Showing results 1 - 34 of 34
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A battery storage system can provide reliable back-up power during a grid power outage
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A Corsi-Rosenthal Box is a highly effective DIY air cleaner made of easy to obtain materials such as HVAC filters, a box fan, cardboard, and tape
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A mini-split air-conditioning system can be a highly effective low-energy approach to provide cooling to one designated zone in the house
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A shallow, open floor plan allows free flow of cross ventilation through the house
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Air speeds generated by a typical ceiling fan are in the ideal range for providing occupant cooling without causing disruption
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Airflow can be directed across thermal mass in the ceiling, floor, or elsewhere inside the home through various window and louver configurations
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Casement windows or wing walls can create zones of higher pressure (right) and lower pressure (left) to encourage cross ventilation when wind is flowing parallel to window openings
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Comfort ventilation focuses on airflow over occupants; in this example of wind-driven cross ventilation, the air is directed through the main occupied areas of the bedroom
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Dense hedges can encourage cross ventilation (left image) or not (right image) depending on how they are placed relative to windows
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Ducted whole-house fans should be installed with the duct curved and the fan suspended from rafters to reduce noise and vibration transmission to the living area.
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Earth tubes buried in the ground can provide pre-cooling of ventilation air or primary cooling if designed deep and long enough
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Even when wind is blowing parallel to a wall, an open casement window can create a zone of higher pressure near the window opening, driving airflow into the house
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Having both low and high ventilation openings is necessary to promote airflow from the stack effect
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In hot, dry climates, passive cooling should focus on shading, night flush through cross ventilation and whole-house fans, potentially using high-mass construction
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Inducing airflow through the stack effect requires low inlets and high outlets such as a ridge hood or crown monitor
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Landscape trees and shrubs to funnel cooling breeze towards a home in hot climate zones.
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Locating windows on adjacent and opposite sides of the house will allow cross ventilation regardless of wind direction
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Natural ventilation can be wind-driven (cross ventilation) or buoyancy-driven (stack ventilation)
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Passive cooling techniques can reduce or eliminate the use of air conditioning and can be used for backup cooling during emergencies.
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Shade trees planted on the east or west sides of a house are one of the most effective measures that can be taken to reduce heat gains
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Some whole-house fans are equipped with an automatic drop-down cover to provide an air seal at the ceiling level when the fan is not in use
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Some whole-house fans use an automatic insulated cover achieve high R-values when the fan is not in use
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The operable windows in this house are located at occupant level to provide comfort ventilation.
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This experimental earth tube is 220 ft long, 8 inches in diameter, and is buried 10 feet deep
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This experimental radiative/evaporative hybrid cooling system uses water to reject heat at night through radiation and evaporation
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This room has several passive and low-energy cooling features including a ceiling fan, fully operable French doors, window shading, an outdoor water feature, and light-colored hard-scaping.
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Whole-house fans draw outside air through windows into the home and exhaust it into a vented attic
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Whole-house fans or wind-driven cross ventilation can be used to draw air across thermal mass for a night flush strategy
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Wrong: Single sided ventilation without at least two windows, wing walls, and predictable wind directions is ineffective for generating wind-driven crossflow.