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Wind catchers – “Baud-Geers” in Persian– are the main component of the traditional buildings in the hot regions of Iran. A Baud-Geer is a tower linked to a building that uses wind to provide natural ventilation and passive cooling. This passive renewable strategy offers the opportunity to improve the ambient comfort conditions in buildings whilst reducing the energy consumption of air-conditioning systems. In this research the natural ventilation performance of a typical wind tower in a hot dry central region of Iran -Yazd city- is studied. The tower is equipped with wind, temperature, air-velocity and solar sensors to acquire a climatic database. Using the measured data, the theoretical values of the ventilation rates are estimated and analysed to assess the performance of the wind tower. Additionally the data collected from the on-site measurements will assist in the validation of a CFD computer model. Finally the findings from this field study will lead to a discussion on the potential of Baud-Geers in achieving thermal comfort. This can contribute to energy savings for cooling and to the reuse and reappraisal of wind towers in Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In healthcare facilities, the prediction of mean thermal comfort perception of patients and staff is necessary to formulate requirements for the architectural and building systems design and control, and for establishing guidelines for the use of clothing and bedding systems. In this study thermal comfort of patients is evaluated by comparing objective (environmental and personal) parameters and subjective measurements (questionnaires) of thermal comfort for different groups of patients, according to the ward they are occupied in. The study involved 99 patients of maternity, oncology, neurology, gastro-enterology, abdominal surgery and thoraco-vascular surgery wards. T tests reveal no significant difference between Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) obtained from objective measurements and Actual Mean Vote (AMV) for all the different wards except for neurology. Binomial tests show that the difference between the predicted percentage of dissatisfied (PPD) obtained by application of the PPD-formula in ISO 7730 as function of Actual Mean Vote and PPD obtained from personal acceptability votes is not significant on a 5% level for all wards. This means that PMV and PPD indices may be used to adequately predict mean thermal responses for these wards except for neurology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]