Abstract: Passive cooling is an ancient technique used in air reconditioning and ventilation. Despite its historical use, its relevance in building design has never ceased. To be sure, with the increasing interest in saving energy and preserving the environment, passive cooling stands out as a sustainable possibility. However, this is not always a viable option, and its practicality is determined mainly by the system's functionality, the type of activities involved in the space to be cooled, and the surrounding area's biocli- matic variables (i.e. temperature, humidity, and diurnal temperature differences). In areas under consid- eration for passive cooling systems, bioclimatic charts are helpful. Comprehensive charts, in which year- long hourly meteorological data are projected on a psychrometric chart, help to determine the fits required by a particular location. In this paper, psychrometric charts were developed for eight locations in Oman, and a systematic procedure on the selection and viability of using passive cooling techniques is provided through meteorological data. Givoni's passive cooling zones are used and the applicability of each technique is quantified. The eight study locations are widely scattered around and Oman, and pos- sess great geographical diversity. The presented results can help delineate the applicability of each pas- sive cooling technique for residential buildings at each of the study locations and their proximities. Keywords: Thermal comfort zone, Bioclimatic chart, Evaporative cooling, Ventilation, High mass

Abstract: Passive cooling is an ancient technique used in air reconditioning and ventilation. Despite its historical use, its relevance in building design has never ceased. To be sure, with the increasing interest in saving energy and preserving the environment, passive cooling stands out as a sus...