TROPICAL DESIGN

RESEARCH

BIOCLIMATIC ARCHITECTURE
IN THE PHILIPPINES

SUBMITTED BY:
HABER, ANGELICA M.

SUBMITTED TO:
AR. JERIC R. MANGISEL, uap

Table of Contents
 1.Introduction

2.Bioclimatic architecture

2.1 Principle of Bioclimatic Architecture

2.2 Demand of Bioclimatic Architecture

3. Building Comfort

3.1 Types of Comfort

4. Local Climate Design Consideration

5.Case Study
ABSTRACT

Bioclimatic design is an important strategy toward achieving sustainable building. Through

the implementation of bioclimatic concept in buildings, energy demand can be reduced leading to
increased users satisfaction. Using a set of questionnaire, a bioclimatic design evaluation was
conducted to assess the satisfaction and perception of occupants in a residential building with the
best practice of bioclimatic design strategies, particularly natural ventilation and daylighting. The
questionnaire was based on a five-point Likert scale, covering various performance criteria of
building, specifically on the architectural elements of thermal comfort, indoor air quality, visual
comfort, acoustic comfort and landscape elements. Findings showed a positive relationship between
perceptions and building Performancecriteria

1. Introduction

Philippines is a tropical country located at south-east of Asian. The Climate of the

Philippines is tropical and maritime. It is characterized by relatively high temperature, high
humidity and abundant rainfall. It is similar in many respects to the climate of the countries of
Central America. Temperature, humidity, and rainfall, which are discussed hereunder, are the
most important elements of the country's weather and climate. Based on the distribution of rainfall,
four climate types are recognized, which are described as follow, Typhoons have a great influence
on the climate and weather conditions of the Philippines. A great portion of the rainfall, humidity
and cloudiness are due to the influence of typhoons. They generally originate in the region of the
Marianas and Caroline Islands of the Pacific Ocean which have the same latitudinal location as
Mindanao. Their movements follow a northwesterly direction, sparing Mindanao from being
directly hit by majority of the typhoons that cross the country. This makes the southern Philippines
very desirable for agriculture and industrial development.In this research,it can help to design
building and houses that fits on our local climate.
 2. BIOCLIMATIC ARCHITECTURE

According to Oxford Dictionary, bioclimatic relates to the interconnection between climate and the
activities of living organisms, while architecture is the art or practice of designing and constructing
buildings. By merging them to form bioclimatic architecture, it articulates the idea of building
design that takes account of its climate and environmental state to aid in attaining favourable
thermal and visual comfort of users as it establishes bonds with nature. Architecturally saying,
bioclimatic is a division whereby it dominates the standards of ecology and sustainability. It
involves design which fosters the environment and natural resources, generating buildings that
resolve energy requirements without inducing environmental wreckage.

2.1 Principles of Bioclimatic Architecture

The key elements of bioclimatic design are passive systems, which run without being over
dependant on mechanical equipment or subsidiary power supply, dealing exclusively with design
and local resources that attains energy efficiency, and creating an optimum indoor microclimate
altogether. In Malaysia, bioclimatic design is sectioned into three categories; passive solar heat
protection, passive cooling techniques and natural day lighting system.

1. Passive Solar Heat Protection (Minimal heat gain)

This system is achieved by using the appropriate location and orientation of the building
which in return would protect it from overheating by the sun. Being fashioned more towards
shading, its design will be based on the direction of sun path as well as the presence of surrounding
trees or landscaping features, at the same time focuses on treating the exposed façade by using
materials that absorb significant amount of incident solar heat and radiation.

2. Passive Cooling Technique (Maximum heat loss)

As heat protection does not necessarily guarantee zero heat gain, a subordinate system is
adopted which operates by dissipating heat accumulated in the building by natural means. Passive
cooling incorporates various techniques such as natural ventilation, night flush cooling, direct and
indirect radioactive cooling, evaporative cooling as well as earth coupling. For natural ventilation to
operate effectively, appropriate placement of openings is to be done based on the direction of wind.

3. Natural Day lighting System

Day lighting system functions by placing openings or windows and reflective surfaces at
suitable locations of the building based on the sun path which, in Malaysia it is often encouraged to
be at the north and south facing facades. This provides sufficient diffused natural light and ensures
effective internal lighting during the day while avoiding the problem of glare. This system
maximizes visual comfort and allows reduced energy consumption as less artificial lighting is used.

