Consider these tips before building your new residence to reduce its energy dependency!

A residence requires energy majorly in the form of electricity and fuel for its day-to-day operations. It is a quintessential part of the modern-day living experience. The focus of comfortable living has shifted from architecture and life principles to adjusting to what energy can substitute these with. For example, let us look at the major areas where energy is required in a modern-day house:

• Provide artificial lighting and decorative lighting through tube lights, spotlights, rope lights and pendant lights.
• Increasing the comfort levels of the house through air-conditioning, fans, room heaters etc.
• Supporting in-house entertainment like T.V., Computers and mobile devices. 
• Use water pumps to propel water to achieve 24x7 water supply in the residence.

This means that natural sunlight which is good for the eyes as well as the body is replaced with artificial lights and closed rooms. A breezy area of the house is blocked by walls just because it was not anticipated earlier. A comfortable personalized sit out and balcony space for family is replaced with media and television. Consider this, the same activity that is supposed to revitalize the user is causing strain and fatigue to the user. How do we resolve this?

Remember, A building must be designed not to be dependent of energy but to be completely void of it.

General strategies to keep in mind before the construction of the building.

a. Concentrate on the materials and building techniques to be used for a building.

Do you know that changing the materials used for construction can drastically reduce the need for energy in a residence. Do you ask how this correlation is made?

Let me explain. All materials react differently to sunlight, rain, wind, snow etc. Some conduct more heat while some totally negate it, as a broad example, Iron will quickly get hot as compared to say a cloth or fiber glass or timber wood. This means using the appropriate material in the place make the difference. Thermal conductivity is key term to remember here. lesser the value of thermal conductivity, better it is in insulating the house.

Once the thermal conductivity is known, the strengths and weaknesses of the material to a certain climatic condition can be known clearly. While bricks are the most common option pan India, the materials used to make the brick will have a big influence on the performance. So is Clay the correct option? Is it fly ash? Or is it cement? The answer is If you require the house to be colder than outside, than Clay or Fly ash is a good option. If you require the house to be warmer, then cement is the answer.

Summary, bricks are better for warmer areas, while colder regions require some sort of insulation. Also, take care of the type of brick depending on how warm/hot the area gets.

Do you remember going into a under construction building where the walls are still just brick and cement and remember how cool and breezy it felt? Then how does this same building feel so claustrophobic and hot once the building is complete? The answer is plaster. The plaster coating on the brick wall to make it an even surface contain Sand, cement and gypsum which get heated very quickly and release heat very slowly. So, this thin layer of plaster heats up the house by up to 20 to 30%!!

Summary, conventional plaster is bad. Spend a little more for reduced dependance on fans for cooling the house and also avail long term health and climate benefits.

b. The form and orientation of the building plays a major role in the energy requirements for the building.

The form of a building i.e., high rise, spread out, or clusters greatly affect the macro climate (the climate around the building). A high-rise building might have additional costs like lifts, water pump, generator etc. This can greatly increase the cost. Here might be some solutions to it.

• Can the vertical faces of the building be decked with solar panels that can power the lift and motors and all public spaces.

• Can we use solar panels on the terrace so that we might be able to provide hot water to the building, can it also be on a higher level to the building such that we can also achieve a shaded terrace?

So, in short, we have taken a negative of more electricity consumption for tall buildings and reduced the cost with Solar panels and design.

c. Climate responsive techniques

These techniques are the best and guarantee way of achieving climate responsiveness in a building. While we can't go through all the details, booking a consultation with an experienced architect is the best way forward. I will list down a few ways which are common, however. 

• Double Brick walls: double brick walls are two walls on the same line with an added extra layer in between. The layer can be an air pocket or an insulation material. This will reduce the temperature increase or decrease from the wall by 40 - 70%. here is a illustration diagram.

• Providing chajja over all fenestrations: A chajja is a protrusion of the wall shading a window or a door. this will reduce the amount of direct sunlight hitting the face of the wall or window and reduce amount of heat falling on it directly.

• Form of the building: The form of the building greatly influences the macro climate of the site. You can use sun patterns and provide shade to areas with the building form itself and make it more climate friendly.

• Cross ventilation and fenestration sizes: Cross ventilation causes air to flow through the complete room. Furthermore, increasing the window size and decreasing the door size greatly effects the flow speed in the room.

So, this is it for this week.  Please contact me at hiteshmummareddy@gmail.com or give me a call at +91-9618999244 if you are looking for an architect or Interior designer.