ENERGY EFFICIENT ARCHITECTURE

UNIT- 01 ---- PASSIVE

DESIGN
 Significance of Energy Efficiency
 Passive Design

 Passive design considerations

● Site condition
● Building Orientation
● Plan Form
● Building Envelope
● Heat Transfer and Thermal performance of Walls & Roofs
 Energy is a basic requirement for the
existence and development of human life.

•The demand for energy is growing at an

alarming rate year after year.

•With the increase in standards of living, the

consumption of energy in buildings is
progressively rising.
 •Buildings can be designed to meet occupant’s need for
thermal and visual comfort at reduced levels energy &
resources consumption.
•The primary steps in this approach would be to:
 Incorporate passive design techniques
 Use renewable energy systems
 Use low energy materials
 Methods/Material for construction
 Reduce transportation energy
Some common design elements that directly or indirectly
affects thermal comfort conditions and thereby the energy
consumption in a building are
(a) landscaping,
(b) ratio of built form to open spaces,
(c) location of water bodies,
(d) orientation,
(e) Plan form, and
(f) building envelope and fenestration.
WORLD ENERGY CONSUMPTION BY SECTOR
(APERTURE – An opening)
 Passive : Accepting or allowing what happens or
what others do, without active response or
resistance.
 Passive Design is design that does not require
mechanical heating or cooling.
Passive design results when a building is created
and simply “works on its own”.
 Passive design strategies use ambient energy
sources instead of purchased energy like
electricity or natural gas. These strategies include
day lighting, natural ventilation.

Passive design strategies

• Passive Heating
• Passive Cooling
• Passive Lighting
Passive in Architecture refers
to the particular way to
construct buildings using the
following in order to
maintain a good internal
comfort.,
 Natural movement of Heat and
Air
Passive solar gain and cooling

Through the use of passive

solutions, it
is possible to eliminate or
reduce the use of mechanical
systems and energy demand
as well as the CO2 emission.
Need for Energy Conscious Design Approach
The energy consumed by a building depends on its use
(residential, commercial, industrial), type of building (air
conditioned or non), the interaction of spaces and the
climate.

Passive design considerations are as follows.,

 Site Condition
 Building Orientation
 Plan Form
 Building Envelope
BUILDING ORIENTATION :

 Orientation is a major design consideration.

 It should be based on the requirement of heating or
cooling in a building to get a comfort zone.
 Eg : In tropical climatic zone like India.,
South orientation receives more radiation in winter
East and West orientation will receive more
radiation in summer
Thus the buildings in India are preferred to orient in
North-South direction.
 Passive Design
Techniques
Building Planform Building envelope Site condition
orientation

Micro climate Macro climate

Building Form

Walls Landform :
Topography & slope
orientation
Fenestration pattern & configuration

Vegetation type &

Fenestration orientation & Controls pattern

External colours & textures

Water bodies

Roof form & Materials

Ground character

Internal layouts & partitions

Open spaces &
built
Internal materials & finishes spaces
Street widths &
orientation
Building Orientation
 Building Massing & Orientation
• Aside for reducing energy use and enabling
passive design strategies, successful massing
and orientation can take advantage of site
conditions, such as rainwater harvesting, and
can help the building contribute to the health
and vitality of the surrounding ecological,
social, and economic communities. For
instance, it can be massed and oriented to
connect its social spaces with street life.
Massing decisions depend on the specifics of the project site
and goals. Building information modeling (BIM – software
tools) is a process involving the generation and management of
digital representations of physical and functional characteristics
of places. Building information models (BIMs) are files (often
but not always in proprietary formats and containing
proprietary data) which can be extracted, exchanged or
networked to support decision-making regarding a building.

BIM tools can provide designers with early conceptual energy

analysis to test different massing options. This analysis can take
into account how site features like natural land formations,
surrounding buildings, or vegetation affect the performance of
the design. Such features can shade the sun and change wind
patterns, so this is especially important for thermal comfort and
daylighting comfort. They can also affect rainwater harvesting.
BUILDING
FORM :

 The building form affects the solar access and

wind movement, which in turn varies with the heat
gain and heat loss inside the building.
 A compact building gains less heat during daytime
and losses less heat at night.
 Thus in region were the climatic condition is cold,
like Bangalore, we can adopt the compact
structural forms.
BUILDING FORM
PLAN FORM
The plan form of a building affects the
airflow around and through it. It could
either aid or hinder natural ventilation.

