A Review of Window Designs for Passive Cooling_data.xlsx

Indoor overheating risks are a common issue in urban dwellings. Climate change is making utilising operable windows for passive cooling in achieving indoor comfort becomes more challenging. This scenario is affecting the well-being of occupants, especially vulnerable people such as the elderly, children, and those in poverty. In this paper, we explored the existing literature on window designs for cooling particularly in multi-family urban dwellings through a Systematic Literature Review (SLR). We looked into the global cases of overheating risks and categorised them based on the Koppen-Geiger climatic classification. The results revealed that indoor overheating risks are higher in colder regions than in tropical regions in current and future climate scenarios. The review also led to the identification of a research gap in Window Usability Factors, a collective term for factors such as privacy, safety, security, noise, pollution, insects, and unpredictable weather conditions that inhibit urban dwellers from practically utilising their windows for cooling and sacrificing their comfort. Window Usability Factors are often overlooked when incorporating operable windows for cooling in multi-family urban dwellings. The findings suggest a crucial need for a more dynamic design to ensure the effectiveness of operable windows in mitigating indoor overheating risks.