This document discusses passive design strategies for buildings in cold climatic zones. It provides information on passive heating, cooling, and design elements like solar orientation, thermal mass, insulation, and ventilation. It then summarizes two case studies: the Himurja building in Shimla, which uses features like air heating panels, double glazed windows, and solar energy systems, and the MLA Hostel in Shimla, which incorporates strategies such as solar orientation, insulation, sunspaces, and innovative heating systems.

1. COLD CLIMATIC ZONE
Compiled by
Hamza javed 031
Harpreet kaur 034
Himanshi gupta 124
Praneet r.M. Singh 067
Tshering CHODEN 118

2. PASSIVE DESIGN
 Passive design is design that does not require
mechanical heating or cooling.
 Buildings that are passively designed take
advantage of natural energy flows to maintain
thermal comfort.
 When sunlight strikes a building, the building
materials can reflect, transmit, or absorb the
solar radiation.
 Additionally, the heat produced by the sun
causes air movement that can be predictable
in designed spaces.
 These basic responses to solar heat lead to

3. Passive heating
 Two primary elements of passive solar heating
are -
 South facing glass
 Thermal mass to absorb, store, and distribute heat
 There are three approaches to passive systems
 direct gain,
 indirect gain
(trombe wall)
 isolated gain.

4. Passive Cooling
 Passive solar cooling can reduce or even eliminate
the need for air conditioning in homes.
 Cross Ventilation
 Wing Walls
 Thermal Chimney
 Other Ventilating
Strategies

7. Shimla- cold climatic region
 The Shimla weather during
summers are very enjoyable
as the weather remains mild
and one needs to wear light
cotton garments and light
woollen clothes.
 The Shimla climate during the
winter is very chilling where
the temperature swings
between a maximum of 8°C to
a minimum of 0°C and may
even dip down below that
level too.
It extends from December to February. The climate of Shimla
in winter is
highly dominated by the cold winds from the Himalayas.
Snowfall takes place

8. CASE STUDIES
 HIMURJA BUILDING ,SHIMLA
 MLA HOSTEL, SHIMLA

9. HIMURJA BUILDING
 Located at Shimla at an altitude of about
2000metres above mean sea level in the middle
Himalayas.
 The sharp sloping site provides a classical
situation in a hilly urban context for a building
within a large commercial complex that thus suits
against the mountain for the lower three floors
and inevitably has a deep plan.

11. DESIGN FEATURES
 The climate requires building to be heated almost
throughout the year.
 DAYLIGHT AND HEATING
 Air heating panels
 INSULATION AND WINDOW DESIGN
 Double glazed windows
 Solar chimney
 solarium
 RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS
 Solar water heating system
 Solar photovoltaic system

12. DAYLIGHT AND HEATING
 Both the plan and the 3d form of the building allows
maximum penetration of sun, maximizing both solar
heat gain and daylight.
 Air heating panels designed as an integral part of the
southern wall panels provide effective heat gain
through a close connective loop.

13. Air heating panels
 Distribution of heat gain in the entire building is achieved
through a connective loop utilizing the stairwell as a means
of distributing heated air through the principle of buoyancy.
 Since solar heat gain raises the internal ambient
temperature above the comfort range in summers even
though the outside conditions are quite comfortable,
ventilation is an effective strategy for summers for
dissipating internal heat build up.
 To optimize ventilation, the connective
loop is coupled with solar chimneys
designed as an integral part of the roof.
 Specifically designed solarium
(sun space) is built as integral part of
the southern wall to maximize the heat
gain.

14. Insulation and window design
 Good insulation of 5cm thick glass-wool and minimum
fenestration (only in toilets) on northern exposure
prevents heat loss.
 Infiltration losses are minimized through weather-
proofed (with no thermal bridges) hard plastic windows.
 Double glazing heat loss from glazing without creating
any internal condensation.

15. Renewable energy systems
 The photovoltaic system of 1.5kWp meets the
energy demand for lighting whenever required.
Artificial lighting is seldom required ( except
during dark sky conditions sometimes in winters)
in the south oriented spaces, which are well day
lit during working hours.
 Roof mounted solar hot water system has been
used in the building. The water is circulated
through radiators for space heating specially in
the northern spaces.

