Examination and review of passive solar cooling strategies in middle eastern and North African vernacular architecture

Abstract

Middle Eastern Architecture represents a significant wealth of traditional technologies based on climate-responsive buildings. Indigenous people have learned to cope in this desert climate by developing a non-competitive relationship with the harsh environment. Because of the unbearable summer heat in this part of the world, the early architects of the Middle East and North Africa spent hundreds of years seeking solutions that allow local people to live in conditions as bearable as possible during the hottest days of the year. This paper reviews traditional passive cooling techniques used in hot climates and classifies them by cooling type. These techniques include convective cooling, evaporative cooling, radiant cooling, and earth cooling.