Passive Design

Cooling and air-conditioning systems are responsible for the highest energy consumption in buildings located in hot areas. This high share does not only increase the building energy demand cost but also increases the environmental impact, the topmost awareness of the modern era. The development of traditional systems and reliance on renewable technologies have increased drastically in the last century but still lacks economic concerns. Passive cooling strategies have been introduced as a successful option to mitigate the energy demand and improve energy conservation in buildings. This paper shed light on some passive strategies that could be applied to minimise building cooling loads to encourage the movement towards healthier and more energy-efficient buildings. For this purpose, seven popular passive technologies have been discussed shortly: multi-panned windows, shading devices, insulations, green roofing, phase change materials, reflective coatings, and natural ventilation using...

The paper tackles the first phase of Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), which forms a part of Masdar City, a large-scale sustainable project in the United Arab Emirates. The sustainable considerations the project is based on are inspired by vernacular treatments blended with modern technologies. Such mixture achieves specific climatic and cultural responses taking into account the arid and harsh environment while aligning with local requirements and aspects. Through these considerations and responses, the paper highlights the residential building facades as sustainable design strategies that have their importance taking into account the fact that they envelope the building and protect-coat its units. Based on passive vernacular-rooted technologies, they affect buildings and units in terms of cooling, shading, and lighting. Such effect is expected to reduce the design loads, resulting in less reliance on active systems and similar modern technologies. The aim of the paper is to follow the interactions and mutual relations between the designer, the developer, and the user. This is done through discussing the extent to which the design of the facades as a sustainable strategies is in line with use. Based on a qualitative, inductive approach, the conducted research utilizes interviews and site observations with the main contributors to target the main research aims. The argument is that sustainable design strategies are complex and contested as they are not merely imposed by designers and developer; they are further negotiated by the users, who could reveal unexpected aspects about the design and go beyond that to change in it. In other words, design is not a response of what designers or developers intend, but also to what users do as it is adaptive to their interactions.

This 1992 paper reports on work in progress in 'Design for Energy Efficiency,' one of fifteen task areas of the U.S. Department of Energy sponsored Energy Efficient Industrialized Housing research program. In this task, design studies establish visions of energy efficient housing systems and technologies for the year 2030 from which shorter term research activities can be defined. One study for a 'Multifamily Concrete Panel House in a Hot-Arid Climate,' a primarily passive solar design, responds to trends anticipating demand for small, minimum cost multi-family houses in sun-belt suburbs, diversifying household composition, declining wood resources, advancing concrete technology, increasing site density, and competition for cooling energy. Task background and progress is presented with an emphasis on passive solar systems and goals.

Solar access is the ability of a property to receive sunlight without obstructions. It is essential in well-designed urban districts and even guaranteed by law in certain countries. The provision of solar access to dwellings in the UK contribute to the reduction of energy consumption used for space heating in desired periods of the year, in addition to contributing to individuals’ psychological well-being. However, solar access can be very difficult to achieve in dense urban developments because other buildings may block the desired sun from adjacent masses as a result of poor layout planning. Nevertheless, high density is in many places an intrinsic part of sustainable living, and hence, a necessary target to meet.
In this study, the authors investigated the implications of the solar envelope zoning approach in the design of residential blocks in a town centre development in Matlock, UK. This design method influenced the form generation process and ensured solar access in each apartment with the required sunlight penetration during the hours of occupancy.
Several iterations have informed the optimisation of the form and the removal of parts of the design that were obstructing the adjacent buildings’ solar access. Ecotect software by Autodesk was used to model the sunrays penetration in the desired zones at specified times. The development combined 30 apartments targeting different age groups, with roof terraces and courtyards distributed on three levels with great consistency. This resulted with an extraordinary variety of vistas and enclosures with optimum penetration of daylight and ventilation for each different occupancy and dwelling type. Hence this design represents an exciting example of urban planning that employs the concept of solar envelope with creativity in design to link the community socially, environmentally, and visually with the context.

