Passive climatization using a cool roof and natural ventilation for internally displaced persons in hot climates: Case study for Haiti

The 2010 Earthquake in Haiti caused catastrophic damage to the metropolitan area of Port au Prince. The earthquake destroyed approximately 105,000 homes, causing more than 2.3 million people to live as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). Today, more than 1.3 million people still live in tents. Low cost buildings can provide a housing solution for these people. This paper proposes a low cost building solution intended for hot climates, using concrete as the only material. Due to the lack of facilities at these locations, no conventional energy or cooling systems can be installed; thus, only passive cooling technologies can be used to increase thermal comfort. A low cost cool roof and combined natural ventilation is proposed, and simulations show an improvement of 16% in the thermal conditions inside the building. The simulation is performed using the software package EnergyPlus and shows that cool roofs can be a good solution for improving living conditions in low cost houses for IDPs. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.