Physical obstacles in the path of airflow

create pressure differences. This causes
a new airflow pattern

Air tends to flow from high pressure to

low-pressure areas. Knowing the
direction of air movement, plan form
can be determined to create high and
low pressure areas and openings can be
provided connecting high pressure to
low-pressure areas.
 PLAN FORM
The perimeter to area ratio (P/A ratio) of the building is an important
indicator of heat loss and gain.

In hot climates the P/A ratio should be kept to a minimum. This would
cause minimum heat gain. Plan form for enhancing ventilation is not a
compelling proposition as breezes are often quite warm. In cold
climates too the P/A ratio should be minimal. This ensures minimum
heat loss.
 Shapes like square, rectangular, circular gains less
heat when comparing to other forms.
 The circular form would enhance natural
ventilation inside the building.
 The depth determines the amount of daylight
penetrates inside the building. For a deeper
structure, more artificial lighting will be required.
 In simple words, a shallow building oriented
perpendicular to the prevailing wind with
openings on both sides will allow sunlight to
penetrate into the middle of the building and will
enable cross ventilation.
PLAN FORM

Buildingform/surface to volume ratio:

The volume of space inside a building that needs to be heated or

cooled and its relationship with the area of the envelope enclosing
the volume affects the thermal performance of the building. For
any given building volume, the more compact the shapes, the less
wasteful it is in gaining / losing heat. Also, the building form
determines the airflow pattern around the building, directly
affecting its ventilation.
PLAN FORM
 BUILDING ENVELOPE :

A physical separator between interior and exterior
of a building.
 The components of Building Envelopes are.,
Walls
Roofs
Openings
Surface finishes
Foundation
 These components determines the heat gain or loss
and wind that enters the building.
Walls & Roofs

 Walls and Roofs constitute a major part, since they

receives large amount of direct radiation.
 Depending on the heating or cooling, the thickness
and material can be varied.
 The resistance to heat flow can be increased by.,

● High thickness
● Cavity wall
● Constructing with heat insulating material
● Using Light colour or distemper for exterior finish
 Walls
wals isimportant in high performancebuilding design.Using thermal mas
and insulation to your advantage with pas ive design strategies can help
reduce the amount of energy that active systems ne d to use.

Insulation Thermalinsulationisamaterialthat
blocks orslowsthe flowofheat throughthe
buildingenvelope.Insulation alows spacetoretain
what
heattheyhave, whileavoidgaining
exces heatfromoutside.
Some of the Roof
protections are..,
•A cover of deciduous
plants or creepers
•Covered with inverted pots
•Removable cover –
mounted close to the roof in
daytime and rolled up to
radiate cooling at night
•Vermiculite concrete
•Vents and skylights
Plants or Creepers

Covered with inverted pots

Vents and
Skylights
The Heat flow through these components, is
characterized by their resistance, thermal capacity,
absorption, transmission and emission.

The heat gain through each element can be viewed by :

•Area of the element
•Orientation and tilt of element
•Material properties
•Finishes
Arid climate
Arid climates are very dry, and usualy hot, but they often have large swings
of temperature from day to night. Thus thermal mas on the outside of the
building is the most crucial design strategy to evenout such
temperature swings.
For consistently hot locations, it
alsohelps to have highceilings,
light colors, and
Day lighting via reflected light
(not direct sun), such as in this
audience hal in the Jaipur city
palace. Courtyards with natural
ventilation and pools or fountains
can provide evaporative cooling
as wel .
CityPalaceinJaipur
 Tropicalclimate
Tropical climates are hot and humid. Therefore, keeping the heat of the
sun of is the top priority,
as wel as maximizing ventilation—
es ential y roof with wal s that pas
bre ze but not rain is ideal.
This home’s thick light-colored thatch
Roof ke ps out the sun’s heat,
while open eaves and porous bamboo
slats for wal s and floor maximize
natural ventilation.
 Mixed Cold / Hot Climate
Many “temperate” inland climates actually have two extremes--
cold in winter, hot and humid in summer. Flexibility is the key
to designing for these climates. The Aldo Leopold Center in
Wisconsin, first building
to be LEED certified as
carbon-neutral, uses deep
overhangs to allow low
winter sun in through the
windows to heat up a high-
mass concrete slab inside,
while blocking high
summer sun.
It also uses a light roof
and darker walls to repel summer sun but absorb winter sun.
Extra insulation retains heat in winter, but openable windows
passively cool it in summer.
• A sizable overhang is one of the
easiest ways to limit how much direct
sunlight streams in through your
windows during the summer.

