IHBE Faculty Research
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Browsing IHBE Faculty Research by Subject "Architecture and climate"
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Item Open Access Architectural Response to Climatic Patterns(Center for Housing Innovation, University of Oregon, 1997) Brown, G. Z.; Novitski, B. J.We have analysed several climates in terms of some basic recurring weather patterns, and then classified these patterns in terms of direct architectural response. This analysis allows the designer to organize and prioritize the vast array of architectural responses in a way that is appropriate for a particular climate.Item Open Access City Form: The Creation of Comfortable Urban Microclimates(Center for Housing Innovation, University of Oregon, 1981) Brown, G. Z.; Novitski, B. J.; Kleczynski, H.This paper describes a method for analyzing the climate of exterior spaces in terms of human thermal comfort. Hypothetical city configurations are compared in two U.S. climate zones.Item Open Access Climate Responsive Earth-Sheltered Buildings(Center for Housing Innovation, University of Oregon, 1981-03) Brown, G. Z.; Novitski, B. J.An understanding of the impact of climate on the built environment can lead to the' design of more fuel-efficient buildings. The authors present a methodology for analyzing climate conditions in terms of the architectural response required for thermal comfort. They used hourly climate data for several locations, and from these data determined diurnal and seasonal climate patterns. Although climate varies widely in different locations, several patterns - such as cold morning, comfortable midday, cold night - are common throughout North America in different seasons. Through proper architectural and site treatment, buildings can be designed to accommodate these patterns, effectively increasing the amount of thermally comfortable time. The authors find that earth-sheltered buildings can be designed in response to dynamic climate conditions. In this way, the outside spaces associated with underground buildings as well as the inside spaces can also be designed for thermal comfort, thereby increasing the livable space of the buildings.Item Open Access Global Warming, Computerized Design Tools and Industrialized Housing(Center for Housing Innovation, University of Oregon, 1990-11) Brown, G. Z.This paper reviews the author's and his associates' current research in the areas of global warming, computerized design tools and industrialized housing. The global warming study for buildings in the United States concluded that annual cooling loads will increase at a much greater rate than heating loads will decrease; the timing, magnitude and duration of short term changes, peaks, is as large a concern as the sheer magnitude of the large annual changes in demand due to global warming. This paper also describes ongoing research on the development of user interfaces for energy software to be used by building designers. In order to develop interfaces, the unique characteristics of the building design process must be understood and used in the creation of software. The two characteristics discussed are (1) that the architectural design process emphasizes synthesis rather than analysis and (2) that the symbols used to transmit knowledge are primarily graphic abstraction, rather than alphanumeric abstractions. In the United States, housing is becoming increasingly industrialized. At the same time, the need for energy efficiency in housing is increasingly apparent. We are studying how to produce new housing that offers improved energy performance, and uses industrialized production to achieve higher quality at lower cost. The research focuses on three related concerns: energy conservation, industrial process, and housing design.Item Open Access A Method for Analysing Climate in Terms of Architectural Responses(2011-01-21T14:32:12Z) Brown, G. Z.; Novitski, B. J.We have developed computer-aided techniques for analysing climates in terms of the combined effects of insulation, air temperature, wind speed, and relative humidity and have linked these to specific architectural responses in order to establish some passive building design techniques that can be used to achieve thermal comfort in various climatic regions, taking maximum advantage· of available natural energies. This analysis allows the designer to organize and prioritize the vast array of architectural responses in a way that is appropriate for particular climates. Even without using thermal lag techniques, the need for mechanical heating and cooling can be reduced by 15-45%, depending on location, solely by an architectural sensitivity to the immediate behavior of the sun and wind.Item Open Access The Microclimates Around Free-Standing Buildings(Center for Housing Innovation, University of Oregon, 2011) Brown, G. Z.; Novitski, B. J.This paper describes the methodology and results of a project to study the behavior of the sun and wind in creating more or less favorable microclimates around two suburban building types in two U.S. locations.Item Open Access Passive Design Implications Derived from Climate Analysis for Various Locations(Center for Housing Innovation, University of Oregon, 1980-10) Brown, G. Z.; Novitski, B. J.In earlier work, we have developed methods of describing climate in terms of the interactive effects of insulation, air temperature, wind speed, and relative humidity. By characterizing their effects in terms of the architectural responses required to produce thermal comfort, we have been able to describe a "Modified Comfort Zone," or MCZ, which greatly exceeds, in frequency of occurrence, the "Standard Comfort Zone," or SCZ, as described by Olgyay. We have found that thermal comfort, in the fourteen North American climates analyzed, is achievable without mechanical heating or cooling, from 20-50% of the year, depending on the location. Further analysis of the way these architectural responses form daily and seasonal patterns has enables us to begin a description of climates in a format directly usable for architects in the design of buildings which are dynamically responsive to climate. This paper investigates ways of simplifying a climate description, to improve its direct usefulness, without dampering the dynamic subtleties. This paper describes three locations, representing a variety of climate types, and shows the usefulness of climate description in several phases of the design process.