This document discusses the need for climate responsive design in buildings. It defines climate responsive design as designing buildings to harmonize with the local climate and site conditions to reduce ecological impacts and increase energy efficiency. It discusses how vernacular designs evolved to be climate sensitive and provides examples of climate responsive design features like sun shading, natural ventilation. The document emphasizes that climate responsive design benefits both the environment and occupants by increasing comfort while reducing energy costs and emissions. It outlines factors to consider in climate sensitive design like orientation, glazing selection, natural ventilation.

1. NEED OF CLIMATE RESPONSIVE
MEASURES FOR BUILDINGS
PRESENTED BY:
Sukhneet Kaur
1216512131
4/5 B.Arch., 7th Semester
GSA, GITAM University
GUIDED BY:
Ar. Partha Sarthi Mishra
LET FORM FOLLOW INFORMATION
PRE- THESIS SEMINAR
DESIGN, BUILD AND LIVE SUSTAINABLY

2. INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS CLIMATE RESPONSIVE DESIGN?
A core philosophy to harmonise the building form and fabric with the site and climate thereby
reducing ecological impacts and achieving energy efficiency whilst providing,
•Human health and Comfort
•Creating opportunities for social interaction
•A productive learning environment.
In simple words,
Climate-responsive design is not only more sustainable from an environmental perspective, but it
also increases occupant comfort and workplace satisfaction. Designing within the climatic
envelope means the building will be quieter because it doesn’t need as many noisy mechanical
systems, will be more comfortably lit with appropriate daylighting rather than electric lighting,
and will be healthier due to the presence of fresh rather than recycled air.

3. Considering climate sensitivity leads to a sustainable design which in turn
leads to
A
SUSTAINABLE
DESIGN

4. 1. Sun shading devices allow winter
sun to enter the building while
shading during summer.
2. Solar panels gather energy to
offset electric costs.
3. Operable vents in skylight help
cool the house.
4. Open vertical circulation creates
a light well allowing daylight in
to the interior.
5. Strategic window placement
enhances natural ventilation to
help cool the building.
6. 6” of rigid insulation with an air
gap.
7. Shipping containers are re used
resource, making them highly
sustainable.
8. Super efficient radiant floor
heating system provides
comfortable warmth for the
home.
.

5. FACTORS THAT
NEED TO BE
CONSIDERED

6. HOW DID IT START?
Right from the era when primitive building techniques evolved, depending upon the
vernacular predominant climatic character of a place, a variety of guidelines for sensitive
climatic building design were usually developed inclusive in the design of buildings for the
particular place including the use of
a) shaded space and sun control
b) passive cooling through cross ventilation
c) lightweight exterior construction of low thermal capacity to avoid the accumulation and
re-radiation of heat.
A key objective was that all new buildings comply with the north east/south west orientation
and be “designed to produce comfortable interior environments with minimal interference
from artificial climate controls

7. For instance, the vernacular style of Kerala as evolved over a
period of time is a perfect setting for the prevalent and changing
climate of Kerala.
Hence, it is very much climate responsive.

8. WHY IT IS IMPORTANT?
Fact: Buildings account for 39% of the CO2
emissions per year, more than either the
transportation (33%) or the industrial fields
(29%)
With buildings contributing close to half of the
energy use and energy use being the number
one contributor to global warming, an obvious
means to mitigate climate change is to design
low or no-energy use buildings.
To do so means going back to basics and
looking carefully at how to design a building
to optimize the particular features of a
specific site and minimize the potential of
extreme energy use.
Just as flora and fauna adapt to their
surroundings and create sustaining ecosystems,
we too shall learn how to design buildings that
respond to their climate and are living rather
than consuming.
1. Green buildings use 26% less energy
2. Green buildings have 13% lower
maintenance costs
3. Green buildings have 27% higher occupant
satisfaction
4. Green buildings have 33% less greenhouse
gas emissions

9. WE NEED TO CONSIDER IT BECAUSE IT IS A WIN/WIN
FOR USERS AS WELL AS THE ENVIRONMENT
The integration of climatic data is a driving factor in the design of new buildings, as well
as in the renovation of existing buildings.
This new focus on ‘location, location, location’ embraces climate responsive design by
starting first with a deep understanding of the physical location’s environmental data—
sun, wind, light and rainfall—which then drives architectural design.
So rather than starting with building massing or an architectural form, we should first
answer questions about the building’s location like:
•“What is the sun’s position in the sky at a given time and season?”
•“What effect will the wind have on occupant comfort surrounding the building?”
•“How much rain falls on the site each season?”
Beginning with climate data rather than architectural sketches turns the typical design
process upside down.

10. WHERE WE WENT WRONG AND WHAT CAN WE DO?
•For the last 50 years, buildings have been designed mostly the same way.
•The process starts with architects designing a building form that relates to its context and
accommodates the client’s program, then progresses through increasingly detailed design
phases.
•In thinking about climate-responsive buildings, we shall begin to question how we could
expect different results if we kept doing things the same way.
•The answer is to rethink the traditional design process by not starting with architecture. To
move this concept forward, we shall begin approaching our work from a genuinely
sustainable perspective, striving to create buildings that respond directly to their unique
place.

