Open AccessPreliminary Experimental Assessment of Building Envelope Integrated Ventilative Cooling design
Author(s) -
G. Girma,
Fitsum Tariku
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of physics. conference series
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.21
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1742-6596
pISSN - 1742-6588
DOI - 10.1088/1742-6596/2069/1/012124
Subject(s) - overheating (electricity) , building envelope , passive cooling , natural ventilation , glazing , environmental science , stack effect , trnsys , cladding (metalworking) , ventilation (architecture) , energy consumption , architectural engineering , mechanical engineering , marine engineering , engineering , meteorology , heat transfer , materials science , mechanics , civil engineering , thermal , electrical engineering , physics , metallurgy
To minimize energy consumption, high-performance buildings are being built with highly insulated and airtight building envelopes, high-performance glazing and efficient mechanical systems. But it has been observed that these buildings are prone to an overheating problem during the summertime. Literature suggests a ventilative cooling method, which is the use of natural ventilation for space cooling, as an ideal system for energy saving and overheating prevention. In this study, the behaviour of a building envelope integrated ventilative cooling (EV wall) design is experimentally studied to assess its cooling potential and ventilation capacity. The EV wall design has an opening at the bottom of the wall that allows ventilative air exchange between the indoor and the outdoor through the cavity behind the cladding. The suction pressure created by the buoyancy effect in the wall cavity drives the ventilation air. The experimental assessment has shown that there are two distinct night-time and day-time flows driven by indoor/outdoor temperature difference and solar radiation respectively. This preliminary study indicated the huge potential of ventilative cooling design and ways to further enhance the EV wall performance. For future studies, the EV wall will be considered by implementing an opening control system in a naturally ventilated building.