Performance enhancement of passive and low-consumption cooling strategies in tropical climates by integrating control systems: a case study in Panama

Countries in tropical climate systems adhere to higher cooling needs than other latitudes; thus, climate change and population growth urge sustainable cooling strategies. Bioclimatic principles provide a range of passive solutions at the buildings' envelope and surroundings, where increasing air velocity near occupants could provide thermal comfort even at high temperatures. Such passive strategies combined with control strategies may enhance performance and reduce energy consumption. Thus, this work reviews passive and low-consumption strategies implemented in tropical countries to highlight research interests and trends and presents a case study in a humid tropical developing country such as Panama. Nine cases are studied with different low-consumption solutions to find optimal combinations through simple control strategies to reduce overall energy consumption. The performance of such cases is assessed via energy intensity, relative annual indoor temperature to comfort limits, and the predictive mean vote.