Natural ventilation and passive solar heating in classrooms

The literature has highlighted the importance of satisfactory thermal conditions in educational buildings, which significantly influence the learning process. The use of passive strategies in classrooms positively impacts thermal comfort, and the combined use of bioclimatic strategies is essential in regions that require both heating and cooling. Accordingly, this study conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) to identify publications that address the use of natural ventilation (NV) and passive solar heating in classrooms located in humid temperate climates (Cf), to investigate strategies that improve thermal comfort through the examination of the methods employed and the key findings reported in the studies. The SLR included 119 scientific articles published between January 2000 and October 2024. The results demonstrated a lack of research discussing the use of passive thermal comfort strategies that combine solar heating and ventilation in classrooms located in cold climates. Conversely, there has been a growing trend in studies investigating classroom NV strategies. Prevalent SLR strategies included cross and single-sided ventilation. Limited student-window interaction is detrimental to IEQ. Additionally, it was found that using a single passive solar heating strategy without thermal building insulation was insufficient to maintain thermal comfort during the investigation.