Passive Cooling in Commercial Buildings.

By
Suryaveer Patnaik
CUN110301110
December, 2014

Chitkara School of Planning and Architecture.

Chitkara University, Punjab Campus.
Abstract
The study explores various energy efficient techniques that are applied in commercial
buildings. Persistent increase in energy demands vast amount of energy generation. Due to this increase
in energy demand, certain measures have been adopted to increase energy efficiency in buildings.
Buildings can reduce their energy requirements and meet their heating/cooling/lighting etc. needs by
generation at the source and help in Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emission reduction.

In the tropical zone, commercial buildings are plagued with the problem of over-heating, which
they generally deal with air conditioning and other similar energy consuming technologies. Over the
time we have forgotten the importance of traditional methods of cooling a building, rapid construction
and insensitive designing are some of the major reasons of why these methods are not applied in
commercial buildings. There are certain myths regarding passive cooling technologies which need to
be clarified for it to be widely used in commercial buildings.

The following study analyses the Passive Cooling Techniques as means to attain energy
efficiency in commercial buildings and concludes the most effective technique that must be applied in
commercial building.

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Contents
Abstract ................................................................................................................................................. 2

1. Introduction. ...................................................................................................................................... 5

1.1 Background.................................................................................................................................. 5

1.2 Energy Efficiency. ....................................................................................................................... 5

2. Objectives. ......................................................................................................................................... 6

3. Methodology...................................................................................................................................... 7

4. Literature Review. ............................................................................................................................. 7

4.1 Energy Efficiency in Buildings. ................................................................................................... 7

4.2 Growth in Energy use in the Developed World. .......................................................................... 8

4.3 Addressing the need to Conserve Energy .................................................................................... 9

4.4 Energy Performance. ................................................................................................................... 9

4.5 Energy Consumption ................................................................................................................. 10

4.6 Passive Solar Cooling. ............................................................................................................... 11

4.6.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 11

4.6.2 History and Background. .................................................................................................... 11

4.6.3 Passive Cooling Strategies. ................................................................................................. 12

4.6.4 Discussion. .......................................................................................................................... 16

5. Case Study. ...................................................................................................................................... 16

5.1 Case Study I: RETREAT: Resource Efficient TERI Retreat for Environmental Awareness and
Training, Gurgaon. .......................................................................................................................... 16

5.1.1 Project details...................................................................................................................... 16

5.1.2 Design features. .................................................................................................................. 17

5.1.2 Highlight Feature: Earth Air Tunnel. .................................................................................. 17

5.2 Case Study II: Torrent Research Centre, Ahmedabad (Key Case Study) ................................... 18

5.2.1 Project Details. .................................................................................................................... 18

5.2.2 Design Features. ................................................................................................................. 19

5.2.3 Highlight feature: PDEC System. ....................................................................................... 19

5.2.4 Positive Impact. .................................................................................................................. 20

5.3 Case Study Conclusion. ............................................................................................................. 20

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6. Key Discussion. ............................................................................................................................... 21

7. Key Conclusion. .............................................................................................................................. 22

8. References. ...................................................................................................................................... 23

8.1 Books / Journals / Reports. ........................................................................................................ 23

8.2 Online Material. ......................................................................................................................... 23

9. Acknowledgement. .......................................................................................................................... 24

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1. Introduction.
1.1 Background.
The energy demand is growing every day, and the capacity to meet these requirements are
falling short. Energy efficiency in buildings should not be treated as a trend anymore, but a compulsory
design criteria. Energy efficient building design includes techniques which help in reduction of energy
demand on the central energy
supply grid, in turn reducing the CO
emissions. Every energy efficient
building has an indirect effect on
central grid.

There is a direct impact of

this surge in energy demand on our
environment. In order to maintain
the demand to supply ratio, there
FIGURE 1 : GROWTH IN ENERGY DEMAND. SOURCE: WORLD ENERGY OUTLOOK
is huge strain on the natural REPORT 2012
resources (coal, gas, oil). Energy
efficiency in building design and operation is the first step in reduction of production pressure on the
natural resources and energy conservation.

Therefore, every commercial building should strive to achieve some degree of independence in
terms of energy requirements.

1.2 Energy Efficiency.

Energy efficiency means utilizing the minimum amount of energy for heating, cooling,
lighting, etc. that is required to maintain comfort conditions in a building. An important factor
impacting on energy efficiency is the building envelope. This includes all of the building elements
between the interior and the exterior of the building such as: walls, windows, doors, roof and
foundations. All of these components must work together in order to keep the building warm in the
winter and cool in the summer.

