What is Sustainable Design Part Two: Climate Related Issues looks at the bioclimatic regions and how they affect the approach to environmental building design. This also looks at the comfort zone as a way to reduce energy consumption.

1. What is Sustainable Design? Part Two: Climate Related Issues IslandWood, Seattle, Washington Terri Meyer Boake BES, BArch, MArch, LEED AP Associate Director School of Architecture University of Waterloo Past President of the Society of Building Science Educators Member OAA Committee on Sustainable Built Environment

4. Weather and Climate: The weather of the world varies by location as relates to the distance from the equator and as influenced by aspects of geography such as the trade winds, adjacency to bodies of water, elevation, etc. The earth’s atmosphere helps to moderate the climate to prevent radical shifts in temperature from season to season and day to night.

5. The Sun The impact of the sun on our buildings is a direct result of our distance from the equator . This affects amounts of solar radiation as well as solar geometry .

7. Building envelopes are like balloons… Modern building envelopes are like balloons… very thin but their performance is therefore even more critical! Rose Planetarium, NYC

8. Technique vs. Technology Old stone buildings relied on their massive nature to withstand the weather. New buildings are comprised of thinner layers, that are individually less able to withstand the elements. TRADITIONAL METHODS BUILDING SCIENCE

9. High Performance Buildings These buildings also have “thin skins”. But nowadays, people expect an awful lot MORE PERFORMANCE from their buildings – as technological symbols and cultural icons. Shelter is just not enough. Greater London Authority, Norman Foster Channel 4 News, London, Richard Rogers

11. Different climates around the world Image source: Design with Climate. Victor Olgyay, 1963.

12. The climate regions of Canada Even within Canada, there exist variations in climate, enough to require very different envelope design practices and regulations. This mostly concerns insulation and water penetration, as well as humidity concerns.

13. This map shows the annual sum of heating degree days (an indicator of building heating needs). Data for period 1941 to 1970. Determine if the climate is heating or cooling dominated …this will set out your primary strategy. Heating and Cooling Degree Days

14. Cold Climate Cathedrals Buttressing systems in stone allowed for the enlargement of glazing systems that were once hindered by the limitations of the wall – giving more light and heat to the interior of cold, draughty cathedrals. Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris

15. Hot Climate Cathedrals: Gothic cathedrals in hot climates did not use buttress systems to increase their window areas as they did not want more windows to allow heat into the buildings. Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence

16. Traditional hot climate design: In hot dry (arid) climates windows are kept to a minimum to prevent the sun from entering the building. Bright stucco finishes are used to reflect light and keep the environment bright.

17. Courtyard buildings: Courtyards are used in hot arid climates and work well because sun can warm these spaces in cooler months. Courtyards do NOT work well in cold climates because of low winter sun angles.

19. Traditional cold climate design: Traditional cold climate design in Canada took to task the shedding of snow from roofs and used minimal windows in the walls to try to keep heat inside the building. At this time heating costs were low, nobody was concerned about CO 2 emissions and global warming, so fossil fuels were burned.

20. The Comfort Zone The Comfort Zone refers to the range of temperature conditions of air movement, humidity and exposure to direct sunlight, under which a moderately clothed human feels “comfortable”. This will be different for Indoor versus Outdoor conditions. These will be different for different CLIMATE types. This will be different for different cultures combined with climate conditions - what are people used to?? As Architects we use our buildings to not only create comfortable indoor environments, but also pleasing and useful spaces outside of our buildings. There exists a RANGE of comfort that we need to design within.

21. Designing to the Comfort Zone vs. Comfort Point: This famous illustration is taken from “Design with Climate”, by Victor Olgyay, published in 1963. This is the finite point of expected comfort for 100% mechanical heating and cooling. To achieve CN, we must work within the broader area AND DECREASE the “line” to 18C – point of calculation of heating degree days. REDUCING OPERATING ENERGY

23. When we design WITH the specific local environmental characteristics in mind, we start to manipulate the relationship between the climate, the site and the building to create a local environment or MICROCLIMATE around the building. This “mini climate” that is created around the building can decrease the apparent severity of the climate (and hence the work the building must do to make for a comfortable interior AND exterior environment around the building) OR, if badly handled, can increase the severity of the local climate . Microclimate St. Thomas University, Houston

24. Basic understanding of the 4 climate design zones tells us that certain building types obviously do not belong in certain places... … but there are more aspects to consider... … this does not belong here…

25. The Multivariate Condition Source: Leonard Bachman, University of Houston

27. The building might be the same but the site/climate/microclimate conditions will drastically impact the success of the comfort experienced by the occupants. Original condition Hot Arid Site Hot Humid Site Temperate Site Cold Site

28. Whether you are sited in a city or suburban space makes a difference. Access to green space can keep the building cool. The “urban heat island effect” is caused by too much building, hot roofs, pavement, (aka thermal mass) and not enough greenery in cities. Tree cover is also important to keep the sun off of paved areas. The microclimate in urban centres can be very different from more natural sites. Urban Heat Island Effect Downtown Houston

29. Buildings and Climate Buildings MUST be designed to fit in with their CLIMATE. Different climate zones demand different architectural responses in order to function properly and be energy and environmentally efficient. COLD HOT-ARID HOT-HUMID TEMPERATE