Unit 2.
2.3. Define physical factors for various types of building by
understanding its form, orientation & climate.
What Are The Physical Factors Influencing Architectural Design?.
Architectural design is a multifaceted or complicated and intricate process that involves a partnership of
various factors contributing to the creation of functional, aesthetically pleasing, and sustainable structures.
From ancient monuments to modern skyscrapers, architecture has always been shaped by a confluence of
social, cultural, technological, and environmental influences. Now we will explores the key factors
influencing architectural design, shedding light on how these elements shape the built environment.
1. Form
2. Orientation
3. Climate.
Form and orientation
Form and orientation constitute two of the most important passive design strategies for reducing energy
consumption and improving thermal comfort for occupants of a building. It affects the amount of sun
falling on surfaces, daylighting and direction of winds.
What Is Building Orientation?
• The word building orientation is basically the positioning of a building with respect to the sun usually done to
maximize solar gain at the appropriate time of the year when required in a cold climate and to maximize solar gain
in a hot climate
• The main aim of orientation of buildings is to provide physical and psychological comfort to user of building.
• Benefits of Proper Building Orientation:
Energy Efficiency: Reduced heating and coolingneeds
Natural Light: Increased daylight and reducedartificial lighting
Ventilation: Improved airflow and reducedmechanical ventilation
Comfort: Enhanced thermal comfort and reducedglare
Sustainability: Reduced carbon footprint andenvironmental
impact
Factors Influencing Building Orientation:
• Climate: Temperature, humidity, wind patterns, and solar radiation
• Site Topography: Slope, aspect, and surrounding landscape
• Surrounding Buildings: Shadowing, reflection, and wind patterns
• Window Placement: Size, orientation, and shading devices
• Occupancy: Building purpose, user needs, and activities
Climatic Zones:
Climatic Factors:
From the point of view of lighting and natural ventilation, the climatic factors influence the optimum
orientation of the building
1. Solar Radiation :-
• Solar radiation is the radiant energy, in the form of electromagnetic waves, emitted by the Sun.
• The best orientation requires that the building as a whole should receive the maximum solar
radiation in winter and the minimum in summer.
2. Relative Humidity and Prevailing Winds:
• the amount of water vapour present in air expressed as a percentage of the amount needed
for saturation at the same temperature.
• The discomfort due to high relative humidity in air when temperatures are also high can be
corrected, to a great extent, by circulation of air with electric fans or by ventilation.
Fundamentals of Building Physics:
It is about understanding the fundamental concepts of building physics, including how buildings interact
with the environment and the principles of energy-efficient design. Good details on building physics are
given in Energy Conservation building Code 2017.
General Design Strategies
Passive design elements refer to building design strategies that aim to improve thermal comfort and
reduce energy consumption by reducing reliance on mechanical systems such as air conditioning or
heating
1. Orientation :
• The utilization of form and orientation are key passive design strategies for decreasing energy
consumption and has a lasting impact through the lifespan of the building.
• Building orientation should be based on the location, 13 context and climate.
• In hot and dry climates, the best practice involves positioning the building with its longer axis in
a North-South direction to offer efficient sun shielding.
• Warm-humid climate zones, where solar radiation is concentrated on the East and West
slopes.
• Orientation is also important concerning wind direction. The building form determines the
volume of space that needs to be cooled or heated.
• In hot and dry regions, as well as cold climates, a building’s shape should be compact to
reduce heat gain and losses, respectively.
Building Form & Internal Layout:
• The main strategy in this climate is protection from the sun and good ventilation.
• Forms with larger surface areas will provide more openings for ventilation and heat emission during the night,
however, the building should not have a large surface to volume (S/V) ratio to minimize heat gains.
• The buildings will perform better if arranged in row houses, group arrangements or with adjoin houses to
create a volumetric effect
• The internal layout is dependent on the orientation and building function-specific.
• For commercial buildings, the major contribution to heat loads is from the occupants and equipment’s.
• As a rule of thumb, the rooms should be arranged according to their function and the time of the day they are
used.
• For hot and dry climate, rooms thermal barriers should be created on the east and west side of the building by
placing non habitable spaces in these orientations.
• The spaces should preferably be inward looking, with minimal exposure to the sun.
• For warm and humid climate, rooms on the east side should be used during the afternoon and rooms on the
west side during the morning hours.
• Spaces on the North and south remain relatively cool, due to the high angle of sun in these orientations, but
adequate shading needs to be provided.
Shading & Daylight :
Natural Ventilation :
Natural ventilation helps in heat transfer by removing hot air from the building and replacing it with cooler
outside air
Heat Transfer Mechanism:
In buildings, heat moves from higher temperatures to lower temperatures through walls, windows, and
roofs. In predominantly hot climates like India, heat transfer mostly occurs from the outside to the inside,
making cooling a more significant need than heating. There are three major modes of heat transfer in a
building These are:
• Conduction
• Convection
• Radiation
