Most of the times when Sun and Architecture are placed in the same context, the thing that comes first in people’s mind is High-Technology and glass skyscrapers. The most need of natural light and energy appeared in the public edifices. By reason of using too much energy for basic needs in a building, architects and engineers found alternative eco-friendly solutions that can be used in both private and public sectors.
Over time people realized that those solutions are too expensive to wait years for payback. As a consequence, in some parts of the world people and designers raised the question “How to use as much sun as possible without spending money?”. The answer stood in simplicity and appeared soon after the question: “ancient solution applied to a new, modern problem – strategic solar building orientation”.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
1.1. Topic: Sun and Architecture
1.2. Situation: Advantages and disadvantages of sun orientation
1.3. Problem: How to find a balance in design between advantages and disadvantages of sun orientation?
2. Content
2.1. Desk research
2.1.1. General information about sun around the world and in Denmark
2.1.2. What is building orientation?
2.1.3. Exposure of a house - advantages and disadvantages
2.1.4. Design of a house for all seasons -solutions
2.2. Technical solutions: How to gain advantages of the sun and discard disadvantages
2.2.1. Gaining advantages
2.2.2. Disadvantages and solutions how to discard them
3. Conclusion
1. Introduction
1.1. Topic: Sun and Architecture
Most of the times when Sun and Architecture are placed in the same context the thing that comes first in people’s mind is High-Technology and glass skyscrapers. The most need of natural light and energy appeared in the public edifices. By reason of using too much energy for basic needs in a building, architects and engineers found alternative eco-friendly solutions that can be used in both private and public sectors. Over time people realized that those solutions are too expensive to wait years for payback. As a consequence, in some parts of the world people and designers raised the question “How to use as much sun as possible without spending money?”. The answer stood in simplicity and appeared soon after the question: “ancient solution applied to a new, modern problem - strategic solar building orientation”.
1.2. Situation: Advantages and disadvantages of sun orientation
As every fact has advantages and disadvantages, orientating the house towards sun comes with its benefits and weaknesses. As disadvantages make people take a second thought before making a decision, therefore, in this situation designers try to find a balance between plusses and minuses. The optimal solution that they try to reach is to use weaknesses in their favor. As a result they are working innovatively and cleverly in a building’s design process in order to achieve energy efficiency.
1.3. Problem: How to find a balance in design between advantages and disadvantages of sun orientation?
The aim of this report is to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of sun orientation in order to design a building so it can fully utilize the available solar energy but in the same time to be good looking. Likewise, it is important to find out how much of the energy consumption of the house can be saved. The study is strictly related to family houses.
2. Content
2.1. Desk research
Desk research was the method of study that returned basic information to base the report on. The information gathered created an idea of what exactly house orientation means.
2.1.1. General information about sun around the world and in Denmark
Being a Nordic European country, Denmark has a noticeable and great difference between the winter’s and summer’s sun position. Hence, in the summer time the sun has the highest path across the sky while in the winter period it is really low. Sun rises slightly south-east and sets south-west in the winter, and slightly north-east and north- west in the summer. Moreover, the difference between the period of light in summer and winter is obvious.
The change of the angle and altitude of the sun in winter and summer is shown in these two graphics.
illustration not visible in this excerpt
1. Graphic that shows the altitude of the sun according to its position on the sky and time of the day - June
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2. Graphic that shows the altitude of the sun according to its position on the sky and time of the day - December
2.1.2. What is building orientation?
Designing and deciding upon the house’s orientation are two fundamental steps to ensure that it profits all sun’s benefits. Awareness of sun paths for any site is essential in designing house’s façades and positioning rooms. Whether you are building a new home or restoring an existing one, if you can take advantage of passive solar heating and cooling you have achieved something truly amazing: free energy. Well, the sunshine cannot be taxed, anyway.
2.1.3. Exposure of a house - advantages and disadvantages
Before explaining the advantages and disadvantages of orientating a house towards sun, it is important to describe what exposure means. The statement “exposure of a house” is in close connection to an eco-friendly solution. As all the environmentally friendly solutions use the sun, wind or earth energy and heat to minimize the house consumption, a house orientated with its main façade towards sun acts partly as a passive house. It reduces the use of energy, though the saving is not as obvious as for the other solutions.
