This presentation for BE students

1. UNIT 2

2. Syllabus
 Site / Building Planning
A) Sustainable Site planning: wind / sun path, water management, material use, landscape,
topography.
B) Climate Responsive Architecture: orientation, solar- wind, Building envelope.
C) Thermal comfort indices. Heat flow through building materials. Thermal properties of
common building materials available in India. Thermal performance of building envelope. Air
movement and buildings. Ventilation and buildings. Wind an Stack effect. Mechanical
ventilation. HVAC System, Day lighting. Passive and sustainable architecture. Passive and
active systems.

3.  Site planning is very crucial in any architectural drawing; close attention must be
paid to it and important details must never be neglected or ignored in order to
make it sustainable.
 It is an important aspect that shows site boundaries, improves the overall quality of
building design as well as helps restore and preserve natural features on site.
 Although design vary and depend on the type of projects, however, detailed site
plans are often neglected and in many instances are not in collaboration with the
client; especially in smaller scale projects in developing countries.
 To achieve a sustainable site planning, the design process must be collaborative;
bringing all the project stakeholders together, that is, the architect, client,
engineers and the contractor.
Sustainable Site planning

4.  One of the most important and effective ways to create sustainable designs is taking a collaborative
approach.
 Ideally all of the project stakeholders (owner, architect, engineers, contractors, etc) are brought together
before design begins and the design process can be a completely collaborative process where all parties are
able to provide valuable input based on their expertise.
 The reality, however, is that this rarely happens, especially on smaller scale projects.
 The typical process involves the owner hiring an architect who later hires the engineers and finally the
contractor is brought on board late in design or after the design is completed.
 Often the architect creates preliminary designs for the project including site layout, building location and
orientation, elevations, floor plans etc. Sometimes this occurs with little or no input from the engineers.
 When the engineer comes on board the opportunity for collaboration and changes to the design is
diminished. However, we realize there a lot of reasons that the process can evolve this way and we
understand that it will continue to work that way on many projects.

5.  Q…WHAT IS A SUSTAINABLE SITE PLAN?
 Definition – “A site plan that has the least environmental impact while still meeting the client’s
project goals.”
 It’s not sustainable if it only parks half the cars that the project needs and costs twice as much as
budgeted. Just like any other design it has to be framed within the typical project parameters, but it
also includes consideration of the environmental impacts.
 7 brief topics on sustainable site design.
1. Site Selection
2. Site/Building Layout
3. Impervious Surfaces
4. Grading Considerations
5. Stormwater Management
6. Landscape Design

6. Stormwater Management
 Stormwater runoff is one of the most significant environmental impacts of a developed site. But it also
provides one of the greatest opportunities for sustainable design.
 However, developing a site can significantly alter the hydrologic cycle for the property and surrounding
area.
 Steps can and should be taken to maintain the pre-development hydrology or even to improve it.
 Many municipal regulations require that the post-development runoff rate does not exceed the pre-
development rate, but do not address runoff quantity.
 These regulations are largely flood control based and do not address groundwater recharge and the
hydrologic cycle.
 The Low Impact Development techniques shown below can be used to mimic the pre-development
hydrology.

7. Landscape Design
 Landscape design is often ignored in the initial planning stages and is tacked on at the end of the project.
 This is unfortunate and discounts the many benefits that proper landscape design can have beyond aesthetics.
 On the other hand, improper landscape design can have significant negative effects such as excessive potable
water use and erosion.
 Listed below are a number of items to consider during the site planning phase and throughout the design
process.
 Limit potable water use
1. Use Native Species
2. Place landscape areas to receive runoff
3. Use captured rainwater
4. Shade large hardscapes
5. Shade buildings in summer, allow sunlight in during winter
6. Place and design landscape areas to filter and clean stormwater
7. Raingardens in parking areas
8. Bioretention rather than retention ponds

8. Topography
 Site selection can significantly effect the environmental impact of a project. Some specific
parameters to consider when selecting a site include the following:
1. Avoid flood plains. Continued development in natural flood plain areas has contributed to
increased flooding, decreased flooding, and increased soil loss.
2. Provide buffers for bodies of water. Development around bodies of water such as
streams and wetlands should be limited and include buffers of undisturbed areas of 50' –
100' or more.
3. Avoid greenfields. Greyfields and brownfields are often less expensive to develop, place
less stress on infrastructure, and limit the environmental impact of developing previously
undeveloped sites.
4. Keep transportation in mind. The transportation of people and goods to a site can have
significant effects. Try to select sites accessible by public and non-motorized
transportation.

