REVIVAL is an energy demonstration project supported by the European Commission under the THERMIE programme. There are six demonstration sites in five EU countries. Ventilation and cooling of non-domestic buildings, even in northern Europe, is one of the main issues and REVIVAL contains both naturally and mechanically ventilated and cooled buildings. It also has a strong emphasis on architecturally important buildings and how changes can be made without damaging the appearance.

Decisions in the first stage of the design process have to respond to often discordant requirements of quantitative reliability and operational effectiveness and have to be pursued with a systemic, environmental approach. One of the most typical cases in which the necessities of balance between distinct objectives and adoption of a systemic vision become more evident is that of the rehabilitation of building envelopes, which requires a complex kind of evaluation between costs and benefits.

This paper shows the building of the Intelligent Energy Research Center - CPEI, built at the Federal Center of Technological Education of Minas Gerais (CEFET-MG). This center was conceived with many strategies of bioclimatic architecture in a way to minimize the energy consumption besides improving the thermal gain and luminous comfort. To achieve this purpose many procedures were taken since the beginning of the design stage. The architecture solution is very important to improve the thermal and luminous performance.

During the summer, the materials, which are used in the “skin” of Greek cities display very elevated surface temperatures. These high temperatures largely affect thermal comfort conditions in the urban open spaces and the development of the urban heat isl

This paper focuses on the effect of water sprinkling on the fluctuation of the surface temperatures of materials, which are widely used in the urban open spaces of Greek cities, and are exposed to solar radiation. The assessment is based on experimental measurements, which were conducted during the summer period of 2004 on samples of building materials. The materials were placed on a flat roof and were periodically sprinkled with water.

Climate of the Po Valley, in northern Italy, typically is hot humid during summer and cold during winter. In such region new house constructions are often defective in dealing, by passive means, with solar radiation and outdoor temperatures, the majority of new buildings is designed with light envelope, and no care is taken over many issues like solar control, albedo of external surfaces, natural ventilation strategies. The negative result is a substantial growth of electrical demand associated to housing cooling, since A/C systems are becoming cheaper and more popular.

The study that is being undertaken at the University of Porto, Portugal, aims at creating a decision tool, based on the appropriate ventilation strategies for the cooling of buildings in hot humid climates. The climatic conditions of the Amazonic region of Manaus are taken as an example of this type of climate. First, we have to identify every single architectural or climatic parameter related with the ventilation of indoor spaces and evaluate their impact on ventilation efficiency.

This paper presents a simulation case that shows the impact on energy consumption of a building applying photovoltaic shading systems. In order to make photovoltaic application more economical, the effect of a photovoltaic facade as a passive cooling system can result in a considerable energy cost reduction, with positive influence on the payback time of the photovoltaic installation. Photovoltaic shading systems can be applied to both refurbishment of old buildings and to new-build, offering attractive and environmentally integrated architectural solutions.

In this paper the effect of insect screens and vent configuration of a tunnel greenhouse cultivated with a tomato crop on airflow, temperature and humidity patterns was numerically analyzed using a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. The numerical model was firstly validated against experimental data, which were carried out in an arch plastic covered greenhouse with continuous side openings. The three components of air velocity and the spatial distribution of air temperature and humidity were measured using a sonic anemometer and fast response sensors respectively.

This paper deals with the use of computer simulations both for design support of a new building including its heating, ventilation and airconditioning (HVAC) systems and for optimization of the HVAC control strategy during operation of the completed building. In the early design phases for a new commercial building in Prague computer simulations were carried out in view of possible effects of night cooling ventilation.