Application of urban passive cooling systems and design techniques in livestock buildings

Abstract

A protected environment for plant and animal growth is necessary for the increase of agricultural production. The expanding number of agricultural structures with a controlled environment, such as greenhouses and livestock structures, might be the key to tackling the continuously increasing food demand due to the growing population. Farm animals bred inside environmentally controlled buildings are positively affected. It has been found that farm animals have shown dramatic reduction in their productivity resulting in economic losses when the temperature rises beyond the upper critical point of their thermoneutral zone. For this reason, cooling systems and design techniques are developed and used in livestock buildings, in order to keep the optimum growth environmental conditions (temperature and humidity), so as to avoid heat stress. Conventional energy, which is the main energy source consumed by the active cooling systems might not be economically viable and additionally it has negative effects on the environment. Therefore, passive cooling methods towards the sustainability of livestock building designs are being examined, since the viable development of the economic factor is crucial. The most usual passive cooling systems are based on shelters, insulation, natural ventilation as well as architectural parameters, affecting the cooling of a building, such as the roof inclination, the wall colour, the orientation etc. Hybrid systems, such as earth to air heat exchangers are also used. There are some passive cooling solutions that have been used with success in urban buildings and these may be quite effective for livestock buildings without excessive modifications. The present study focuses on a description and evaluation of these solutions in primary food production.