Performance Assessment of Ancient Wind Catchers - an Experimental and Analytical Study

Abstract

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.