PASSIVE CONSTRUCTION

TECHNIQUES
With Special Reference
to
JAIPUR
 PASSIVE ARCHITECTURE
Passive cooling techniques are least expensive means of coo
ling a home which maximizes the efficiency of the building
envelope without use of any mechanical devices.

It relies on natural heat sinks to remove heat from the building. They derive cooling
directly from evaporation, convection, and radiation without using any intermediate
device.

All passive cooling strategies rely on daily changes in temperature and relative hu
midity. The applicability of each system depends on the climatic conditions.

These design strategies reduce heat gains to internal spaces-Natural Ventilation

Earth Air Tunnels Shading Evaporative Cooling Wind Towers- Passive Down
Draught Cooling- courtyard effect roof sprays.
 Climatic Characteristics
COMPOSITE CLIMATE
Very Hot and Dry Summers.
Maximum precipitation concentrated during
monsoon months of July and August.
Cold during winter season.
Large diurnal variation with hot days and
cooler nights.
 PASSIVE TECHNIQUES PREDOMINANT
IN RAJASTHAN
Thermal mass.
Courtyard Planning
Venturi effect
Shading devices
Evaporative cooling.
Jalis.
Passive Down Draught Cooling / Wind towers.
Wall shading devices.
 Thermal Mass
When the outer temperature is lowered at night, the high emissive property of the walls allows cooling
down the wall surfaces rapidly.

Flat roofs get more radiations while vaulted and domed

roofs prevent the absorption of heat of the summers
vertical sun.

Thick walls provides thermal

insulation.
 Courtyard

Courtyard with vegetation and Universal Business School,

water body enhances humidity. Karjat, Mumbai Courtyard provide shade.
The Courtyard House,
Beawar, Rajasthan

Landscaped courtyard
 Shading Devices
The natural cooling may be achieved by cutting off the
suns radiations.
The sunshades not only protect from suns radiations
through the windows but walls too.
Typically the chajjas, chatries and Gokhas are
provided in the buildings to protect the openings and
Walls.

VERTICAL HORIZONTAL
 Lattice Screen (Jaali)

Jaali ensures privacy and provide diffuse light

and view.

It controls the airflow and lower down the temperature of internal

spaces on the other.
When there is sunshine outside in the day, the internal spaces are not
clearly visible from outside.
however, the diffused light is spread throughout the interiors.
To get a clear outside view, a cutout is provided at eye level for the
viewer sitting on the floor.
 Passive Down Draught
Cooling

Passive Downdraught Evaporative Cooling in Torrent Research Centre, Ahmadabad.

Passive downdraft evaporative cooling systems consist of a downdraft tower with wetted cellulose pads at
the top of the tower.
Water is distributed on the top of the pads, collected at the bottom into a sump and re-circulated by a pump.
These towers are often described as reverse chimneys.
While the column of warm air rises in a chimney, in this case the column of cool air falls.
The air flow rate depends on the efficiency of the evaporative cooling device, tower height and cross section,
as well as the resistance to air flow in the cooling device, tower and structure (if any) into which it
discharges.
Evaporative Cooling

Evaporative cooling is a passive cooling technique in

which outdoor air is cooled by evaporating water before
it is introduced in the building.
Its physical principle lies in the fact that the heat of air is
used to evaporate water, thus cooling the air, which in
turn cools the living space in the building.

To enhance the process of evaporation, fountains were used which mixed the moisture to the air and
increased the humidity.
 Earth
Coupling

This technique is used for passive cooling as well as heating of buildings, which
is made possible by the earth acting as a massive heat sink.
Passive Space
At depths beyond 4 to 5m, both daily and seasonal fluctuations die out and the
Conditioning Using
soil temperature remains almost constant throughout the year.
Earth Air Tunnel
Thus, the underground or partially sunk buildings will provide both cooling (in
System
summer) and heating (in winter) to the living space.
A building may be coupled with the earth by burying it underground or berming.

Earth sheltered home-The

Meadow Dance, Hyderabad
 Thank you

Dr. Tarush Chandra

HOD, Department of Architecture and Planning
Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur