Climatic Design

The purpose of climatic design is to facilitate an increase in the energy efficiency of buildings. Thermal
design improves the living and working environment for occupants through ecologically sustainable
means. It is a way of designing buildings based on the local climate, with the aim of ensuring thermal
comfort using environmental resources

Tropical Design

This is concerned with countries where discomfort due to heat and humidity are the dominant
problems.

Tropical Design is applicable to Tropical and Sub-tropical climates and Equatorial Climates covering the
Southeast Asian Countries.

Importance of Climatic Design

Climate has a major effect on building performance and energy consumption.

The process of identifying, understanding and controlling climatic influences at the building site is
perhaps the most critical part of building design.

The key objectives of climatic design include:

ü To control space use and reduce energy cost of a building

ü To use "natural energy" instead of mechanical system and power

ü To provide thermal comfort and healthy environment for people

Passive cooling is a building design approach that focuses on heat gain control and heat dissipation in a
building in order to improve the indoor thermal comfort with low or no energy consumption.

Cross-ventilation pertains to wind, fresh air or a breeze entering through an opening (namely a window)
that flows directly through the occupied space and out through an opening on the opposite side of the
building, where the air pressure is lower, whereby creating a flow of cool air and as well as a current of
air across the room from the exposed area to the sheltered area. Windows or vents positioned on
opposite sides of the room allow passive breezes a pathway through the structure, which circulate the
air and provide passive cooling.

Factors Affecting Climatic Design:

The important site-related

Topography - elevation, slopes, hills and valleys, ground surface conditions.

Vegetation - height, mass, silhouette, texture, location, growth patterns.

Built forms - nearby buildings, surface conditions.

thermal design factors

solar heat gain

conduction heat flow
and ventilation heat flow.

The design variables

Shape - surface-to-volume ratio; orientation; building height.

Building fabric - materials and construction; thermal insulation; surface qualities; shading and sun
control.
Fenestration - the size, position and orientation of windows; window glass materials; external and
internal shading devices.
Ventilation - air-tightness; outdoor fresh air; cross ventilation and natural ventilation.

DESIGN STRATEGIES FOR DIFFERENT CLIMATES

HOT-HUMID CLIMATE:
Maximize wind exposure
Maximize internal airflow
Minimize radiant heat gain

HOT-DRY CLIMATE:
Minimize radiant heat gain
Moderate wind resistance
Moderate internal airflow

COOL CLIMATE:
Maximize thermal retention
Maximize radiant heat gain
Mminiize wind resistance

TEMPERATE CLIMATE:
Moderate thermal retention
Moderate radiant heat gain
Slight wind exposure (for humidity control)
Moderate internal airflow
promote natural cross-ventilation

using lightweight and sustainable materials

Insulation and thermal comfort

Control and smart use of space

Control of solar gain

Window placement and house orientation

natural or passive approaches

Impact of climate change The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC)
defines climate change as “a change in climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to Environment
and sustainability 15 human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which
is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time period”

Cities and the built environment play a pivotal role in mitigating climate change and addressing
environmental degradation

Can lead to: 1 Poor building design 2 Inadequate technology 3 Inappropriate behaviour

Low carbon impact

Climate change and the need for bioclimatic design In tropical climates the temperature sometimes
exceeds 32°C, which is too high for human comfort. Comfort ‘zones’ are defined for various conditions
based upon the interaction of temperature and relative humidity. These are utilized to inform design
decisions that impact upon ventilation approaches within buildings.

1 Hot air; natural ventilation does not work.

2 Warm air; high natural ventilation is needed.

3 Comfortable air; moderate ventilation is appropriate.

4 Humid air; natural ventilation is not appropriate.

5 Cool, humid air; minimal ventilation will help.

1 The rate of change in the level of climate variability and modification is increasing, requiring human
adaptation to a rapidly warming world.

2 The fundamental means to this adaptation in the built environment is the adoption of more effective,
and widely used, methods for passively cooling buildings.

3 Air-conditioning systems are increasingly seen as a part of the climate change problem, as well as its
solution. Rising cost of energy is seen to be a major problem in terms of cost, especially to those who
could not afford air conditioning. In addition, the energy used to run these systems is a major
contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

4 It is crucial to create a new ‘cool vernacular’ or passive design strategies building approach, which
matches human and environmental needs.

The evolution in building form in tropical areas has seen an initial shift away from vernacular forms to
the more generic international styles and technologies, although there is now a trend for reversal
towards bioclimatic design adopting passive environmental control features.

MATERIALS

Materials, in addition to people’s needs and climate, represent one of the prime considerations that
distinguish buildings as belonging particularly to the zone. Readily available natural resources such as
local hardwood and softwood timber, bamboo, rattan, clay and rock are used.

ROOF STRUCTURE

the roof should always be carefully designed with regard to climatic conditions. Required to withstand
heavy rainfall, roofs for buildings in tropical countries are traditionally pitched and sloped to quickly
drain off rainwater

Throughout the tropical countries, people have traditionally combined roofs of different angles or slopes
in a single building

This shape indirectly creates a high attic volume in the building that creates circulation of air which
lessens heat gain during sunny days.

LAYOUTS AND FORM

open and fluid interior space which further encourages natural air flow through the building. Maximum
openings design for maximum natural daylighting and ventilation
open verandahs or galleries

minimizing the effect of sunshine on the interior of the buildings as well as using the natural air current,
prevailing winds and local breezes

STILTS AND COLUMNS

the practice of constructing the building higher than the ground became an ideal solution for coping
with the ground dampness and promoting ventilation. It became a feature in tropical regions prone to
heavy floods.

architectural form began to evolve based on principles of functionalism where the “form of a building
should be determined by practical considerations such as use, material, and structure” and the rejection
of historical patterns and ornament

Vernacular architecture reflects the technology and culture of the indigenous society and environment,
and acknowledges no architect or formal training

Traditional architecture can be described as building that represents symbolic forms of a particular
culture or society in a specific location and can also be characterized by a period

Classical architecture, on the other hand, is the expression of traditional architecture of a society or
place or period that has achieved the highest, most articulate and refined appearance