The objective of the thesis is the development of socially, economically and environmentally viable proposals that will improve the thermal performance of the NSW Demountable Classroom and the thermal comfort of the people and communities who use them in any of the climates across the state.
The problem is significant because around 6000, or 12%, of all government classrooms in the state are Demountable Classrooms. The NSW Demountable Classroom was designed 50 years ago and was intended to, and continues to, provide the NSW government with a system of physical infrastructure that allows schools to expand and contract in response to population fluctuation as well as providing emergency accommodation at times of need in any of the diverse climates across NSW. However, they are commonly regarded as offering inferior “temporary” teaching spaces due, in particular, to the perception of their internal environmental quality.
The thesis understands buildings, including the NSW Demountable Classroom, as intrinsically complex systems that exist within other complex environmental, social and economic systems. This thesis adopts a design led research methodology that is integrative; which accepts implicitly that there is no single optimal answer or solution for a problem consisting of so many indeterminate and interrelated variables.
The thesis develops an overall strategy, and specific “Solution Sets”, for improving the thermal performance of the NSW Demountable Classrooms and the thermal comfort of those who use them
The thesis concludes that the NSW Government, in collaboration with local communities, can employ simple strategies, identified in this thesis, to create high performance, adaptable and low carbon classroom buildings at a low cost in all NSW climates. The analysis argues that the benefits of this refurbishment can go beyond comfort and engage in social and pedagogical issues.

Amongst the innumerable constraints that the architect faces during the design of buildings, climate probably presents one of the major forces. The climate of a region presents a set of conditions, which need to be addressed adequately in order to produce contextual buildings.  Climate-responsiveness in buildings result in comfortable, energy-efficient, environmentally friendly buildings . . . qualities that can no longer be ignored in light of the present-day global energy crisis and heightened awareness of the environmental impacts of human intervention. Buildings constructed without regard to surrounding climate can, no doubt, operate given enough energy input to correct resulting problems, whether they concern over-heating, darkness or heat loss. However, such use of active energy is wasteful, and can harm the environment. Moreover access to such energy is beyond the reach of much of the population of developing countries.
Climate-responsive buildings are those where climate considerations are involved in the decision making process, from the initial design stage, to choice of building materials, etc, till the design of all details. The trend of recent development has shifted from low to high-rise buildings due to the pressures of population in much of the world, and Dhaka is no exception. The impacts of climate on high-rise buildings differ significantly from the low-rise urban situations of the past. There are major deviations from the regional radiation regime and wind patterns in the immediate vicinity of high-rise structures, resulting in characteristic localised site climates significantly different from regional averages.
This paper examines how the climatic forces can be manipulated to provide satisfactory solutions for interiors of tall structures in tropical situations. The study concentrates on residential architecture, as being representative of 24-hour use multi-functional buildings.

This research tries to explore more about thermal comfort of residential buildings in Kathmandu  and  the  ways  of improving  it  using  passive  design  strategies.  The provision of certain desired level of thermal comfort is one of the primary reasons of constructing  a  house.  However,  many  buildings which  are  currently  being constructed  fail  to  maintain  a comfortable  interior  environment  especially  during winter.  With  improvement  in  living  standard  of  the  people  and  the  construction industry, there will be addition of various modes of heating and cooling equipments in  the  building  to  maintain  thermal  comfort.  This  will  in  turn  further  accelerate  the rising  energy  demand  in  the  city.  Hence,  implementing  and  integrating  suitable passive  design  strategies  on  buildings  has  potential  to  be  an  effective  solution  to create better building designs.
The study proceeds by examining various passive design strategies. DesignBuilder software has been used to create a base model of the residential building which was used for performing several simulations. The simulations were carried out in different phases to analyse the effect of passive strategies on thermal comfort of the building. 
The  building  simulation  showed  mixed  results.  Nevertheless,  more  positive  results were  shown.  Furthermore,  the modified  house  incorporated  with  selected  passive strategies  performed  better  than  the  base  model  house both  in  terms  of  thermal comfort as well as energy use. The results can be of significant use to the people involved in building design and construction industry as it will aid them to implement suitable  passive  design  strategies in  the residential  building in  order  to provide  an improved thermal comfort.

