Passive ventilation, also known as natural ventilation, utilizes natural forces, such as wind and thermal buoyancy, to circulate air into and out of a building. These ventilation systems regulate the internal air temperature in addition to bringing in fresh air and sending out stale air.
Where cooling is required, windows can be opened to let warm air escape. But in winter, a well-designed passive ventilation is needed to refresh the air in your dome without creating draughts or letting out too much heat.
Passive ventilation works best if air has clear, uninterrupted pathways through your dome. You can maximize air flow by designing open plan areas or having high vents or multiple openings. Ensure that you have openable windows well distributed on each side of your dome to make the most of microclimate breezes.
They are two types of natural ventilation you can use in a building. These are wind-driven and buoyancy-driven ventilation.
1) Wind-Driven Ventilation
As the name suggests, this uses the forces of the wind. It is the wind flowing through an open window or door, due to the difference in pressure.
The most common type of wind-driven ventilation we hear about is cross ventilation. However, you can also have single-sided ventilation, but it is not as effective.
Cross ventilation is when wind enters a building from the windward side and exits through another.
You can design the path the wind is most likely to take. This is dependent on where openings are located and the obstacles, like walls. It is ideal to avoid having any obstructions along that path.
2) Buoyancy-Driven Ventilation
Buoyancy driven ventilation uses the density of air to promote air movement in a room. This is due to the difference in temperature or humidity of the air inside compared to outside.
As air enters your home, it heats up and becomes less dense than the cooler air on the exterior. As a result, the warmer air rises. Think of a hot air balloon. When that hot air rises and has a place to exit the building at a high level, like a clerestory window or roof vent, it naturally pulls in cool air from lower-level openings to replace it. This is referred to as the Stack Effect.
This method of natural ventilation has been a feature in traditional homes in tropic regions. It can be effective especially at times or in locations that do not have a lot of wind.
Why choose Passive Ventilation?
There are a number of benefits to passive ventilation, including:
1) Reduced costs
As passive ventilation systems rely on natural forces, you’ll save significantly on your building’s energy consumption and therefore save significantly on your energy bills.
2) Low maintenance
Passive ventilation do not require costly maintenance, further reducing costs as well as saving you time and effort.
3) Cleaner air
Passive ventilation systems ensure that clean air is flowing throughout your building at all times. This will improve your air quality which, in turn, will improve the health of the occupants of the building and increase productivity and concentration levels.
4) Consistency
Passive ventilation ensures that each room is supplied with the right amount of both cool and warm air, keeping the temperature constant and at a pleasant level. This also removes the need to constantly adjust the system.
5) Reduced carbon emissions
By implementing a passive ventilation system in your building, you’ll also be doing your bit for the environment.
Increasing awareness of the costs and environmental effects of high energy consumption has made passive ventilation a more appealing method, particularly in green building design. It has the ability to maintain a high level of indoor air quality and a healthy, comfortable indoor climate while delivering a significantly higher level of energy efficiency. In certain climates and building types, natural ventilation can be a 10%–30% energy-saving alternative to mechanical air-conditioning systems.
Passive Ventilation Systems we offer
We offer three types of passive ventilation systems:
1) PASSIVE VENTS FOR ORIGINAL SERIES DOMES: Compatible with original series domes only. Self-assembly. Don’t have insect screen, stay open at all times. Can be installed anywhere on the dome, as many as you wish.
2) GRID VENTS FOR PRO SERIES DOMES: Come pre-assembled and installed on the panel. Location on the dome is the lower row. Shutter style closure to keep it close when not used. Have screen mesh inside to keep bugs out.
3) PASSIVE VENTS FOR PRO SERIES DOMES: Come pre-assembled and installed on the panel. Location on the dome is the upper rows. Valve style closure to keep it close when not used. Have screen mesh inside to keep bugs out.
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