Synergistic Design of Sustainable Built Environments introduces and illustrates a novel systems approach that fosters both design excellence and a leap toward a more biocentric (ecologically sustainable) design paradigm. The book provides a deeper understanding of the theories and principles of biocentric design and offers detailed descriptions of the synergistic design process of integrating theories and principles into practice. It also presents extensive thermal and visual built environment design strategies, along with qualitative and quantitative information that designers can use to generate feasible solutions in response to varying climate and occupant comfort. Features: Examines the principles and practices of the synergistic design (a fusion of anthropocentric and biocentric) of sustainable built environments and how they relate to practical applications. Presents climatic data and its analysis along with sun-path diagrams for numerous cities to aid in the design of sustainable built environments in multiple regional contexts. Includes numerous case studies of sustainable built environments in varying climatic zones. Explains how renewable energy (solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, hydro, fuel cells) can be successfully integrated in the built environment. This forward-thinking and highly illustrated book will be an invaluable reference to all those concerned with sustainable built environments and related architectural issues.

*Green Foundations* - Your Journey to a Sustainable Future Step into a life where every action, every choice, is a stroke painted with the vibrant color of sustainability. "Green Foundations" is not just a guide; it is a visionary pathway to a future that gives as much as it takes from our precious planet. With the Earth's wellbeing at the forefront, this transformative eBook becomes your companion in crafting a life that aligns with the noble philosophy of self-sufficiency. Learn to lower your ecological impact and establish achievable, sustainable targets that resonate with your personal environment ethos. Discover the secrets of evaluating your land’s potential and navigate the maze of zoning laws as you draft your master sustainability blueprint. Grasp the art of balancing economics with ecology, sprinkling the seeds of a financial plan that blooms alongside your homestead. Building a green dwelling from the ground up? Navigate through choices of eco-friendly materials and innovative design principles that celebrate energy efficiency while integrating the life-giving force of renewable energy sources. Move beyond structure to culture as you transform your plot into an organic oasis, honing techniques that promise a bountiful harvest in harmony with nature's rhythms. The animal kingdom is not forgotten, as ethical animal husbandry and natural foraging principles are embraced. Walk hand in paw with mother nature, learning about natural feed options and turning waste into resource through advanced composting techniques. Water, the essence of life, becomes a precious resource under your stewardship with chapters dedicated to rainwater harvesting, greywater recycling, and ensuring the purity of your personal water cycle. Pair this with smart energy solutions harnessing the power of the sun, wind, and earth to create a self-sustaining sanctuary. Conscious consumption takes the limelight with in-depth guidance on minimizing waste, championing recycling, and choosing biodegradable alternatives. Food preservation techniques that span centuries are revisited, ensuring that your pantry is a time capsule of your garden’s bounty. This eBook also plants you in the heart of a growing movement, encouraging the formation of a communal haven, knowledge sharing, and the importance of education in perpetuating sustainable living. As seasons change and challenges rise, it equips you with the fortitude to manage, innovate, and expand your ecological influence, touching lives beyond your own. Embark on a profound transition towards a lifestyle of zero waste, where each decision is thoughtful, and each action is a commitment to the future. Turn the pages and unfurl the leaves of a journey that promises resilience, joy, and an invitation to harmonize with the world. Your green homestead dream begins here, begins now.

The art and the science of building systems design evolve continuously as designers, practitioners, and researchers all endeavor to improve the performance of buildings and the comfort and productivity of their occupants. Retaining coverage from the original second edition while updating the information in electronic form, Heating and Cooling of Buildings: Design for Efficiency, Revised Second Edition presents the technical basis for designing the lighting and mechanical systems of buildings. Along with numerous homework problems, the revised second edition offers a full chapter on economic analysis and optimization, new heating and cooling load procedures and databases, and simplified procedures for ground coupled heat transfer calculations. The accompanying CD-ROM contains an updated version of the Heating and Cooling of Buildings (HCB) software program as well as electronic appendices that include over 1,000 tables in HTML format that can be searched by major categories, a table list, or an index of topics. Ancillary information is available on the book’s website www.hcbcentral.com From materials to computers, this edition explores the latest technologies exerting a profound effect on the design and operation of buildings. Emphasizing design optimization and critical thinking, the book continues to be the ultimate resource for understanding energy use in buildings.

