Scribd
Upload
2K views3 pages

Building Form and Orientation For Sun and Wind

Form and orientation are two important passive design strategies that can reduce a building's energy consumption and improve occupant comfort. A building's orientation determines how sunlight, wind, and heat affect it throughout the day and seasons. Properly orienting a building can maximize solar gain in winter and minimize it in summer. The building's form also influences air flow, ventilation, and the volume that needs heating or cooling. Together, orientation and form are key to harnessing sunlight and wind to efficiently heat and cool a structure.

Uploaded by

susmita sethi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
2K views3 pages

Building Form and Orientation For Sun and Wind

Form and orientation are two important passive design strategies that can reduce a building's energy consumption and improve occupant comfort. A building's orientation determines how sunlight, wind, and heat affect it throughout the day and seasons. Properly orienting a building can maximize solar gain in winter and minimize it in summer. The building's form also influences air flow, ventilation, and the volume that needs heating or cooling. Together, orientation and form are key to harnessing sunlight and wind to efficiently heat and cool a structure.

Uploaded by

susmita sethi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

BUILDING FORM AND ORIENTATION FOR SUN AND WIND

Building orientation describes a building's placement on a site and the positioning of windows, rooflines, and other
features. A building oriented for solar design takes advantage of passive and active solar strategies.

The main benefit of building orientation is the energy efficiency of your home or building. It saves the heating, lighting
and cooling cost of your building. Avail natural light, winds and sun to your building so that you can enjoy the warmth
of the sun in winter, and cool breezes during summer.

Form and orientation constitute two of the most important passive design strategies for reducing energy consumption
and improving thermal comfort for occupants of a building. It affects the amount of sun falling on surfaces, day lighting
and direction of winds. Form and orientation have significant impact on a building’s energy efficiency, by harnessing the
sun and prevailing winds to our advantage. Buildings must be responsive to solar orientation on the site.

The sun is at a low angle during the winters and to the south of the east-west axis. During summer, its path is at a high
angle and slightly north to the east-west axis. The alteration in path affects solar radiation penetration patterns during
different seasons and consequently, heat gain and loss in a building. The underlying principle remains the same for
different locations and climates; maximizing amount of solar radiation in winter and minimizing the amount in
summers.

Summer Sun Path in Central India Winter Sun Path in Central India

In predominantly hot regions, buildings should be ideally oriented to minimize solar gains; the reverse is applicable for
cold regions. Orientation also plays an important role with regard to wind direction. The building form determines the
air flow pattern around the building directly affecting its ventilation.

Moreover, the building form determines the volume of space inside a building that needs to be heated or cooled. The
more compact the shapes, the less wasteful it is in gaining and losing heat. In hot & dry regions and cold climates,
building’s shape needs to be compact to reduce heat gain and losses, respectively.

At higher altitudes wind speeds are the greatest. The increased wind speeds make natural ventilation more effective.
Taller buildings also improve the stack effect ventilation. Stack ventilation uses temperature differences to move air
throughout a structure. In low pressure environments hot air will rise. Ideally the height of the building will pull air from
the bottom of the structure up and then out, eliminating unwanted heat stuck in the building.

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy