Influence Of The Climate On Architecture

Throughout history we can see that housing has followed certain trends. These trends are most heavily influenced by the technology available to the public at that time. As can be seen throughout history, living conditions in general have improved, as there are more access to resources and building technologies. Although the world we live in has changed greatly, the basic type of shelter needed for everyday life and the resources needed to construct them has changed very little. This is why we can see a lot of parallels between the ways people live throughout history. However, the biggest change is in the way we construct buildings and especially housing. History has taught us that as time goes by, technology increases, making it easier for us to build structures. For example the Egyptians relied solely on Adobe (sun dried mud bricks) and slave labor for construction. Then came the development of hydraulic lime mortar, the Treadwell cranes (which is a wooden, human powered hoisting and lowering device) as well as the start of domes and arches, as structural components in architecture. Followed by the Middle Ages, which saw a huge emphasis on the construction of massive public buildings such as Cathedrals, Churches, Fortifications

Floor registers are often positioned near outside walls to allow heat to fully flow back through your home. Ceiling registers are placed centrally in a room or between the center and external walls. Benefits for the house is that this system is designed to heat every room, meaning no cold spots in the house, resulting in a much more comfortable home. It is also highly efficient is all weather which is different to reverse cycle systems that are likely to lose efficiency when the temperature really drops outside but ducted gas systems remain unaffected. This reduces

In order to understand the word ‘thermal’ within a building, then SHGC which is solar heat gain coefficients had to be known to known the property of thermal insulation and conductivity in a whole manner. Solar heat gain coefficient is widely use in the United State in designing building. SHGC may refer to the transmittance of solar energy of windows or even walls, every object can be evaluate by using solar heat gain coefficient method by knowing the properties of each material. If a material have high solar heat gain coefficient, then the material is a good absorbent of solar heat. For material that is black in colour, inevitably it absorb heat faster because of the colour doesn’t reflect the wavelength that comes directly from the source of light. So, low-e components of a building that comes with low solar heat gain coefficient will reflect and keep heat source that came from sun away from the house and that will probably makes a house cooler. Solar heat gain coefficient usually dealt with windows that possess a low-e property. Low-e may regard to the emissivity of one’s material. Nowadays window mostly is transparent, and that makes it vulnerable for sunlight to penetrate easily into a house without any reflection. We have to be notice that if a window is place facing the unsuitable direction such as west or east, it will have an adverse effect towards the thermal comfort of a house especially terraced house in Malaysia that cant undergoes renovation due to the

In the event of fire the parts of the building that can transport smoke from one area to another are known as leakage paths. Common leakage paths in the event of fire are the principle evacuation areas (e.g. fire stairs), main access and egress paths, lift shafts and corridors.

The heavy-duty framing of these doors and windows, along with impact resistant material sandwiched between two layers of laminated glass, which makes them energy efficient. If you install standard windows in your home, hot air from outside can enter your home during summers. This can increase the run time of your air-conditioner which increases your energy bills. During winters, normal windows allow hot air to escape from the room, which increases the runtime of your heater. This can have major impact on your energy bills. Impact resistant doors and windows will prevent this from happening. During winters, the hot air stays inside your home and your heater does not work overtime to maintain the temperature inside the room. During summers, hot air does not enter your home, which reduces the load on the air-conditioner thereby reducing your electric bills.

The first step that Holst Architects took to resolve heating system in the building was tightly sealing the envelope of it. In order to make the building efficient, the façade had to be completely sealed to guaranty no heated air leakage. They tested a

Heat load on the buildings are reduced through thermally insulated facades and roof, light coloured roofing, natural shading devices.

The heating requirements of CH ₂ are expected to be minimal as there will be enough heat generated by lighting, equipment and the occupants of the building. The heat generated is anticipated to maintain the preferred thermal comfort level. Some traditional heating may be needed during winter, which will be generated through a gas heating system of from heat created by gas fired mirco turbine. Figure 2 shows how the north side heating and cooling

The best benefit of this kind of heating will you gain more control over the temperature of each space.

First reason that buildings change is we also change. None of us have constant atittudes and behaviours toward a

With the climate’s influence on houses in a tropical urban environment, it is undeniable that there is a substantive design issue for modern North Queensland. Tropical climates affect urban housing in several aspects such as heat, ventilation, and energy use. Therefore, it is necessary for Queenslanders to understand the effects that tropical heat has on their houses and the best way to minimize them. Consequently, this report has three main sections. The first section outlines the implications of tropical heat on house design, starting with early adaptations to the North Queensland climate and comparing them with modern house models. Then, it defines the basic climate design problems, focusing on housing design, energy, and ventilation. After

EPA, 1992). The UHI phenomenon is created in part by differences between thermal properties (e.g., heat capacity and thermal inertia) of artificial urban surfaces and natural land surfaces. Urban landscapes have reduced vegetative cover. In less developed areas trees and other vegetation cool the air by evapotranspiration, the evaporation of water from the surfaces of leaves and the soil. Because water has a high specific heat, when it undergoes a phase change from liquid to vapor it absorbs a great deal of heat. The loss of latent heat results in a cooling effect on the surface from which it evaporates. Vegetation also cools by shading buildings and blocking solar radiation. Urban surfaces, by contrast, such as roof and paving materials with low reflectivity absorb more solar radiation. These materials store this energy and convert it to sensible heat. Other factors contributing to the onset of UHI include differences in surface albedo, and anthropogenic heat release in the urban

The inefficient homes in the UK have catastrophic effects on global warming. The UK needs to become more energy efficient as at the moment it emits a large amount of greenhouse gases which risk dangerous climate change. The retrofitting of the brick three storey terraced town house is necessary in order to comply with the legislations set out by parliament in the UK Climate Change Act (2008) or if the house falls under the private rented sector it must comply with the Energy Act 2011.

The concept of using radiant and convection heat for comfort has been around since early man. People chose south facing caves because the sun would warm up the rocks during the day and radiate the heat into the cave at night. The flames from a fire also gave off radiant heat. Technology has developed to control radiant and convection heat. Radiant heating and cooling (RHC) systems utilize the surrounding surfaces as heating and/or cooling sources. Generally, RHC systems are systems that radiant heat transfers cover more than 50% of heat exchange within a specified space. Compared to all-air systems, which depend on convection only, the RHC system provides heating and cooling by the combination of radiation and convection in a building. There are three types of radiant floor heating systems. The first type is a radiant air floor, where the air is the heat-transferring medium. The second type is electric radiant floor. The last type is hydronic radiant floor, which uses hot water.

“Human houses should not be like boxes, blazing in the sun, nor should we outrage the Machine by trying to make dwelling places too complementary to Machinery. Any building for humane purposes should be an elemental, sympathetic feature of the ground, complementary to its nature-environment, belonging by kinship to the terrain.”