Departing from the simple question Why do we heat and cool buildings with air?, this book focuses on the technique of thermally active surfaces. This technique uses water in building surfaces to heat and cool bodies - a method that is at once more efficient, comfortable, and healthy. This technique thus imbues the fabric of the building with a more poignant role: its structure is also its primary heating and cooling system. In doing so, this approach triggers a cascading set of possibilities for how well buildings are built, how well they perform, and how long they will last: pointing the way toward multiple forms of sustainability. The first section of the book contrasts the parallel histories of thermally active surfaces and air conditioning. These histories explain the material, social, marketing, and technical unfolding of building technology in the twentieth century as a means to explain why we build the way we do and why that will change in the new century. The next section of the book covers the physiological and thermodynamic basis of thermally active surfaces. This section is designed for engineers and architects to grasp the logic and advantages of this technique. This section also includes a chapter on the de-fragmentation of buildings and design practice that is inherent in building with thermally active surfaces. The final section covers a series of contemporary case studies that demonstrate the efficacy of this technique. The project list currently includes Kunsthaus in Bregenz by Peter Zumthor, Zollverein School of Management in Essen, Germany by SANAA, and Linked Hybrid in Beijing by Steven Holl, amongst others.

This book provides the reader with an understanding of the impact that different morphologies, construction materials and green coverage solutions have on the urban microclimate, thus affecting the comfort conditions of urban inhabitants and the energy needs of buildings in urban areas. The book covers the latest approaches to energy and outdoor comfort measurement and modelling on an urban scale, and describes possible measures and strategies to mitigate the effects of the mutual interaction between urban settlements and local microclimate. Despite its relevance, only limited literature is currently devoted to appraising—from an engineering perspective—the intertwining relationships between urban geometry and fabrics, energy fluxes between buildings and their surroundings, outdoor microclimate conditions and building energy demands in urban areas. This book fills this gap by first discussing the physical processes that govern heat and mass transfer at an urban scale, while emphasizing the role played by different spatial arrangements, manmade materials and green infrastructures on the outdoor microclimate. The first chapters also address the implications of these factors on the outdoor comfort conditions experienced by pedestrians, and on the buildings’ energy demand for space heating and cooling. Then, based upon cutting-edge experimental activities and simulation work, this book demonstrates current and forthcoming adaptation and mitigation strategies to improve the urban microclimate and its impact on the built environment, such as cool materials, thermochromic and retroreflective finishing materials, and green infrastructures applied either at a building scale or at the urban scale. The effect of these solutions is demonstrated for different cities worldwide under a range of climate conditions. Finally, the book opens a wider perspective by introducing the basic elements that allow fuel poverty, raw materials consumption, and the principles of circular economy in the definition of a resilient urban settlement.

The energy used to build and operate buildings is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. While it is possible to reduce emissions through low-carbon design, many architects are not trained to do this. Filling an urgent need for a design reference in this emerging field, this book describes how to reduce building-related greenhouse gas emissions through appropriate design techniques. It presents strategies to achieve CO2 reductions, with an emphasis on control of energy flows through the building envelope and passive cooling and heating strategies. This new, revised edition is updated throughout and includes a new section on embodied carbon and new chapters on daylighting and nature-based cooling. Features: Adds new chapters on daylighting and nature-based cooling with numerous updates throughout the rest of the chapters Presents strategies, illustrated with examples, for new construction and existing buildings to reduce energy consumption and reduce emissions Explains the origins of CO2 emissions associated with the operation and fabrication of buildings: supplying water, disposing of waste from the building, and proposes strategies to reduce them Covers carbon calculations, thermal comfort, indigenous technology, climate‐responsive design, passive cooling and heating, solar design, air flow analysis, daylighting, building simulation and microclimate design with abundant examples Examines siting/location to design buildings that adapt and mitigate their effect on climate change

The essential guide to environmental control systems in building design For over 25 years Heating, Cooling, Lighting: Sustainable Design Strategies Towards Net Zero Architecture has provided architects and design professionals the knowledge and tools required to design a sustainable built environment at the schematic design stage. This Fifth Edition offers cutting-edge research in the field of sustainable architecture and design and has been completely restructured based on net zero design strategies. Reflecting the latest developments in codes, standards, and rating systems for energy efficiency, Heating, Cooling, Lighting: Sustainable Design Strategies Towards Net Zero Architecture includes three new chapters: Retrofits: Best practices for efficient energy optimization in existing buildings Integrated Design: Strategies for synergizing passive and active design Design Tools: How to utilize the best tools to benchmark a building's sustainability and net zero potential Heating, Cooling, Lighting: Sustainable Design Strategies Towards Net Zero Architecture is a go-to resource for practicing professionals and students in the fields of environmental systems technology or design, environmental design systems, construction technology, and sustainability technology.