AR6303 CLIMATE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT

1) What are the philosophy of natural ventilation?

PHILOSOPHY OF NATURAL VENTILATION
• Reasons for using ventilation
• Thermal comfort requirements of building
occupants 
• Thermal performance of the building structure
• Impact of the building form and its openings
• Constraints of the local and regional climate
1. What are the factors to be considered with
which good ventilation system in a building
can be achieved?
• Reasons for using ventilation
• Thermal comfort requirements of building
occupants 
• Thermal performance of the building structure
• Impact of the building form and its openings
• Constraints of the local and regional climate
2) What are the functions of ventilation?
• Supply of fresh air
• Physiological cooling
• Removing heat from, on adding it to, the thermal
mass in the building structure i.e. night time cooling.
3) Why supply of fresh air is required in building?
Fresh air is required in building to
• Provide sufficient oxygen.
• Dilute odours e.g. body and food.
• Dilute to acceptable levels the concentration of
carbondioxide produced by occupants
and combustion.
4) What is physiological cooling?
The analysis of comfort limits with the
monthly mean temperature in order
to accentuate whether if there is a need for
passive heating or cooling.
5) What is night time cooling of the building?
Night-time cooling is defined as the removal
of heat from a building by natural means
during the night inorder to reduce daytime
cooling loads. Natural ventilation is extremely
useful in drawing the heat stored inthe
building during the day and venting it at night
6) What is 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
7) What is wind shadow?
Wind shadow is a phenomenon occurring when the wind air flow
encounters an obstacle. After impact the wind flow is perturbed over
a certain distance creating depression zones.
8) Factors which affect the indoor air flow (both
pattern and velocities)?
• Orientation
• External features
• Cross-ventilation
• Position of openings
• Size of openings
• Control of openings.
9) What are the 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 of the given site throughout the year , using a wind rose diagram, to
see which winds to take advantage of or avoid.
10) What are the orientation strategies for maximum 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:
1. 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. 
2. 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.
11) What are 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 oneopen
window and out the adjacent one. Wing walls
are especially effective on sites with low
outdoor airvelocity and variable
wind directions
12) What is cross ventilation?
When placing ventilation openings, inlets and
outlets are placed 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 thestructure. This
is called cross-ventilation. Cross-ventilation is
generally the most effective form of wind
ventilation.
13) What is venturi effect?
 The venturi effect is the physical phenomenon of
the flow of fluids.
 Fluids in this case are all gases and liquids.
 We may have experienced this dynamic effect
when trying to open a door on a windy day that
does not want to open,or when walking through a
windy urban canyon or narrow passage.
 This phenomenon of high wind areas and difficult
doors is created by venturi effect.
 The venturi effect is created by a fluids natural
tendency to equalize pressure across 2 or more
zones.
14) How venturi effect is utilized in buildings?
The venturi effect is utilized in buildings for
natural ventilation and passive cooling.
15) What is stack effect and Bernoulli’s principle?
Stack ventilation and Bernoulli's principle
are two kinds of passive ventilation that use air
pressure differences dueto height to pull air
through the building. Lower pressures higher in
the building help pull air upward. Thedifference
between stack ventilation and Bernoulli's
principle is where the pressure difference
comes from.
16)Uses of solar chimney?
A solar chimney uses the sun's heat to provide
cooling, using the stack effect. Solar heat gain
warms a column ofair, which then rises, pulling
new outside air through the building. They are
also called thermal chimneys,thermosiphons,
or thermosyphons
17)What are the 2 techniques used for air cooling?
Passively cooling incoming air before it is
drawn into the building can be achieved by 
• Evaporative cooling and/or
• Geothermal cooling
18)Explain evaporative 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 orspray 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.
19) Explain geo thermal cooling?
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 roughlythe annual average temperature, providing cooling in summer
and warming in winter. This strategy is best for dryclimates, 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
20)How air cooling is done in hot-dry region?
• 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
athigher temperatures than normal.Passively cooling incoming
air before it is drawn into the building can be achieved by
• Evaporative cooling and/or 
• Geothermal cooling
21) What are the effects of sashes?
 Sashes, canopies, louvres and other elements
controlling the openings, also influence the indoor air flow
pattern.
 Sashes can divert the air flow upwards. Only a casement
or reversible pivot sash will channel it downwards into
the living zone.
22) What are the effects of canopies?
 Canopies can eliminate the effect of pressure build-up
above the window, thus the pressure below the window
will direct the air flow upwards.
 A gap left between the building face and the
canopy would ensure a downward pressure, thus a flow
directed into the living zone.
