Stay Cool: A Design Guide for the Built Environment in Hot Climates - Softcover

Koch-Nielsen, Holger

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1902916298 ISBN 13: 9781902916293

Publisher: Routledge, 2002

Synopsis

In hot dry or warm humid climates, more than half of the urban peak load of energy consumption is used to satisfy air-conditioning demands alone. Since the urbanization rate in developing countries is extreme, the pressure placed on energy resources to satisfy the future requirements of the built environment will be great, unless new, more cost-effective measures can be introduced.

Stay Cool is an essential guide for planning and design using active design principles and passive means to satisfy human comfort requirements specifically in these climate zones, based on examples of traditional and modern constructions. The book demonstrates how a design strategy for urban environments and individual buildings, incorporating naturally occurring resources and specific energy-efficient technologies, can create a location, form and structure that promote significant energy-savings. Such strategies can be applied to low cost housing, or indeed to any other buildings, in order to improve comfort with passive means and low energy budgets.

Following an outline of climatic issues, characteristics and thermal comfort requirements, the book details the available techniques and technologies that can be used to shape both built and external environments, the building envelope, material selections and natural ventilation and cooling methods to satisfy both human requirements and the need for energy efficiency. It also includes an active design checklist and summary of available design checking tools, a rehabilitation guide for existing urban, building and external environments, and solar charts.

Planners, architects, engineers, technicians and building designers will find Stay Cool an inspirational guide and an essential reference when working with planning and design of the built environment in hot dry and warm humid climate zones. It will also be of benefit to students, academics and researchers with an interest in sustainable and energy-efficient architecture techniques and practice.

About this title

About the Author

Holger Koch-Nielsen is Director of the architectural consultancy Development Advisory Group, based in Denmark. Trained both as an architect and as an engineer, he has many years' experience in infrastructure projects, urban planning, administrative and industrial buildings, urban settlements as well as in construction programmes for schools, training centres and low-cost housing, working with development projects for UNESCO, UNOPS, UNDP, UNICEF and National Donors and NGOs. He has also been lecturing in building design issues both in Europe and in developing countries.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1902916298
• ISBN 13: 9781902916293
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 160