A comparison between atrium and courtyard cooling efficiency in hot tropical climate, implementing different passive cooling strategies

This paper identifies the most efficient passive cooling strategies implemented in atriums and courtyards in the tropics. For this purpose, a field study of a naturally ventilated atrium building in the tropics is briefly reported upon in which five different modes are defined based on changing the atrium's physical behavior and hybrid evaporative cooling usage. The results are compared with the field study results of two naturally ventilated courtyard houses with the same climate. The results indicate that the highest cooling efficiency is achieved when cross ventilation is coupled with the stack effect in both the atrium and the courtyard (and with evaporative cooling in the atrium), by implementing large inlet openings in the atrium different heights and the courtyard adjacent space (preferably on two opposite sides). In these modes, although the atrium and the courtyard airflow patterns are similar, the atrium also benefits from reverse airflow in the morning. In addition, the airflow pattern has a more important role than the airflow rate in the modification of the indoor thermal condition, in both the atrium and the courtyard. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.