9. Climate-Responsive Architecture
 Today’s architects and builders are increasingly focused on how to create structures that have less impact
on the natural environment.
 Climate-responsive architecture is a design practice centered on creating buildings that function in
lockstep with the local climate, not in spite of it.
 It is simple in concept but more complex in execution. While every project is unique, especially when it
comes to the site-specific environmental conditions, there are several best practices to follow for
designing a climate-responsive building.
 The goal of climate-responsive architecture is to create a comfortable interior while reducing the
building’s reliance on artificial energy.
 A climate-responsive building design reflects the weather conditions in the precise area where the
building is constructed.
 The design utilizes data on the region’s weather patterns and accounts for factors like seasonality,
intensity of the sun, wind, rainfall and humidity

10.  Several elements play a role in limiting a building’s energy use based on its site-specific
conditions. For example, the building envelope is an important mediator between the indoor
and outdoor condition.
 Envelopes in different climate zones require different assemblies to minimize unwanted energy
loss.
 In the United States, local building codes aim to reduce new buildings’ energy use, designating
which construction materials and envelope assemblies may be used.
 True climate-responsive architecture goes well beyond adherence to code.
 Smart glazing systems, for example, offer opportunities to further the practice. Electrochromic
glass actively controls how much solar light and heat transfer into an interior space.
 SageGlass minimizes solar heat penetration in summer months to reduce a building’s cooling
load; conversely, it can be used to maximize solar heat gain during winter months to help
reduce the amount of energy needed to heat the building.
 Though glazing causes more heat transfer than a wall surface, a high-performing system like
SageGlass helps climate-responsive projects effectively manage heat gain while capitalizing
on the many benefits that a glazed exterior has on a building’s occupants.

11. Solar Control
1. Strategic building orientation and data-informed fenestration are critical to maximizing the climate-responsive
abilities of smart glass.
2. In general, in the Northern Hemisphere, the east direction receives maximum solar radiation in the morning.
3. Around noon, most light is directed onto the south façade, and by the afternoon, direct light is on the west
façade.
4. In colder climates, it follows that a building with more of its windows on the southern-facing façade will benefit
from passive heating.
5. Using fenestration to access high-quality day lighting can also reduce the amount of energy a building
expends on artificial lighting.
6. Yet general guidelines like these are only so helpful. The altitude of a project site will affect glare and daylight
levels, as will the season and the ever-changing sky condition, which is contingent on cloud cover and the
probability of precipitation.
7. Solar angle and sky condition are dynamic features, and only a dynamic window system has the ability to
respond to this in real time.
8. SageGlass can automatically change its tint pattern to block glare, balance daylight levels and manage solar heat
gain. SageGlass can be programmed to automatically respond to changing environmental conditions or can be
changed manually based on user need.

12. 

13. Thermal comfort indices
A. Thermal comfort refers to the subjective feeling of temperature in an environment.
B. Optimum levels of thermal comfort helps in maximizing productivity.
C. Measurement of thermal comfort levels are complex and many indices have been
proposed over the years.
They are:
 1. Air temperature
1. Initially the air temperature as measured from a dry bulb thermometer was taken as the
indicator of thermal comfort
2. But it was found to be a unsatisfactory measure as comfort levels depended on other factors too
 2. Air temperature and humidity
1. Later air temperature and humidity levels were considered to convey the thermal comfort levels
2. This was also unsatisfactory

14.  3. Cooling power
 This takes into consideration the following factors
1. Air temperature
2. Humidity
3. Air movements
 A device called Kata thermometer was devised by Hill to measure cooling power
 A dry Kata reading of 6 or above and an wet Kata above 20 indicates thermal comfort
 4. Effective temperature
1. The different factors determining thermal comfort – air temperature, humidity and air movements are
combined together into a single index – Effective temperature
2. Effective temperature is the temperature in an environment with 100% humidity and no air movements which
will induce the same level of thermal comfort as in the present situation
3. For example, if the effective temperature is said to be 30°C, it means that the thermal comfort is equivalent to
one is an environment with temperature 30°C, 100% humidity and no air movements
4. But effective temperature does not take into consideration, the effect or radiant heat energy

