Yannas / Bowen Passive and Low Energy Architecture

Proceedings of the Second International PLEA Conference, Crete, Greece, 28 June-1 July 1983
1. Auflage 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4831-5604-0
Verlag: Elsevier Science & Techn.
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 872 Seiten

Passive and Low Energy Architecture contains the proceedings of the Second International PLEA Conference held in Crete, Greece, on June 28 to July 1, 1983. The book is organized into four parts as the topics of the conference. The first part brings together papers dealing with case studies of individual buildings or groups of buildings, completed or to be built, and of community planning. The case studies cover examples from 13 countries in Europe, North and Latin America, North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The second part contains papers on experimental work and technical developments with passive and low energy systems and components. The third section focuses on the ill-defined but crucial to designers, area of design aids. The fourth section centers on implementation and management of these energy systems, including topics of international programs, education, and training of design professionals. The book will be useful to energy conscious designers, architects, engineers, and planners in this field of interest.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Yannas, Simos

Bowen, Arthur

Leseproben

BIOCLIMATIC ARCHITECTURE UNDER MEDITERRANEAN CLIMATE
Architect. Michel Gerber,     CLEA, Climat-Energie-Architecture, Les Perdrigals, 11510 FITOU FRANCE ABSTRACT
Our work started in 1976 with the rehabilitation of an ancient building in mediterranean climate. At that time, the main concern was to integrate the passive solar architecture in the socio-cultural context, e.g., Les Perdrigals. Another aspect of our work is designing greenhouses for new buildings or retrofits. In a mountain climate, a two storey greenhouse will be presented. The use of sun as natural lighting and energy source is demonstrated in a partly underground single family dwelling. First example of a low cost housing program is described. Our project for the new Préfecture in Montpellier focused on extensive utilization of daylighting systems. The approach of this project will be presented. KEYWORDS Bioclimatic passive solar architecture greenhouses low cost housing daylighting systems INTRODUCTION
New technology has freed man from the constraints of his environment. He has been able to take advantage of the technological advances to improve not only his living conditions but also to escape the restrictions imposed by the environment. The result has been modern architecture which totally neglects problems of energy. Its aim has been mainly to develop standardized industrial techniques which can be applied anywhere to create an international type of architecture. Rising costs of energy may lead us to a salutary reexamination of this trend. Faced by such problems, we took a look at vernacular architecture. In the beginning, when the function of shelter was to serve only the very basic needs of life, environment was the overuling factor of the morphology of a dwelling. Physical, geographical, climatic and geological parameters were the determining factors in the choice of the type of shelter with the materials available for its construction. These various factors associated with the socio-economic and cultural characteristics of an area produced what is recognized now as regional architecture. Our first work was strongly influenced by the vernacular architecture of our region (Languedoc), and we will show then how it evolved. LES PERDRIGALS
Our approach for the first house, Les Perdrigals, was to take into consideration environmental and socio-economical factors. To these, we added our concern for energy conservation by looking in depth at geographic and climatic factors, (insolation, wind, temperature), including a priority for solar energy collection in our design. Analysis of the regional architecture demonstrated the following main characteristics: a- protection against the prevailing wind by the choice of orientation and morphology of the building, b- organization of outside protected areas, c- use of natural cool air systems by cross ventilations, d- seasonal internal migrations. These components were applied together with devices to optimize solar gains and minimize heat losses. The architectural result is actually very close to the regional architecture (fig. 1). Fig. 1 Les Perdrigals. View from East. THE SOLAR GREENHOUSE