2.2 Demand for bioclimatic Design

Bioclimatic designed buildings are identified to be eco-friendly and cost saving as they do
not require installation and use of overpriced mechanical systems due to them being self-sustaining.
This in fact reduces significantly on the environmental impacts as less harmful refrigerants such as
chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) and greenhouse gases are being released into the atmosphere. Despite of
its numerous advantages, bioclimatic design is not prominent to modern users and contemporary
architecture. Today, habitation means more than the demand for a living in a sheltered place. It
represents more of a status symbol that should be adapting to the standards of modern living,
taking into account of convenience, leisure and usually neglecting basic functionalities and is not
concerned of saving the environment. Hence, energy saving and optimizing the use of natural
resources may not fit into these standards. With this ideology set within our minds, turning on air-
conditioning system in an occupied space the whole day may seem mandatory to maintain a
comfortable indoor climate.

Consequently, energy supply companies refuse to innovate and are disinterested in new
technologies for renewable energy. For example, air-conditioning manufacturers are not immersed
in alternate systems which would make their technology less valuable; natural ventilation does not
make money. They would instead sell and charge consumers for energy to calculate their cost
recovery. Alternatively, architects and builders generally do not want to go through the trouble of
introducing something new to the consumer. By lacking on relevant information on the matter, the
consumer cannot demand for alternative products that would actually improve the microclimate of
the building without damaging the environment effectively by maximizing natural resources and
without overspending on their cost of living.

3. Building Comfort

Building comfort associates with many aspects as it is about the physical environment in its totality.
It invokes architectural built form that engages users through all of their senses and acknowledges
the harmonization between them. Buildings that take comfort into account yields design which
foresees and satisfies user needs before they themselves realized they needed it. However, it is not
about increasing building cost without any actual value, but rather boosts design leverage points by
observing on the users’ lifestyle behaviour, shaping elements of design that complements each other
based on user needs and composing living spaces that are healthy and pleasurable at the same time
to pull off stronger and greater sensory design values for the users.
3.1 Types of comfort

Building comfort relating to humans can be sectioned into five categories, which includes
thermal comfort, hygienic comfort, visual comfort, auditory comfort and olfactory comfort.

1.Thermal Comfort
The most significant element to the experience of comfort in a space is temperature.
Human beings are susceptible to slight temperature variance as our bodies operate within an
internal temperature range much narrower than external temperature. Due to metabolism our
body generates heat which must be released into the surrounding air, therefore if the external
temperature is too high, the process may be difficult and troublesome and we may feel warm or
overheated. Vice versa, if the external temperature is too low, our body’s heat loss is more active,
thus we may feel ill-fittingly cold. In relation to this, relative humidity plays a large role together
with temperature.

2.Hygienic comfort
Hygienic comfort correlates to the issue of indoor air quality and is usually measured
under the circumstances of having a sense of comfort from the air with no ill-effects to user health.
Air quality is affected by gases that include carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds (VOC),
radon, contaminants such as mold and bacteria and other common pollutants that may cause
unfavourable health effects. Sick Building Syndrome is usually the term given for condition that
occurs when users spend excessive time in a building that is loaded with contaminants. In order to
avoid this, countermeasures and treatment to poor air quality such as source control through
proper material selection and appropriate sealing of openings, air filtration and ample ventilation
to reduce contaminants are to be practiced.

3. Visual Comfort
Generally, natural lighting is presumed to be an advantage for health and well- being of
users; the effects can be sensed almost immediately or may be in the long run, maximising proper
daylighting is therefore an important consideration. Visual comfort associates with daylighting that
is sufficient to see properly without too much glare or excessive contrast. Light levels are adjusted
depending on the intensity of visual task at hand. For example, if the spaces are offices which
require doing drawing or fine work, it needs strong optical aid and a brighter light is mainly
required. Inversely, if the space is of receiving proper rest and of little detailed work such as
bedrooms, a dimmer light is desired. This is due to the fact that darkness is also a relevant factor of
visual comfort, as too much direct sun would cause discomfort and ill-fitted conditions. As our body
requires a balance of light and darkness for the well-being of both physically and mentally, is it
important to strategize and understand proper design that brings in good natural light without too
much glare.

4. Auditory Comfort
Human hearing is measured through the frequency and magnitude of sound, whereby
sounds that are too loud and with higher frequency are usually termed as noise or disturbance that
users respond with annoyance. In this case, acoustic insulation is important to maintain auditory
comfort. The aspects to note for sustaining good acoustic performance in a building is about getting
proper building envelope through the right choice of materials and quality finishes, and using
appropriate methods to isolate spaces from noise sources.

5. Olfactory Comfort
Olfactory comfort links to the human perception of smell and it can be either odour or
irritants that enter the nasal cavity. Generally, humans can adapt to odours relatively fast, but for
irritants it may get worse or uncomfortable prior to longer exposure, moreover if the levels of the
irritants are not as noticeable as odours. Certain smells such as those caused by smoke and harmful
substances released from materials within the space should be reduced or removed as they may
promote headaches, trigger migraines and may be dangerous to users with asthma and respiratory
problems. In order to do so, ways of eliminating irritants at source or substituting them with
products that gives out less or non- toxic and improving ventilation should be done to retain
comfort in the space.

