๐ Publication: Night Ventilation Under Heat Waves in Office Buildings
Buildings continue to struggle during heat waves, while cities experience hotter nights and reduced cooling capacity.
This study evaluates whether night ventilation can truly mitigate overheating during extreme heat events. The article, published in the Journal of Building Engineering, combines measured urban and rural climate data with calibrated building energy modeling to assess the performance of natural and mechanical night ventilation in a nearly zero-energy office building in Brussels.
Amaripadath, Riccardo Paolini, David J. Sailor, Shady Attia (2023) Comparative assessment of night ventilation performance in a nearly zero-energy office building during heat waves in Brussels. Journal of Building Engineering, 78, 107611. ๐ Open access: https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/305891
Key findings
โข Natural night ventilation reduces overheating during heat waves by up to 0.50 ยฐC
โข Urban microclimates significantly penalize night cooling performance
โข Mechanical night ventilation increases cooling energy demand due to fan operation
โข Time-integrated overheating indicators outperform peak metrics
โข Model calibration (ASHRAE Guideline 14) is essential for credible conclusions
๐ง Why This Matters
Night ventilation is often promoted as a low-cost passive cooling solution. This paper shows when it works, when it fails, and why. In dense cities, rising nighttime temperatures, reduced wind speeds, and urban heat islands limit the effectiveness of nighttime cooling. Yet, when properly designed, calibrated, and combined with active cooling, natural night ventilation remains a powerful strategy for:
1. reducing overheating risk ๐ก๏ธ
2. lowering cooling energy demand โก
3. improving resilience during heat waves ๐๏ธ
These findings directly support climate-adaptive design, awareness of outdoor microclimates, and evidence-based cooling strategies for nearly zero-energy buildings.
๐ With thanks to MK Engineering for technical support and collaboration.
๐ Read the article: https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/305891
๐ Explore the SBD Lab:https://www.sbd.uliege.be
๐ More publications & initiatives:https://www.shadyattia.org
๐ป Subscribe to my newsletter:https://lnkd.in/diTVT5eq
๐ All professional links (incl. WeChat ๐ฉ๐ฌ ๅพฎไฟก):https://lnkd.in/eN3xZhhZ
๐บ Watch my videos Bilibili (ไธญๆๅนณๅฐ) https://b23.tv/bzjL3bn
#NightVentilation #UrbanHeatIsland #HeatWaves #Microclimate #BuildingPhysics #ThermalComfort #ClimateResilience #EnergyModeling #Calibration