Pakistan is facing a severe energy crisis which results in power cuts across the country. This situation seriously disturbs everyday life, business, and economic activities. The household sector in Pakistan is the primary consumer of electricity. A reasonable sum of this electricity is used for heating and cooling residential buildings, which can be reduced by adopting passive design strategies. This PhD research aims to provide informed decision support to design and construct climate-responsive houses in the cold semi-arid climate of Quetta, considering the appropriate and locally adapted low-tech solutions to improve residential buildings' indoor thermal comfort. Firstly, a literature review was done to understand the existing housing, comfort, and energy situation in Pakistan. An inventory of the current housing stock was then created to identify housing characteristics, construction types, and materials. The most common housing type was analysed for indoor climate, including monitoring indoor temperature and humidity, comfort perception and energy usage behaviour. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the residents to get insights on their comfort perception, clothing, behavioural adaptations, lifestyle etc. Then a benchmark study was performed by selecting the most representative house. The representative house's virtual model was analysed using dynamic simulation and calibrated based on actual monitored data. Four comfort models were compared to identify the best fit-t-context model. A parametric analysis was done using passive design strategies to improve indoor thermal comfort. A sensitivity analysis of 21 design variables was performed to identify the most influential passive design strategies, which can be used in the climate of Quetta. A materialization survey was done to determine the locally available and manufactured materials. Based on this PhD research analysis and findings, a prescriptive guide was developed to provide informed decision support for architects to design comfortable and climate-responsive houses. The prescriptive guide was then tested and validated. A usability test was performed among the architects and architecture. The results show that the prescriptive guide provides enhanced decision support compared to the Building Code of Pakistan. In the end, recommendations are made for the regulators and further research.

This fully updated Third Edition covers principles of designing buildings that use the sun for heating, wind for cooling, and daylight for natural lighting. Using hundreds of illustrations this book offers practical strategies that give the designer the tools they need to make energy efficient buildings. The focus of this 800 page edition is net-zero energy and carbon-neutral design to meet Architecture 2030 targets. Four excerpts are attached.

India holds a unique identity in the world because of the diversity in its culture, which is composed of rich phases of its history. History has therefore played an important role in framing the architectural identity of the country, which is vernacular in its character. This paper talks about the evolutionary story of vernacular architecture in Southern Bengal, a warm humid region in the eastern part of India. Bengal's inherent vernacular style is found to commence at the end of the 10th Century A.D. and the Mughals further contributed to it on a large scale. Later in history, the British started settling in east India, and they took several design measures to adapt to the environment. This contributed in the evolution of the vernacular forms from one to another, and to what they are today. It also brought in the concept of a bungalow. The modern history of India and the history of evolution of architecture in this region go parallel, as the most significant turning point is the colonialization of the country by the British. The form of these vernacular structures is very interesting and totally justifies the climatic adaption. This paper is a small part of a much larger research that intends to create a knowledge base of vernacular building traditions of Southern Bengal, which bears information about the energy performance of traditional building techniques, additionally considering factors such as local material availability, culture, lifestyles and traditional sentiments of the inhabitants. Hence, it aims to be an interesting read for professionals interested in climate responsiveness of traditional vernacular structures and the evolutionary design process behind the different typologies thereby present.

In Pakistan, reinforced concrete frame houses are the most widely used and common construction technology. In a country that experiences extreme hot and cold seasons throughout the year, buildings need to be adaptable to the climate to improve the thermal comfort of the inhabitants. Therefore, the aim of this study was to improve thermal comfort in reinforced concrete frame houses using passive design and energy efficiency measures in Quetta, Pakistan. Thermal comfort of a representative house was investigated using a building performance simulation. The building model created in EnergyPlus was validated by comparing it with on-site monitored data in both summer and winter seasons. The model was calibrated using statistical methods. Then, the calibrated model was used to perform a whole year simulation in which various orientations, ventilation, passive design, and energy efficiency strategies were applied to perform parametric analysis for the improvement of thermal comfort. The best fit-to-context thermal comfort model was selected, and the potential of bioclimatic design strategies was quantified. The results indicate that by adopting passive design strategies comfort hours can be increased from 43% to 59%. The results of the study revealed many findings which could be useful for architects and building engineers to set a future direction for improvement of indoor comfort in Quetta as well as in many other areas of Balochistan Province in Pakistan.