15.  5. Corrected effective temperature
 The effective temperature is adjusted by considering the loss or gain of heat by
radiation to arrive at a corrected effective temperature (CET)
 Thus CET is determined by 4 factors
1. air temperature
2. humidity
3. air movements
4. radiant heat
 Corrected effective temperature is measured using a combination of
A. globe thermometer – to measure air temperature adjusted for radiant heat
B. wet bulb thermometer – to measure humidity
C. air speed measurement

16. Heat flow through building materials
1. In a typical home, a large portion of all energy consumed is spent on heating and cooling.
2. Air leakage and too little or improperly-installed insulation account for a large portion of this.
3. A good thermal boundary, which includes insulation, windows, and doors, not only reduces energy waste
but greatly increases an occupant’s comfort.
4. Heat flow can occur through three mechanisms: conduction, convection, and radiation.
5. The principles of applied building science consider how each type of heat flow can affect buildings,
equipment, and occupants.
6. Heat transfer is the process of thermal exchange between different systems. Generally the net heat
transfer between two systems will be from the hotter system to the cooler system.

17.  1. Conduction
 When two surfaces at different temperatures are in direct contact, heat will naturally flow from the warmer
material to the cooler, until a balance is reached.
 The rate at which this heat transfer occurs depends on the temperature difference between the two surfaces
and on the thermal resistance (R-value) of the material.
 2. Convection
1. Warm air naturally rises within a space, and colder air falls.
2. These movements of warm and cold air are known as convection currents, which sometimes move in
circles called convective loops.
 3. Radiation
1. Warm objects give off waves of heat, which can travel across an open space and be absorbed by cooler
objects.
2. The most common example of this is the sun, which radiates heat across space to warm the Earth. Even
our own bodies radiate a certain amount of heat.
3. Typical insulation materials do not reduce radiation heat loss unless they contain a radiant barrier (such as
reflective foil).

18. Effects of Heat Flow
1. Effects of Heat Flow on Occupants:
2. Health and Safety
3. Comfort
4. Effects of Heat Flow on Building Durability
5. Effects of Heat Flow on Energy Efficiency

19. Thermal properties
of common building
material available in
india.

20. Air Movement and Buildings
 Movement of Air
1. Natural ventilation is caused by naturally produced pressure differences due to wind
outside the building and/or differences in air temperature inside the building.
2. Natural ventilation is achieved by infiltration and/ or by allowing air to flow in and out of
the building by opening windows and doors.
3. The term "infiltration" is used to describe the flow of outdoor air through leakage paths in
the building envelope.
4. Air movement through buildings result from the difference in pressure indoors and
outdoors , which may be created either by natural forces (wind induced pressure
difference and stack effect e.g. pressure difference induced by temperature gradients
between the inside and outside of the building) or mechanical power (fan).
5. Air flow patterns are the result of differences in the pressure distribution around and
within the building. Air moves from high pressure regions to low pressure ones.

21.  Forced air movement inside the building must be used when the natural
driving forces are inadequate or when an unacceptable noise or security
problem is generated by opening the windows.
 Box, oscillating and ceiling fans could increase the interior air velocities
and convection exchange improving the sense of comfort.
 Increased air movement in a room may create comfortable conditions with
2°C increase in allowable space temperature.
 Successful design of naturally ventilated building requires a good
understanding of the air flow patterns around it and the effect of the
neighboring buildings.
 The objective is to ventilate the largest possible part of the indoor space.
 Fulfillment of this objective depends on window location, interior design
and wind characteristics.

22. Ventilation and Building
 Ventilation is necessary in buildings to remove 'stale' air and replace it with 'fresh' air.
 This helps to:
1. Moderate internal temperatures.
2. Reduce the accumulation of moisture, odours and other gases that can build up during occupied
periods.
3. Create air movement which improves the comfort of occupants. Helping to moderate
internal temperatures.
4. Helping to moderate internal humidity.
5. Replenishing oxygen.
6. Reducing the accumulation of moisture, odours, bacteria, dust, carbon dioxide, smoke and other
contaminants that can build up during occupied periods.
7. Creating air movement which improves the comfort of occupants.
 Very broadly, ventilation in buildings can be classified as 'natural' or 'mechanical'.
1. Mechanical (or 'forced') ventilation tends to be driven by fans.
2. Natural ventilation is driven by 'natural' pressure differences from one part of the building to
another. Natural ventilation can be wind driven, or buoyancy driven. For more information,
see Natural ventilation.

