The Application of the Inclined Window Method for Passive Cooling in Buildings

The cooling cost of buildings in the summer season may be reduced by structural changes and/or repositioning of windows so that window panes are inclined to the inside, and the direction in which windows face is shifted at predetermined angles. In this way the solar intensity and the accompanying heating is lowered through reflection at the glass surface leading to a corresponding lowering of the electrical energy needed to achieve a reasonably comfortable cooling level. An existing bouse at latitude 33°north, exemplifying the houses normally occupied by people of the middle income group, was chosen to test this approach. The expense incurred in carrying out structural changes to the building so as to make it compatible with the cooling envisaged was found to be met by two years saving in electrical cost.