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Passive cooling your home

When the sun beats down on your home, keeping cool can become a problem. Air-conditioning is, of course, one way to keep temperatures down, but is costly to install and to run. It also uses energy and contributes to the pollution in your city or town.

There are many simple ways of passively cooling your home, before it may become necessary to switch on the air-conditioning. Passive cooling is the use of natural and non-mechanical methods to maintain a comfortable temperature. By being more aware of the present and future climate in your urban area and the unique microclimate in and around your home, you can apply design principles, which create a home for all year round comfortable living in every climatic condition.

The least expensive methods can be considered at the designer’s table with an innovative floorplan, building form and appropriate orientation on the building site. Most building companies offer the no-charge option of mirroring a floorplan or placing rooms where they may make better use of sun and shade. Giving thoughts to blocking and reflecting heat, by using appropriate building materials, is always more cost-effective during the design stage, but many methods can be added to an already constructed home, unit or flat. Adding insulation is just one example.

During prolonged heatwaves, the temperatures indoors will eventually rise, regardless of the best building practices. Now it becomes important to remove the heat with passive cooling methods, such as creating natural air movements, capturing the breeze, or making use of evaporative cooling.

Besides the fact that you can save hundreds of dollars per year by employing passive cooling techniques, you can also contribute your share to the reduction of atmospheric pollution. ‘Green’ thinking starts at home. So, you should consider flicking the switch of mechanical devices only when all passive cooling methods fail to keep you comfortable.

Building performance and energy consumption is very sensitive to regional climates. The building design must address the climate and should suit the local environment. To build or add large shady verandahs, for example, is an excellent attempt to ensure thermal comfort in warm to hot climates and reduces the need for active cooling controls; but such a feature is unsuitable for cool to cold climates, where the sun’s energy should be used to reduce heating requirements.

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