ABSTRACT
The aim is that the building does the majority of the work of providing comfort, leaving as little as possible to be done by supplementary mechanical heating or cooling systems. The Design for Future Climate projects explored a great range of strategies for minimising overheating. More heating would be required in winter as a consequence, but they anticipated this would be reduced in future with warmer winter temperatures. A network of DC-powered computers installed at the University of Bath library was found to emit half as much heat energy as the previous AC-powered system. Solar radiation falling on the external surfaces of a building causes them to heat up, and this heat is transmitted through the fabric to internal spaces. North-facing windows are subjected to relatively little solar gain compared with other orientations; however, it is worth noting that in midsummer it is through east- and west-facing windows that maximum peak solar radiation will enter.
