ELEMENTS, FACTORS, AND CONCEPTS OF CLIMATIC DESIGN

“Climate”

A measure of the average pattern of variation in temperature, humidity, atmospheric

pressure, wind, precipitation, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological variables in
a given region over long periods of time.

Climate versus Weather

Climate is different from weather, in that weather only describes the short-term conditions of
these variables in a given region.

CLIMATIC ELEMENTS

 Solar radiation or sunlight

 Air temperature
 Atmospheric humidity
 Precipitation
 Wind

THE KÖPPEN SYSTEM

 One of the most widely-used climate classification systems.

 It was first published by Russian German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with
several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936.
 The system is based on the concept that native vegetation is the best expression of
climate.

The Köppen climate classification scheme divides climates into five main groups, each having
several types and subtypes
 Type A: Tropical climates
 Type B: Dry (arid and semiarid) climates
 Type C: Temperate climates
 Type D: Continental climates
 Type E: Polar and alpine climates

TROPICAL CLIMATE

 Found in a nearly unbroken belt around the Earth at low latitudes, mostly within 15° N
and S.
 In A climates, the terms “winter” and “summer” have little meaning, but in many
locations, annual rhythm is provided by the occurrence of wet and dry seasons.

DRY CLIMATES“Arid”

 A land or a climate having little or no rain and is typically too dry or barren to support
lush vegetation.
 They exhibit low precipitation, great variability in precipitation from year to year, low
relative humidity, high evaporation rates (when water is available), clear skies, and
intense solar radiation.

TEMPERATE CLIMATES

 In Europe this includes areas from coastal Norway south to southern France.
 In Asia, this includes areas from South Korea, to east- China from Beijing southward, to
northern Japan.

CONTINENTAL CLIMATES
  These climates have an average temperature above 10 °C (50 °F) in their warmest
months, and a coldest month average below −3 °C
 These usually occur in the interiors of continents and on their upper east coasts,
normally north of 40°N.

POLAR CLIMATES

 These climates are characterized by average temperatures below 10 °C in all 12

months of the year.
 This includes the following subtypes:
1. Tundra climate (ET)
2. Snow and ice climate (EF)
3. Highland climate (H)

CLIMATE OF THE PHILIPPINES

 The climate of the Philippines is tropical and maritime.

 It is characterized by relatively high temperature, high humidity and abundant rainfall.
 It is similar in many respects to the climate of the countries of Central America.

The most important elements of the country's weather and climate are the following:

 Temperature
 Humidity
 Rainfall

TEMPERATURE

 The coolest months fall in January with a mean temperature of 25.5 °C while the
warmest month occurs in May with a mean temperature of 28.3 °C.
 Latitude is an insignificant factor in the variation of temperature while altitude shows
greater contrast in temperature.

HUMIDITY

 Humidity refers to the moisture content of the atmosphere.

 Due to high temperature and the surrounding bodies of water, the Philippines has a
high relative humidity.
 The average monthly relative humidity varies between 71% in March and 85% in
September.

RAINFALL

 Rainfall is the most important climatic element in the Philippines.

 Rainfall distribution throughout the country varies from one region to another,
depending upon the direction of the moisture-bearing winds and the location of the
mountain systems.
 The mean annual rainfall of the Philippines varies from 965 to 4,064 millimeters
annually.

SEASONS

Using temperature and rainfall as bases, the climate of the country can be divided into two
major seasons: rainy and dry.

 The rainy season, from June to November

 The dry season, from December to May, which may be subdivided further into:

▪The cool dry season, from December to February

 ▪The hot dry season, from March to May

PREVAILING WINDS

 Hanging amihan (northeast), November-April

 Hanging habagat (southwest), May-October

MONSOON

A monsoon is a seasonal shift in the prevailing wind direction, that usually brings with it a
different kind of weather.

TYPHOONS

 Typhoons have a great influence on the climate and weather conditions of the
Philippines.
 A great portion of the rainfall, humidity and cloudiness are due to the influence of
typhoons.

THEORIES AND PRINCIPLES OF TROPICAL DESIGN

BASICS OF PASSIVE DESIGN

GOALS FOR VARIOUS CLIMATES

Cool climates

 Maximum thermal retention

 Maximum heat gain
 Maximum wind resistance

Temperate climates
 Moderate thermal retention
 Moderate heat gain
 Slight wind exposure (humidity control)

Hot-humid climates
 Maximum wind exposure
 Maximum internal airflow
 Minimum heat gain

Hot-dry climates
 Minimum heat gain
 Moderate wind resistance
 Moderate internal airflow

PASSIVE DESIGN

Design that works with the environment to exclude unwanted heat or cold and take
advantage of sun and breezes (inducing comfort conditions in the building interiors), therefore
avoiding or minimizing the need for mechanical heating or cooling.
PASSIVE COOLING

The use of passive cooling principles in the tropics results in a building that is comfortable,
energy efficient and results in substantial savings in running costs of both cooling and
lighting.

