If air movements are not directional, then though

ventilation of the entire space may not be possible.

In such a case, more detail studies would have to
be taken up. At a given time, at the most two
perpendicular sides could receive the air.

It would be desirable to provide every room with

Other Implications
windows on at least two walls. Each room would
In cold climates heat loss through the window at
need to have a door; this should be on a third wall.
night can be substantial. Windows areas would be
If the natural wind is incident on any one of the
limited by this as well. Heat gain system like the
windows, the other windows and door will act as
trombe-wall and solar wall address just this issue.
outlets (of a greater area). Not being aligned, the
While they allow for heat gain during the day, heat
airflow indoors would be better distributed. If the
loss at night is minimized.
outside air is incident on both windows then the
large volume is itself likely to make the conditions
comfortable.

The wind direction may not be incident on either of

the opening but on a window in another room. In
such a case, the door acts as the inlet. The two
windows (now outlets) would lead to a good airflow.
If their total area is greater than the door then the
air velocity would also be increased. If only one
external (or free) wall exists it might be preferable to
provide two windows on it rather than one. This
would improve the ventilation when the air is
incident angularly on the windows.
Level Fourteen FENESTRATION Level Fifteen FENESTRATION
ORIENTATION CONTROLS
Prime parameters Radiation received, Prime parameters Radiation, Air movement
Air movement and Daylight

Climatic Implications Climatic Implications

The orientation of the fenestration determines Glazing, shades, light shelves, flywire nets and the
the amount of radiation incident on the opening. cross sectional area of the windows can be
The orientation with respect to the air pattern important controls. They trap solar radiation, cut it
could increase or decrease natural ventilation. off, increase daylight level, keep out insects (in the
process reducing air speed) and modify air
Theoretical Understanding velocities. They are, therefore, able to affect and
Orientation with respect to solar geometry has been control heat gain, daylight and ventilation.
dealt with earlier. To obtain a good distribution of
airflow within a building the wind direction and inlet Theoretical Understanding
to outlet direction should not be the same. This Glazing is the most commonly used ‘control’ device
would lead to better air circulation. If they are in a for trapping solar radiation. This phenomenon
straight line then the airflow will simply be through known as the ‘greenhouse effect’. It can be a major
the room without much circulation. cause of heat gain, desirable or undesirable.
Shades, vertical and horizontal, control radiative
Building Design heat gain. The solar altitude and azimuth during the
In hot-dry climates the fenestration should be overheated period can be determined. There from,
oriented north. In cold climates they should be the projection of the horizontal and vertical shades
facing south. can be adjusted so as to cut off the sun. Similarly, it
can be ensured that during underheated periods the
In humid climates they should be within 45° of the sun is allowed in.
perpendicular to the direction of airflow. The inlet
and outlet should not be in a straight line, in order to Light shelves are horizontal projections in a
maximize airflow. window. They can be inside, outside or partly within
and partly outside the glazing. With reflective upper
surface it brings more light into the rear of the room.
They can also function as horizontal shades cutting
off the vertical sun.

Flywire nets are intended as control devices for

insect. However, they also reduce air velocity
indoors. They are mentioned here not for the
possibilities they create but for their indirect Level Sixteen WALLS
influence. Prime parameters Radiation

Windows cross section (affects fluid flow Climatic Implications

velocities). Increasing the area of cross section As in the case of roofs, wall materials are a
decreases the speed and vice versa. Air speeds major factor to consider in heat flow studies. As
can thus be enhanced or reduced. far as materials are concerned, what applies to
roofs is valid for walls as well. The difference is that
more direct radiation is incident on the roof than the
wall.

In colder climates walls can also be used for

indirect solar heating.

Theoretical Understanding
There is more walls than just their material. Cavity
walls with air spaces of about 50mm between the
two layers reduce heat transmission. Further, the
Building Design greenhouse effect is used to trap solar heat. A
In hot climates, if glazing windows are used then material like glass is transparent to the direct short
they need to be shaded from the sun. Light shelves wave radiation from the sun but opaque to the
would be unnecessary. If the climate is consistently reflected long wave radiation. As a result, though
hot, the window section can be increased towards heat is radiated inwards. It is not reradiated
the interior to decrease the air speed. outwards. Thus a steady heat build-up takes place.

In cold climates, optimum glazing is advisable. But this is only half the story. In a 24 hour cycle,
Shading of the window is undesirable. Light radiative heat gain takes place only during the
shelves, if needed would be very effective due to sunshine hours. At other times, though radiative
the low sun angle. Window section should, once heat loss does not occur, conductive heat loss
again, be such that air velocity is reduced. takes place since glass has a very high U-value.
This is especially true of cooler climates where
In warm-humid climates window shades are not so external temperatures may be much lower at night.
much of an issue since solar radiation is largely Therefore, while glazing can act as a heat trap it
diffuse. Flywire nets are all the more necessary due also causes significant losses at other times.
to the insects that thrive under these conditions.
The major need, that of increased ventilation, can
be achieved by modifying the window section.

In many cases though, we may be dealing with a

composite climate. We would then need to design
shades that cut off in the summer but allow the sun
in the underheated period. Further, the window
section should enhance air velocity while still acting
as a shade. This could be achieved either by
introducing a planter at the window sill or else by
adding smaller shades at the glazing.