The amount of energy consumed

FIGURE 2 ENERGY USE IN BUILDING TYPES. (ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN
BUILDINGS, AYMAN, JUNE 2005)
varies depending on the design of the fabric of
the building and its systems and how they are
operated. The heating and cooling systems
consume the most energy in a building,
however controls such as programmable
thermostats and building energy management

P a g e 5 | 24
systems can significantly reduce the energy use of these systems. Some buildings also use zone
heating and cooling systems, which can reduce heating and cooling in the unused areas of a
building. In commercial buildings, integrated space and water heating systems can provide the best
approach to energy-efficient heating.

It is easier to design energy efficient features into new buildings, however existing
buildings comprise approximately 99% of the building stock. This sector thus provides the greater
challenge for implementation of energy efficiency as well as the greater opportunity for overall
energy efficiency gains. Although energy efficiency initiatives for existing buildings can be
demonstrated to be cost effective, there has been limited success in convincing large organizations
and building owners to undertake energy efficiency projects such as retrofits, and retro
commissions.[2]

Energy efficient buildings do not cost necessarily more to build than normal buildings, if
they are well maintained and manage energy effectively, they are set to be very reliable,
comfortable and as productive as a normal building.

2. Objectives.
The following study was conducted with
following objectives:

1. To identify what has been done so far

towards making buildings more
sustainable in terms of energy use and
what could be done to improve the
building.
2. Considering solar passive cooling as a
means to achieve energy efficiency in
commercial buildings.
FIGURE 3: ENERGY EFFICIENT SYSTEMS.

SOURCE :
HTTP://POWERHOUSESERVICE.COM/RESOURCES/ENERGY-
EFFICIENCY/WHOLE-BUILDING-APPROACH

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3. Methodology.
There are 2 major components of this study, i) Identification of reaseach topic.
understanding energy efficiency systems in buildings, ii) 01 Data Collection

justifying solar passive cooling as a means to achieve the

Lietrature Study and Review.
same. 02 Data Anaylsis.

The Research methodology includes List of Challenges.

03 Proposal
1. Literature study:
- This includes study of existing work done on Rough report.
energy efficient buildings. 04 Review

- Literature work on solar passive cooling.

Final Report.
2. Online Case Studies. 05
3. Photographs.
Figure 03: Formulation Process of
Dissertation.

4. Literature Review.
4.1 Energy Efficiency in Buildings.
The building stock includes, residential, commercial, institutional, and public structures.
Opportunities to minimize energy requirements through energy efficiency and passive renewable
energy in buildings encompass building design,
building materials, heating, cooling, lighting,
and appliances.

Commercial buildings include a wide

variety of building types such as offices,
hospitals, schools, police stations, places of
worship, warehouses, hotels, libraries, shopping
malls, etc. These different commercial activities
all have unique energy needs but, as a whole,
commercial buildings use more than half their
energy for heating and lighting.[1]

In commercial buildings the most

FIGURE 3 ENERGY USAGE IN COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS.
common fuel types used are electricity and natural gas. Occasionally commercial buildings also
utilize another source of energy in the form of locally generated group or district energy in the form
of heat and/or power. This is most applicable in situations where many buildings are located close
P a g e 7 | 24
to each other such as is in big cities, university campus, where it is more efficient to have a
centralized heating and cooling system which distributes energy in the form of steam, hot water or
chilled water to a number of buildings. A district system can reduce equipment and maintenance
costs, as well as save energy, by virtue of the fact that it is more efficient and economical to
centralize plant and distribution. [2]

4.2 Growth in Energy use in the Developed World.

Electrical power first emerged in the late 19th century, specifically for lighting. Electrical
power was produced by increasingly efficient engines. However, lamps remained inefficient until
the commercialization of fluorescent lighting, shortly before World War II.

The development of practical electric motors, largely by Nikola Tesla, occurred toward the
end of the 19th century. This enormously expanded applications for mechanical power. The
invention of innumerable small machines and labour saving devices made "energy" a ubiquitous
commodity by the beginning of the 20th century. Unlike the development of mechanical
equipment, the development of electrical equipment was largely based on theory. All practical
electrical motors are efficient, when compared with combustion-driven machinery. However, the
efficiency of applications served by inexpensive alternating-current motors is often limited by the
fact that these motors are single-speed devices. Efficient variable-speed motors were developed
early, but they had serious cost and maintenance limitations. [6]