ACTIVE COOLING

A building design approach that addresses the problem of inducing comfort by means of
equipment that consume energy.

PRINCIPLES OF PASSIVE DESIGN

 Avoid heat gain

 Encourage natural ventilation
 Make use of natural light
 Create cool outdoor areas

AVOID HEAT GAIN

 Orient the building to reduce exposure to midday sun, particularly summer sun.
 Use materials with low thermal mass as a general rule.
 Shade walls and windows, particularly any walls with high thermal mass.
 Use glazing on windows that cannot be effectively shaded.
 Use insulation, light colors, and heat-reflective surfaces.

ENCOURAGE NATURAL VENTILATION

 Orient the building and windows towards prevailing winds.

 Include operable windows and ceiling vents that enable the building to naturally
ventilate.

MAKE USE OF NATURAL LIGHT

 Install shaded windows.

 Install shaded skylights, light tubes, and other natural lighting devices.

CREATE COOL OUTDOOR AREAS

 Use verandas and deep balconies to shade and cool incoming air.
 Use landscaping to provide shade without blocking cooling breezes and use planting to
reduce ground temperature and minimize reflected heat.

PASSIVE DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

MAIN CONSIDERATIONS

 Orientation
 Ventilation
 Landscaping
 Thermal Mass
 Insulation
 Windows
 Natural lighting

ORIENTATION
Orientation concerns the position of the building on the site as well as the arrangement of the rooms within it.

 Orientation for minimal solar heat gain.

 Orientation for maximum air flow.

SUN PATH DIAGRAMS

 Azimuth Lines - Azimuth angles run around the edge of the diagram.
 Altitude Lines - Altitude angles are represented as concentric circular dotted lines that run from the center of
the diagram out.
 Date Lines - Date lines start on the eastern side of the graph and run to the western side and represent the
path of the sun on one particular day of the year.
 Hour Lines/Analemma - Hour lines are shown as figure-eight-type lines that intersect the date lines and
represent the position of the sun at a specific hour of the day.

SUN PATH DIAGRAMS

How to read sun path diagrams:

At 9:00AM,

On April 1,

the azimuth is 62 degrees, and

ORIENTATION FOR MAX. AIR FLOW

 In the Philippines, the prevailing winds are north-easterly from October-March and south-westerly from
April-September. The building design must take advantage of this.
 The lack of breeze during the hottest days can pose challenges for achieving effective natural ventilation.
Designing to encourage convection flow is very effective at these times.

The rule of convection

Warm air rises, cool air sinks.

VENTILATION

Ventilation, circulation of air or to replace stale air with fresh air.

STACK VENTILATION

Uses the principle of convection to induce air flow.

PASSIVE VENTILATION

 Designing a building in a way that maximizes natural ventilation will greatly reduce the need for air-
conditioning
 Air movement over the body, even if the air not much cooler, creates a feeling of cool due to the evaporation
of moisture from the skin

LANDSCAPING

 The hard surfaces of pavement around buildings absorb and re-radiate heat, creating a hotter microclimate
 Thus, it is smart to minimize the extent of paving and replace them with vegetation
 Planting areas around the building creates a cooler environment due to a plant’s ability to transpire or lose
moisture, which cools the air

URBAN HEAT ISLAND

A city or metropolitan area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to human activities.

THERMAL MASS

Thermal mass is the ability of building materials to absorb, store, and release heat.

TROMBE WALL

A trombe wall is a system for indirect solar heat gain. It

consists of a dark colored wall of high thermal mass facing
the sun, with glazing spaced in front to leave a small air
space. The glazing traps solar radiation like a small
greenhouse.

THERMAL MASS

 In tropical climates, the use of materials with low thermal mass is preferable particularly on walls that are
directly exposed to the sun.
 This is because lightweight construction such as timber respond quickly to cooling breezes, allowing the
building to cool down faster

INSULATION

 Insulation controls the rate at which a building loses or gains heat, keeping warmer air in during winter and
excluding external heat in summer.
 There are generally two types of insulation: bulk insulation and reflective insulation.

Bulk insulation Bulk insulation acts as thermal mass and resists the transfer of heat. Bulk insulation includes
materials such as mineral wool, cellulose fiber polyester and polystyrene.

ROCK WOOL A type of insulation that is made from actual rocks and minerals. This type of insulation is
commonly used in building construction, industrial plants

GLASS WOOL An insulating material made from fibers of glass arranged using a binder into atexture similar
to wool.
Reflective insulation Reflective insulation mainly resists heat flow due to its high reflectivity and low ability to re-
radiate heat and is more effective when installed with an air layer next to the shiny surface.

REFLECTIVE INSULATION Reflective insulation is usually shiny aluminum foil laminated onto paper or plastic.

