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‘We don’t need air con’: how Burkina Faso builds schools that stay cool in 40C heat
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2024
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I love the sentiment, but there’s no data included. I have trouble concentrating above 75F inside a room, how much lower than ambient are these structures cooling? 88 would be way cooler than 105, but it’s still fucking hot- maybe it’s dry heat.
People have been building passively-cooled buildings for centuries. Cant see any data for how much they cool buildings by, but this article mentions buildings in Dubai reducing their energy use 23% to keep an equivalent building cooled when designed to use passive cooling: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S209526351400003X
I’m not saying passive cooling doesn’t work, I’m aware of convection cooling systems, I’m just saying the article talks all about highs and doesn’t give any other data- is it capable of cooling the air below ambient? Is it simply allowing air to not creep above ambient? Does it generate measurable breeze?
I suspect it’s a combination of bricks being a heat sink and vents allowing convection currents, but I know what 100+ feels like in my garage with all the doors open and it’s still brutal.
Also how well do these cooling methods work with humid air.
According to this, the way to go in humid environments may be to make "green" roofs. I am not a scientist or scholar so I don't know if that piece is credible or not and I only did a cursory scan of it. Maybe someone that knows more is willing to enlighten us.
That's what I was thinking too. They mention cooling but attribute it to the roof and doesn't mention anything else. That metal roof alone won't be enough to keep the place cool.
And metal roofs radiate in both directions
23.9°C
31.1°C
40.5°C
Thanks!
I know I'm saying something obvious here, but using this doesn't mean it needs to be the only source of cooling. You can combine this with air conditioning, but in your example, you can use it to cool the room down from 88 instead of 105. The first 17 degrees are "free".
It's not bad when you're acclimated to it. My office got to 90F with my aquarium, 3d printer, server, and gaming rig running, and after a week or so it didn't bother me.
I did end up installing a vent fan in the door so my equipment wouldn't die, though.