VentiCoolPy is a Python library developed by Eurac Research to support the development of sustainable cooling strategies for buildings. This Python library provides the reference implementation of the ventilative cooling potential method developed by the Eurac Research within IEA/EBC Annex 62 and subsequently integrated into the prCEN/TS “Ventilative cooling systems – Design”. It operationalises the standardised methodology into an open and extensible computational tool for research and professional applications.
The ventilative cooling potential method aims at assessing the cooling potential of ventilative cooling (fx. using natural forces) in a reference thermal and ventilation zone representing the building in its context.
The ventilative cooling potential method provides a practical approach for application during the early stages of building design, such as the feasibility stage. It enables preliminary evaluation in the absence of detailed system specifications and leverages the adaptive comfort model to account for occupants' ability to adapt to varying indoor conditions, offering a realistic assessment of comfort levels.
- early-stage design applicability
- climate and building-dependent assessment
- single-zone hourly simulation of thermal balance
- explicit consideration of building thermal inertia
- frequency analysis of required ventilation rates to maintain thermal comfort over the full year
- use of adaptive thermal comfort model
To get started with VentiCoolPy, you'll need to install it first. You can do this by running the following command:
pip install venticoolpyThis documentation is designed to help you understand and use VentiCoolPy effectively.
Practical examples showing how to use our project in real-world scenarios. For more information, please see the Tutorials section.
A web app is available to use the library directly through an interface at the following link.
VentiCoolPy is licensed under the BSD 3-Clause License. For more information, please see the LICENSE file.
For any questions or support, please contact:
Concept and Methodology
- Annamaria Belleri annamaria.belleri@eurac.edu
Python Code and Web Tool
- Olga Somova olga.somova@eurac.edu
other contributors
- Ali Sana Fatima sanafatima.ali@eurac.edu (vertical irradiance code)
- Valentina Radice Fossati (validation of the calculation methdology)
- Dick Van Djik dick.vandijk@epb.center (thermal balance calculation method)
Please feel free to contact us with any potential suggestions, avenues for collaboration, etc.
Please cite us if you use the VentiCoolPy library:
Fossati V., Belleri A., Van Djik D., A methodology for evaluating the ventilative cooling potential in early-stage building design, AIVC 2023 conference proceedings, Copenhagen, October 2023
This work has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101138672 (HeriTACE). The calculation methodology implemented in this library has been adopted by CEN/TC 156/WG21 and included in their technical specification on ventilative cooling systems. We gratefully acknowledge the WG21 experts for their feedback.