Application of wind towers in the Australian residential context - A wind tunnel assessment of thermal comfort performance

This study explores wind tower applications for passive cooling in contemporary Australian apartment buildings located in subtropical Sydney, Australia. Wind towers have been used as a natural cooling system since 1300 BC in vernacular architecture throughout Persia and neighbouring countries and recently in modern constrictions in US and UK but to date, nothing in Australia. This research project investigates the comfort potential of wind towers as a substitute for mechanical cooling to reduce electricity demand and greenhouse gas emissions. The research method has two main components; first, wind-tunnel experiments derived pressure distributions around a sealed model of a four-story apartment building scaled at 1:100 in an isolated neighbourhood context. Secondly, internal occupied zone velocity coefficients were derived for calculation of indoor velocities throughout the six warmest months in Sydney. Results indicate that during Sydney's warm hours (>23°C) the elevated indoor air speeds resulting from the wind-catcher produced a cumulative total improvement in indoor comfort temperatures (ΣΔSET^∗) of 1368 degree hours compared with the default case of the same apartment building in through-window cross ventilation mode.