Ventilative cooling potential

The global increase in building cooling demands poses a challenge for designers striving for net zero energy consumption. The prevalent use of mechanical cooling underscores the necessity for designers to consider Ventilative Cooling as a viable alternative in the early stages of building design. Recent research findings suggest that the pre-design stage has the same influence for promoting Ventilative Cooling strategies as the schematic and detailed design stages for practitioners, yet limited impactful decision making occurs at this stage.

Because of the customers’ need of best possible comfort condition and satisfaction, shopping centers are conditioned by means of basic HVAC systems, often without considering the potential of natural ventilation to reduce energy consumption related to cooling and ventilation. Within the European project CommONEnergy, EURAC researchers are dealing with ventilative cooling strategies as retrofit solutions for shopping centers.

The new initiatives and regulations towards nearly zero energy buildings forces designers to exploit the cooling potential of the climate to reduce the overheating occurrence and to improve thermal comfort indoors. Climate analysis is particularly useful at early design stages to support decision making towards cost-effective passive cooling solution e.g. ventilative cooling.