Vol

.1I
ssue3,Oct
ober2016
Int. J. Civil Engg. Conc.Structs 2016 P K Bhargava and Atul Kumar Agarwal, 2016

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Vol. 1, No. 3, October 2016
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Passive Cooling Techniques for Design of Energy

Efficient Buildings
P K Bhargava1 and Atul Kumar Agarwal2

imperative to evolve building designs that

Introduction would utilize solar and wind energy to the
Provision of thermal comfort in buildings fullest possible extent for ameliorating
is an important consideration in design of thermal environment indoors.
buildings for efficiency and well being of
The term “ Passive system “ is intended
occupants. Two well known methods for
to imply best possible utilization of natural
creating comfortable environment in the
energy like solar and wind energy for
interior of buildings include adoption of the
creating functionally efficient environment
use of electrically operated mechanical
in the interior of buildings. Development of
devices such as air conditioners, heaters,
Passive Systems involves following steps;
blowers etc, and natural systems based on
judicious utilization of solar and wind • Determination of outdoor climatic
energy. Though the earlier one is more conditions at the building site in question.
dependable, the estimated electricity • Determination of desired conditions
consumption on account of Heating, indoors
Ventilating and Air Conditioning, lighting
• Evolution of systems which on
and water heating is about 30 per cent that
incorporation in the design of building
constitutes a significant proportion of the
would ensure creation of desired
total electricity consumption in the country.
thermal environment indoors with
In the present energy scenario in our country
optimum utilization of solar and wind
where gap between demand and supply of
energy and minimum consumption of
electrical energy is continuously increasing,
conventional energy.
the escalation in cost of power and
associated environmental concerns have
created awareness about efficient use of
Climatic Classification
energy in every walk of life. Since building • Classification of climate in respect of
sector is a major consumer of electricity, it is building design means zoning the country

*
Quantum School of Technology, Roorkeee
**
Scientist 'F' CSIR-Central Building Reseach Institute, Roorkee

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Int. J. Civil Engg. Conc.Structs 2016 P K Bhargava and Atul Kumar Agarwal, 2016

into regions in such a way that the

differences of climate from region to
region are reflected in the building design,
warranting some special provision for
each region. Based on the following
criteria, the country has been divided into
five major climatic zones, via, (i) Hot –Dry
(ii) Warm –Humid (iii) Cold (iv)
Temperate and (v) Composite.
A given station is categorized under a
particular zone if its climate conforms to that
zone for six or more months, otherwise it falls
under the composite zone. A map of India
depicting various climatic zones is shown
in figure1.

Table: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Climatic Zone Mean Mean TSI is defined as the temperature of calm air,
monthly monthly
at 50% relative humidity which imparts the
maximum relative
Temperature C O
Humidity %
some thermal sensation as the given
Hot-Dry above 30 below 55 environment. Mathematically TSI is
Warm-Humid above 30 55above expressed as
Temperate above 25 above 75
Cold between 25-30 75below
TSI = 0.745 ta + 0.308 tw – v + 0.841
Composite below 25 all values Where ta = dry bulb (globe)
following
temperature, °C.
Criteria paragraph
explained tw = wet bulb temperature °C
in the
v = air speed in m/sec
Comfort Requirements
Comfort conditions depend upon air The thermal comfort of people lies
temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, between TSI values of 25 and 30°C with
as well as on clothing, acclimatisation, age, maximum per cent of people being
sex, and type of activity of the people. Based comfortable at 27.5°C. On lower side , the
on exhaustive studies carried out on thermal coolness of environment is tolerable
comfort at C.B.R.I. Roorkee, a Tropical between 19 and 25°C (TSI) and below 19°C
Summer Index (TSI) representing the (TSI) it is too cold. This clearly indicates that
combined effect of temperature, relative for achieving comfortable environment
humidity and wind speed was evolved. The indoors, heating up to 19OC is necessary in

