Designing with nature entails managing the three basic nature-resources of air, land and water. This also involves utilizing design elements and ideas that will make best use of these nature resources and their extended influences that may be human friendly or otherwise. Careful consideration is needed inthe chice of topography and terrain and the management of climate and energy.
Orientation and choice of building site: A building site is the closest environment to any proposed building plan;it forms the immediate atmosphere for the occupants of sucha a building and it is expected to satisfy the environment that will host it. Designing with nature begins with an intimate understanding of place. With active sensitivity to the nuances of place, we can inhabit without destroying it, be it a plain, undulating or steeply terrain, the landform is to be created along in the design concept. A careful design pland and construction technique will see to less damage to the topographical structure of the building site. Understanding place helps determine design practices such as solar orientation of a building on the site, designing with existing topography pattern and finally the preservation of the natural environment, whether the design site is a building in the inner city or in a more natural setting, connecting with nature brings the designed environment back to life. Effective design helps inform us of our place within nature.
Regional climatic conditions or local climate which define the choices of building orinetation when rightly managed and effectively considered in building design and orientation froms a source of energy conservation and management. Advanced climatic research identifies that most tropical building designs gain more in energy conservation by the use of the south/north-east/south-west orientation as against the east/west orientiation for purposes of better wind flow, ventilation and sun shading, likewise temperate designs with the south/north alternative for the major purposes of winter heat gains. A survey indicates that most residential buildings with an elongated east-west orientation, built virtually anywhere in the United States, will experience a 10% reduction in energy consumption compared to a square building and a 20 % reduction compared to a north-south building (US Dept. of Energy, National Best Practices Manual, 2002). This then indicates that choice of building orientation can make best use of the natural conditions of a place to achieve the desired thermal comfort with or without hte use of other sustainable energy sources like the solar photovoltaic or the wind energy generations.
Designing with climate: Climate is an inevitable member of nature and its effecs some times are unpredictable. The Sun, land and water interact in complicated ways throughout each day and throughout the year and the result is what we commonly refer to as weather. These interactions produce daily as well as seasonal temperature, humidity and wind pattens that can vary substantially between locations in close geographic proximity. A climate integrated design is a strategy that seeks to take advantage of the positive climate attributes of a particular location, while minimizing the effects of attributes that may impair comfort or increase energy requirements. A climate integrated design should consider the following points.
- Understand climatic zones and microclimates.
- Understand the basic physiology of human thermal comfort.
- Control the sun to reduce loads and enhance visual comfort.
- Use thermal mass to improve comfort and efficiency
- Utilizie the local winds and breezes as much as can be harnessed for improved comfort.
- Finally, effective choice fo material and design technique for optimized results.
The microclimate of a building site can make or break a climate responsive design, for instance to better harness the solar rays for a passive design or a solar energy design, the solar path needs to be evaluated, as shadows cast by nearby buildings, trees, or hills are important considerations in orienting a solar collector or designing a passive solar building (Oktay, 2002). The proper study of the solar path can also effectively provide options of building materials or techniques for better sun shading or solar access. Figure 2 shows the solar analysis for the Beijing region of China. A standard reference on microclimatic conditions is Geiger, The Climate Near the Ground (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1965). A standard reference on China climatic data by Hui, et al., 1997.
Effective nature positive building designs: In the study of nature and design, a vast literature exists. When the two areas are connected, they are mainly referenced under bioclimatic design or the vernacular, with the emphasis on basic, good design principles. Bioclimatic design literature is on the whole more technical and scientific in nature, while vernacular architecture address issues of culture, tradition and aesthetics as well as comfort.
These two vital concepts are important in understanding the basic ideas of a nature integrated design (Table 2).
Data for Table 2, was derived from combined resources from: USEPA (Best Practices for Green Building in Chicago) 2003 and U.S. Dept. of Energy (National Best Practices Manual), 2002.
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