Implementation of natural down-draft evaporative cooling devices in commercial buildings: the international experience.

Conventional evaporative coolers are high-pressure high-volume devices that deliver cool air by water evaporation wetted pads. Natural down-draft evaporative coolers, or "Cool Towers", are devices developed at The University of Arizona's Environmental Research Laboratory. Similar to conventional coolers, these devices are equipped with wetted pads and sprays at the top which provide cool air by evaporation but the air is moved by gravity flow saving the energy required by the blower. In arid regions, cool towers are useful for cooling buildings and outdoor private and public areas.

Cooling loads in laboratories.

The heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system for a laboratory must be designed with consideration for safety, air cleanliness, and space temperature. The primary safety concern is to ensure proper coordination between fume hood exhaust and makeup air supply. Air cleanliness is maintained by properly filtering supply air, by delivering adequate room air changes, and by ensuring proper pressure relationships between the laboratory and adjacent spaces. Space temperature is maintained by supplying enough cooling air to offset the amount of heat generated in the room.

Test and evaluation of the attic temperature reduction potential of plastic roof shakes.

While monitoring the comparative performance of two test houses in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, it was noticed that the attic air temperature of one house with a plastic shake roof was consistently 20°F ( 11°C) cooler than its twin with asphalt shingles during peak summer cooling periods. More detailed monitoring of the temperatures on the plastic shake, the roof deck, and the attic showed this effect to be largely due to the plastic shake and not to better roof venting or other heat loss mechanisms.

The impact of windows on residential energy use.

The goal of this work is to better understand the influence of window U-factor and solar heat gain coefficient on residential space heating and cooling energy use in the United States. We calibrated our simulation models with residential energy use data and evaluated the affect of window U-factor and solar heat gain coefficient on space heating and cooling energy use. U-factor and solar heat gain coefficient have a comparable impact on heating energy use, whereas U-factor has a minor impact and solar heat gain coefficient has a strong impact on cooling energy use.

NatVent(TM): Overcoming technical barriers to low-energy natural ventilation in office-type buildings - an overview.

This paper gives an overview of the European NatVent® project on'Overcoming Technical Barriers to Low Energy Natural Ventilation in Office Type Buildings in Moderate and Cold Climates'. The project was targeted at countries like the UK with low winter and moderate summer temperatures where summer overheating from solar and internal gain can be significantly reduced by low-energy design and good natural ventilation.

Simulation of the cooling effect of the night time natural ventilation: a 3D numerical application to the "Maison Ronde" of Mario Botta.

The present research applies the N3S 3D finite element CFD code to the air flow simulation on a well-known dwelling building located in South of Switzerland, the " Maison Ronde " of the architect Mario Botta. The summer night refreshing effect is examined when crossing ventilation due to the wind creates indoor air motion and for cooling walls and ceilings surfaces. To be realistic, the simulation takes simultaneously into account the three main aspects of the problem: - determining boundaries conditions.

An environmentally conscious house for Tamare, Venezuela. An architectural proposal for warm humid climates.

A bioclimatic house for Tamare, Venezuela, designed to provide psychological, physical and social well being through improved comfort and less energy consumption is explained. Digital and analog models were built to analyze sunlight and shadow behavior and computer simulations to predict thermal performance. Assuming a maximum comfort temperature of 30° C we achieve<! 95% of satisfaction when we ventilated at night and closed the building during daytime.

Keeping cool naturally - inexpensively.

            

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