Building Form as an option for enhancing the indoor thermal conditions

Building Form as an option for enhancing the indoor thermal conditionsLuis Eduardo Martnez LpezMaximiliano FloresVicente Castillo Martin Valencia Gonzlez

Introduction The necessity to find new methods that stimulate a more sustainable design in line with less consumption of energy

The form and structure building structure and dimensional characteristics explain why it has been built like that.

Objective and method

1. Relation between surfaces and volume. 2. Relation between roof and Walls. 3. Relation between the wall areas and the relation between the South oriented surfaces to west oriented surfaces. 4. Thermal response of the Building Envelope as a function of its Geometrical Shape. Relationship between the building envelope shape and the surrounding environment.

Depending on the design strategy adapted for controlling the environment, the form is defined as an optimal for a given climate assumed to be different from one case to another. Different shapes with the same enclosed area.

Variety of climate: winds, humidity, rainfall, high rate of change n the temperature

Structures with a specific configuration.Heat retain capacity depending on the shape of the building.Hours that a building its cooled down according to its shape.

203 hours/year 356 hours/year

Shape factorThe optimal building will be the one who have the minimal surface of losses keeping the same volume storage of heat.Cold weather between 0.5-0.8Warm weather, over 1.2

SF=Surface/VolumeThe larger SF ratio, the better Thermal response particularly During summer period.

In most equatorial and tropical locations, but especially near the Equator. The horizontal surface receives the greatest intensity. At the higher latitude, the wall facing the Equator receives the next highest intensity in winter (when the Sun is low) but it receives very little in summer.

In the equatorial location, north and south walls receive the least intensity and that only for short periods of the year.

East and west facing walls receive the second highest intensities in the equatorial location and consistently large intensities even at the higher latitude.The building orientation determines the amount of radiation it receives.

www.irbnet.de/daten/iconda/CIB9771.pdfThermal response of the Building Envelope as a function of its Geometrical Shape.The sun constitutes the most important parameter affecting the indoor climate, the selection of a building form with suitable shape would affect remarkably the indoors thermal conditions. The roof is the building most important component where it constitutes the major source for the thermal stress both under the cold and overheated period. The form that has the least size of the roof area of the same total space area is the most recommended for all the conditions.The form with a rectangular shape elongated on the east-west axis functions more effectively than the square one.