Green building, or sustainable design, is the practice of increasing the efficiency of the building with which buildings and their sites use energy, water, and materials. It also reducing building impacts on human health and the environment over the entire life cycle of the building. Green Building Index (GBI) is one of a rating tools for building grading system developed by construction industry professionals in order to promote sustainability in the built environment and raise awareness about environmental issues. A variety of active and passive design strategies can be integrated in order to increase the energy efficiency of a building. Active design strategies usually consist of heating and cooling systems like electricity or natural gas to keep the building comfortable. For instance, forced-air HVAC systems, heat pumps, radiant panels or chilled beams, and electric lights. Most building in tropical climate usually depend on mechanical means by using fans or air conditioning systems to maintain the indoor temperature within the comfort level. The dependence on a mechanical ventilation system could lead to additional costs for its installation, operation and maintenance. However passive design strategies use ambient energy sources which include daylighting, natural ventilation, and solar energy. It is achieved by appropriately orientating your building on its site and carefully designing the building envelope (roof, walls, windows and floors of a home). Passive architecture design strategies in tropical sustainable architecture aim to avoid heat from the sun, promote natural cross ventilation from the prevailing wind and ensure daylight into the building. This paper aims to introduce the natural climatic strategies for coping with local climate. These strategies include architectural development of the climate responsive design process. For instance, orientation, ventilation, thermal zoning, building form and typology, building envelope and optimize daylight access, building envelope design, materials selection and landscaping. Finally, it focuses on lessons that we can learn from our past experiences to improve our energy consumption patterns in tropical sustainable architecture.

This paper systematically reviews literature on passive heating and cooling of buildings using roof ponds. The main aims were to gain a detailed understanding of different roof pond configurations and their performance, compare effectiveness of different roof pond variants, evaluate performance of different roof pond variants relative to other passive design techniques, explore effects of climatic conditions and various design configurations on the performance of roof ponds, and identify gaps in knowledge and data. Overall, 19 roof pond cooling and 4 roof pond heating systems were identified. This review suggests that, in some cases, roof ponds can provide year-round thermal comfort while reducing demand for active heating and cooling systems.  Therefore, they can be utilized in efforts towards the goal of carbon-neutral design. Roof ponds with wet gunny bags, shaded roof ponds, ventilated roof ponds, and roof ponds with movable insulation proved to be more effective relative to other variants of roof pond cooling systems. Comparing performance relative to other passive strategies showed that, in many cases, roof pond cooling systems are about equally effective in maintaining indoor thermal comfort. Meteorological conditions, water depth, roof deck material, and thickness of the insulating panel are the main factors affecting performance of roof ponds. Several areas of weakness in the literature are identified. Future research should, among other things, provide more detailed knowledge on performance of all roof pond variants, further explore suitability of roof ponds relative to other passive design measures, examine effectiveness of roof ponds when combined with other passive design measures, analyze life-cycle costs of roof ponds, and provide more knowledge on their real-world application.

Several assessment programmes has been developed worldwide on the environmental and energy effect of buildings. The aim of this study is to identify the main and sub categories of sustainable design. The researcher has investigated and compared four global building rating systems, namely leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) in USA, Emirates Green Building Rating System (ESTIDAMA) in Abu Dhabi city, Qatar Sustainability assessment System (QSAS) in the State of Qatar and Australian green Star rating system (AGBC rating system), in Australia. This paper focuses mainly on their processes, contents, similarities and differences, processes, evaluation, their development and wither these systems are applicable to all environments? The paper outlined six main categories developed by these global rating systems being: Sustainable site, indoor environmental quality, materials, water efficiency, power supply system and innovations. Sub categories were added according to their social, cultural, economical and legislations conditions. The paper recommended adding four main categories suitable to hot and dry climate. Keywords: LEED system, ESTIDAMA system, QSAS system and Australia green star system, similarities and differences categories, categories for hot dry climate

تهدف الرسالة إلى تطوير المباني الإدارية القائمة بصورة أكثر استدامة، بحيث يتم الأخذ في الاعتبار تطبيق مفاهيم التصميم المستدام خلال مرحلة التخطيط للتطوير، بدلاً من اقتصار عمليات التطوير على فكر التجديد للتشطيبات واستبدال أنظمة الطاقة القائمة بأخرى أعلى كفاءة. وينبغي التفكير في العملية التصميمية كمنظومة متكاملة بحيث يتم ادماج الجانب المعماري وتطبيق استراتيجيات التصميم السالب خلال عمليات التطوير وإعادة تصميم أنظمة المبنى مع الاستفادة من الإضاءة والتهوية الطبيعية، بالإضافه إلى ادماج أنظمة التحكم ومحاولة الاستفادة من مصادر الطاقة المتجددة للحصول على أقصى توفير ممكن للطاقة، والاستفادة من الفكر المتكامل في تقليل أحمال الطاقة بالمبنى.
The research study aims to develop existing office buildings with a more sustainable vision, taking into account the application of sustainable design concept during the planning phase of development, instead of limiting development operations on finishing renovation concept and replacing existing energy systems with more efficient ones. Thinking about design process should be as an integrated system, where architectural side and passive design strategies can be integrated through development operations and re-design building systems with taking advantage of natural lighting and ventilation, in addition to the integration of control systems and take advantage of renewable energy for maximum energy savings and benefit from the integrated concept to reduce energy loads for buildings.

