COOLING
 provides indoor comfort
 low maintenance
 zero/low energy consumption
 low running cost
 provides healthy environment
 saves earth

TECHNIQUES OF PASSIVE COOLING

Passive design strategies can be broadly segregated based on the following:

1. Building Orientation
It’s important to orient the building in the right direction to achieve optimal climate
response.
Key Design Strategies:
 Place the longest facade in the north-south direction to reduce east-west exposure.
 Orient the building based on the sun path and prevailing wind direction.

2. Shading

Shading plays a really important role in reducing heat gain in places with hot climates.
With the increase in the use of glazed facades in our buildings, the lack of optimal
shading can result in excessive heat gain inside the buildings.

Key Design Strategies:

 Outdoor shading devices help in allowing only the needed amount of natural light
into spaces.
Ex: Pergolas, Louvres, Screens, etc.

 Planting trees as a natural buffer against the sunlight for shading and cooling
inside the site.
3. Openings

The size, shape, location, and positioning of the openings can be curated to fit the needs
of each particular space for the best climatic response.

Key Design Strategies:

 Place windows higher to act as ventilation points.
 Place all the openings on external walls to allow cross ventilation.
 Prefer small openings to avoid heat stagnation inside the building.
 Avoid west-faced glazing and provide south-faced glazing with horizontal
louvres.
 Addition of northern side openings for diffused daylight and less radiation.
 Design the size of windows designed to fit the use, orientation and shading
requirements.
 Vertical operable louvre shutters over the openings for climate control throughout
the day.

4. Walls

In hot climates, the primary issues we focus to avoid are excess humidity or heat gain that
could affect the building either immediately or in the future.

Key Design Strategies:

 Use white or light colour external wall finishes to reflect the heat and in turn
absorb lesser heat.
 Provide ventilated claddings behind the external surfaces of the wall driven by
stack effect to remove moisture in humid conditions.
 Use thermally insulated facades for air tightness and resistance against mold
growth in the hot and humid climates.
 Use walls as shading elements for exterior spaces based on the sunpath.
 Construct mud walls like rammed earth walls to reduce heat retention.

5. Ventilation

Playing with the existing natural ventilation can eliminate the need for external
ventilators. Afternoon heat buildup can be avoided by providing openings that encourage
air circulation.

Key Design Strategies:

 Ensure cross-ventilation in which cool air enters through one opening and warm
air exits through another.
 For cool air entrance: Windows, louvers, open facades.

For warm air exit: Roof vent, higher window openings, facade offset from the
ceiling.

 Create inlet and outlet openings at different heights in stack ventilation shafts to
remove warm air from inside and draw cool air inside.

Ex: Atriums, ventilation shafts, ventilation towers, solar chimney, air vents, attic
extractor fans, whole house fan, solar-powered stack ventilators.

SHADING

Shading is a simple method to block the sun before it can get into the building.
The primary source of heat gain is sunlight absorbed by the building through the
roof, walls, and windows.

Secondary sources are heat-generating appliances in the building and air leakage.
Shading can reduce the peak-cooling load in buildings, thus reducing the size of the air
conditioning equipment that will run fewer hours and consume less energy. Shading
minimizes the incident solar radiation and cools the building effectively and hence
dramatically affect building energy performance.

SHADING OF BUILDINGS
Shading of whole building is important and especially shading of windows is crucial.
Shading from the effects of direct solar radiation can be achieved in many ways:
 Shade provided by the effect of recesses in the external envelope of the building.
 Shade provided by static or moveable external blinds or louvres.
 Transient shading provided by the orientation of the building on one or more of its
external walls.
 Permanent or transient shading provided by the surrounding buildings, screens or
vegetation.
 Shading of roofs by rolling reflective canvass, earthen pots, vegetation etc.
SHADING BY OVERHANGS, LOUVRES, AWNINGS ETC.
Well-designed sun control and shading devices, either as parts of a building or separately
placed from a building facade, can dramatically reduce building peak heat gain and cooling
requirements and improve the natural lighting quality of building interiors
The shading devices can be classified as given below:
a. Movable opaque: Roller blind curtains, awnings etc. reduce solar gains but impede air
movement and block the view.
b. Louvres: They are adjustable or can be fixed. To a certain extent impede air movement and
provide shade to the building from the solar radiation.
c. Fixed: Overhangs provide protection to the wall and openings against sun and rain.

SHADING BY TREES AND VEGETATION

Proper Landscaping can be one of the important factors for energy conservation in buildings.
Vegetation and trees in particular, very effectively shade and reduce heat gain. Trees can be used
with advantage to shade roof, walls and windows. Shading and evapotranspiration (the process
by which a plant actively release water vapor) from trees can reduce surrounding air
temperatures as much as 5°C.

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. 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.

VENTILATION
Bringing in outdoor air and distributing it into a space. It is mostly known in three
different types: mechanical, natural, and mixed-mode. Managing the air exchange and circulation
with the outdoors is crucial for a comfortable atmosphere.

Natural Ventilation
The use of environmentally-friendly systems that do
not require any automated or mechanical solutions. Also
more cost-efficient, and relies on natural external factors
such as the wind and the temperature of the interior space
and its surroundings.
Types of Natural Ventilation

1. Cross Ventilation
Cross ventilation is a form of
natural ventilation that allows wind to
enter one side of a room and out
another. Ideally, cross ventilation uses
wind-driven force to bring cooler air
from outside and replace the stale,
warm interior air.

2. Stack Ventilation
Stack effect or chimney effect is a
phenomenon that occurs because of
the natural heat transfer. The warm
air has a lower density rather than the
cold air and raises to the upper part of
the building, chimney, towers, etc.
Usually, this is more effective in tall
buildings with central atriums

3. Night Ventilation
Night Ventilation is the use of the cold night air to cooldown
the structure of a building so that it can absorb heat gains in the
daytime.
 Example for Passive Cooling Structure

DE LA SALLE
COLLEGE OF ST. BENILDE’S SCHOOL OF
DESIGN AND ARTS BUILDING
By Architect Ed Calma

Architect Ed Calma
Is known for his innovative and sustainable
designs. He has worked on projects that utilize
natural ventilation and other passive cooling
methods.
 DLA – CSB SCHOOL OF DESIGN & ARTS

SPACIOUS
OPEN-AIR CORRIDORS