By the beginning of the 20th

century, energy consumption per capita
was accelerating, while the energy-
consuming population of the earth also
grew rapidly. Appliances displaced
muscle power at home. Machines
increased production in factories and in
agriculture. Automobiles made
transportation a major new consumer
of fuels. Fuel replaced wind for the
propulsion of ships. Air travel became FIGURE 4 PRESENT SCENARIO OF POWER INSTALLED CAPACITY IN
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. (SOURCE: GEOSPATIAL NETWORK, 2013)
another user of fuel, the available
supply of energy continued to grow comfortably ahead of demand. Massive hydroelectric
generation plants were built to provide jobs during the 1930s. Electricity generation by nuclear
fission arose as a by-product of nuclear weapons, becoming another major source of energy from
the 1950s onward

P a g e 8 | 24
 Until the early 1970s, there was a popular conception of continually diminishing energy
prices. For example, nuclear power advocates spoke of electricity that would be "too cheap to
meter." As a result, efficiency ceased to be a major concern of the engineers who designed energy-
using equipment, and efficiency faded as an issue with the public and the government.

4.3 Addressing the need to Conserve Energy

Addressing the issue to minimize the effects of the present crises and future energy demands,
the western and most developed countries who are considered responsible for the consumption of
most of the worlds energy, reached to the conclusion on four main aspects for conserving energy
resources and they are as follows:
Reducing energy consumption in buildings, by energy management and energy efficient
measures;
The urgent requirement for alternatives and renewable energy sources of lower price;
The design of buildings for the attainment of thermal efficiency including better insulation;
Conserving water, materials and energy sources.

FIGURE 5. PRESENT CARBON EMISSION MAP OF THE WORLD, WITH INDIA BEING THE SECOND HIGHEST. (SOURCE:
DISTANTBODY, EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG,2009)

The above image is one of the major reason for integrating energy efficient design into
buildings. India is among the leading carbon dioxide producers, after United States of America. To
effectively reduce carbon emissions, there is a need of effective integration of building design,
Energy Efficient Techniques, Green building design and sustainable development. Reduction in
carbon dioxide emission can only be significantly affected if all these mentioned methods work in
cohesion.

4.4 Energy Performance.

There are three factors to be considered in the construction of building energy performance
indices and these are: the occupancy hours, severity of the climate and the type of activities in the

P a g e 9 | 24
building. Climatic severity and occupancy hours are best allowed for by dividing annual energy use per
unit area by a factor that is constructed on the basis of climate or occupancy hours.

Rating a buildings energy performance is becoming an increasingly important factor of

building operation. A highly rated building may be entitled for special recognition through a range of
voluntary or compulsory programs, which increases its resale value and rental income. Energy Rating
can help identify poorly operated buildings and opportunities for energy and cost savings.

Rating schemes are generally associated with certification. Certification means evaluating the

FIGURE 6. EXAMPLE OF ENERGY PERFORMANCE MODEL OF NAVY YARD. (SOURCE: A PILOT FOR MEASURING ENERGY
RETROFITS, RICHARD SWEESTER, PRESIDENT AT EXERGY.)
building in the design stage. Therefore the main aim of energy performance is to encourage the practice
of specifying materials, components and systems. The particular objective of an energy performance is
to specify what is required from the building in terms of a target energy consumption.

Figure 6 shows an energy performance model for an existing NAVY YARD, which has been
retrofitted with energy efficient systems. This is an example of how a building can be analysed for
energy consumption and help in reduction of the same.

4.5 Energy Consumption

Energy consumption in buildings can be categorized into three categories:
1. Primary Energy: This relates to the calorific value of the fossil fuels in their raw state
2. Secondary Energy: This is available from electricity, and other types of energy
manufactured from a primary energy source

P a g e 10 | 24
 3. Useful Energy: This refers to the energy required for the performance of a given task.
This is usually applicable to space heating load evaluations and other efficiencies.

4.6 Passive Solar Cooling.

4.6.1 Introduction
The following section deals with understanding the technology of solar passive cooling and
implementing it as an energy efficient technique.

Passive cooling is a building design approach that focuses on heat gain control and heat
dissipation in a building in order to improve the indoor thermal comfort with low or nil energy
consumption. This approach works either by preventing heat from entering the interior (heat gain
prevention) or by removing heat from the building (natural cooling).

~Santamouris, M.; Asimakoupolos, D. (1996). Passive cooling of buildings (1st ed.). 35-37
William Road, London NW1 3ER, UK: James & James (Science Publishers) Ltd.