In this section two aspects of solar orientation are taken into consideration: lighting and heating. The reason of considering these is that they largely affect the overall performance of the building in terms of occupational and functional requirements. As desk research and interviews concluded with the same advantages and disadvantages for sun orientation, consequently they are defined in this section of the report.
The main aims in day lighting a house are to get significant quantities of daylight as deep into the building as possible, to maintain a uniform distribution of daylight from one area to another. Still, the sun does not only provide the house with light but as well with passive heat. Subsequently, the rooms must be located as to secure the sunlight to its best extent. In Denmark, as the most used part of the house is the area with kitchen, dining space and living room, here has to be definitely allowed the most sun light.
Certainly, there are advantages and disadvantages to make the house benefit from the sun. The advantages consist of smaller energy consumption, natural light and the temperature inside rises with minimum 3˚C which is a significant aspect in Denmark. Moreover the ecological appliances are very common, so it increases the possibility to use light-bulbs that are charging in the day time. Also walls absorb the heat during the day and at night they spread it in the house. Overheating is the main disadvantage for placing the house in the direction of sun. Other problems that appear are glare and visual discomfort. Seasonal disadvantage is light in winter time. Due to the short day, sun light can only be used as a complement to artificial lighting and not as a main source of light.
illustration not visible in this excerpt
3. Exposure of the house
2.1.4. Design of a house for all seasons -solutions
It is important to design the house to be comfortable all year long and not just for a single season. Following that, disadvantages have a fundamental role when designing the technical solutions. Moreover every solution has to be very well analyzed because it can solve a problem in one period but on the other hand it might have an unwanted effect in another period. Controlling the amount of day light in a house is through the use of structural designs and concepts.
Frequently used rooms, such as the kitchen and living room should be on the southern side with large big openings. Bedrooms are the hardest rooms to orientate. If faced north, west and directly south, the problem in the summer will be the heat, distributed by the walls at night or almost no heat and light during winter. This is why it makes sense to orientate the bedrooms to south-east but with sun-protective adjustable screens against the morning light. The sun does not directly heat the rooms throughout the day and the temperature does not become insupportable. All the other areas that are less frequently used should be situated at the northern part of the house, where they will act as barriers against cold winter winds.
Trees are a controversial factor in passive solar design because they can both provide needed shade on a summer day but as well they can isolate the house of natural light when it is needed most. As Denmark is a rainy country, trees may prevent light entering the house. Due to possible poor natural lightening in the summer time, trees are not that frequently used. However, if planted on the south side and where bedrooms are they will lose their leaves in the winter and allow natural light to enter the house.
illustration not visible in this excerpt
4. Tree shadow 4. Shading in summer and winter
Windows and other glazed surfaces allow heat transfer more easily than walls, so too many windows can actually drain heat from the house during the cold winter months but as well overheat the house during summer. Choosing the right size and the right glazing material windows can significantly improve the efficiency of the house.
Shading is very important to avoid overheating in summer. Well-designed shadings can greatly reduce heat entering the house and the costs of mechanical ventilation. The most effective way to avoid overheating is to use external shading. Focus should be first on south facing windows which receive the most direct sunlight and second on east and west facing windows. North facing windows generally don't need shading. External shading should be designed to let in the winter sun but shade the summer sun. External shading can include overhanging eaves, horizontal shades or awnings and pergolas.
Ventilation is another solution and it occurs when two sides of the house are opened to allow air to flow from one end to the other. Allowing fresh air to enter the house is cooling the house and therefore prevents overheating. It is preferable to let the air flow through the house from the south to the north. In this way, the cooling process is maximized.
illustration not visible in this excerpt
5. Ventilation South<->North
Thermal mass refers to the ability of building materials to store heat. Building materials with a high thermal mass can store large amounts of heat without a large temperature change. They include bricks and masonry and concrete slabs with hard floor coverings and concrete walls. The use of thermal mass can help to keep internal temperatures at a moderate level by averaging day and night temperature extremes.
