Solar Chimneys as an Effective Ventilation Strategy in Multi-Storey Public Housing in the Post-COVID-19 Era

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This manuscript investigated the effectiveness of a solar chimney for improving ventilation and air exchange rates in multi-storey public housing. Unfortunately, this manuscript is not well written.  Here are some suggestions and comments:

1.Introduction:

Q1. "As buildings grow larger and some spaces lose access to natural ventilation" seems to be inaccurate. Should the author elaborate on why natural ventilation is no longer suitable and whether there are some papers to support which kind of buildings lose access to natural ventilation.

Q2. There is little research review on solar chimney. Line 75-83 only introduces the principle of solar chimney, which is obviously well known. Then what research has been done on the passive strategy of solar chimney, which should be reviewed in detail.

Q3. The necessity of conducting this research should be strengthened in Introduction. In other way, why do you conduct this research and what is the knowledge gap for conducting this research.

Q4. The novelty of this paper should be clearly pointed out in Introduction part.

2.Methodology:

Q1. It is suggested to mark "the case study building" proposed in this study on the satellite map in Figure 1, otherwise it has no reference significance

Q2. Figures 1-4 are not quoted in the paper, resulting in poor readability.

Q3. Is there any basis for determining the time of field measurements? It is suggested to add some information for reading and understanding.

Q4. The accuracy of measuring instruments should be provided.

Q5. The font size of the wind velocity sensor information in Figure 6 is too small.

Q6. The author should give a fuller explanation for the weak correlation of low R-value, which determines the credibility of software validation.

3.Results and Discussion: Scenario Simulations

Q1. It is suggested that the scale/label be given in Figure 9.

Q2. The cases of solar chimney described in lines 212-214 are scenarios 1 and 2, which cannot correspond to table 5.

4.Conclusion and Recommendations

Q1. Lines 264-276 are more like an introduction than a conclusion.

Q2. The conclusion part should be summarized and improved from the research result. The current conclusion involves few specific results of this study, and involves the evaluation and recommendation that can be made without carrying out this study. This part needs to be rewritten.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer 1

Thanks for the constructive comments on our paper entitled "Solar Chimney as an Effective Ventilation Strategy for Multi-Storey Public Housing in the Post-Covid19 Era". Please kindly refer to the submitted attachment for your action. Thank you very much

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

The paper presents solar chimney as an Effective Ventilation Strategy in Multi-Storey Public Housing for a Post-Covid19 Era. It is supported by 21 references. Comments are listed below:

• literature review should be extended to solar chimney to support the research gaps.
• discuss the impacts of cooling demand with wider use of natural ventilation.
• discuss how to shield heat from solar chimney to the neighbor air-conditioned areas.
• Most results address air velocity which is not directly related to the ACH, ventilation rate and IAQ. Please explain the correlation on velocity with IAQ, especially indoor pollutants.
• Figs 8 and 9: provide scales for the temperature gradients and contours.
• use diagrams to illustrate the locations of sensor points A1C1, A1C2, etc.
• high velocity can cause thermal discomfort. Please comment on the velocity profiles in Fig. 10.
• Discuss how the passive solar chimney design can meet IAQ and thermal comfort zone requirement under different climatic conditions. The potential limitations should be highlighted.
• The results should be sustained by thermal comfort analysis.
• Key numerical results should be summarized in conclusions.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer 2

Thanks for the constructive comments on our paper entitled "Solar Chimney as an Effective Ventilation Strategy for Multi-Storey Public Housing in the Post-Covid19 Era". Please kindly refer to the submitted attachment for your action. Thank you very much

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The author made a targeted response to the reviewers' questions, but the format of the article needs to be adjusted carefully. Unnecessary spaces appear on page 1, page 9, page 13 and page 16-18. Table 4 even exceeds the page range, affecting the readability of the article. The editor may consider the publication of this manuscript after the author has carefully revised it.