Resort adalah sebuah kawasan wisata yang populer karena identik dengan pengalaman ruangnya yang alami, liar dan unik yang dirasakan oleh pengguna saat berkunjung. Selain itu, sebuah resort dan beragam fasilitas didalamnya yang dirancang dengan pendekatan ekologis,
atau lebih populer dengan istilah eco-resort harus memperhatikan aspek-aspek penggunaan dan efisiensi energi. Oleh karena itu, optimalisasi energi alam, atau lebih dikenal dengan desain pasif dioptimalkan untuk meminimalisir konsumsi energi mekanis. Artikel ini mencoba mengaplikasikan dan mensimulasikan strategi desain pasif pada bangunan restoran terbuka dengan material bambu pada kawasan eco-resort di Situ Cileunca, Kecamatan Pangalengan, Kabupaten Bandung. Hasil simulasi menunjukkan bahwa, meskipun dengan menggunakan strategi desain pasif, namun tetap dibutuhkan konfigurasi untuk mengkondisikan angin di daerah tapak yang masuk ke dalam ruangan. Karena apabila angin yang masuk terlalu besar (di atas 2m/s) maka pengguna di dalam ruangan juga tidak akan merasakan kenyamanan yang sesuai. Hasil simulasi menunjukkan bahwa, dengan konfigurasi dan optimalisasi desain tertentu terbukti dapat mengurangi angin yang masuk ke dalam bangunan sehingga pengguna akan merasa lebih nyaman ketika berada di dalam bangunan.

Kata Kunci : Eco-resort, Restoran, Desain Pasif, Kenyamanan Termal

Climatology, or rather Climate Responsive Design is a key subject to be taught to students of architecture. Usually taught in the 3 rd semester, it is arguably more effective when taught in the 5 th semester, after the students have acquired the basic qualities of thinking in three dimensions, understanding and drafting complex sections etc., as well as a fair amount of ability in design manipulation. The best way to lay out the curriculum and classroom instruction, as well as "hands on" sessions to understand certain aspects better, is outlined in this paper. The topics to be covered under this subject can be broadly grouped under three modules-Basics of Weather and Climate; Human Thermal (and Visual) Comfort; and Climate Responsive Design. Under Basics of Weather and Climate, a grounding of what parameters constitute climate, and how these can be measured, analyzed to classify climatic zones should be provided. This is to understand broadly what kind of climate to expect in a given geographic region, and what deviations are to be expected at the microclimatic or site-climatic scales. Human beings have evolved to function efficiently under a limited range of climatic conditions, irrespective of which part of the globe they occupy, though this envelope of comfortable conditions can be stretched by factors such as acclimatization etc. The second module should impart an understanding of what constitutes human thermal, as well as visual, comfort. Unified indices as a measure of thermal comfort should be explored. Visual comfort, and the lighting ranges under which it can be achieved, needs to be explored. Finally, in the module Climate Responsive Design, how the conditions at a given location can be moderated by considered manipulation of the building envelope, choice of material etc. should be outlined. The use of physical modeling devices like wind tunnels, solarscopes etc. as well as the use of computer-modeling software can be initiated under this, with the support of relevant laboratories at an ideal institution. Despite the availability of a slew of modern textbooks in the field, this paper is aimed at communicating the subject using the classic by Otto Koenigsberger et al, which is easily available, affordable and extremely relevant even in this era of modelling software and visualizations.

