Coupling and solving thermal and air flow phenomena in passively cooled buildings

PASSPORT Plus is a new building thermal simulation tool, developed in the framework of PASCOOL. It incorporates new findings from the experimental and theoretical research activities performed in PASCOOL that have been integrated in an original informatic structure. Overall, the emphasis during the development of the program was given on dealing with problems related to cooling of buildings, especially by natural and passive techniques. Some of the program's features include a detailed treatment of the thermal mass, external remote obstacles, external shading devices like facade obstacles and louvers, improved treatment of natural ventilation phenomena. PASSPORT Plus is a flexible numerical model, in a sense that it can be easily modified in order to adapt and incorporate new findings from ongoing and future research, independently developed modules for treating specific systems or processes, with minimum effort and changes to the program's structure. The tool has been validated against experimental data and various other simulation programs, with very good agreement.