Passive Design Implications Derived from Climate Analysis for Various Locations

Abstract

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.