Cold and cloudy climate

1. ORIENTATION  Long east-west plan arrangements. Increase winter sun-facing skin available to collect radiation
 locate the buildings on leeward side. Expose to cold winds can be minimalised.
 locate the buildings on the south slope of a hill or mountain. For better access to solar radiation.
 In case the southern side is the windward side. The building should be efficiently glazed. Then minimum wind enters the building.
 Parts of the site which offer natural wind barrier can be chosen for constructing a building.
2. FORM AND  Building must be compact with small surface to volume ratio. To reduce heat loss.
PLANNING  Limitation on height of building. Due to earthquake risk.
 built on hill slopes that would receive a fair amount of sunshine.
 Regular plan and elevation shapes,
 integration of wooden beam over the total height of the building,
 small opening size and arrangement of shear walls.
 Walls are strengthened against out-of-plane failure by shear key in the form of a wooden member which runs vertically through the
storey and is structurally connected to the timber framing of the building.
3. BUILT FORM  Buildings can be clustered together, To minimise exposure to cold winds.
 Open spaces between buildings must be such that they allow maximum solar rays to be incident on the building. They should be
treated with a halt and reflective surface. To reflect solar radiation onto the building.
4. STREET TYPE  street orientation should be east-west, to allow for maximum south sun to enter the building.
 The street should be wide enough to ensure that the buildings on one side do not shade those on the other side (i.e. solar access
should be ensured)
 Large street width to height ratio allows direct sunlight.
5. EXTERNAL SPACE  Typical village along stepped contours The traditional settlements appears to have the color of the land and appear just right almost
ecologically planned.
 The landscape materials, techniques of making, all contribute to a common formal language of settlement.
 Typically located along the contoured sunny slopes admits backdrop of hills and snow clad mountains and appear to organically grow
out of the fold of the landscape.

6. VENTILATION  The building should be glazed in such a manner that minimum wind enters the building.
 Operable windows and/or vent openings should be located for effective cross-ventilation and to take advantage of the prevailing
summer wind.
7. ROOM  Living areas can be located on the southern side while utility areas such as stores can be on the northern side.
ARRANGEMENT  Air-lock lobbies at the entrance and exit points of the building reduce heat loss.
 Heat generated by appliances in rooms such as kitchens may be used to heat the other parts of the building.
 arrangement of chimney to let the smoke out from the kitchen and space heating arrangement.
8. FOUNDATIONS,  Floor is elevated from the ground.
 BASEMENTS AND  0.6 to 1 m height for two storey building.
FLOORS  Plinth made up of random rubble masonry.
9. WALLS  Thick wall made up of stone blocks
 Walls should be made of materials that lose heat slowly.
 The south-facing walls (exposed to solar radiation) could be of high thermal capacity (such as Trombe wall) to store day time heat for
later used.
 The north side of the building should be well-insulated.
 The walls should also be insulated.
 On the windward or north side, a cavity wall type of construction may be adopted.
 The insulation should have sufficient vapour barrier (such as two coats of bitumen, 300 to 600-gauge polyethylene sheet or aluminium
foil) on the warm side to avoid condensation.
 Hollow and lightweight concrete blocks are also quite suitable.
 Skylights can be provided with shutters to avoid over heating in summers.
 On the windward or north side, a cavity wall type of construction may be adopted.
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10. WINDOWS  Windows face the sun.
 It is advisable to have the maximum window area on the southern side of the building to facilitate direct heat gain.
 They should be sealed and preferably double glazed to avoid heat losses during winter nights.
 Movable shades should be provided to prevent overheating in summers.
 Windows and glass type for winter solar gain in passively solar-heated buildings, low U-factors are important in reduces winter heat loss
from large solar collecting glazing areas and in retaining heat collected during the day for use at night.
 Entry ways (air lock) To reduce both direct and infiltration losses, entryways should be recessed or protected against the direct force of
prevailing winds. Additional loss reduction can be accomplished by providing an enclosed interior "air lock" space between an entrance
door and the main building. It also reduces the amount of cold or warm air entering the living space when the interior door is opened.
 • Double glazing helps control heat loss from glazing without creating any internal condensation.
