Solar chimney

For decades, air conditioning and mechanical ventilation have been the standard method of environmental control in many building types, especially offices, in developed countries.

Natural ventilation can be created by providing vents in the upper level of a building to allow warm air to rise by convection and escape to the outside.

To further maximize the cooling effect, the incoming air may be led through underground ducts before it is allowed to enter the building.

The added advantage of this design is that the system may be reversed during the cold season, providing solar heating instead.

[4] The use of a solar chimney may benefit natural ventilation and passive cooling strategies of buildings thus help reduce energy use, CO2 emissions and pollution in general.

The passive ventilation stacks, solar shading, and hollow concrete slabs with embedded under floor cooling are key features of this building.

The chimneys are connected to the curved hollow concrete floor slabs which are cooled via night ventilation.

On warm windy days air is drawn in through passages in the curved hollow concrete floor slabs.

Stack ventilation naturally rising out through the stainless steel chimneys enhances the air flow through the building.

In areas with a hot, arid climate this approach may contribute to a sustainable way to provide air conditioning for buildings.

[6] Airflow can be increased by using a solar chimney on the opposite side of the building to help in venting hot air to the outside.

The Visitor Center was designed by the High Performance Buildings Research of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Evaporation of moisture from the pads on top of the Toguna buildings built by the Dogon people of Mali, Africa, contribute to the coolness felt by the men who rest underneath.