Another aspect of our work is designing greenhouses for new buildings or retrofits. We shall attempt to show constraints and needs to be taken into consideration when constructing a solar greenhouse by describing the steps followed in the planning and the construction of retrofit greenhouses. Our approach is based on 3 main aspects: function, architecture and thermal control. Of these the most important is the first. The conditions required by plants are different from those of man. Temperature and hygrometry will vary as a function of whether the greenhouse will be semi-habitable or strictly for horticulture. Therefore the first step is to clearly define the function of the greenhouse since this will greatly influence its conceptualization. Architectural design is the next important factor, because the greenhouse must be adapted to the existing building while still facing south. The morphology and aspect of the building will influence those of the greenhouse. Moreover, the choice of materials will be based on its design. Thermal control within the greenhouse, the third parameter to be studied, is not only related to the use, but also to such factors as climate. Ensuing problems are essentially overheating and cooling, ventilation, stratification and energy storage. The “Maison du Lac” greenhouse was built as a part of the renovation of an old house. It was essentially designed for habitation. The 2 level area connects externally with the old building between the family room on the ground-floor and the living room on the first floor. The old walls, insulated from the outside (except for those directly adjacent to the greenhouse) form the storage element. The greenhouse is built from redwood with single glazing and the solid portions are insulated pressed board panels. The greenhouse does not have nocturnal insulation, fluid insulation has been considered but not implemented. Caloric input of the greenhouse is manually controlled by the inhabitants (doors, windows on both levels), (fig. 2) Fig. 2 Maison du Lac. View from South. THE ANHOUR-EOLE HOUSE
This house is a reflection of the evolution of our present research. We designed a compact plan for energy efficiency. The sun entering the house is used as a source of heating, (direct gain), and as a mean of lighting (indirect gain). The dwelling is located in a pine grove, on a south-facing slope. We took adavantage of a natural clearing in which to build the house. The desire to integrate the building into its environment led to a house completely buried on the north side and partially buried on the East and West. This results in efficient protection against temperature losses due to prevailing noth-west wind. The building steps down to the South which despite its compact plan allows sunlight and energy into every level of the building, (fig. 3). The house is built in cast-in-place concrete with exterior insulation. Special care has been given to the finish carpentry work, especially windows and skylights. These are equipped with insulated movable shutters which reflect sun outside in the summer and inside in winter. Fig. 3 The Anhour-Eole House. Section and view from East. LOW COST HOUSING
So far, we described individual dwellings, where motivated people, concerned about energy saving, had the necessary funds to realize their ideas. If this situation was a chance for designers to improve their skills, it nevertheless became clear rapidly that energy conscious design should cover a much larger housing market. Well-integrated buildings using solar energy had also to be designed for low income housing. The idea was promoted by the deciders, the politics and the administration. The Office Public d’HLM de l’Aude (Public Office of Low Income Housing) has made pioneering work in that direction. They launch a program for bioclimatic low cost housing with 3 objectives: a- to promote the development of small clusters of low cost housing using bioclimatic design criteria, integrated to villages and towns of the administrative region. b- to revitalize the local building trades by this new market well adapted to their structures. c- to improve architectural and thermal quality of low cost housing. The first project we designed was for a small community and fullfilled these objectives: the rather compact building takes advantage of the south-west slope of the site. The small programm could be handled by qualified local enterprises. And the thermal characteristic of the heat losses (coefficient g) is of 0.9 and that of energetic needs (coefficient b) is of 0.4, when the maximal required legal values are respectively 1 and 0.7. Direct gain systems were used, partly as clearstory with inside automated insulated shutters. The garages are part of the building and protect the entrance airlock and hall. The domestic hot water systems work on thermosyphon separately for each apartment, yet are grouped together on the south elevation, (fig. 4). Fig. 4 Low Cost Housing Project. Views of Model. THE USE OF NATURAL DAYLIGHTING IN ADMINISTRATIVE BUILDINGS
Studies undertaken during the last ten years for administrative buildings in Europe and the United-States have revealed that energy consumption for daylighting represents 50 to 60 % of energy costs. Artificial daylighting in public buildings during the summer has the added drawback of increasing the need for air conditionning. Such findings have recently spurred the search for new systems for improving natural lighting in these buildings. Within the context of a national contest for the design of the new Préfecture of Montpellier, our team (1) wished to apply this new concept of daylighting. We applied our research to the project keeping in mind the following goals: a- integration of urban development and environment requirements, b- keeping with the demands imposed by the overall construction project...