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123
Int. J. Civil Engg. Conc.Structs 2016
winter, where as steps need to be taken to
achieve indoor conditions conforming to TSI
values around 27.5OC in summer.
Passive Cooling Techniques
Development of passive cooling
techniques is based on two basic concepts.
First of all the internal heat which comprises
of the heat liberated by building occupants
and the heat generated due to various
activities performed indoors should be
reduced to minimum by provision of
proper ventilation system such as local
exhaust right above the source of heat.
Secondly, the heat which penetrates through
the building envelope should be
minimized. The three different ways of heat
entry from outside to inside the buildings
are (i) Direct penetration of sun through
windows (ii) Conduction of heat through
walls and roof (iii) Infiltration of outside air
when its temperature is higher than indoor
air temperature. Based on these concepts
different techniques of passive cooling of
buildings have been conceived. In context
with cooling of buildings in hot dry and
warm humid climates, the passive
techniques mainly aim towards reduction
in heat penetration through building
envelope and provision of fenestration for
inducing desired natural ventilation
indoors. Few of these techniques are
discussed below;
Reduction in Heat
Penetration through
Building Envelope
Solar radiation incident on building
envelope is the main source of heat
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124
P K Bhargava and Atul Kumar Agarwal, 2016
responsible for raising the temperature of
exterior surface of the envelope and also for
creating temperature gradient across the
thickness of envelope. As a result of this,
heat is conducted indoors causing thereby a
rise in the interior surface temperature.
Hence, reduction in the temperature of
exterior surface is necessary for keeping the
indoor surface temperature at a low value.
Transparent window facing sun also permits
direct entry of sun. This also contributes to
the rise in the temperature of indoor surfaces.
Hence, control of direct entry of sun through
windows is an essential requirement for
preventing rise in interior surface
temperature. Based on these considerations,
various methods have been evolved for
curtailment of heat flow through building
envelope. A few of them are discussed
below;
Optimum Orientation
It is well known that the amount of daily
solar radiation incident per unit area on N
and S facing walls is much less as compared
to that on the walls facing other directions.
Hence, for minimum solar heat gain by the
building envelope, it is desired that the
longer axis of building should lie along East-
West direction. Further, the effect of
orientation of a building on heat penetration
through envelope also depends on the
aspect ratio (length/breadth) of the building.
For a building with square plan (aspect ratio
1:1) and glass area equally distributed on all
the four walls, the effect of orientation is nil,
while for a rectangular building with aspect
ratio 2:1, the fabric load is reduced by 30 per
cent due to change in orientation from worst
to best.
Int. J. Civil Engg. Conc.Structs 2016
Shading of Windows
Louvers, overhangs or awnings provided
on windows help control direct entry of sun
into the room especially during summer
months. Optimum dimensions of the louver
depend on the duration of sunshine on the
window façade. Windows of the same
dimensions but oriented differently should
have different dimensions of louvers to be
effective. A simple box type of louver may
be suitable on an eastern façade, a slightly
more complicated vertical and horizontal
louver system on the southern façade and
egg crate type on the western façade. The
northern façade receives only very early
morning or late afternoon sunshine and
hence no elaborate systems are needed and
only rain shade is sufficient. It is reported
that overhang with optimum dimensions can
produce cooling load reduction of 12.7 per
cent in summer without causing any
sufficient change in sunshine hours received
in winter. It is worth mentioning that an
overshadowing of the windows must be
avoided as it reduces availability of daylight
indoors, which in turn results in increased
consumption of energy for artificial lighting.
Shading of Walls
The walls exposed to sun are shaded by
providing appropriate texture thereon or by
erecting some external screen in front of the
wall. These provisions cut the direct solar
radiation on the walls and may also add to
the aesthetics of the building. An
experimental study carried out by Akbari et
al in USA revealed that shading of houses
by nearby trees reduces the cooling load and
causes about 30 per cent reduction in