23.  Whilst natural ventilation may be preferable, mechanical ventilation may be necessary where:
1. The building is too deep to ventilate from the perimeter.
2. Local air quality is poor, for example, if a building is next to a busy road.
3. Local noise levels mean that windows cannot be opened.
4. The local urban structure is very dense and shelters the building from the wind.
5. Air cooling or air conditioning systems mean that windows cannot be opened.
6. Privacy or security requirements prevent windows being opened.
7. Internal partitions block air paths.
8. The creation of draughts adjacent to openings.
 The term 'assisted ventilation' typically refers to systems where fresh air enters
a building through windows or other openings, but is extracted by continuously running fans.
 Trickle ventilation', 'slot ventilators' or 'background' ventilation can be necessary in modern
buildings (which tend to be designed to be almost completely sealed from the outside to
reduce heat loss or gain), so that problems such as condensation are avoided when openings are
closed.

24.  Ventilation systems may also include heating, cooling, filtration
and humidity control.
 The acronym HVAC refers to Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning. The
phrase 'air conditioning' refers to the process of conditioning
the temperature and humidity (and sometimes the quality) of air before using it to
ventilate a building.
 Air conditioning and cooling are not the same, although the terms are often used
synonymously by non-professionals.

25. Wind and Stack effect
1. Stack effect or chimney effect is the movement of air into and out of
buildings, chimneys, flue-gas stacks, or other containers, resulting from air buoyancy.
2. Buoyancy occurs due to a difference in indoor-to-outdoor air density resulting from
temperature and moisture differences.
3. The result is either a positive or negative buoyancy force.
4. The greater the thermal difference and the height of the structure, the greater the buoyancy
force, and thus the stack effect.
5. The stack effect helps drive natural ventilation, air infiltration, and fires

26. Stack effect in buildings
 Since buildings are not totally sealed (at the very minimum, there is always a ground level
entrance), the stack effect will cause air infiltration.
 During the heating season, the warmer indoor air rises up through the building and escapes at
the top either through open windows, ventilation openings, or unintentional holes in ceilings,
like ceiling fans and recessed lights.
 The rising warm air reduces the pressure in the base of the building, drawing cold air in through
either open doors, windows, or other openings and leakage.
 During the cooling season, the stack effect is reversed, but is typically weaker due to lower
temperature differences.
 In a modern high-rise building with a well-sealed envelope, the stack effect can create
significant pressure differences that must be given design consideration and may need to be
addressed with mechanical ventilation.

27.  Stairwells, shafts, elevators, and the like, tend to contribute to the
stack effect, while interior partitions, floors, and fire separations
can mitigate it.
 Especially in case of fire, the stack effect needs to be controlled
to prevent the spread of smoke and fire, and to maintain tenable
conditions for occupants and firefighters.
 While natural ventilation methods may be effective, such as air
outlets being installed closer to the ground, mechanical
ventilation is often preferred for taller structures or in buildings
with limited space.
 Smoke extraction is a key consideration in new constructions
and must be evaluated in design stages.

28. Mechanical Ventilation


29. Types of mechanical ventilation
 Where mechanical ventilation is necessary it can be:
1. A circulation system such as a ceiling fan, which creates internal air movement, but
does not introduce fresh air.
2. A pressure system, in which fresh outside air is blown into the building by inlet fans,
creating a higher internal pressure than the outside air.
3. A vacuum system, in which stale internal air is extracted from the building by an
exhaust fan, creating lower pressure inside the building than the outside air.
4. A balanced system that uses both inlet and extract fans, maintaining the internal air
pressure at a similar level to the outside air and so reducing air infiltration and
draughts.
5. A local exhaust system that extracts local sources of heat or contaminants at their
source, such as cooker hoods, fume cupboards and so on.

30.  Where mechanical ventilation includes heating, cooling and humidity control, this can be
referred to as Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC). See Heating Ventilation
and Air Conditioning for more information.
 Extracting internal air and replacing it with outside air can increase the need for heating and
cooling.
 This can be reduced by re-circulating a proportion of internal air with the fresh outside air,
or by heat recovery ventilation (HRV) that recovers heat from extract air to pre-heat
incoming fresh air using counter-flow heat exchangers. See Heat recovery ventilation for
more information.
 The design of mechanical ventilation systems is generally a specialist task, undertaken by a
building services engineer.
 Whilst there are standards and rules of thumb that can be used to determine air flow rates for
straight-forward situations, when mechanical ventilation is combined with heating, cooling,
humidity control and the interaction with natural ventilation, thermal mass and solar gain,
the situation can quickly become very complicated.

