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Global Bioweather

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Make use of air movement in passive cooling - page 1

When sweat evaporates it cools the skin. This cooling effect is an important tool of our body’s thermoregulatory system. Without it, the body would overheat resulting in heat-related illnesses.

Unfortunately, without a breeze, be it natural or human-made, the air close to our body would soon be saturated. This means, the air would no longer be able to absorb the water vapour from our sweat and the skin becomes clammy and soaked in sweat. On the other hand, any air movement will carry the saturated air away allowing more sweat to evaporate which keeps us comfortable.

Like in a glass house, heat can also built up excessively if it is not allowed to escape. A breeze will replace the stale and hot indoor air with, hopefully, fresh and cooler outdoor air. This is not possible on extremely hot days, of course.

Nevertheless, a breeze is usually welcome during hot conditions and outright essential when the indoor air is hot and humid.

Wind direction

To make use of a breeze you will first have to find out where it comes from. Sea breezes blow from sea to land, usually perpendicular to the coastline. Local features or weather patterns may alter this path slightly. Similarly easy to determine is the land breeze, which generally blows at night in the opposite direction.

While it is relatively easy for coastal dwellers to determine where the wind comes from, it is not so easy to find and capture the cool local winds in locations away from the coast. Long-term residents can tell you, of course, where the beneficial breezes come from. They may point out that a particular cool wind literally falls down the mountain ranges every night, while another breeze has to squeeze through a valley and allways blows form a certain direction.

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Index

Global Bioweather

Make use of air movement in passive cooling - page 1

Heat Island

Urban