A passive solar design involves the use of natural processes for heating or cooling to achieve
balanced interior conditions. The flow of energy in passive design is by natural means: radiation,
conduction, or convection without using any electrical device. Maintaining a comfortable environment
within a building in a hot climate relies on reducing the rate of heat gains into the building and
encouraging the removal of excess heat from the building. [5] To prevent heat from entering into the
building or to remove once it has entered is the underlying principle for accomplishing cooling in
passive cooling concepts. This depends on two conditions: the availability of a heat sink which is at a
lower temperature than indoor air, and the promotion of heat transfer towards the sink. Environmental
heat sinks are:

1. Outdoor air (heat transfer mainly by convection through openings)

2. Water (heat transfer by evaporation inside and / or outside the building envelope)
3. The (night) sky (heat transfer by long wave radiation through the roof and/or other
surface adjacent to a building
4. Ground (heat transfer by conduction through the building envelope).

4.6.2 History and Background.

Before the advent of refrigeration technology, people kept cool in buildings by using
natural methods e.g.:

Breezes flowing through windows

Water evaporating from springs and fountains

Large amounts of stone and earth to absorb daytime heat.

P a g e 11 | 24
 These ideas were developed over thousands of years as integral parts of building
design. Ironically passive cooling is now considered an "alternative" to mechanical cooling
that requires complicated refrigeration systems. By employing passive cooling techniques into
modern buildings, it is possible to eliminate mechanical cooling or air conditioning or at least
to reduce the size and cost of the equipment. Cooling by whatever means is merely the
opposite of heating. As such, it involves controlled selected rejection of the incident energy
by the collecting apertures. Thermal storage is minimized by heat transfer between storage
elements and the ambient heat sinks in the building, such as windows providing ventilation.

Passive cooling techniques can be used to minimize, and in some cases eliminate,
mechanical air conditioning requirements in areas where cooling is a dominant problem.

4.6.3 Passive Cooling Strategies.

4.6.3.1 Natural Ventilation.
This technique depends mainly on air movement to cool occupants. Window
openings on opposite sides of the building enhance cross ventilation driven by breezes.
Since natural breezes cannot be scheduled, designers often choose to enhance natural
ventilation using tall spaces within buildings called stacks or chimneys.
With openings near the top of the stack, warm air can escape, while cooler air enters
the building from openings near the ground. Ventilation requires the building to be open
during the day to allow air flow.
There are 2 types of principles applied for naturally ventilating a building. i) Wind
Driven and ii) Buoyancy Driven,
i) Wind Driven Ventilation:
This type of ventilation depends heavily on external wind condition,
orientation of building and temperature variation.
ii) Buoyancy Driven Ventilation:
Buoyancy driven ventilation arise due to differences in density of interior
and exterior air, which in large part arises from differences in temperature. When
there is a temperature difference between two adjoining volumes of air the warmer
air will have lower density and be more buoyant thus will rise above the cold air
creating an upward air stream. Forced up flow buoyancy driven ventilation in a
building takes place in a traditional fireplace. Passive stack ventilators are common
in most bathrooms and other type of spaces without direct access to the outdoors.

In order for a building to be ventilated adequately via buoyancy driven

ventilation, the inside and outside temperatures must be different so that warmer
indoor air rises and escapes the building at higher apertures.
P a g e 12 | 24
4.6.3.2 High Thermal Mass.
This technique relies on
the ability of materials in the
building to absorb heat during
the day. Each night the mass
releases heat, making it ready to
absorb heat again the next day.
To be efficient, thermal mass
must be exposed to the living
spaces. Residential buildings are
considered to have average mass
when the exposed mass area is FIGURE 7. HOW THERMAL MASS WORKS. (SOURCE: PETER J.
ARSENAULT, FAIA, NCARB, LEED AP, NOVEMBER, 2012.)
equal to the floor area. A slab
floor would be an easy way to achieve this in a design. High mass buildings would have up
to three square feet of exposed mass for each square foot of floor area. Large masonry
fireplaces and interior brick walls are two ways to incorporate high mass.
4.6.3.3 High Thermal Mass with Night Ventilation
This technique depends on the daily heat storage of thermal mass combined with night
ventilation that cools the mass. The building must be closed during the day and opened at night
to flush the heat away.

4.6.3.4 Evaporative Cooling.

Evaporative cooling decreases the indoor air temperature by evaporating water. In dry
climates, this is commonly done directly in the space. But indirect methods, such as roof ponds,
allow evaporative cooling to be used in more temperate climates too.

Ventilation and evaporative cooling are often supplemented with mechanical means,
such as fans. They use considerably less energy to maintain comfort compared to refrigeration
systems. It is also possible to use these strategies in completely passive systems that require no
additional machinery or energy to operate.

Evaporative cooling is subjected to humidity level, as high humidity is not

desirable, therefore, appropriate measures should be taken in case of application of this
technology.

P a g e 13 | 24
 FIGURE 8. EXAMPLE OF A MECHANICAL
EVAPORATIVE COOLING SYSTEM. ( MATHEWS,
E.H., KLEINGELD, M, GROBLER, L.J.,
INTEGRATED SIMULATION OF BUILDINGS AND
EVAPORATIVE COOLING SYSTEMS, BUILDING
AND ENVIRONMENT, VOL. 29, 1994)

4.6.3.5 Earth coupling.

Earth coupling uses the moderate and consistent temperature of the soil to act as a
heat sink to cool a building through conduction. This passive cooling strategy is most
effective when earth temperatures are cooler than ambient air temperature, such as hot
climates.

Direct coupling.

Direct coupling, or earth sheltering, occurs when a building uses earth as a

buffer for the walls. The earth is an endless heat sink and can effectively mitigate
temperature extremes. Earth sheltering improves the performance of building
envelope assemblies by reducing the magnitude of conductive and convective heat
loss and gains by reducing infiltration.

Indirect coupling.

A building can be indirectly coupled with the earth by means of earth ducts.
An earth duct is a buried tube that acts as avenue for supply air to travel through
before entering the building. Supply air is cooled by way of conductive heat transfer
between the concrete tubes and soil.

4.6.3.6 Earth air tunnel.

The use of earth as a heat sink or
a source for cooling/heating air in buried
pipes or underground tunnels has been a
testimony to Islamic and Persian
architecture. The air passing through a
tunnel or a buried pipe at a depth of few
meters gets cooled in summers and
heated in winters. Parameters like
surface area of pipe, length and depth of FIGURE 9 : SECTION THROUGH A EARTH TUNNEL,
(SOURCE: AN OVERVIEW OF PASSIVE COOLING
the tunnel below ground, dampness of TECHNIQUES IN BUILDINGS: DESIGN CONCEPTS AND
ARCHITECTURAL INTERVENTIONS, MOHAMAD ARIF
KAMAL.)
P a g e 14 | 24
 the earth, humidity of inlet air velocity, affect the exchange of heat between air and the
surrounding soil.

4.6.3.7 Passive downdraft evaporative cooling (PDEC).

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. Certain designs exclude the
re-circulation pump and use the pressure in the supply water line to periodically surge water
over the pads, eliminating the requirement for any electrical energy input.

In some designs, water is sprayed using micronizes or nozzles in place of pads, in

others, water is made to drip. Thus, the towers are equipped with evaporative cooling devices
at the top to provide cool air by gravity flow. 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.

4.6.3.8 Shading by textured surfaces.

Surface shading can be provided as an integral part of the building element also.
Highly textured walls have a portion of
their surface in shade. The increased
surface area of such a wall results in an
increased outer surface coefficient, which
permits the sunlit surface to stay cooler as
well as to cool down faster at night.
SHADING BY TEXTURED SURFACE.
4.6.3.9 Insulation.
The effect of insulation is to reduce heat gain and heat loss. The more insulation in a building
exterior envelope, the less heat transferred into or out of the building due to temperature difference
between the interior and exterior. Insulation also controls the interior mean radiant temperature (MRT)
by isolating the interior surfaces from the influence of the exterior conditions, and also reduces draughts
produced by temperature differences between walls and air.

Insulation is of great value when a building requires mechanical heating or cooling and helps
reduce the space-conditioning loads. Location of insulation and its optimum thickness are very
important. In hot climates, insulation is placed on the outer face (facing exterior) of the wall or roof so
that thermal mass of the wall is weakly coupled with the external source and strongly coupled with the
interior. Use of 40 mm thick expanded polystyrene insulation on walls and vermiculite concrete
insulation on the roof has brought down space-conditioning loads of the RETREAT building in Gurgaon

P a g e 15 | 24
by about 15%. Air cavities within walls or an attic space in the roof ceiling combination reduce the
solar heat gain factor, thereby reducing space-conditioning loads. The performance improves if the void
is ventilated. Heat is transmitted through the air cavity by convection and radiation. [6]

4.6.4 Discussion.
The above list of passive cooling technologies are some of the ways a building can achieve
energy efficiency. These methods are time tested and proven to work for various climate typology. The
problem lies in the fact that these technologies come with a higher initial cost, which, unfortunately is
a barrier for many clients seeking a new commercial space. What they miss out on is the fact that
recovery time for building cost is as much as halved and even lesser than 3 years in some of the cases(for
a mid-sized project.)

