The Effect of Wind Tower Design Parameters on Its Daylighting Performance in a Tropical Hot and Humid Climate

Abstract

The use of daylight in buildings is known to have benefits in both reducing energy consumption and improving human comfort and health. Wind towers are traditional architectural components used for providing natural ventilation and cooling in hot and dry climatic zones. To investigate this architectural component’s daylighting performance, an experiment was designed to evaluate different wind tower configurations under tropical hot and humid conditions. A generic room was modeled, and a total of 18 configurations, with varying wind tower design parameters such as height, length, and placement were tested. The modeled room with the wind tower configurations was also tested in three different orientations. Daylighting simulations were performed using ClimateStudio Solemma LLC) to examine lighting parameters such as illuminance levels under CIE overcast sky conditions, and a modified spatial daylight autonomy (msDA). Weather data from Puerto Rico was used to run the simulations. The obtained performance data is examined using linear regression statistical analysis and the correlations between the tested parameters and the daylighting performance are described. Results showed that thewind tower design significantly impacts its daylighting performance. The height had the most significant effect and contributed to most of the variance in the observed daylighting metrics.