4. Local Climate Design Consideration

1 Alternative and renewable energy.
Since homes and buildings account for 40 percent of global energy consumption, solar
panels, wind power, and waste materials should be harnessed as sources of energy. The use of LED
lights, efficient equipment, and motion-controlled escalators are a must, architects advised. “The
Philippines should develop a technology for solar roofs,” says renewable energy advocate Robert
Verzola. He cites the American tech evangelist Elon Musk, who developed solar roof tiles in 2016.

2. Healthy spaces
According to architects, buildings and residences must have air-filled, healthy, oxygenated,
properly lighted, and temperature-controlled spaces. These include social areas such as libraries for
culture, indoor gyms, or outdoor gardens for calisthenics, and receiving areas apart from
restaurants and coffee shops.

3. Controlled flood, storm surge, and tsunamis

Due to climate change, structures should be able to withstand flood, storm surge, and
tsunamis. For her part, KMV Asia Development Corp.’s Kaydee Velasco says that she has “been
preserving old trees and using pervious and grass-crete on pathways” to absorb water.

Other architects say that aerodynamic and hydrodynamic shapes, including perforated facades
weaken strong winds: load-bearing walls on coastal areas placed perpendicular, not parallel, to the
sea, and do not face wind direction at 90 degrees withstand tsunamis. Living spaces elevated at 50
to 100 meters above sea level beat floods.

Architect Joel Deoacaris, meanwhile, describes his green manifesto as quite radical. “There should
be more vegetation than excessive construction now,” he asserts. His master thesis in landscape
architecture at the University of the Philippines in 2018 called for the planting of local trees as
windbreakers against storm surge. This is especially for those on the shore and around structures
in Eastern Leyte, Central Philippines, which were hard-hit by four-grade storm Haiyan in 2013.
His students re-designed the estero at Tripa de Ganilla in Malate, near the De La Salle College of
St. Benilde, to solve Manila’s torrential flood. Modern constructions have trashed 90 percent of the
estero built by Spanish colonials in Manila from the 16th century to the end of 1850.

4. Light-controlled structures
Like medicine, light in buildings and homes should enhance the health of its residents. This is
achieved with big windows for natural light. LED fixtures can also imitate natural light and help
people perform their best by day. There are mechanisms that can also dim or naturally shut off
light to lull people to sleep at night. “Buildings should enhance people’s natural rhythm, and make
people healthy, not sick,” says former health secretary, now acupuncturist and herbalist Dr. Jaime
Galvez Tan.

5. Oxygenated spaces
 Homes, offices, and public places must beat carbon dioxide with proper ventilation. This can
be done by creating indoor-outdoor-rooftop and vertical gardens. Carbon footprints must be
reduced during construction with dredged waterways, use of eco-friendly, indigenous, recycled, and
responsibly sourced building materials. These can be transported by rail and water, and can stem
waste and safeguard air, water, and peoples’ health. Dr. Tan adds that oxygen-rich homes, offices,
and public places “minimize the onset of asthma, cancer, and other debilitating diseases.”

6. Safe for everyone

Condo units, conference rooms, display areas, hospitals, pavements, residences, roads, and
schools should be safe for all especially children, people with disabilities (PWDs), and seniors. “The
Philippine Chinese General Hospital is friendly to PWDs because of ramps and wide doors. To
make it more comfortable for the wheelchair-bound, leg space under tables is set at 0.70 meter,
accessible counters at 0.70 to 1.20 meter above the floor, and not less than 0.40 meter from room
corners. This include barrier-free areas with 1.5 meter diameter for turning wheelchairs, locking
and unlocking of leg braces, crutches and other walking aids,” says architect Velasco.

7. Intricate waste management

Waste management must include a sewage treatment plant, facilities that segregate bio-
degradable, non-biodegradable, and hazardous waste, and mechanisms that filter water. This
should also include ways to repurpose gray water for watering plants and flushing of toilets.

“Double water-pipes for flushing toilets with treated water, and for watering plants with harvested
water is one reason why green waste management is expensive,” explains Rchitects, Inc. owner
Raul Bumanglad. “If green waste management is done on a municipal level, it can fast-track the
use of waste as alternative source of energy, nationwide,” adds Green AP founder Edgar
Reformado.

8. Temperature control
In tropical Philippines, temperature is controlled by sun and wind movement. Bedrooms are
placed in morning sun-lit northeast areas, and kitchens in cool and windy southwest spaces. Big
windows and open spaces are there for natural and passive wind flow. Sun buffers and earth tone
colors are in place to prevent heat absorption.

5. Case Study