• With the right angle of slope, the

overhang reduces the heating effect of
summer sunlight while still allowing
plenty of light in as the sun dips closer
to the horizon in the fall and winter.

The key benefits of a rooftop

garden :

•It converts CO2 emissions.

•It produces oxygen.
•It reduces the heat of buildings
and energy costs.
•It creates a habitat for wildlife.
•It reduces ambient temperature.
 Site Condition :
Selecting a site is the first and perhaps most
important step in the passive design process.
If a site is not suitable for passive design, some
elements of the passive design may not work in favour
of efficiency and comfort.

The most important factor is the amount of sun the

site receives, as a site that receives little or no sunlight
cannot be used for passive solar design.
 CLIMATE
TYPES OF CLIMATE

MACROCLIMATE :
Is the regional climates that are categorized as
very cold, cold, hot humid, hot dry etc.
1.Hot humid.
2.Hot dry.
3.Cold and wet

MICROCLIMATE:
Microclimate is the climate which immediately surrounds
the buildings
How plants affect microclimate?

• Plants absorb solar radiation

• Decreases earth temperature.
• Reduce dust.
• Air movement and air filtration.
• Decreases soil erosion.
• Increases water amount in soil.
• Provide soil with organic fertilizers.
 WIND PROTECTION

Wind can control real or perceived air temperature.

Wind may be diverted, or lessened by obstructions such as
buildings, walls, fences, landforms and plants.
• Plants can control wind by obstruction, guidance,
deflection, and filtration.
• Plants of varying height, width, species, and composition
planted either individually or in rows influence wind
deflection.

THE USE OF TREES TO CONTROL WIND DIRECTION

 FILTRATI
OBSTRUCTION ON

GUIDANCE
DEFLECTION
 Heat is not lost to
the environment but
eventually absorbed
by other close
building
Modern buildings makes compact planning inappropriate in hot regions due to decrease in heat
loss capacity.
An ideal site for passive solar design will:

•be flat or north-sloping

•be free of obstructions to the north
•be able to accommodate a building with a relatively large
north-facing wall or walls for maximum solar gain (as
well as north-facing outdoor areas if those are needed).

A site with north-south alignment is likely to receive

midday sun and with minimal overshadowing, but may
have limited morning or evening sun.
A site with east-west alignment is more likely to be
overshadowed to the north.
Building location

For maximum solar gain, a building should in general

be located near the site’s southern boundary.
In most cases, this is likely to reduce the risk of
shading from neighbouring properties, and also provide
sunny outdoor space.

However, the best location for solar access will vary

from site to site depending on site shape, orientation and
topography; and shading from trees and neighbouring
buildings (or future buildings).
As noted above, other factors such as views, wind,
topography, and the location of trees and neighbouring
buildings will also influence a building’s location on the
site.

In areas where cooling is more of a priority than heating,

factors such as access to breezes might be more important
than solar access.
 Passive design Strategy
Passive design, an approach to building design that uses
the building architecture to minimize energy
consumption.

The ultimate vision of passive design is to fully eliminate

requirements for active mechanical systems (and
associated fossil fuel-based energy consumption) and to
maintain occupant comfort at all times.

Through properly applied passive design principles, we

can greatly reduce building energy requirements before
we even consider mechanical systems.
What actions do you propose?
Passive Heating:
Passive solar heating combines a well-insulated envelope with other
elements that minimize energy losses and harness and store solar gains to offset
the energy requirements of the supplemental mechanical heating and ventilation
systems.

Passive ventilation:
Passive ventilation strategies use naturally occurring air flow patterns around
and in a building to introduce outdoor air into the space. Buildings can be
designed to enhance these natural air flows and take advantage of them rather
than work against them.

Passive Cooling:
Passive cooling strategies prevent the building from overheating by blocking
solar gains and removing internal heat gains.

Daylighting:
Daylighting maximizes the use and distribution of natural diffused daylight
throughout a building’s interior to reduce the need for artificial electric lighting.
What are other key benefits?

•Passive elements and strategies effectively expands the range of

outdoor conditions under which buildings can remain comfortable
without active systems.

•When outdoor conditions fall within the extended passive zone, a

building that incorporates all of these passive strategies will be
comfortable without mechanical heating or cooling; when
conditions fall outside of the zone, the building must rely on active
systems to maintain thermal comfort.

•Passive design enables buildings to maintain occupant comfort

throughout more of the year using less energy.