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A GIS framework for studying post-occupancy climate-related changes in residential neighbourhoods
A GIS-based methodology is discussed, which simplifies recording and analysis of post-occupancy changes in residential buildings. Each modification is considered as a unique record in a database, and has a string assigned to it in a multi-parametric matrix. Its position … Continue reading
Building in the climate of the New World… A cultural or environmental response?
The reciprocity between appearance, available technology and environmental context forms the subject matter of Rappaport’s famous ‘House Form and Culture’. In this essay the evolution of a particular seventeenth century building type – the English ‘hall-and-parlour’ house – in response … Continue reading
Environmentally sensitive design in practice
A new university campus in outback Australia is set to teach the world how to not only survive, but to sustain life in the future. Built to house the School of Environment and Information Sciences and the School of Business, … Continue reading
The effect of design parameters on environmental performance of the urban patio: a case study in Lisbon
The focus of the paper is on the effect of design parameters on environmental performance of the urban patio. This paper presents the results of a case study of different courtyards in Lisbon. Short-term monitoring was undertaken to assess the … Continue reading
Street canyon geometry and microclimate : Designing for urban comfort under arid conditions
While urban design guidelines have been developed for responding to climate in various regions, these recommendations are often based more on intuition or sporadic observation than on an integrated microclimatic analysis of thermal comfort conditions. Quantitative studies on desert environments … Continue reading
The Oxford Photovoltaic House : Lessons for the future UK PV industry
The Oxford Photovoltaic House was built to help establish photovoltaics (PV) as a viable technology in the UK through the medium of a high profile demonstration project. To achieve this objective a 4kW peak PV array was built on a … Continue reading
Sailing boat design: Models of appropriate technology for sustainability
It is not uncommon to see references to primitive and vernacular architecture when discussing sustainability. The point is that most of the earth’s land surface has been colonised by man sheltered by such dwellings without the use of fossil energy. … Continue reading
The Bioclimatic Domestic Space Components : Variations of their Architectural Translations on the Periphery of the Mediterranean Sea
Each one of these ten mediterranean house sketches is a specific composition from the four following spatial elements: a heavy-opaque unit, a light transparent unit, a water element, and a fire element. The heavy-opaque space unit, shelter for the cold … Continue reading