Passive Cooling
Passive cooling simply means that you can cool your home without using mechanical parts like pumps and fans. Passive cooling is therefore the cheapest and most environmentally friendly way to cool your home, with little or no maintenance involved. It is especially appropriate for homes in Cockburn which can take advantage of cool afternoon sea breezes.
PASSIVE COOLING
- Reduces the transfer of heat into your home during the day by excluding sun and hot winds;
- Removes unwanted heat from your home at night by utilising cool breezes.
HOW TO USE PASSIVE COOLING IN YOUR HOME
- Minimise building surfaces (especially east and west) exposed to sun using pergolas, vegetation, external blinds, shade sails or other materials;
- Minimise east and west facing windows: direct sun from these directions is harsh and hot in summer. Each square meter of unshaded window heats your home by the same amount as a one bar radiator;
- Use heavy curtains with sealed pelmets to insulate windows. In summer curtains should be closed during the day and opened at night;
- Utilise cross ventilation by positioning openable windows to capture and channel cool southwest breezes through the house;
- As hot air moves over vegetation or water it gets cooler. Take advatage of this by replacing hard paved surfaces with groundcovers or water features outside windows or in courtyards to pre-cool air before it gets inside;
- Use appropriate window glazing – this is especially important on east and west openings of your home. The City of Cockburn does not allow reflective glazing on windows facing the street.
CROSS VENTILATION IN ACTION
The diagram above is from http://www.yourhome.gov.au/technical/fs46.html