ORIENTATION Lecture for 2nd Semester

Department of Architecture and Planning

Dawood University

Ar. Madiha Salam

Lecturer
Department of Architecture and Planning
NED University of Engineering and Technology
Most of the times, owing to the ignorance of the consumers,
people ignore one of the most important parts of the
construction.  They don’t ask any questions regarding the
orientation of the building. In earlier times, it was one of the
most important aspects as back then getting natural light and
wind was of prime importance. However, nowadays with
modernization, we have LED lights and Air Conditioners, so
we don’t feel their need anymore. Nevertheless, if you want
to your home to be natural and sustainable, building
orientation is one thing you must keep in mind.
Orientation is the positioning of a building in relation to
seasonal variations in the sun's path as well as prevailing
wind patterns. Good orientation can increase the energy
efficiency of your home, making it more comfortable to
live in and cheaper to run.
Building orientation should be an essential part of
your building design. You can get the benefits of
natural light and maximum ventilation in all
seasons and climate conditions. The right building
orientation ensures comfort within the
building/home, and it can make you save a lot on
energy bills. The orientation of a building can also
defend from the negative effects of inclement
weather.
 A building's orientation can be one of the most
important steps in providing the structure with
thermal and visual comfort. ... Successful design
orientation for a building can help lower its total
energy usage and help it contribute to the vitality
of the surrounding environment. For example, a
building can be oriented to be fully connected to its
surrounding spaces with wild lands or with urban
life, depending on where the build site is located.
Orientation refers to the way you place your
home on its site to take advantage of climatic
features such as sun and cooling breezes. For
example, in all but tropical climates living
areas would ideally face north, or as close to
north as possible, allowing maximum exposure
to the sun, and easy shading of walls and
windows in summer. Good orientation reduces
the need for auxiliary heating and cooling and
improves solar access to panels for solar
photovoltaic5 and hot water. Your home is thus
more comfortable to live in and cheaper to run.
It takes account of summer and winter
variations in the sun’s path as well as the
direction and type of winds.

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• The building orientation is generally used to refer solar orientation while
planning of house with respect to sun path. The orientation can refer to a
particular room or most important, the building facade.

• The word ‘building orientation’ is basically the positioning of a building with

respect to the sun, usually done to maximize solar gain at the appropriate time
of the year when required in cold climate and to minimize solar gain in a hot
climate.

• Best house orientation can increase the energy efficiency of your home by
making it more comfortable to live in and cheaper to run from energy
consumption point of view.

• The fact is that the sun is lower in the sky in winter than in summer allows us
to plan and construct buildings that capture that free heat in winter and reject
the heat in summer. The building orientation of the whole building plays an
important part in designing a good home.
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South building facade or orientation East and west receive maximum
receives maximum solar radiation solar radiation during summer.
during winters, which is preferable. As West is a crucial orientation
South building façade has the because high intensity of solar
advantage of receiving more solar radiation is received during
radiation during winter than that of evening hours, when the internal
receiving during summer. For house gains are also at its peak.
windows & doors or openings on the
south facade, small overhang or
curtains can cut off direct solar
penetration during summer and allows
it during winter. This is a most
beneficial aspect, not available on any
other facade.
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Aim of Building Orientation:

• The most frequently used rooms during the day are oriented in the East and
the North whereas the rooms that are used mostly at night are restricted to
the South and the West, which are hotter directions.

• Plan your house windows & doors in the East to allow the Sun’s UV rays to
penetrate into the house in the mornings.

• The orientation of kitchen should be towards the east to allow the UV rays to
destroy the germs that tend to multiply in the presence of moisture & food.

• The design of houses should be in such a way that all rooms get the
maximum benefit of the sunlight whether the occupants desire it or not.
• While deciding the building orientation, one must also take into consideration
the location of landscape feature in a plot, i.e. trees, planters, etc which will
affect the building depending on sun direction and sun path.

• Trees and tall shrubs should be planted towards south and west of the site to
protect the inmates from the afternoon heat and to provide them with
oxygen.The open water bodies in gardens should be kept in the north-east to
enable the morning UV rays of the sunlight to destroy germs & bacteria
before using it.

• The chief aim of the best house orientation is to provide physically and
psychologically comfortable living inside the building to give good health &
happiness to the user in a secure way.
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EXTERIOR SUN CONTROL.
This video explains about the ‘Passive Solar Design Principles’
as it is named, it shows a model approach of how these
principles can be put to activation in your design.
The video can be found on the following link below on You
tube…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YylmeMilok8&t=43s

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FACTORS WHICH AFFECT BUILDING ORIENTATION
Solar and wind orientation are the two main factors which need to be thought about, when you are
constructing a new home/building.

1. Solar temperature and radiation

The solar radiation intensity is dependent on the direction of the sun’s rays. A building’s temperature
and the interior temperature increases or decreases according to sun radiation. This radiation acts in two
different ways –

The sunrays enter a building/home through various openings and radiation comes in indirectly through
roofs and walls of a building by absorbing the heat of the sun.

If you want to be comfortable during the summer, the best orientation is the one which gets the
maximum sun’s rays during winter and minimum during the summer.

If you’re in a cold climate, there should be more openings in the Southern side of your building/home,
which can be closed off by curtains or other closures that cut off the direct rays of the sun during
summer. The reverse should be done in hot climates, as the building should have less solar radiation
during summer.
How to reduce solar radiation in the
south and western facades
You can minimize solar heat which is
reflected from the ground by growing a
grassy patch in the front of the south façade.
Both the western and eastern facades receive
equal amount of light. But when the sun is
shining on the western side of the building in
the afternoon, the temperature is higher, so
you have to get openings constructed on the
western façade for more ventilation to
reduce the heat.
2. Wind orientation

The wind direction and velocity should be

studied at your site for the whole of the year. The
building should be oriented in such a manner that
the wind flow should be more in the building
during the humid season than in other seasons.

The prevailing winds at your location can create

natural ventilation, especially in highly humid
conditions. The windows and doors should be at
the proper locations to provide maximum
advantage due to wind.
3. Rains and clouds
Rains and clouds have lower importance while
planning building orientation. The openings and
glazing should be planned according to the rain
direction, as the rain direction is same as the wind’s
direction during storms. If your architect does design
glazing for your building, then you should cover it
with a sunshade. Thinner walls of the building should
not be oriented towards heavy rain direction.

4. Humidity
Humidity does not affect the orientation of a building
directly, but properly planning according to wind
orientation, which will ventilate your home naturally,
will give you relief from humid heat, even when there
is little natural breeze.
BUILDING ORIENTATION BENEFITS
1. Energy Saving
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. These will also
reduce the cooling and heating cost.

2. Natural air in humid climates

Your building’s orientation can give you the advantage of the natural breeze in humid and warm
climates. Similarly, in dry and hot climatic conditions, the orientation prevents hot winds from entering
your home.

Buildings, which are constructed according to the sun and wind orientation, are also known as Passive
Solar Buildings.

The lounge, kitchen etc should be oriented towards the sunlight and the rooms which are least used
should be on the part of your home which is in shade. Open plan interiors are not favorable in passive
solar buildings.

Your home or building should be designed keeping in consideration the weather or climate of the whole
year and not for just one season.
 We’ll see Another video here which is about the Architectural
Design Process | Form, Orientation and Sunlight where an architect
explains how he uses orientation to his benefit in desiging his
building according to the site….
it can be found on the following link at YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly8orBNiNQM