For people to adapt and adhere to energy efficient building technologies, the long term
economic and environmental benefits need to be highlighted and showcased. For large scale
implementation of these technologies the mental setup needs to change and wider an approach to energy
efficiency needs to be adopted.

5. Case Study.
5.1 Case Study I: RETREAT: Resource Efficient TERI Retreat for
Environmental Awareness and Training, Gurgaon.

5.1.1 Project details.

a. Project description 30-room training hostel with conference and ancillary facilities.
b. Climate: Composite
c. Architects: Sanjay Prakash and TERI
d. Year of start/completion: 19972000
e. Client/owner: Tata Energy Research Institute, New Delhi
f. Covered area: 3000 m
g. Cost of the project Civil works: Rs 23.6 million; Electrical works - Rs 2.5 million;

P a g e 16 | 24
 h. Cost of various technologies: Rs 18.54 million.

5.1.2 Design features.

1. Wall and roof insulation
2. Building oriented to
maximise winter gains;
summer gains offset
using shading east and
west walls devoid of
openings and are shaded.
3. Earth air tunnel for
rooms four tunnels of
70-m length and 70-cm
diameter each laid at a
depth of 4 m below the FIGURE 10: WORKING OF AN EARTH TUNNEL, (SOURCE: TERI)

ground to supply conditioned air to the rooms

4. Four fans of 2 hp each force the air in and solar chimneys force the air out of rooms.
5. Ammonia absorption chillers for the conference block.
6. Hybrid system with 50 kW biomass gasifier and 10.7 kWp solar photovoltaic with
inverter and battery backup to power the building 2000 lpd building integrated solar
water heating system.
7. Energy-efficient lighting provided by compact fluorescent lamp, high efficiency
fluorescent tubes with electronic chokes.
8. Daylighting and lighting controls to reduce consumption.
9. Building monitoring and management system.

5.1.2 Highlight Feature: Earth Air Tunnel.

The temperature in the living area is maintained at a comfortable 20 C to 30 throughout
the year, without the use of an air conditioner. The concept is based on the observation that
underground cellars are naturally cooler in summers and warmer in winters. In ancient and
medieval India, a similar concept was applied in the construction of buildings such as that
seen in the Red Fort at Delhi.

To circulate the air in the living area, each room has been fitted with a solar
chimney and the warm air rises and escapes through this chimney creating an air current.
Cool air from the underground tunnels, helped by two blowers fitted in the tunnels, rush
in to replace the warm air. In winter, the cold air in the rooms is replaced by warm air from
the tunnels. (Ref. figure 10)

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5.2 Case Study II: Torrent Research Centre, Ahmedabad (Key Case Study)

5.2.1 Project Details.

a. Architects: Nimish Patel and Parul Zaveri, Abhikram, Ahmedabad
b. Energy consultants: Brian Ford, Brian Ford and Associates, London, UK (for the
typical laboratory block in all aspects); C L Gupta, Solar Agni International,
Pondicherry (for the rest of the blocks, vetting Abhikram designs)
c. Project period: 19941999
d. Climate: Hot and dry
e. Client/Owner: Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
f. Size Built-up area of approximately 19 700 m.

FIGURE 11 TORRENT RESEARCH INSTITUTE, AHMEDABAD SITE PLAN. (SOURCE: AGA KHAN RESEARCH ARCHIVE)

The capital and running costs of air conditioning of non-domestic buildings in northern India
are very substantial, while building costs (compared with northern Europe) are low. A cooling technique
which maximises reliance on the building fabric and minimises reliance on mechanical equipment is

P a g e 18 | 24
therefore likely to be cost effective. Passive Downdraught Evaporative Cooling (PDEC) represents such
a technique.

At the Torrent Pharmaceuticals Research Centre in Ahmedabad, PDEC is used to service a

number of laboratories and offices within the complex. A central open concourse on three levels allows
evaporative cooled air to be introduced to laboratories and offices at each level and exhausted via
perimeter stacks.

The overall plan of the site is organized in a radiant circular formation and each building unit
consists of a covered courtyard building in itself which maximize the evaporative cooling by organizing
the stack effect.