16. MLA HOSTEL
 The MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly)
Hostel is located in the cold and cloudy climatic
zone, the design has to primarily cater to the
difficult winter months. Heating and day lighting
have been considered while designing. Use of
certain energy-efficient and renewable energy
devices has also been suggested to increase the
overall efficiency of the building.
 The whole complex comprises four blocks. The
blocks are regular RCC-framed structures with
brick in-fill walls. The blocks are oriented south.

19. Key Sustainable Features
 Solar orientation
 Airlock after staircase landing to prevent heat loss and
infiltration
 Enhanced thickness of external wall
 Heavy curtains and carpeted floors to add to thermal
comfort
 Adequately sized overhangs to maximize solar access in
winter
 Roof and wall insulation
 Trombe wall and sunspaces at appropriate locations
 Appropriately sized and detailed glazing system
 Glazed atrium over staircase
 Innovative heating systems using solar water and air
heaters
 Better weather stripping to reduce infiltration

20. Revised layout
 The buildings are oriented due south +15 degrees for
direct solar gain. They are spaced apart so as to
eliminate shadows of one building falling over the
other., even for the longer winter shadows.
 It was proposed that all bedrooms be south-facing to
avail of the benefit of south exposure.
 Separate air locks would have prevented heat loss,
and decreased the rate of infiltration.
 This suggestion could not be accommodated due to
lack of space at the entrance.

21. Thickening of external wall
 The thickness of the
existing external wall
was changed to at least
9” or 12” of stone as the
existing 4.5” brick wall
was inadequate for
weather proofing.

22. Overlapping curtains
 Well sealed heavy curtains were used to
act as a thermal mass and to prevent
heat loss.
Carpeted floors
 Carpeted floors provide insulation and
 improve the general level of comfort.
 They should preferably be dark in
colour when adjacent to south
windows.

23. Small overhangs
 Small overhangs helped to
increase the amount of
sunshine entering the
building, while ensuring that
no summer overheating
took place.
 The primary purpose of the
shades was rain protection.
 A 23cm overhang can
adequately protect a 1.2m
high south facing window in
peak summer while
providing adequate rain
protection.

24. Roof insulation
 Roof insulation helped to preserve temperatures inside
the building and prevented heat loss from the top floor.
 Rockwool insulation was provided above false ceiling.

25. Wall insulation
 Wall insulation could be
either insulation or a
cavity wall and would
help in roof insulation.
 Eventually, a Rockwool
blanket/thermacol sheet
was used in the walls
behind the paneling.
 Insulation was
suggested on all walls
except south because it
was found out that the
north, east, and west
walls are net loser of
heat.

26. Sunspace
 The existing balcony can be made into a sunspace
resulting in increased heating especially during the winter
months. This suggestion could not be incorporated in
blocks 1 and 2 because of prior structural limitations, but
has been introduced in blocks 3 and 4.

27. Reduction in north glazing
 Since solar heat gain through north facing windows is
negligible, glazing on the north increases heat loss to the
ambient.
 This is rectified by reducing the amount of glazing in the
north, and providing double glazing in the essential
windows.

28. Plastic/ timber frames
 Since plastic and timber have
a lower conductivity than steel
it is advisable to use them for
joinery to reduce conductive
heat loss to the outside.
 Steel would aid heat transfer
and would work against
attempts to retain heat inside
the building.

29. Remote heating of north
bedroom
 This idea was proposed to trap heat on the south wall
and transport it to the north bedrooms.
 Small Trombe walls below and on the sides of the
kitchen window trap the heat which is conveyed through
a duct to the northern bedrooms.
 A small fan can be used to assist air movement.
Better weather proofing
 These measures at the openings helped to reduce
infiltration.
 Rubber stripping at the junctions of shutters and frames
and below doors helped in sealing the cracks.
 Keeping windows closed, and immediately replacing
broken panels especially during winter months would help

30. THANK YOU