ARC 216

CLIMATE AND BUILT FORMS

DR. SHANMUGA PRIYA G
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE, SPAV.
References:
1. Narashimhan; An Introduction to Building
Physics.
2. O.H. Koenigsberger and others, Manual of
Tropical Housing and Building – Part I – Climatic
Design, Longmans , 1980.
3. M.Evans- Housing Climate & Comfort –
Architectural Press, London, 1980.
4. B. Givoni, Man, Climate and Architecture,
Applied Science, Banking Essex, 1992.
5. Donald Watson and Kenneth Labs; Climatic
Design – McGraw Hill Book Company – New
Yark – 1983
CLIMATE AND CLOTHING
SHELTER
Buildings serve several societal needs – primarily as shelter from weather, security,
living space, privacy, to store belongings, and to comfortably live and work.

It is useful to understand the basics of

climate and its characteristics.
CONTENTS

 Climate and weather

 Factors influencing climate
 Elements of climate
 WEATHER AND CLIMATE
Weather describes
current and near-term
conditions
 WEATHER IS:

• Short term
• Limited area
• Can change rapidly
• Difficult to predict

WEATHER is what’s happening

outside your window right now.
 WEATHER AND CLIMATE
Weather describes
current and near-term
conditions

Climate describes
weather patterns over a
longer term
 CLIMATE IS…………

• Long term
• Wide area
• Seasonal changes
• Measured over long spans
of time

CLIMATE IS THE AVERAGE OF MANY YEARS OF WEATHER OBSERVATION.

 WEATHER AND CLIMATE
 The weather of an area represents the state of the atmospheric environment
over a brief period.
 The Weather is defined as ‘momentary state of the atmospheric environment at a certain
location’

 Integrated weather condition over 30 years isgenerally referred to as climate

or more accurately,as macro-climate
 the integration in time of weather conditions
 Climate is defined as “an integration in time of the physical states of the atmospheric
environment, characteristic of a certain geographical location”
WEATHER AND CLIMATE

Weather: The condition of the atmosphere at a given place and time, this may
include:
Temperature, Precipitation, Air Pressure, Humidity, Wind Speed – Meteorologist

Climate: The average weather conditions over a long period of time (30
years), these include:
Temperature, Precipitation, Number of sunny days, Air pressure, Humidity, Wind
Speed - Climatologist
FACTORS THAT AFFECT CLIMATE
EARTH SUN RELATIONSHIP

The solar radiation incident on a surface

varies from moment to moment
depending on its geographic location
(latitude and longitude of the place),
orientation, season, time of day and
atmospheric conditions.

Tilt of the earth AXIS

EARTH SUN RELATIONSHIP

The solar radiation incident on a surface

varies from moment to moment
depending on its geographic location
(latitude and longitude of the place),
orientation, season, time of day and
atmospheric conditions.

Tilt of the earth AXIS

 Tilt of the earth AXIS

A solstice is an event in which

Equinox - when the Sun is exactly
a planet’s poles are most
above the Equator and day and
extremely inclined toward or
night are of equal length
away from the star it orbits.
Factors that affect Climate (Also called as climate controls)
1. Latitude
• As latitude increases, the intensity of solar energy decreases.
• The tropical zone is between 23.5o north (the tropic of Cancer) and 23.5o south (the tropic of
Capricorn) of the equator. The sun’s rays are most intense and the temperatures are always warm.
Factors That Affect Climate:
1. Latitude
• The temperate zones are between 23.5o and 66.5o north and between 23.5o and 66.5o south of
the equator. The sun’s rays strike Earth at a smaller angle than near the equator.
Factors That Affect Climate:
1. Latitude
• Polar zones are between 66.5o north and south latitudes and the poles. The sun’s rays strike
Earth at a very small angle in the polar zones.
Factors That Affect Climate:
2. Atmospheric Circulation
• Global winds are another factor that influences climate because they distribute heat and
moisture around Earth.

• https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthograp hic=124.85,10.40,223
WINDS

Winds are basically convection currents in

the atmosphere, tending to even out the
differential heating of various zones.

