A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
Vernacular Approach to Passive Solar Design
“Vernacular” (adj.) derives from the Latin word “vernaculus”, meaning, “native to a country, domestic, indigenous” [1]. When pertaining to building, it refers to architecture that belongs to a place and meets the needs of its ordinary people and their culture. Vernacular architecture responds to the resources of its land, such as climate and geographic features, by using traditional materials and techniques for construction [2]. Many vernacular building typologies, including dwellings are inherently climate adaptive and utilize passive solar energy by taking advantage of their built form, material properties and solar orientation, among other attributes. They harness the sun’s passive energy for natural illumination, ventilation, and to keep living spaces warmer or cooler than outside. These sustainable design interventions are simple and affordable with negligible installation costs as they are integral to the building design. In 2021, the U.S residential sector consumed 20.9 quadrillion Btu of primary energy, almost 22% of U.S primary energy consumption [3]. According to the 2019 American Housing Survey, almost 90% of all buildings in the US are single family houses [4]. Clearly, passive solar design continues to be relevant in residential architecture as it can be applied to conserve active energy use or where energy access is a challenge. It would be beneficial to identify strategies from different parts of the world for our understanding, their preservation and implementation in new buildings or existing ones. This paper summarizes the working, climatic response, design and advantages of three passive solar design strategies found in vernacular architecture. It also demonstrates how the strategies have been successfully incorporated in historic and contemporary houses designed by architects, including, the author.
Vernacular Approach to Passive Solar Design
“Vernacular” (adj.) derives from the Latin word “vernaculus”, meaning, “native to a country, domestic, indigenous” [1]. When pertaining to building, it refers to architecture that belongs to a place and meets the needs of its ordinary people and their culture. Vernacular architecture responds to the resources of its land, such as climate and geographic features, by using traditional materials and techniques for construction [2]. Many vernacular building typologies, including dwellings are inherently climate adaptive and utilize passive solar energy by taking advantage of their built form, material properties and solar orientation, among other attributes. They harness the sun’s passive energy for natural illumination, ventilation, and to keep living spaces warmer or cooler than outside. These sustainable design interventions are simple and affordable with negligible installation costs as they are integral to the building design. In 2021, the U.S residential sector consumed 20.9 quadrillion Btu of primary energy, almost 22% of U.S primary energy consumption [3]. According to the 2019 American Housing Survey, almost 90% of all buildings in the US are single family houses [4]. Clearly, passive solar design continues to be relevant in residential architecture as it can be applied to conserve active energy use or where energy access is a challenge. It would be beneficial to identify strategies from different parts of the world for our understanding, their preservation and implementation in new buildings or existing ones. This paper summarizes the working, climatic response, design and advantages of three passive solar design strategies found in vernacular architecture. It also demonstrates how the strategies have been successfully incorporated in historic and contemporary houses designed by architects, including, the author.
Vernacular Approach to Passive Solar Design
Springer Proceed. in Energy
Renné, Dave (editor) / Rixham, Carly (editor) / Reddington, Lauren (editor) / Sood, Sandhya (author)
Proceedings of the American Solar Energy Society National Conference ; 2023 ; Boulder, CO, USA
Proceedings of the 52nd American Solar Energy Society National Solar Conference 2023 ; Chapter: 5 ; 33-42
2023-08-01
10 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
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