This paper deals with the process of design in the context of the idea of energy conservation. We used analytical instruments in order to extract the principles and methods the architects used in their design as the solutions for passive design concepts. We narrowed down our research focus to the industrial architecture as a paradigm of the contemporary designs that is very much into the idea of green technology and energy conservation. As great energy consumers by their function, investors of the industrial buildings are justifiably interested in building a more energy effective building. There is a characteristic difference in the design of industrial architecture and the other types that also make passive design applications specific. Using the case study method and invert method of translation, we have examined the selected design projects. We tend to make some progress in the field of architectural design methodology, as a main area of application of our findings. The idea was to make the proposition of methodological principles extracted from the successful architectural practice for more rational and less time-consuming design method that has passive design component.

Berlin`s built environment is changing due to urban growth, whilst the impact on the urban microclimate is widely neglected. The Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect challenges the city by compromising human health. Climate Change and increasing urban density will exacerbate these challenges in future years. Hence, this paper investigates environmental densification approaches for Berlin from a climatic point of view. This aims to investigate preventative measures for urban sprawl, densification of the city centre and mitigation of the urban heat. The analysis focused on the Berlin block which accommodates the majority of the city´s population and occurs within the area mostly affected by the UHI. One typical block was analysed through fieldwork. Based on that, the environmental performance of different notional block configurations with horizontal and vertical extensions was computationally simulated. Generally, a vertical extension approach provides centrally-located living space while reducing heat during the summer. However, the paper highlights the importance of a sensitive insertion of additional vertical volumes to preserve initial sky view factors, especially for narrow outdoor spaces. This maintains outdoor microclimate conditions throughout the year. To successfully mitigate UHI, it is important to strengthen evaporative surfaces combined with urban form considerations on an urban scale.

High | Bombastic is part of a research on Living Building Envelopes still in progress at Mailab, a research center active for seven years at the University of Florence on Multimedia Architecture and Interaction.

High | Bombastic identifies the development of a naturally ventilated double-skin adaptive envelope.

This paper will present the results of the first phase dedicated to the definition and the realization of its conceptual prototype involving dynamic components and material speculation.

In Perlis, Northern Malaysia, a solar power plant with an energy
capacity of 5 MWp began selling energy to Tenaga Nasional Berhad in January 2013. Upon obtaining Feed-in Tariff approval from the Sustainable Energy Department Authority of Malaysia, the power plant will produce energy with a Feed-in Tariff of RM 0.874 for every kWh for 21 years according to the Renewable Energy Power Purchase Agreement. However, the output of solar plants is unpredictable. Investors commonly estimate the
output of solar PV power generation from simulation results based on irradiation data proposed in simulations. However, estimates of potential solar generation from simulated analyses may not be accurate and thus exert negative financial impacts to investors. Therefore, comparing estimated output results from simulations with the actual output from solar PV power generation is important. The aim of the present study is to identify the error between the simulation and actual performance of solar PV power generation over the twelve months of 2013. Sensitivity analysis of Feed-in Tariff degression was also performed to study the impact the performance error on the economic aspect of energy generation.

This paper intends to investigate the optimum passive design performance of buildings in Amman-Jordan, that achieves the perfect shading in summer, yet yields the most efficient use of the southern sun in winter from three main sources. The first source is designing window shape and canopy shading that allow maximum contact of winter sun on the glazing. The second is maximizing the sun footprint on the tiles to allow utilizing the local heavy thermal mass of the tiles (usually of marble or terrazzo tiles in Jordan) absorbing heat from the incident rays. Third, calculating the volume of air inside the house that becomes in direct contact with the heat wave of the sun which allows internal ambient Green House Gases such as CO2 and CH4 to absorb the heat wave and warm up the ambient air. The study was conducted on various window dimensions (with similar WWR), different shading positions and concluded that using W1, with dimensions equal to (1.82*1.12 m) with a 65cm horizontal shading cantilever that starts at 52cm from the window lentil (Shading C), can completely block the sun in summer and provide the optimal glazing exposure to the sun in winter on a southern façade.

