Cooling potential of natural ventilation in Portuguese climatic conditions

Abstract

In order to evaluate the cooling potential of natural ventilation, in Portuguese climatic conditions and for the most common architectural typologies, a parametric simulation study has been carried out at the Laboratory of Building Physics of FEUP [1]. This research work constitutes the basis for this paper and has been developed in several stages. First, the parameters that influence the promotion of natural ventilation have been identified. The impact of outdoor environment has been evaluated considering the variation of solar radiation, outdoor air temperature, exposure to wind and site characteristics. Architectural parameters like building form, type, location and size of exterior and interior openings and high or low thermal mass construction have also been tested. Several ventilation schedules have been studied and different comfort criteria have been discussed. In this paper, some of the results of this wider work will be reported. For a standard dwelling, the evaluation of the cooling potential of natural ventilation for the different Portuguese summer climatic regions will be presented and the influence on that potential of the size of openings, their opening schedule and their location on the facades and also the influence of the dwelling configuration will be approached.