The pattern of movements is modified by

the earth's rotation.

Global wind pattern

 WINDS – Thermal Forces
TRADE WINDS – THE ATMOSPHERE ROTATES WITH EARTH. AS IT IS LIGHT AND BEHAVES LIKE
FLUID HELD AGAINST THE EARTH SURFACE ONLY BY GRAVITY AND FRICTION IT HAS A TENDENCY TO
LAG BEHIND EARTH ROTATION. THERE IS A SLIPPAGE BETWEEN THE EARTH AND THE ATMOSPHERE
CAUSED BY CORIOLIS FORCE
North easterly winds blows towards the north of equator and
south easterlies winds blows towards the south of equator. These
are known as North East and South East trade-winds.

MID LATITUDE WESTERLIES –

Between 30o - 60o N and S strong westerly wind prevails
known as mid latitude westerlies and blow in the same direction
as that of the earth’s rotation.

POLAR WINDS –
Further towards the poles from latitudes 60oN and S, the air
flow patterns is similar to that near equator. The northerly
(near the North pole) is deflected into north-
easterly polar winds and the southerly (near the South Pole)
into south-easterly polar winds.
Factors That Affect Climate:
3. Elevation
• The higher the elevation is, the colder the climate.
Factors That Affect Climate:
4. Topography
• Topographic features such as mountains play an important role in the amount of precipitation
that falls over an area.
FACTORS THAT AFFECT CLIMATE:

5. Water Bodies
• Large bodies of water such as lakes
and oceans have an important effect
on the temperature of an area
because the temperature of the
water body influences the
temperature of the air above it.
Factors That Affect Climate:
6. Vegetation

• Vegetation can affect both temperature and the precipitation patterns in an area.
ELEMENTS OF CLIMATE
ELEMENTS OF CLIMATE
The designer is interested specifically in those aspects of climate which affect human comfort and the
use of buildings. They include

1. Temperature
2. Humidity
3. Wind
4. Vapour Pressure
5. Precipitation (Rainfall)
6. Sky condition (clouds)
7. Solar radiation
 Temperature
The temperature of the air is measured in degrees Celsius (°C), most often with a mercury
Thermometer.

Temperature at a given site depends on wind as well as local factors such as shading, presence of water
body, sunny condition, etc.
Humidity
The HUMIDITY of Air is termed as ABSOLUTE HUMIDITY (AH) ie the total amount of water vapor present in a given
volume of air.

RELATIVE HUMIDITY (RH) is the ratio of actual amount of moisture present (AH), to the amount of moisture the air
could hold (SH) at the given temperature – EXPRESSED AS PERCENTAGE

RH = ( AH/SH ) X 100
 Wind

Wind velocity is measured by a cup type or propeller ANEMOMETER.

Measurements are taken in urban areas between 10 – 20 m ht.

The direction of wind are 8 or 16 category – the unit is m/s.

Vapour Pressure

Vapour pressure is the partial pressure of water vapour present in the air.

Vapour pressure is measured in the standard SI unit, in Newton per meter square
(N/m2).
 Precipitation (Rainfall)
Precipitation is a collective term used for rain, snow, dew etc.

It is measured in RAIN GAUGES and expressed in MM/day. The maximum rainfall data
will help in predicting flood and for the design of drainage system.
 Sky Condition (Clouds)
Sky condition generally refers to the extent of cloud cover in the sky or the duration of sunshine.

Under clear sky conditions, the intensity of solar radiation increases; whereas it reduces in monsoon
due to cloud cover. The measurement of sky cover is expressed in oktas

Okta - a unit used in expressing the extent of cloud cover, equal to one eighth of the sky.
 Solar radiation
Solar radiation is the radiant energy received from the sun. It is the intensity of sunrays falling per unit time per unit area and is
usually expressed in Watts per square metre (W/m2).

Solar radiation is the most important weather variable that determines whether a place experiences high temperatures or is
predominantly cold.

The instruments used for measuring of solar radiation are the pyranometer and the pyrheliometer. The duration of sunshine
is measured using a sunshine recorder.