11. SHADING  Overheating during summer may be prevented by using suitable shading devices.
TECHNIQUES  Avoiding excessive shading.
 Condensation in the air space between the panes should be prevented, Movable shades should be provided to prevent overheating in
summers.
12. ROOFS  Low timber ceiling provide insulation and conserve the warmth.
 Pitched roof with locally available timber. Slate used for roof covering. Below the roof a ceiling is constructed with timber.
 The light-weight roof construction and the air between the roofing and attic-floor provided a very good thermal insulation against the
passage of heat.
 Low pitched roof provides a good solution to drain off the rain-water/ snow from the dwellings.
 Skylights can be provided with shutters to avoid over heating in summers.
 False ceilings with internal insulation such as polyurethane foam (PUF), thermocol, wood wool, etc. are feasible for houses in cold
climates.
  Aluminium foil is generally used between the insulation layer and the roof to reduce heat loss to the exterior.
 A sufficiently sloping roof enables quick drainage of rain water and snow.
 A solar air collector can be incorporated on the south facing slope of the roof and hot air from it can be used for space heating
purposes. Skylights on the roofs admit heat as well as light in winters.
13. COULOUR AND  The external surfaces of the walls should be dark in colour so that day absorb heat from the sun.
TEXTURE  Light coloured smooth paving reflects light and heat
14. CONSTRUCTION  Using materials that heat up fast but release heat slowly.
TECHNIQUES  low energy dwellings made up of locally available materials like bamboo and wood
 Hollow and lightweight concrete blocks are also quite suitable.
 A Trombe wall is a thermally massive wall with vents provided at the top and bottom. It may be made of concrete, masonry, adobe, and
is usually located on the southern side (in the northern hemisphere) of a building in order to maximize solar gains.
 Water walls are based on the same principle as that for trombe walls, except that they employ water as the thermal storage material.
 A water wall is a thermal storage wall made up of drums of water stacked up behind glazing. It is usually painted black to increase heat
absorption. It is more effective in reducing temperature swings, but the time lag is less.
 Roof-Based Air Heating System: In this technique, incident solar radiation is trapped by the roof and is used for heating interior spaces.
 A sun space or solarium is the combination of direct and indirect gain systems. Sunspaces can be used to collect the suns heat, store it
centrally, and distribute it to other rooms. The wind is preheated in the sunspace before entering the building. A sunspace, unlike direct
gain and Trombe wall systems, adds a room to the building. Winter section: Two openings are provided on the wall dividing the
sunspace and room. The air in the sunspace rises when heated by radiation, and is drawn inside the room and cool air in the room
which is at a lower level is let back in sunspace. This forms a cycle of passive heating air flow. Summer section: Low inlets and high
outlets can be used in a "stack effect" which can be in the form of wind catchers. Since warn air will rise.
 A wind catcher placed with an opening exposed to the prevailing wind direction forces the air inside and warm air inside the room is
drawn out due to negative pressure formed inside the room. Sunspace can be ventilated to the outside to avoid heating.
 A properly vented sunspace can function much like a screened-in porch.
 The solar radiation heats up the sun space directly, which in turn heats up the living space (separated from the sun space by a mass
wall) by convection and conduction through the mass wall.
 In addition to sunspace, combining effects of earth berm, rock bed can be added for optimum results
 Earth berm Earth sheltering is the architectural practice of using earth against building walls for external thermal mass, to reduce heat
loss, and to easily maintain a steady indoor air temperature. Earth sheltering reduces heat loss in two ways: - by increasing the
resistance to heat flow of the walls, roof, and floor and by reducing the temperature difference between inside and outside. At a depth
greater than 2 ft. (0.6m) below the earth’s surface, daily temperature fluctuations are negligible.
 Rock beds are a means of enlarging the thermal mass of the building and thereby increasing the ability to store energy. Air is drawn
from the sunspace and through bed of rocks. Heat is given off to the rocks and air is re-circulated to a location in the hot space to collect
more heat. At night when heat is needed, air from the occupied space is drawn through the rock bed, where it picks up heat and
distributed back to the occupied space. The rock bed can be located under a concrete slab that will be heated by bed.