Application of passive downdraught evaporative cooling (PDEC) to non-domestic buildings

The applicability of Passive Downdraught Evaporative Cooling (PDEC) for reducing energy consumption in hot dry climates is reviewed. A new EC Joule project explaining the application of PDEC in non-domestic buildings is described. The building performance assessment methodology which employs dynamic thermal simulation programs for thermal analysis, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes for airflow modelling is discussed. The role which wind tunnel tests and field measurements have in producing improved models is noted. Preliminary results from CFD benchmark trials are presented.