Design, Elements and Interaction
A building should ideally respond to climatic conditions of the site and use local weather and general conditions such as aspect, temperature, solar radiation, wind direction and obstructions to its advantage.
The height of a building and its envelope for instance will have significant effects on wind pressure and may lead to implications for natural ventilation and combating infiltrating heat gains and losses. In high vertical spaces with high floor to ceiling heights, ventilation is greatly improved through the so called stack effect which increases air flow movement through the space.
Further cooling strategies such as thermal mass rely on the effectiveness of effective airflow during the night to purge heat buildup inside the building.
It is seen that ventilation effectiveness is dependent on the number, separation, size and location of airflow inlet and outlets and need to be designed to maximise airflow through the building. Whilst the open ability of windows and louvres can increase ventilation effectiveness, they must also be weighed up against security and safety precautions.
Landscaping has more advantages than just being aesthetically pleasing by enabling physical and thermodynamic effects such as shading, ventilation flow paths and evotranspiration, measures which can alter the amount of heat gain build up in buildings.
There is a clear relationship between glass and a building’s other thermal components throughout the year as the ideal area of glazing in a building depends to a large extent on the amount of available building thermal mass. If too much glazing is designed in a building with low thermal mass, excessive heat gains occur whereas a building with too little glazing in a high thermal mass construction, will lead to insufficient heat gains during winter.
Even small areas of glazing will overheat most buildings in most climates, hence it is important to consider properly designed shading devices such as horizontal (eaves, awnings) and/or vertical (blinds, shades) overhangs.
Using thermal simulation software tools, it is possible to model optimal shading methods that suit a particular building.
Building Thermal assessments through simulation modelling allows legislative and policy requirements to be more creatively integrated into the building design and its materials., whilst being able to take advantage of and incorporate clever passive building design techniques.