11. “TUNING” A BUILDING
WORKING ON THE FACADES
For instance, During renovation of Portland’s Edith Green – Wendell Wyatt Federal
Building (EGWW) as an example, Design Architect James Cutler didn’t draw anything until
Sustainability Resources Group gave him information on how each of the building’s façades had to
perform to meet the energy saving opportunities.
Cutler then custom-designed each façade differently to respond to its specific environment. From a
design perspective, the basic idea exemplified by EGWW is that although each façade works
differently, the overall building has a unified aesthetic.
start with an
overall idea
of what will
work
meld the
different
façades to
respond
directly to the
environmental
forces on each
side
end up with a
cohesive
building with
variations on
each façade.

13. ACHIEVING CLIMATE SENSITIVE DESIGN BY
PLANNING THE SITE REALLY WELL
The site planning principles that form the basis
of the designs are
1. To orientate the buildings to minimise solar
gain
2. Reduce density and modify the building
massing to increase airflow though the site.
3. Relatively high wind speeds are needed to
achieve cross ventilation with rates of 1 m per
second to achieve indoor comfort conditions.
4. High humidity is a key climatic constraint of
this site which needs to be controlled
5. Topography

14. IN A NUTSHELL, DESIGNERS WILL NEED TO:
Perform a site analysis.
Determine the weather patterns,
climate, soil types, wind speed and
direction, heating degree days and
path of the sun. Look at the water
flows, habitat and geology of the
site. Document each with a qualified
team of professionals to understand
the ramifications of building in that
specific place.

15. Layout the building on the site.
Using the general program, through
an integrative team process, use a basic
massing of the building layout to determine
specifically on site the most optimal location
for the building to be situated. Factors to
consider here are access to infrastructure,
staying at least 100 feet clear of any
watershed, not building within a floodplain
and/or in a habitat with endangered
species.
Ask: what trees and other existing
geological features should be avoided?
How does the water flow across the site
dictate the location of the building?

16. It’s all about the sun: orient the building
based upon cardinal directions.
The goal here is to maximize the amount
of sun that heats the space in the winter
(hence using less energy to mechanically
heat) and decrease the amount of sun that
cooks in the summer (hence using less
energy to mechanically cool).

17. Select the appropriate window areas and
glazing types based on orientation.
South facing facades should utilize a window
area appropriate to its orientation and
glazing should utilize a double or triple paned
glass with a low-e coating to minimize the
amount of heat transmitted into the space in
the hottest months, while keeping heat inside
during the cooler winter months. For example,
a south facing glass window wall will cook the
occupants inside during the hot summer months
if care is not taken on this façade.

18. Building envelope design varies greatly by geographic area.
When designing the envelope of the building, factors such as insulation, vapor
barriers and air barriers will vary radically depending on whether the project is in
the cold, snowy north, the HOT and humid south or the arid desert.
Minimize the building footprint.
Question the true needs of the program – do you really need that much space? Are
there ways that spaces can become multi-functional? Do we really need that many
private offices if some staff can telecommute occasionally and share offices? Once
your team is set on the minimize program, take a look at the size of your footprint. Is
it possible to add extra stories to make the footprint smaller? That way, the building
will have less excavation cost, and more wall area that can benefit from the
warming effects of the sun and an increase in natural daylighting.

19. Design for natural ventilation.
Since warm air rises, a building can be cooled by designing for stack ventilation by drawing
cooler air from openings low in the building, while carrying heat away through openings in the
top of the space. The rate at which the air moves is a function of the vertical distance between
the inlets and outlets, their size and the difference in temperature over the height of the room.

20. Perform multiple iterations.
If at first you don’t succeed - try again! It will
take the design team multiple passes of just
these basic layouts in your pre-design or
schematic design phase to hone in the lowest
energy use possible, optimized for your
specific site.
However, it’s better to spend more time in the
early phases of design to model the project
which is far less costly than making changes in
the field or later on in the design process.
Keep at the trials and eventually your
building will be responding directly to the
climate specific to the project site! Congrats!

21. BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING (BIM)
With climate-responsive design and computerized Building Information Modelling (BIM), the
design process takes less time because the project is on the right path from the beginning.
In a traditional sequential design process, the team would not start a building energy model
until the Design Development or even Construction Document phase—which would either make
it too late to integrate necessary changes or would push out the schedule for redesign
time. But today the process is more overlapped and less sequential, which works much better
to integrate the layers of data necessary to increase energy and water savings
What is BIM?
Digital representation of
physical and functional
characteristics of a facility
Augmenting the three primary spatial dimensions (width, height and depth) with time as the
fourth dimension (4D), cost as the fifth (5D) and finally sustainability as the sixth (6D). It
covers spatial relationships, light analysis, geographic information, and quantities and
properties of building components.

23. WHY BUILD GREEN IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR?
1. Lead by Example. Promote local market transformation by using best practices in construction,
operation and maintenance of government owned or leased buildings.
2. Reduce Operations and Maintenance Costs Over the Life of a Building. Energy and water
efficient design paired with green operations practices reduce operations and maintenance costs
over the entire life of the building.
3. Extend Infrastructure Capacity. Green buildings lessen the demands on infrastructure through
waste and storm water management efforts.
4. Reduce Staff-related Overhead and Relocation Costs. Improved indoor air quality, natural light
and flexible design can contribute positively to staff satisfaction and productivity, reduce
absenteeism, improve employee retention and reduce the costs associated with employee
relocation.

24. The Government of USA has taken initiatives like “ The
ROADMAP to GREEN Government buildings” which
objectifies to build, renovate and maintain
Government buildings of the USA sensitive to the
environment.