23) What are the effects of louvres?
 Louvres and shading devices may alos present a
problem.
 The position of blades in a slightly upward position
would still channel the flow into the living zone (up
to 20° upwards from the horizontal).
24) What are wind towers ? explain its functions.
 Wind catchers have been employed for thousands
of years to cool buildings in hot climates.
 The wind catcher is able to chill indoor spaces in
the middle of the day in a desert to frigid
temperatures.
25)Why buildings are normally closed in hot dry desert
climate?
 In hot-dry climates humidification of the air may
be necessary, which can be associatedwith evaporative
cooling.
 In these climates the building is normally closed to preserve
the cooler air retained withinthe structure of high thermal
capacity, also to exclude sand and dust carried by winds.
 However, some form of airsupply to the building interior is
necessary
 All these functions:
Controlled air supply
Filtering out sand and dust
Evaporative cooling
Humidification
26) What is the use of ceiling fan in summer?
• In the summer, ceiling fans are very effective at lowering the apparent
temperature by making use of evaporation.
• When you are hot, you perspire, perhaps only a small amount.
• This is the body's way of cooling off - Evaporation of the perspiration
pulls heat away from your body.
• Circulation of the air rapidly increases evaporation.
• The more evaporation, the cooler the apparent temperature.
• This means the thermostat on the A/C can be set higher - saving you 
money .
• With the reverse switch set for a downward airflow, in almost all cases
this is counter-clockwise (looking up), running your ceiling fan on high
speed creates a turbulent column of air.
• This cone-shaped area of maximum airflow is relative to the area and
pitch (angle) of the blades, as well as the RPMs of the motor, hence
the three speeds.
27) What is the use of ceiling fan in winter?
 Use of the ceiling fan in winter, well, seems a bit strange to some, but
actually it too can save you money  on your heating bills.
 Heat rises.
 A large amount of heated air can collect in a large room with high ceilings
before it can even be felt.
 In cold climates, where possible, heater vents are put in the floor.
 This is the most effective way to heat a room, because the air will rise.
 In a room with a 16' cathedral ceiling and the thermostat set at 68 degrees F -
the uppermost 3 feet can be 90 degrees or higher before the heater shuts off.
 An incredible waste of energy.
 With the reverse switch set for an upward airflow (clockwise), running your fan
on low speed will force the heat accumulated at the ceiling down along the
walls where it must rise again.
 This mild circulation of air provides a more evenly heated room, shortening
the time it takes the heater to work. (Low speed is highly recommended to
avoid drafts.)
28) Effects of topography on wind patterns?
 The effects of topography on the climate of any given
region are powerful
 Mountain ranges create barriers that alter wind and
precipitation patterns.
 Topographical features such as narrow canyons
channel and amplify winds.
 Mountains and plateaus are exposed to the cooler
temperatures of higher altitudes.
 The orientation of mountains to the sun creates
distinct microclimates in areas such as the Alps, where
entire villages remain in the shade for most of the
winter season.
29) What are the air currents around
the building?
 As air warms, it rises and cold air
moves in to take its place.
 Also, warm air cools as it rises and
then starts to sink again.
 This happens because warm air is
less dense than cold air.
 This process causes currents of air
to move around inside buildings
and outdoors.
 Birds and gliders rise on warm air
currents called thermals.
 This movement of air is called
a convection current.
30) What is a courtyard and what is the use of it?
Courtyards provide open-to-sky, outdoor space away from the public eye.
 Family activities can spill out, yet remain protected from the outside world.
 The space became an apt, socio-cultural congruent providing ground space for the family, especially women
and children to carry out daily chores and festive celebrations.
 The central void became a connecting volume between floors with visual, audio and physical link
maintaining a rapport with vertically segregated floors.
 Court allows for light without bringing in the glare or the haze.
 Sun beams are received on the side walls of the court shaft and reflected; diffused light illuminates the
space cutting out the glare.
 This is why proportion of a courtyard is important.
  Houses in hot, yet humid, regions around Konkan and southern parts of the country have shallower courts
to allow for breeze and movement of air.
 At the same time, courts in hot and dry regions of north India are taller than the cube to increase efficiency
of mutual shading
. Even palaces and larger Havelis do not have larger courts for grandeur but have multiple small courts
instead.
 In humid climate courts enlarge vertically with receeding built mass on upper floors while in drier climes,
the vertical shaft tapers inwardly to retard the harsh sun.
 Even in Bohra community homes, they taper inwardly to enhance sense of privacy within.
Thus, courts are of a significant functional value, socially, culturally and environmentally.