Improvement of summer comfort by use of evaporative cooling.

In France, air conditioning of offices is often required especially in areas with high noise levels and in the Mediterranean climates. Evaporative cooling systems appear able to give a cost effective solution to the growing demand for summer comfort: hence, the CSTB and Gaz de France are currently conducting a joint research on the efficiency of such systems. On the basis of a comfort criteria, this have been done by computer simulations taking into account different kinds of systems, buildings, and climatic areas. As a general rule, the comfort level proved to be sufficient except in some cases especially when the outdoor air humidity is high. A peculiar attention must yet be paid to the building design (thermal inertia, solar protection). Tests in the Gaz de France experimental building and a full scale operation near Paris have confirmed the simulation results.