Abstract:
Building sector has been accounted for 40% of total energy consumption in the European Union and the United States. Accordingly, building companies and governments are responding to make new buildings self-sufficient and to become “nearly zero-energy buildings”. Implementing passive environmental design strategies, local resources, and sustainability principles have become a must to enhance building’s efficiency. Indeed, buildings’ performance change according to the climatic zones. Considering vernacular architecture principles while designing, constructing, and orienting buildings would help reducing energy consumption, enhance indoor and workspace quality. HVAC systems and artificial lighting are taking the biggest share of energy consumption in office buildings. Hence, heating, ventilating and indoor lighting are among the most issues that could arise during design process to tackle. This paper will draw on sustainability principles referencing from vernacular architecture to discuss office buildings’ design strategies in temperate dry climate. The paper also aims to review design process from the settlement stage to envelope implementation. Finally, it will consider climate adaptation, and spaces usage to reduce energy consumption, minimize the impact on the environment, and respect the surrounding nature to achieve sustainable architecture goals.
Keywords: Energy-efficient buildings, office buildings, temperate-dry climate, sustainable architecture, passive design.

W 1970 roku w stanie Nowy Meksyk (USA) został wcielony w życie pierwszy projekt architektoniczny budynku mieszkalnego Earthship. Twórcą idei oraz głównym architektem pomysłu jest Michael Reynolds, który chciał stworzyć dom w pełni przyjazny środowisku naturalnemu.

Pierwszym założeniem koncepcji jest wykorzystanie rodzimych surowców potrzebnych do budowy domu bez ich zbędnego importowania z dalekich zakątków świata. Architekt, chcąc zmienić podejście do projektowania, zaproponował wykorzystanie materiałów z recyklingu — np. zużytych opon, puszek czy butelek po napojach. Drugim warunkiem, jaki mają spełniać Eartship’y, jest samowystarczalność budynków, realizowana przez wykorzystanie w nich w pełni odnawialnych źródeł energii oraz odłączenie budynku od zewnętrznych sieci zasilających. Ostatnim, najważniejszym założeniem wizji Reynolds’a, było umożliwienie samodzielnego wybudowania domu osobom bez specjalistycznych umiejętności budowlanych, chcąc w ten sposób rozpowszechnić tę technologię jak największej liczbie odbiorców na całym świecie.

Budynek zaprojektowany w myśl zrównoważonego rozwoju zaspokaja podstawowe ludzkie potrzeby, stosując przy tym różne funkcjonalne rozwiązania, m. in.:
- zorientowanie na osi północ-południe oraz projektowanie przeszkleń (szklarni) od nasłonecznionej strony domu, dzięki czemu promienie docierają do wszystkich jego pomieszczeń;
- pozyskiwanie energii z promieni słonecznych oraz siły wiatru;
- gromadzenie wody deszczowej oraz oczyszczanie i ponowne jej wykorzystywanie;
- hodowanie roślin uprawnych we wnętrzu budynku.

Eartship’y to nie tylko zrównoważona architektura, ale również styl życia. Ich miłośnicy łączą się w społeczności, w których wzajemnie spędzają czas.

Wybudowanie podstawowego modelu Eartship’u w Stanach Zjednoczonych to w przybliżeniu 7 000 dolarów. Do tej ceny należy również doliczyć koszty działki oraz zakup projektu. Amerykańscy eksperci podają za przykład parę z Toronto, która własnoręcznie wybudowała dom w 3 miesiące, opierając swoją wiedzę wyłącznie na planach. Idea Eartship’u, coraz bardziej popularna na całym świecie, w głównej mierze zachęca swych odbiorców poczuciem wolności od comiesięcznego opłacania rachunków oraz perspektywą harmonijnego życia w zgodzie z naturą.

Built environment is a function of man-made setting, surroundings, conditions which is the center of human activity in architectural places. The integration of nature into the built environment determines the urban or the rural form of settlements. The present research aims to specify architectural morphology of subtropical region through a case analysis of the situation in Pakistan. The field study analyses the existing housing stock in Pakistan, in urban settings and as a result of vernacular traditions in the villages. The paper identifies the regional characteristic behaviour of highland, lowland, coastal and arid region. It gives an overview of the current urban housing situation in Pakistan. It discusses the type of housing unit, the occupant behaviour, lifestyle of the people, It also identifies the pattern of energy used within the residential buildings of Pakistan. The architectural planning in urban and rural regions, their long term passive design techniques to cope with the climate challenges of a particular area have been discussed in detail. The paper recommend some contextual and adapted passive features of vernacular architecture in urban houses.

