White Papers

W H I T E PA P E R 2 F I V E W AY S A N A R C H I T E C T C A N I N F L U E N C E S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y Architects are responsible for a large number of fundamental design decisions in the earliest days of a project. These decisions have a significant impact on sustainability, and represent an important opportunity to shape a building's performance from its inception. While sustainable design is an inherently collaborative endeavour, requiring that a project team work closely throughout a design, early decisions about building form and aesthetic remain firmly in the domain of the architect. This white paper explores five key areas of impact that architects can leverage to dramatically improve a building's performance. 1. Identify the right form & orientation For many building types, form and orientation can have a significant impact on energy use. This is because a building's form and its related surface-area-to-volume (SA:V) ratio determine how much of a building's envelope is exposed to the external environment. The orientation of this exterior surface area determines how much solar gain the building receives. These elements can be combined to collect sun or keep it out, buffering against a harsh climate or opening up to a congenial one. The optimal combination of form and orientation and the extent to which these affect energy use depend heavily on the building's use and climate. For example, if a project is in a temperate region, exposing lots of the envelope to the external environment and orienting the building to maximise natural light may be advantageous. However, if the project's climate is dominated by hot weather, minimising surface area and orienting the building away from solar gain can be beneficial. This gets more complex, however, in regions with mixed climates - hot summers and cold winters. Winter weather benefits from a low overall SA:V ratio (in order to minimise heat losses through the envelope), and a large surface area oriented toward the sun. Summer weather benefits from protection from the sun, and potentially a higher SA:V ratio in order to take advantage of natural ventilation. This is further complicated by space uses and context. Buildings with high internal loads may be less responsive to form and orientation than uses with low internal loads; and contextual factors (such as neighboring buildings) can affect sun exposure. Of the many possible massing options at play in conceptual design, what is the best combination of form and orientation to minimise energy use? How responsive is a particular project to these factors? The complex interactions between context, use, and climate make these type of questions difficult to answer satisfactorily using rules of thumb: Fast, comparative analysis is needed. The above illustrates the non-linear outcomes and complexity involved in building physics analysis. The cheapest building to run offered the most daylight potential. £147,000 / year £140,000 / year 49% Area Daylit 63% Area Daylit £163,000 / year 38% Area Daylit Running Costs: Running Costs: Running Costs: Daylight Potential: Daylight Potential: Daylight Potential: *Surface-Area-to-Volume ratio refers to the proportional relationship between a building's floor area and its envelope area."

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