2.2. Technical solutions: How to gain advantages of the sun and discard disadvantages
Even though there is no recipe for the perfect house placing, according to Denmark’s specific conditions and geographic position, the best orientation would be South-West. The solution of having a large glass façade towards sun is not enough due to the fact that it has some unwanted consequences, one of them is overheating. There are also some cases, especially in more urbanized places, where building’s orientation is limited by surroundings. But even there is possible to solve the problem by playing with building’s design.
The key fact is that professional architects are always thinking about building orientation and sun access implementing in design. According architects, the best sense about sun relation to the building comes with experience and it even becomes a natural detail to think about.
As already known, the most important advantages of the sun are natural light and heating energy source. As a disadvantage, overheating is the primary problem that appears. In this part of the report it will be described what solutions can help to increase the use of sun’s energy and discard of its main disadvantage - overheating.
2.2.1. Gaining advantages
The very first step, when designing a house is to find out the sun path - using proper tools. It can be done by observing plot area and by computer programs1 - entering exact plot coordinates. Additionally, it has to be taken into consideration all the existing or planned surrounding elements, such as buildings, plants and relief. These are most considered factors as a start point for new building design.
Further there will be described most common solutions to gain sun energy and the principle idea of how they work. Certainly, by making deeper research about each solution, it can be found a large variety of different ways of implementing them.
Room arrangement
It is very important to think about room arrangement and the time usually spent there. Likewise clients’ wishes have to be considered, because some of them might not like direct sun in certain rooms. For example, there are some people who would prefer morning sun in bedroom, but some of them would try to avoid this. Also, direct sun is commonly not wanted in rooms where usually used digital screens are. Another aspect is the evening sun. The rooms where most of the evening will be spent should be taken into consideration as well. Usually common rooms: kitchen/dining room, living room, terrace). Good room arrangement helps to save electricity and heating energy. As long as there is natural light, there no necessity to use electricity for lighting. Also it provides natural heating, but that depends on other factor - openings.
Openings design
After deciding upon room arrangement, the design of windows has to go next. Design should be based on openings orientation, outer surrounding elements and interior design. It also depends on how much sun energy is wanted into the room. It means both light and heating.
Nowadays there is a very large variety of different products which allow the opportunity to design almost any required shape. Research before choosing the product is necessary. There are many different frames and glass solutions with different properties. The number of the layers can vary as well as the quality of it. For example Nano-glass which has a property to stay clean. It can save maintenance expenses and it can be used wisely in solar aspect (solar panels, glass facades). Dirty glass can affect transparency up to 15-20%. Also high technologies make windows very hermetic and let them have very low U-value. It means that windows let the sun energy in the house, but the collected heat is kept inside. Therefore, it should be also thought about possible overheating problem. House energy and sun contribution can be calculated in program
- BE10, where every opening is taken in account by its orientation and properties.
There are some general guidelines to follow when designing openings:
- The total area of windows has not to exceed 25% of floor area.
- When designing windows for rooms, it has to take around 1/8 of room area.
- Orientation of windows should spread by this percentage:
- South 30-40 %
- North 10-20 %
- East/West 15-20 %
Remember, this guideline is for Northern countries and every certain case, rule or law has to be considered with its specific parameters!
2.2.2. Disadvantages and solutions how to discard them
Overheating also has to be taken into consideration, in order to avoid extra energy consumption for cooling down the building. Shading in this case is the best solution. Here will be described ways of achieving it.
Natural surrounding
Surrounding elements can provide natural shading. Very good examples are trees, especially deciduous ones. They act as natural shading in summer, when sun path is high. In winter time, when sun path is low and leaves are gone they let the sun light through. It is very important to remember that if house energy calculations are made including all surrounding - they have to remain there. For example if trees next to the building are taken into calculations, authorities may not allow to cut them down.
Curtains & blinds
This solution has also many different appearances. It can be installed inside the house or outside also can be mechanical or electric. What product to choose mostly depends on the general building’s design. Advantage of this solution is that it can be controlled according to conditions and wishes.
