ABSTRACT
Climate change will transform unpleasantly hot or cold weather into life inimical. Chapter 24 examines how design can ameliorate such extremes. Rising warm air stratifies air pressures. Differential warming – and water evaporation – create pressure differences, hence breezes. Techniques for inducing or accelerating air movement and ‘coolth’ storage utilize these principles. As summer sun falls mostly on horizontal surfaces, sun-warmed roofs’ and paving’s albedo-emissivity balances have huge cumulative impacts. But before cooling, reducing solar heat gain requires shading, fixed, adjustable or vegetated. In narrow, twisting streets, buildings shade against low-angle sun. Different street orientations admit sun at different times and inclinations, so benefit from differently shaped shade trees. Many places, however, experience both hot and cold extremes. Building design can’t equally satisfy both – but lifestyle can. Winter life is indoors, summer life largely outdoors. Consequently, buildings need winter wind shelter; outdoor spaces, summer breezes. Without using energy-profligate technology, such climate-responsive, lifestyle-optimized design can synthesize ecological health and experiential delight.