31. HVAC System
 Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the technology of indoor and
vehicular environmental comfort.
 Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality.
 HVAC system design is a subdiscipline of mechanical engineering, based on the
principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and heat transfer.
 HVAC is an important part of residential structures such as single family homes,
apartment buildings, hotels and senior living facilities, medium to large industrial
and office buildings such as skyscrapers and hospitals, vehicles such as cars,
trains, airplanes, ships and submarines, and in marine environments, where safe
and healthy building conditions are regulated with respect to temperature and
humidity, using fresh air from outdoors.

32.  In modern buildings, the design, installation, and control systems of these functions are
integrated into one or more HVAC systems.
 For very small buildings, contractors normally estimate the capacity and type of system
needed and then design the system, selecting the appropriate refrigerant and various
components needed.
 For larger buildings, building service designers, mechanical engineers, or building services
engineers analyze, design, and specify the HVAC systems.
 Specialty mechanical contractors then fabricate and commission the systems.
 Building permits and code-compliance inspections of the installations are normally
required for all sizes of building.
 Complete HVAC systems are essential parts of every business and residence.
 Especially if the home or office is built with an emphasis on energy-efficiency. A
complete system can be much more effective, both cost and energy-wise.
 It means that in the long run, the system will be more reliable, easier to maintain, and fully
optimized to your requirements

33.  The main parts of the HVAC system are a heating, a ventilation, and an air-conditioning unit.
Furthermore, modern systems include an air filtration and cleaning element as well.
 Heating is most often done by a furnace or a boiler in residential buildings. It also includes a pipe
system for the fluid delivering the heat, or a duct work for forced air systems. The heating system
could be connected to the water system of the house, and the warm water for bathing can be
supplied from the same device that supplies the fluid for the radiators.
 Ventilation can either be forced or natural. Forced ventilation systems are most often used for air
cleaning purposes too. The application of natural ventilation is limited, especially in humid and
warm months.
 Air-conditioning is the reverse of heating. It removes heat from the interior of the house, and for
obvious reasons, no furnaces will be capable of delivering this function.

34. HVAC SYSTEM

35. Day Lighting
 Daylighting is the practice of placing windows, skylights, other openings,
and reflective surfaces so that sunlight (direct or indirect) can provide effective internal lighting.
 Particular attention is given to daylighting while designing a building when the aim is to
maximize visual comfort or to reduce energy use.
 Energy savings can be achieved from the reduced use of artificial (electric) lighting or
from passive solar heating.
 Artificial lighting energy use can be reduced by simply installing fewer electric lights where
daylight is present or by automatically dimming/switching off electric lights in response to the
presence of daylight – a process known as daylight harvesting.
 The amount of daylight received in an internal space can be analyzed by
measuring illuminance on a grid or undertaking a daylight factor calculation.
 Computer programs such as Radiance allow an architect or engineer to quickly calculate benefits
of a particular design.

36.  The human eye's response to light is non-linear, so a more even distribution of the same
amount of light makes a room appear brighter.
 The source of all daylight is the Sun.
 The proportion of direct to diffuse light impacts the amount and quality of daylight.
 "Direct sunlight" reaches a site without being scattered within Earth's atmosphere. Light that
is scattered in the atmosphere is diffused daylight. Ground reflected light also contributes to
the daylight.
 Each climate has different composition of these daylights and different cloud coverage, so
daylighting strategies vary with site locations and climates.

37. sustainable architecture.
1. Sustainable architecture is architecture that seeks to minimize the negative environmental
impact of buildings by efficiency and moderation in the use of materials, energy, and
development space and the ecosystem at large.
2. Sustainable architecture uses a conscious approach to energy and ecological conservation in the
design of the built environment.
3. The idea of sustainability, or ecological design, is to ensure that our use of presently available
resources does not end up having detrimental effects to our collective well-being or making it
impossible to obtain resources for other applications in the long run.
4. Energy efficiency over the entire life cycle of a building is the most important goal of
sustainable architecture.
5. Architects use many different passive and active techniques to reduce the energy needs of
buildings and increase their ability to capture or generate their own energy.
6. One of the keys to exploit local environmental resources and influence energy-related factors
such as daylight, solar heat gains and ventilation is the use of site analysis.