Attempts have been made to circumvent this

problem. The approach is simple and is exemplified
by the Trombe-Wall. The material of the wall is
separated by a 50 to 100mm air gap from an
external glazing. Heat is trapped by glazing and the
air heats up. Vents are provided at the bottom and
top of the wall allowing air movement. Thus, hot air
is distributed to the room. At night-time the wall
reduces heat losses.
A variation of the trombe-wall is the solar wall. It is Level Seventeen ROOF MATERIALS
similar in every way except that it has no air vents. Prime parameters Radiation received
In this case, the wall gets heated up during the day
and radiates the heat inwards after sunshine hours. Climatic Implications
In terms of the effect, the two vary in time period Roof materials determine the amount of heat
when the heat is transmitted inwards. In spite of the transfer through the roof inwards or outwards
glazing, neither of these allows visual connection as well as the time taken for this heat to take
with the outside. This is where the water wall or the place.
translucent wall is different.
Theoretical Understanding
Water wall is essentially a glass encasement Each material has a characteristic specific heat.
containing water. Water has a specific heat, a little When it comes to heat exchanges we are
more than twice that of concrete. A water wall of concerned with both the specific heat of the
equal thickness would absorb twice as much heat material and the amount (or mass) of the material.
as concrete for an equal rise of temperature. So, it
would steady reradiate heat for a longer time. The product of mass and specific heat is known as
Further, it also allows daylight indoors. However, the thermal mass. While the specific heat is a
baffles must be provided in the wall to minimize property of the material, the thermal mass depends
convection currents which could increase heat loss. on the amount of the material as well. The thermal
mass (or capacity) is an indicator of the heat storing
Building Design ability of a material. Heat flow through materials is
Wall materials, like roof materials should be of low determined by the conductance and resistance of
U-values in hot and in cold climates. In warm-humid the material.
climates walls should have a low thermal capacity.
What we need to know is the heat flow from or to a
The trombe, solar and water walls are effective space. For this we need to know the air to air
means of heat gain in cold climates. resistance of the materials. So we need to take
into account not just the resistance of the material
but also that of the air film at the surface of the
material. The reciprocal of the air to air resistance is
known as the transmittance or U-value of the
material. It is the U-value which is most commonly
used.

Two points have to be made. One, when heat flows

through a material, a certain amount of heat is
absorbed by the material. Two, heat flow is not
instantaneous but depends on the U-value and
thickness of the material.

Therefore, for any material of a given thickness,

there is a certain amount of time lag before the
heat is transmitted. Since some of the heat is
absorbed, not all of it is transmitted. This leads us
to two other significant properties of materials – the
time lag and the decrement factor. The time lag is
the time difference between the maximum outdoor
and maximum indoor temperatures and the
decrement factor is the ratio between the two.

Therefore, specific heat and transmittance are

values intrinsic to a material. Depending on its
thickness we can know the amount of heat
absorbed and transmitted and the time taken for
this transmission.

Building Design
In hot and cold climates the roof should have a low
transmittance value. This would ensure maximum
heat gain and heat loss, respectively. Using
insulation would minimize the heat stored by the
roof. However, in the absence of insulation, a low Level Eighteen EXTERNAL COLORS
U-value would generally imply a high thermal AND TEXTURES
capacity. Prime parameters Radiation

In warm humid climates heat storage is Climatic Implications

undesirable. The roof should, therefore, be light, The surface characteristics affect heat
probably having high U-values and low heat transmission into the building.
capacities.
Theoretical Understanding
This is easy to understand. The color of surface
affects its reflectivity and, therefore, the heat is
absorbed. The surface texture could vary from
smooth to rough. A rough textured surface (for
example a grit finish with large aggregate size)
causes self shading.

It also increases the area of reradiation. In

comparison, a flat surface allows greater heat
transmission. However, a smooth flat surface would
be more reflective. This again would minimize heat
gain. Similarly, a light color would be more reflective
while dark color would be more absorptive.

Building Design
In hot climates surface colors should be light while
textures should be rough. This will result in greater
reflectivity, shading and reradiation. If a rough
texture is not possible then a smooth surface would
be preferable.

In cold climates surface textures should be dark

and flat though not smooth. This would ensure
maximum absorption and minimum shading and
reradiation.

In warm-humid climates, again, the aim would be to

minimize heat gain. Light colored and rough
surfaces therefore, are preferable.
Level Nineteen INTERNAL MATERIALS Level Twenty INTERNAL FINISHES
Prime parameters Heat gain, absorption Prime parameters Heating and Daylight
and storage
Climatic Implications
Climatic Implications The internal finishes of a space would affect the
Internal materials, primarily furniture, can store daylight levels indoor. Under certain conditions
much heat making conditions more comfortable it would also affect heat loss.
or uncomfortable.
Theoretical Understanding
Theoretical Understanding The reflectance of internal surfaces would affect
Different materials have different values of specific daylight levels. Further, the reflectivity (or
heat. So the thermal capacity of different types of emissivity) of radiation would affect heat losses
furniture items would be different. when the U-value of the material is low.

Building Design Building Design

In hot climates and warm-humid climates, furniture Internal reflectance should be as per the desired
should be as light as possible so that it does not daylight conditions.
store heat.

In cold climates, on the other hand, heavy furniture

is preferable.