5.2.2 Design Features.

a. Design maximizes the use of locally available natural materials and avoids the use of
synthetic materials. RCC-framed structure with brick in-filled walls, with glossy
enamel paint on cement/vermiculite plaster on the internal surface.
b. Vermiculite, a natural mineral, is extensively used for the insulation in roof and
cavity walls to achieve the required R-values, along with cementbrickbat-based
waterproofing
c. PDEC (passive downdraft evaporative cooling) system has been designed and
adopted for space conditioning of the building.
d. Daylight integration has been made for reducing energy usage.
e. Innovative use of half-round ceramic pipes, on the outer face of the inlet and exhaust
shafts of the PDEC system, to reduce the entry of larger dust particles by creating
local turbulence.

5.2.3 Highlight feature: PDEC System.

The design of the building facilitates generating an air
draft, assuming still air conditions. The air heats up in the
peripheral shafts, rises and escapes through the openings at the
top. The air in this volume gets replaced from the usable spaces,
which in turn receives its own replacement through the
concourse area, on top of which the air inlets are located. The
entering air is sprinkled with a fine spray of water mist at the
inlet, during hot temperatures outside. This facilitates
downdrafts. At each floor level, sets of hopper windows
designed to catch the descending flow, can be used to divert
some of this cooled air into the adjacent space.

P a g e 19 | 24
 The program is organized in such a manner that laboratories and offices are arranged
on three levels on either sides of an open course. The air intake occurs in the top unit of the
open course. Passing through wetted cellulose pads, the cooled air is introduced to the working
spaces at each level and is exhausted out through the perimeter stacks. The building registered
an air change rate of 9 per hour on the ground floor and 6 per hour on the first floor.

Temperature difference between inside and outside can exceed 10 degrees during
summer time and in opposition to air conditioned laboratories, the space is comfortable without
fans and is neither stuffy nor smelly. However, the building units must be sealed to reach the
maximum efficiency, since manual adjustments are less relevant.

5.2.4 Positive Impact.

a. In the summers, the inside temperatures have generally not exceeded 31C to 32C,
when the outside temperatures have risen up to 44C, a 12-13C drop
b. The temperature fluctuations inside the building have rarely exceeded beyond 3C to
4C over any 24 hour period, when the temperature fluctuations outside were as much
as 14C to 17C.
c. Economic Viability :
i. Additional civil works cost of the project including insulation etc. works out
to about 12% to 13% of the civil works cost of a conventional building.
ii. Air-conditioning plant capacity saved, is about 200 M. Tonnes.
iii. The annual savings in the electrical consumption including the savings on
account of less use of artificial lighting during the day is approximately
Rs.60.0 lakhs.
iv. The pay-back period of the additional capital cost, from the saving of the
electrical consumption alone, works out to a little less than 1 year.
v. The pay-back period for the cost of the construction of the entire complex,
from the savings of the electrical consumption as well as plant replacement
costs, works out to around 15 years.

In 2004-05, a Post Occupancy Survey was carried out by Building Use Studies
at the behest of University of Technology, Sydney, Australia & Victoria University of
Wellington, New Zealand. This survey shows that the building, which was designed
for 150-175 occupants, is still seen as adequately comfortable when the number of
occupants has increased to more than 600, a 250 % increase.[9]

5.3 Case Study Conclusion.

It is possible to make a difference in the human comfort conditions without having to
depend on excessive use of electrical/ mechanical energy and with basic and elementary
architectural systems. The process of achieving human comfort levels was based on the
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 fundamental understanding that comfort condition is not dependant on absolute figures of
parameters, but on the difference felt by the human skin, in the temperature and humidity
conditions over a period of time.

The process on the one hand minimized the impact of the external heat within the
building through adequate measures of insulating the buildings external fabric, and on the
other hand created an effective system of sealed evaporative cooling.

Through a detailed computation, an analysis of the costs of civil and air-conditioning

works along with the electrical consumption was carried out for three options of systems to be
used, viz: (a) the conventional building with air-conditioned/air-exhausted and open window
areas; (b) the conventional evaporatively cooled building, through cooling pads in the inlets
and fan driven ducted supply of air; and (c) the sealed evaporatively cooled building evolved
by SFA. The analysis then showed a three years pay-back period for the additional costs from
the savings in electricity cost.

The Torrent Research Centre demonstrates excellent environmental outcomes. The

findings of the post occupancy survey show that this building, completed over 10 years ago,
continues to satisfy expectations for a contemporary workplace of high quality that is
simultaneously energy efficient. While the wider implications of the success of such buildings
for the Indian subcontinent where there is currently a large scale development of glass boxes
that are both energy intensive and inappropriate for the climate, building performance outcomes
in Torrent clearly reinforce the value of a climate responsive approach to building design in
any location.

