Synopses & Reviews
Sun, Wind, and Light: Architectural Design Strategies G. Z. Brown This book is for designers who want to consider the form-generating potential of sun, wind, and light in the earliest stages of the design process. It is designed to fit with the rapid, conceptual, exploratory, and synthetic thinking that characterizes the beginning of the design process. The book stresses the energy implications of using sun, wind, and light. However, it is organized by the architectural elements designers manipulatestreets, open spaces and buildings, rooms and courtyards, and walls, roofs, floors, and windows. These elements are discussed in terms of their organizationlayered, elongated, dispersed, compact, and zonedand their attributesshape, orientation, enclosure, edge, and size. In addition, the contents are matched to the scale that is being consideredbuilding groups, individual buildings, and building parts. Sun, Wind, and Light is divided into three parts: The Design Strategies section is intended to help the designer formulate the basic concept for a project. This section uses a one- or two-page format that contains a simple memorable statement of the strategy, a clear, concise explanation of the strategy, several provocative historical and contemporary architectural illustrations of the potential impact of the strategy on a buildings form and organization, and a rule of thumb that allows the designer to size elements instantly, without calculation. This format makes the strategies stimulating, fast to use, and easy to integrate with other design concerns. The Analysis Techniques section helps the designer define the context of the problem by understanding the sun, wind, and light resources of a particular site and climate, and how those resources can be used in a particular building to reduce the energy used for heating, cooling, and lighting. The third section, Strategies For Supplementing Passive Systems, addresses the ways design strategies can be supplemented with conventional heating, cooling, and lighting systems. The book is extensively referenced so that more detailed information can be located easily. It contains a glossary of energy-related terms so that it can be used effectively by those who are not energy experts. For easy retrieval of information, the book is indexed by subject, building, and architect, and by charts, graphs, and tables.
Review
"No architect should neglect to follow the advice that it gives." (Center for Education in the Built Environment, August 2002)
Synopsis
Architecture/Environment
How to design buildings that heat with the sun, cool with the wind, light with the sky, and move into the future using on-site renewable resources
Developed for rapid use during schematic design, this book clarifies relationships between form and energy and gives designers tools for designing sustainably. It also:
* Applies the latest passive energy and lighting design research
* Organizes information by architectural elements at three scales:
* building groups, individual buildings, and building parts
* Brings design strategies to life with examples and practical design tools
* Features:
* 109 analysis techniques and design strategies
* More than 750 illustrations, sizing graphs, and tables
* Both inch-pound and metric units
About the Author
G. Z. Brown is a registered architect and professor of architecture at the University of Oregon. He is the coauthor of Inside Out: Design Procedures for Passive Environmental Technologies and the design software Energy Scheming.
Mark DeKay is a registered architect and assistant professor of architecture at Washington University in St. Louis. He is a 2000 Fulbright Fellow to India, and his Ecological Design Resources Web site can be found at: http://ecodesign.arch.wustl.edu
Table of Contents
Preface.
1st Edition Preface.
Introduction.
ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES.
Climate as a Context.
Program and Use.
Form and Envelope.
Combining Climate, Program, and Form.
Electric and Hot Water Loads.
DESIGN STRATEGIES.
Building Groups.
Buildings.
Building Parts.
STRATEGIES FOR SUPPLEMENTING PASSIVE SYSTEMS.
Appendix A: Climate Data by Latitude/City.
Appendix B: Additional Climate Data.
Appendix C: Abbreviations and Units Conversions.
Glossary.
Bibliography.
Indexes.