Passive cooling techniques

• Main Author: Xiaoyu Du
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Dutch
• Published: Delft University of Technology 2019
• Subjects: Architecture; NA1-9428; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.7480/abe.19.10.4104; https://doaj.org/article/4c55505aa805405cb2dcd23e529e5f7b

Vernacular buildings are local buildings that have evolved overtime in one location to suit the local climate, culture and economy (Meir & Roaf, 2003). The construction of vernacular buildings uses locally available resources to address local needs. These kinds of structures evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which they exist (Coch, 1998). The building knowledge of this type of architecture is always handed down traditions and is thus more based on the knowledge achieved by trial and error and in this way handed down through the generations (Singh et al., 2009). Vernacular buildings are most often residential buildings. People have traditional lifestyles in vernacular buildings in virtually every climate in the world, from the Arctic circle to the tropics, in temperatures from below zero to over 40°C, and historically without the benefit of gas or electrically driven mechanized heating and cooling systems (Meir & Roaf, 2003). After the emergence of modernist architecture, aided by the industrial revolution, vernacular buildings are seen to be in a state of decline and are frequently looked down upon, abandoned, neglected or actively demolished. Associated, by many at least, with an out-dated past and poverty, they are steadily replaced by architectural models that favour more modern, inter-national technologies, materials and forms (Oliver, 1997). It is assumed, as in international standards such as CENASO 7730 or ASHRAE 55, that people suffer less discomfort in very closely controlled conditions, then such vernacular buildings, along with modern passive buildings, cannot provide their occupants with ‘comfortable’ indoor climates (Santamouris, 2007). But nowadays, by the more and more important issues of energy consumption in building construction sectors, the continuity of the vernacular traditions is emphasized in academic research and building practice because of its climate-response, passive model and low-energy consumption. The principles that were used ...