cooling strategies

The growing challenges of climate change, urbanization, and increased energy demand have underscored the critical need for sustainable and resilient cooling solutions in buildings. In response to this pressing global issue, the International Energy Agency's Energy in Buildings and Communities (IEA EBC) Annex 80 was initiated to address the multifaceted aspects of resilient cooling in the built environment. Annex 80 seeks to provide valuable insights into resilient cooling systems and their indicators, offering a pathway towards a more sustainable and adaptable future...

Mixed-Mode ventilation is an innovative approach that maximizes the use of natural ventilation and uses supplementary mechanical cooling only when strictly required. The application of Mixed-Mode ventilation in severe arid climates and its integration with other passive cooling strategies is very challenging and has not been systematically studied. The paper will present an evaluation of the performance of different Mixed-Mode cooling strategies for a single-zone office space in four main arid cities that represent the diversity in arid climates.

This paper analyses the energy efficiency of a Ventilated Active Façade (VAF) applied to office buildings in Spain in comparison with conventional façades that comply with the minimum energy requirements of the Spanish Technical Building Regulation (Código Técnico de la Edificación - CTE). The analysis considers the climatic diversity of the 12 climatic zones of Spain. The studied VAF consists of an outer layer element of 2 mm galvanized steel panels and a 3 cm air cavity through which the ventilation air is preheated in winter and exhausted in summer.