Evaporative cooling active roof Case study for a residential building in Cadiz

Abstract

To contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, one of the main ways is to reduce energy consumption in buildings. This consumption is due, among other reasons, to the space cooling of buildings in summer, especially in cities of southern Europe. This article focuses on the development of one of the main natural cooling techniques for buildings in summer, which is passive cooling. With this objective, the appropriate design of a cooling system for the top floor slab for a real residential building is presented, corresponding to the European project RECO2ST. The article presents the cooling potential of this technique calculated by means of numerical simulations and previous experimental campaigns. The use of this element is responsible for maintaining a surface temperature of approximately 2.5ºC lower than that of the indoor air. This lower surface temperature has the dual benefit of eliminating the need for conditioning consumption, and of keeping the operating temperature within the limits of thermal comfort in summer.