R-VALUE

 Insulation materials are given an R-value, which rates the material’s resistance to heat flow and therefore
indicates its effectiveness.
 R-values are additive. For instance if you have a material with an R-value of 12 attached to another material
with an R-value of 3, then both materials combined have an R-value of 15.

U-VALUE

 The U-value is the heat transfer coefficient, which simply means that is a measure of an assembly's capacity
to transfer thermal energy across its thickness.
 The U-value of an assembly is the reciprocal of the total R-value of the assembly.

WINDOWS

Windows are an important way to encourage and direct air flow into a building.

In a tropical climate, windows should ideally be shaded from direct sunlight all year round and should open to allow
air flow.

TINTED GLASS

Tinted glass has a tint applied to the glass during manufacture, to reduce the amount of heat transmitted through it.

REFLECTIVE COATINGS

Reflective coatings are thin films of metal or metal oxide that are applied to standard glass

NATURAL LIGHTING

Maximizing the amount of natural light that enters the building can lead to significant energy savings by reducing the
need for artificial lighting.

MAXIMIZING NATURAL LIGHT

 Skylights
 Atria
 Light shelves
 Clerestory windows
  Light tubes

SKYLIGHTS

 Skylights can provide good quality light to work spaces that are away from windows. But they need to be
shaded and glazed to prevent heat transfer.
 Some skylights are also vented to allow hot air to escape.

ATRIUM

 An atrium is a large open space, often several stories high and having a glazed roof and/or large windows.
 The benefit of an atrium is that hot air can be vented at the top rather than accumulating near the building
users.

LIGHT SHELVES

 A light shelf is an architectural element that allows daylight to penetrate deeper into a building.
 A light shelf is a horizontal light-reflecting overhang which is placed above eye-level and has a high-
reflectance upper surface.

CLERESTORY WINDOW

 These are high, vertically placed windows that are ideally north facing.
 Clerestory windows can be a good source of diffuse light, and can also be useful in allowing hot air to leave
the building.

LIGHT TUBES

 Solar tubes, light tubes or light pipes are used for transporting or distributing natural or artificial light.

AIR MOVEMENT

AIR MOVEMENT

 Air movement is vital in passively-cooled environments in hot-humid localities

 This is particularly critical for most urban areas and lowlands in the Philippines
 Moving air that hits the human body promotes evaporation of sweat and induces a cooling sensation.

WIND

The movement of air through a building is generated by differences in air pressure as well as temperature. The
resulting patterns of air flow are affected more by building geometry and orientation than by air speed.

PRINCIPLE #1

Air flows from a high pressure area to a low pressure area.

PRINCIPLE #2

Air possesses inertia. Once set in motion, it tends to continue to flow in its initial direction until some intervening
force is met.
PRINCIPLE #3

Air flows through the path of least resistance.

INDUCING AIR MOVEMENT

Thermal Comfort

Thermal comfort is the condition of mind that expresses satisfaction with the thermal environment. Maintaining this
standard of thermal comfort for occupants of buildings or other enclosures is one of the important goals of HVAC
design engineers.

SEA AND LAND BREEZE

SEA BREEZE – wind from the sea (high pressure) directed towards the land (low pressure); due to daytime heating.

LAND BREEZE – wind from land (high pressure) directed towards the sea (low pressure); due to night time cooling.

TROPICAL ARCHITECTURE

Tropical architecture can be regarded as a type of green building applicable specifically for tropical climates, using
design to optimally reduce buildings’ energy consumption, particularly the cooling load.

MAIN OBJECTIVES (HOT HUMID)

 Maximize filtered air movement/speed up winds

 Minimize humidity and avoid mold growth
 Provide maximum shade, especially in late morning and all afternoon
 Create a cool and dark microclimate
 low building density for better air movement
 Vegetation is desirable as a radiation absorbent surface and for its evaporative and shade properties.
However, it has to be arranged in a way that does not impede air circulation

PRINCIPLES

 The consideration of the weather, hydrography and ecosystems of the environment in which buildings are
built for maximum performance with the least impact.
 The efficacy and moderation in the use of construction materials, giving priority to low energy content
compared to high energy.
 The reduction of energy consumption for heating, cooling, lighting and equipment, covering the remainder
of the claim with renewable energy sources.
 The minimization of the building overall energy balance, covering the design, construction, use and end of its
life.

IMPROVING NATURAL VENTILATION AND DAYLIGHTING

 Building should be sited in high altitudes for maximum cool airflow and locations with evaporative
possibilities are advantageous
 Sun orientation: preference for north orientations of the main facades of the building
 Wind orientation: main walls and windows should face the prevailing wind direction
 Orient active living areas to the northeast to collect early morning sun.
 Glass areas should face north with properly designed overhangs.
 Plant trees in south.
 East and west windows should be avoided to minimize radiation with low sun angles.