The residential sector is a major contributor to energy consumption and carbon emissions. The concept of energy-efficient house appeared as a response to the need to reduce energy demand in this sector. Energy-efficient houses have been designed and constructed widely in cold regions, the concept is however still under experimentation in extreme hot and arid climates such as in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region where the priority is to reduce space cooling load. This paper examines the concept of energy-efficient house and its applicability to the GCC region by reviewing two case studies where energy-efficient houses were designed and constructed. The paper concludes with GCC-specific considerations regarding the design and construction of energy-efficient houses and recommendations for future research.

This poster compiles the Design Strategy maps spreads from Sun, Wind & Light, 3rd edition into a single large page. Design Strategy maps show some of the relationships among Design Strategies and Strategy Bundles, across nine levels of nested complexity, from Materials (Level 1) to Neighborhoods (Level 9)..

In recent years, Malaysia has seen an increase in energy consumption by buildings from all sectors. A significant portion of the energy consumed annually is spent to cool residential and commercial buildings. However, there is possibility that the country’s overall energy usage may be reduced, provided that steps are taken to minimize cooling loads in buildings via passive means.
Considering Malaysia to be a country of hot-humid climate, many modern building designs have been observed to ignore the general characteristics of the region’s vernacular architecture. These are the key elements which help to reduce solar heat gains during the day. Properly conserved heritage buildings however, are seen to possess some of these qualities which may allow them to remain cooler than their modern counterparts under similar conditions.
This paper discusses the thermal performance of a heritage shophouse in Penang, Malaysia, which uses passive cooling. Aspects which are looked at are the overall design of the buildings as well as recorded thermal data collected during a pilot study. The results show that the building provided an indoor environment that is cooler than the outside. Suggestions are also made to further improve the indoor thermal environment.

Many Brazilian cities cannot provide the necessary infrastructure and services to a large extent of themselves. Concomitantly, the country has reduced the share of renewables in the energy mix. It also focuses on large hydropower plants with social and environmental issues, whereas many buildings located in the hottest climates demand energy for mechanical cooling.
The research explores the potential of the Bairro do Recife (Recife, Brazil) to improve the quality of life for its inhabitants by creating a scenario to understand possible interventions in the neighborhood. The focus lies on verifying the livability of the urban arrangement, the energy efficiency and production of the buildings, as well as a strategy to provide affordable housing.
The results indicate that the selected urban and energy strategies could, in most of the cases, improve the status quo situation. The urban intervention would improve the mix of uses, the public spaces, and walkability. The buildings could provide thermal comfort by passive solutions, reducing the energy demand, whereas the rooftops could produce equivalent to 79% of the electricity demand those buildings by using PV-panels.

The population growth and the increase in construction in Jordan caused a growing up of the energy consumption especially in the buildings sector. Residential buildings in Jordan consume 23% of the total energy consumption. Therefore, achieving the near zero energy houses will have a significant effect on reducing the energy consumption in Jordan. The Kingdom has different climate zones, which would require different design approaches. Therefore, three houses were selected as case-studies to cover the all three climatic zones in Jordan. The climatic zones were classified based on the Jordan thermal insulation code, as well as the difference in the altitude levels. Therefore, the study covers three zones: the high-altitude zone, the mid-high altitude zone, and the low-altitude zone. The study aims to research the optimum economic design strategies that will lead to a near zero energy residential buildings. The research methodology based on three levels of efficiency, each one consists of a number of strategies in order to improve the energy performance of the buildings. The first level of efficiency is the passive design strategies, the second level is the active design strategies and the third is the renewable energy design strategies. The proposed alternatives are analyzed in terms of energy efficiency and economic feasibility. The existing energy consumption for each case calculated based on the real data of the residential energy demand reports.

In Pakistan, reinforced concrete frame houses are the most widely used and common construction technology. In a country that experiences extreme hot and cold seasons throughout the year, buildings need to be adaptable to the climate to improve the thermal comfort of the inhabitants. Therefore, the aim of this study was to improve thermal comfort in reinforced concrete frame houses using passive design and energy efficiency measures in Quetta, Pakistan. Thermal comfort of a representative house was investigated using a building performance simulation. The building model created in EnergyPlus was validated by comparing it with on-site monitored data in both summer and winter seasons. The model was calibrated using statistical methods. Then, the calibrated model was used to perform a whole year simulation in which various orientations, ventilation, passive design, and energy efficiency strategies were applied to perform parametric analysis for the improvement of thermal comfort. The be...