Will my building look cool? Most designers ask themselves this question at some point but what they should really be asking is, Will my building be efficient? Below are few ideas that may help to make your building more efficient.
South facing windows
To maximize solar gain it’s a good idea to have as many south facing windows as possible. However if you have two floors don’t put south facing windows on the second floor, in fact have as little windows area as possible on the second floor, why? Windows are good at bringing heat into your house when the sun shines but there’re not very good at stopping it going back out on a cold night. Because heat rises a well insulated house is naturally warmer on the second floor so if you have a lot of windows upstairs a lot of heat can be lost through the windows, you may also get condensation problems as a rule the higher a window is in a house the less efficient it becomes. So if you have most of your windows on the ground floor (facing south) you’ll get the benefit of solar gain but loose less on cold nights. If you place a pond directly in front of your south facing windows you’ll get even more solar gain because the sun will reflect off the surface, and it looks stunning.
Ceiling height
Keep your ceiling height as low as is practical, vaulted ceiling look impressive but all your heat will rise above your head and you’ll still feel cold. This effect is less noticeable in a dome because the air circulates more efficiently but keeping the ceiling within a reasonable height is still a good idea.
Plant trees
You may well ask what planting trees around your house has to do with efficient building design? Planting trees can keep your house warmer in winter and cooler in summer here’s how:
Trees provide shade on hot summer days and they also keep the air cooler and pleasantly humid when planted in groups. On winter nights the canopy of a few trees planted together acts like a blanket keeping warm air around your house. Trees can also help protect your house from high winds reducing the wind chill factor on those breezy winter days.
Less is more
Modern house building trends are to build bigger and bigger houses even though people are tending to live in smaller social groups. Use space saving design to maximise the usable area in your house, moving walls, folding beds, creative storage can all be employed to maximise the usable space and minimise the size you need to make your building. There’s no point in building a large house and only using part of it most of the time.
Minimise the surface area (improving heat efficiency) by not building extensions, porches, and conservatories etc, all of which increase surface area in relation to floor area. The most efficient shape to build a house is dome then square after that rectangle, when you get into L shaped, long and thin or with multiple extensions the surface area to volume ratio becomes dreadfully inefficient.
Keep it simple
By using less components you can save a substantial amount of money and time, try and keep the number of different components to a minimum (domes use very few different parts) only put doors and windows in were you really need them, of the windows that you do put in make only the bare minimum opening windows and of coarse making all the windows the same size is also a good idea.
More ideas
If you have any more ideas for making a building more efficient please leave a comment below, the more ideas we have the better.
Happy building.