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125
P K Bhargava and Atul Kumar Agarwal, 2016
seasonal cooling energy. Hayano also
reported that heat gain through a wall is
reduced by 75 per cent simply by growing a
thick layer of wines on the wall. A row of
trees is reported to produce 50 per cent
reduction in heat gain through an adjoining
West facing wall.
Shading of Roof
Roof receives the maximum solar
radiation as compared to walls oriented in
different directions. Therefore, shading of
roof has been recognized as an important
step in achieving reduction of external heat
entry in buildings. Several methods have
been attempted to exploit this aspect of
passive cooling. Planting of deciduous
plants or creepers atop the roof is the
simplest method for shading the roof and
lowering its temperature. A well designed
green roof with a covering of plants with
large foliage and horizontal leaf distribution
acts as high quality insulation and reduces
the heat entry through roof in summer.
Surface temperature of roof top without
vegetation was observed more than 150 C
higher than that of the roof covered with
vegetation. Computation of heat flux through
the roof also revealed that heat flux of 200
W/ m 2 entered the room through the
uncovered roof where as at the roof section
covered with vegetation, about 10 W /
m2was transferred upward from inside of
the room. This indicates that the vegetation
cover plays significant role in reducing the
heat entry through the roof in summer. A
layer of closely packed small inverted
earthen pots has been found to be very
effective in reducing the heat transmission
through the roof in hot-dry climate. Addition
Int. J. Civil Engg. Conc.Structs 2016
of a layer of loses gravel on the roof of
buildings also help increase thermal
resistance of the roof. Gravel property as well
as the inter granular trapped air jointly
contribute towards the reduction of heat flow
through the roof. The thickness of the gravel
layer is more effective than the size of the
gravel. Investigations carried out in CBRI on
heat flow through roofs demonstrated
through field measurements that removable
insulation which can be rolled during night
also contributes significantly towards
reduction in heat flow through roofs.
Exterior Surface Olar
Reflectance
Surface colour of the external wall affects
both the percentage of solar radiation
absorbed by the external surface and also the
long wave radiation emission. Hence heat
flux transmitted into the building is
considerably reduced when external surface
is painted with a colour with minimum
absorption of solar radiation and high
emission in long wave region. Such data for
a few materials are given in Table 1.
Simulation studies conducted at Lawrence
Table 1: Reflectivity and Emissivity of
Different Coatings
Material Reflectivity Emissivity
(Solar Radiation) (Long wave
Radiation)
Aluminum foil Bright 0.95
Aluminum paint 0.50
White wash new 0.88
Grey colour light 0.60
Grey colour dark 0.30
Red brick 0.40
Glass 0.08
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P K Bhargava and Atul Kumar Agarwal, 2016
Berkley Laboratory USA indicate that by
changing the overall albedo of a city from
an existing value of about 0.2 to a white
washed of 0.4 may result in saving of
electrical energy by 40 to 50 per cent.
Painting of Roof
One of the very effective method of
lowering the external surface temperature of
the roof is to paint it with a coating which
has minimum absorption for solar radiation
and high emission for long wave radiations.
Studies carried out in Delhi also showed that
depending on the level of ventilation, air
temperatures within the white coloured
buildings were 40 to 80C lower than the dark
buildings during mid summer conditions.
Recent studies carried out in CBRI have also
demonstrated the roof temperature reducing
effectiveness of a layer of broken glazed tiles
over the roofs.
Evaporative Cooling
Well known phenomena of cooling
caused due to evaporation of water have
been used in a number of ways for cooling
the interior of buildings. In 1991, Al-Turki
developed a model to study the effect of
intermittent spraying of water on the roof on
the cooling load of a building. It was revealed
that evaporative roof cooling could reduce
the cooling load by 40 per cent in hot dry
0.05
climates. Results of computation of the
0.50
interior surface temperature of a typical
0.90
concrete roof for water sprayed and
0.90
unsprayed conditions also indicated
0.90
significant decrease in temperature due to
0.90 roof spraying. Further, intermittent spraying
0.90 was found to be more effective as compared
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Int. J. Civil Engg. Conc.Structs 2016 P K Bhargava and Atul Kumar Agarwal, 2016