Overhangs
This solution also helps to control sun shine amount coming to the building. After sun path is investigated in certain case, it can be calculated needed overhang. It depends how deep the sun shine is wanted into rooms under it. As well sun movement during seasons has to be taken into consideration. In winter time this solution helps to take in the low trajectory sun, and in summer it provides needed shading to avoid the overheating. Implementation of this solution can also vary from architect’s imagination, but most common solutions are roof or terrace overhangs - especially in more than one- storey buildings.
Awnings and pergolas
It is very popular solution in southern countries, but also well-known and used in Denmark. It can be mechanical or electrical - especially on massive facades. It can vary in design and implemented with good architectural sense it can affect building’s design in a good way.
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6. Awning design
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7. Pergola design
It is also often used to protect old existing building from overheating or after facades renovation, when changing building function and replacing old concrete façade with glass.
3. Conclusion
This report was made to find out how to choose an optimal house orientation and still have a clever design that can saved a lot of energy. Even though on some parts of the world a good orientation of the house can reach more than 50% in savings, in Denmark, because of its geographical position and weather condition the solution is not that effective. However, with an accurate investigation of the sun conditions and environment on the plot and implementation of proper technical solutions in design the energy consumption is reduced with at least 20% and in some cases even up to 40%.
The idea of orientating the house towards sun in Denmark still has to be developed and well-advertised. For now it can only be considered as a future solution. People have to be much more informed in order to start thinking more not only about design of the house, but as well about its efficiency. Spending more money does not necessarily mean that it is better. Finding a balance between money spent, pay-back and solution has to be much more questioned and examined. Mostly this symbiosis between client and architect is needed to come up with the best product.
Sources
Table of figures
1. Graphic that shows the altitude of the sun according to its position on the sky and time of the day - June 2
2. Graphic that shows the altitude of the sun according to its position on the sky and time of the day - December 3
3. Exposure of the house 4
4. Tree shadow 5
5. Ventilation South<->North 6
6. Awning design 9
7. Pergola design 10
- Source for figure number 1 and figure number 2: http://sunposition.info/sunposition/spc/locations.php#1
- Source for figure number 3:
http://www.ecowho.com/i/sunpath.png
- Source for figure number 4:
http://www.buckandsons.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Tree-Shade-Color1.jpg
- Source for figure number 5:
http://www.tankonyvtar.hu/hu/tartalom/tamop425/0032_kornyezettechnologia_en/image s/risk/44.jpg
The picture has been modified so it fits our description.
- Source for figure number 6:
http://www.issey.com.au/images/products/Unicom/window-awnings.jpg
- Source for figure number 7:
http://farm1.staticflickr.com/163/397143779_6a37c62531_b.jpg
Sources for desk research:
http://www.ecowho.com
First accessed: 23.11.2013
http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/aslaksen/gem-projects/hm/0304-1-66- sun_and_architecture.pdf
First accessed: 23.11.2013
http://designbuildsource.com.au
First accessed: 23.11.2013
http://activehouseusa.com
First accessed: 23.11.2013
http://www.lightningcanyon.com
First accessed: 23.11.2013
http://www.sereneinteriors.com
First accessed: 23.11.2013
http://www.nachi.org
First accessed: 23.11.2013
http://www.gharexpert.com
First accessed: 23.11.2013
http://www.sa.gov.au
First accessed: 23.11.2013
http://ezinearticles.com/?Light-Orientation-and-Interior-Design---Use-the-Sunlight-and- Your-Climate-to-Your-Advantage&id=4064713
First accessed: 23.11.2013
http://www.house-energy.com
First accessed: 23.11.2013
http://sustainabilityworkshop.autodesk.com/fundamentals/building-orientation
First accessed: 23.11.2013
Bibliography:
Almon C. Varney (1882), Our Homes And Their Adornments, Detroit: J. C. Chilton & Co., chapter: XII
[...]
1 Rhino, Ramboll, Eco Tect, Revit
- Quote paper
- Corina Ioana Negrescu (Author), 2013, Sun and architecture. How to find a balance in design between advantages and disadvantages of sun orientation?, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/308735
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