6. Key Discussion.
Efficient energy use, sometimes simply called energy efficiency, is the goal to reduce the
amount of energy required to provide products and services. ~ Wikipedia.org

The basic idea in applying passive technologies for cooling a building comes from creating a
low energy consuming building. After a review of all the aspects involved in passive cooling techniques
for a large scale building we can summarise the study as follows:

1. Though, energy efficiency is the need of the hour, it is not widely adapted.
2. Reasons for its failure in large scale implementation is
a. High initial investment, which is not desirable by major percentage of clients.
b. Failure to see the long term benefits of these technologies.
c. Many clients dont see passive technologies in line with the modern trend of
steel and glass construction and consider it backwards.

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 d. A myth that passive technologies cannot be successful in large scale
commercial buildings due to high density of people it caters to.

For these barriers to be broken, the change will have to start right at the core.
We as individuals need to realise the need for reduction in energy use. For
change to take place in mass, the mind-set of the mass needs to change and
shackles of short term gains need to be destroyed.
3. Passive technologies if applied properly can have huge benefits, both economic and
environmental.
4. A ground work needs to be laid to successfully implement passive cooling technology
in a large scale building. Without study and proper program formulation, the applied
technology will not be efficient.

7. Key Conclusion.
Energy efficient design has become a trend and its awareness and importance is being realised
by professionals every day. The need to integrate energy saving design technologies in the
preliminary stage of the building design is extremely crucial, as it will be the determining factor in
overall energy saving and environmental conservation.

There are abundant technologies and methods to achieve energy efficiency in commercial
buildings, starting from intelligent designing and environmental sensitive planning to additive
technologies as passive cooling etc. The final aim of any technological or planning implementation is
reduction in overall energy requirements of the building. Taking a cue from the above studied buildings
we can safely say that passive cooling techniques are not limited to small scale construction, but can
also be scaled to fit any commercial building typology.

Energy savings achieved by Torrent Research Institute, Ahmedabad is an example how a

building can reduce its cooling/heating needs with implementation of passive cooling techniques in the
initial stage of design. It is not only economically viable for the clients, it also eases the central grid off
power supply demand.

Though, the initial design and implementation cost of passive cooling techniques in commercial
buildings may be high, (Due to various analysis and model simulation procedure for sizing of
techniques) but the project breaks even with the cost of construction and starts giving profit in few
years. This in turn helps in the larger motive of reducing carbon emission due to building energy
demand.

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8. References.
8.1 Books / Journals / Reports.
1. George Baird, Michael R. Donn, Frank Pool William D.S.Brander, Chan Seong Aun, Energy
Performance of Buildings. Boca Raton CRC Press c1984.
2. Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) EM-4195, Energy Management Systems for
Commercial Buildings.
3. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, http://www.nrel.gov
4. Ayman Khalid Esaldig, Energy Efficiecny in Commercial Buildings, Faculty of
Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Energy Systems Research
Unit,University of Strathclyde, 2005,
5. Mohammad Arif Kamal, An Overview of Passive Cooling Techniques in Buildings: Design
Concepts and Architectural Interventions, , Department of Architecture, Aligarh Muslim
University,2012.
6. N. B. Geetha, R. Velraj, Passive cooling methods for energy efficient buildings with and
without thermal energy storage, Anna University, Institute of Energy Studies, 2011.
7. Representative designs of energy-efficient buildings in India. TERI, 2011.
8. Abhikram, Torrent Research Institute Post Occupancy review. 2007.

8.2 Online Material.

1. http://www.arch.mcgill.ca/prof/bourke/arch672/fall2002/evapor.htm
2. www.archidev.org/spip.php?article1115
3. http://high-performancebuildings.org/case_study_hdecm1.php
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efficient_energy_use
5. http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=14011
6. http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/12/heres-why-developing-countries-
will-consume-65-of-the-worlds-energy-by-2040/282006/
7. http://geospatialworld.net/Paper/Cover-Stories/ArticleView.aspx?aid=30803
8. http://www.bgu.ac.il/CDAUP/evaporative/evapo1.html

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9. Acknowledgement.

I would like to express my gratitude to the Chitkara School of Planning and Architecture which
gave me the opportunity to study and extend my knowledge and experience.

Special thanks are due to my guide, Ar. Abhishek Sharma for being so generous to me with
his time, patience, advice and valuable opinion.

My thanks are extended to my parents and all my friends I care to name.

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