to the continuous spraying. The

Table 2: Recommended Thickness of
effectiveness of roof surface evaporative Insulation for Roof
cooling has been extensively studied in CBRI Thickness
and a package unit for automatic surface Insulating Density Thermal in cm for
Material Kg/m3 Min Conductivity Unconditioned
evaporative cooling system has been Max W/m K Conditioned
developed. Buildings
Buildings

Roof and Wall Insulation Cellular 450 0.081 5.0

concrete 600 10.0
Provision of insulation on walls and roof
Foam concrete 320 0.070 5.0
of a building increases their thermal
400 10.0
resistance and curtails conductive heat flow
Light weight 400 0.081 5.0
through the building envelope. bricks 450 10.0
Recommended thicknesses of some of the
Thermocole 16 0.041 2.5
insulating materials for roofs of 20 10.0
unconditioned and conditioned buildings
ground. Hence the outdoor hot air during
are given in Table 2. Introduction of air cavity
its passage through a tunnel constructed at
in a wall also increases its thermal resistance.
a depth of about 4 meter below the earth’s
Studies on estimation of thermal properties
surface gets cooled. This cool air is passed
of such a wall revealed that the overall heat
through the building and thus the indoor
transmission coefficient (U-value) of a 27.5
environment is cooled. The cooling
cm brick cavity wall (11.25 cm brick + 5.0 cm
efficiency of the aforesaid system depends,
air gap + 11.25 cm brick) is 1.63 W/m2.K
interalia, upon the length, size and material
while that of a 22.5 cm solid brick wall with
of the pipe and its depth below the ground
1.25 cm cement plaster on both side the U-
surface, local climatic conditions and the rate
value is 2.26 W/m 2 .K. Here it is worth
of air supply through the pipe.
emphasizing that the thermal performance
of the above cavity wall is slightly better than
that of a 35 cm solid brick wall.
Nocturnal Ventilation
Theoretical as well as experimental
Cooling by Earth air Tunnels studies on assessment of contribution of
night ventilation towards cooling of
Near constancy of temperature at a few
buildings during the following day have
meter depth in side the ground has been in
been carried out by several investigators for
use for cooling of buildings in hot climates
different types of structures under different
in different parts of the world for centuries.
climatic conditions. It is also reported that
It is reported that temperature at a depth of
potential of night ventilation for lowering the
4 meter below the surface of the earth
day time temperature indoors below the
remains nearly constant round the year. In
outdoor temperature is proportional to the
summer the outdoor air is at a temperature
ambient diurnal temperature range. A
higher than the temperature inside the
numerical study on the thermal performance
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Int. J. Civil Engg. Conc.Structs 2016
of a passively cooled ancient building in
Banaras carried out by Tiwari et al also
revealed that reasonable thermal comfort
temperature indoors is achieved by natural
ventilation utilizing cold air through
windows. In a high thermal mass
unconditioned building the provision of
night ventilation produces up to 30 C
reduction in the following day peak
temperature. The overheating period is also
reduced ; the reduction varies from 39% to
96% as the air flow increases from 10 to 30
ach. In light structures, the reduction in peak
indoor temperature due to the provision of
night ventilation was only about 0.20 C. It
was inferred that efficiency of night
ventilation is closely related to the three
parameters; (i) difference between indoor
and outdoor air temperatures mainly during
night (ii) rate of air flow through the building
during the night period and (iii) the thermal
capacity of the building. The cooling
efficiency is higher for lower outdoor
temperature and high rate of air supply.
High range of daily air temperature also
augments efficiency of night ventilation. The
rate of air flow through buildings depends
upon outdoor wind speed, orientation of
building with respect to the outdoor wind,
sizes and location of openings, building plan
form, layout pattern of building complex
and nature of landscaping etc. Extensive
studies on the effect of these parameters on
the availability of indoor air motion have
been carried out in CBRI.. Based on the
findings of these studies simple design
guidelines for design of airy buildings have
been prepared and included in BIS codes and
Hand-book.
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P K Bhargava and Atul Kumar Agarwal, 2016
Conclusion
In developing countries of the world
situated in/near the tropical zone more than
80% population is forced to live and work
in horrible thermal conditions. Thermally
uncomfortable conditions are not only
harmful to the physical and mental
development but are a main cause of lower
work output. The limited financial and
energy resources of such countries cannot
provide comfortable living and working
environment to their people without the use
of passive cooling techniques. The
techniques can be integrated in the design
of buildings in an effective and acceptable
manner without hampering the aesthetics of
the buildings. To promote the use of these
technologies nationwide awareness,
dissemination and training activities are
required to be organized on priority. In this
scenario hybrid passive system emerges a
viable option that may provide greater
reliability and attract wider application of
passive techniques in the design of buildings
in hot climate.
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