38. Passive Sustainable Design
 Passive sustainable design is defined as design that takes into consideration the effect of sunlight, wind,
vegetation, and other natural resources occurring on the site when designing the building’s heating,
cooling, lighting, and ventilation systems.
 A building with a good passively designed system will in a sense “default to nature.”
 This means that if the building is disconnected from all active energy sources that it will still be reasonably
functional in regards to temperature, air flow, and light.
 A structure’s roof is one of the main areas subjected to a high level of exposure and is therefore a major
area where one deals with heat transmission.
 The roofs of structures, even in areas pretty mild in climate, can reach over 90° F in difference from air
temperature, which can cause a lot of issues.
 The amount of heat being produced and retained can be transferred into the building itself causing a
warmer built environment which uses a lot of energy to cool it back down.
 This amount of heat can also be damaging to the surrounding habitats, as the fluctuation in temperatures
can cause changes in migration and hibernation patterns.

39.  There are two options possible for minimizing this heat production.
 Using a roofing material that has a high reflectivity for solar radiation is one way this can be
done.
 Light-colored shingles are high in this reflectivity. Recently, self-washing white shingles
have been manufactured which have the highest reflectivity rating.
 Another is creating a natural environment on the roof, such as a green roof or a garden.
 A green roof is one that is partially or completely covered with vegetation typically native to
the region. These roofs help delay and reduce storm runoff, insulate the building, and filter
pollution and toxins from the water.
 Another large surface area with exposure to climate is windows.
 Windows must be thermally resistant to ensure limited energy movement.
 Windows placed on the south side of a building need to maximize solar heat gain and should
have a high solar heat gain coefficient, whereas, windows placed on the east and west sides
of a building should have a lower coefficient since they receive less solar energy levels.
Windows that have multiple panes and are filled with argon or krypton gas have higher
thermal resistance. Low-E coatings added to windows also reduce long-wave radiation heat
transfer. Typically it is most common to use windows with little heat transfer to ensure a
stable temperature within the structure.

40.  It is fairly common when working toward passive sustainable design to orient a building so
that the long side is on an east-west axis to minimize heat solar loads.
 When designing a building it is also common for the architect to use the aspect ratio which
helps determine the length to width of the building with respect to solar heat gain.
 In the northern United States the aspect ratio suggests the building should be virtually
square in shape.
 Materials such as brick, concrete, and adobe should be used in areas that require storing
solar energy during the day to release during the night.
 Shading and overhangs are necessary to manipulate the solar loads.
 Integrating landscape into the design of a structure can also be used to help with cooling
and insulation.

41. Active And Passive Designs In Architecture
 Building techniques use both active and passive design features in architecture to ensure comfortable living
spaces, by means of utilizing energy intensive materials that enable overall reduction in energy usage.
 Active designs use equipments that modify the state of the building, creating energy and comfort. While
passive designs features are those that maximize energy efficiency by the actual design of the construction
itself.
 Sun being the main cause of heat gain through the effect, of solar energy transmission in buildings, it is
necessary to understand its effects, which would enable designers to orient buildings properly and design
shading devices.
 Active architecture is the designs of buildings that contain mechanical devices, which transport the absorbed
solar energy to other locations in the building. Active designs use equipments such as fans, air-conditioning,
lights, pumps etc.
 Selecting efficient equipment in active design, like using water conservation fixtures and appliances,
choosing energy efficient appliances and lighting, providing, exhaust fans in bathrooms and the kitchen
combined with a source of outside air are all means to an effective active design features in architecture.

42.  Passive architecture is the design of buildings and site planning that take advantage of local climates
enabling the structure to naturally assist the building in its ability to store thermal energy from the
sun and cool the structure by shielding it from the sun rays. Some examples of passive design
features are thick walls, skylights, high ceilings, ventilators and positioning of windows and doors or
openings etc.
 Examples of passive design
 Use of natural materials, local materials, recycled materials, glazing doors and windows, effective
landscaping are all passive design features that can also passively utilize energy sources.
Landscaping is a good way to conserve energy and ensure effective air circulation. For certain areas
of construction, rain water collection systems are feasible. Recycling wastewater, use of local and
recycled materials, all contribute to sustainable architecture design with passive features.
Building techniques that use both active and passive features effectively make buildings energy
efficient and sustainable.