Impacts of façade openings' geometry on natural ventilation and occupants’ perception: A review

Abstract

For centuries, natural ventilation (NV) was the smartest technique for conditioning the built environment. However, in modern design, NV has not been utilised to its full potential, especially in high-rise and medium-rise buildings. One of the remaining options is the application of balconies to guide airflow into the space to moderate the indoor ambient, increase thermal comfort, and reduce the need for mechanical ventilation. This article investigates literature reporting the impacts of façade openings, particularly balcony geometry, on NV performance and occupants' perception. It aims to identify to what extent balconies have been considered as an NV strategy and to identify research gaps in this field. This review article compared and classified different geometries' design features based on their effects on NV performance. This review paper also scrutinised the socio-technical impacts of designing façade opening via Post-occupancy Evaluation (POE) methods. The authors believe POE could be the missing link between designing for NV and occupants’ perception. The review outcome found that most of the available literature is carried out in case studies and regions with warm or hot climates that are cooling dominant. The increasing occurrence of heat waves or prolonged summer overheating in buildings in traditionally heating-dominated climates, however, suggests the need for research to evaluate both the technical and socio-technical parameters of balcony geometry for these climates as well.