Flex House

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanley Russell ◽  
Mark Weston ◽  
Yogi Goswami ◽  
Matthew Doll
Keyword(s):  
Closed System ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Passive Cooling ◽  
Optimum Level ◽  
Seasonal Temperature ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Humid Climate ◽  
Heat Gain ◽  
Hot Humid Climate

Flex House is a flexible, modular, pre-fabricated zero energy building that can be mass produced and adapted easily to a variety of site conditions and plan configurations. The key factor shaping the design is central Florida’s hot humid climate and intense solar radiation. Flex house combines the wisdom of vernacular Florida houses with state of the art Zero Energy House technologies (ZEH.) A combined system of photovoltaic panels and solar thermal concentrating panels take advantage of the region’s abundant insolation in providing clean renewable energy for the house. Conservation is achieved with state of the art mechanical systems and innovative liquid desiccant dehumidification technology along with highly efficient lighting and appliances. The hybrid nature of the Flex house allows for both an open and closed system to take advantage of the seasonal temperature variation. Central Florida buildings can conserve energy by allowing natural ventilation to take advantage of passive cooling in the mild months of the year and use a closed system to utilize mechanical cooling when temperatures are too high for passive cooling strategies. The building envelope works equally well throughout the year combining an optimum level of insulation, resistance to air infiltration, transparency for daylight, and flexibility that allows for opening and closing of the house. Flex House is designed with a strong connection between interior spaces and the outdoors with carefully placed fenestration and a movable wall system which enables the house to transform in response to the temperature variations throughout the year. The house also addresses the massive heat gain that occurs through the roof, which can generate temperatures in excess of 140 degrees. Flex House incorporates a parasol-like outer structure that shades the roof, walls and courtyard minimizing heat gain through the building envelope. To be implemented on a large scale, ZEH must be affordable for people earning a moderate income. Site built construction is time consuming and wasteful and results in higher costs. Building homes in a controlled environment can reduce material waste, and construction costs while increasing efficiency. Pre-fabricating Flex House minimizes preparation time, waste and safety concerns and maximizes economy, quality control, efficiency and safety during the construction process. This paper is an account of the design and construction of Flex House, a ZEH for central Florida’s hot humid climate.

scholarly journals An Investigation on Indoor Temperature of Modern Double Storey House with Adapted Common Passive Design Strategies of Malay Traditional House

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Qays Oleiwi ◽  
Mohd Farid Mohamed
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Natural Ventilation ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Simulation Software ◽  
Passive Cooling ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Housing Type ◽  
Humid Climate ◽  
Cooling Strategies ◽  
Hot Humid Climate

Past years have witnessed the popularity of traditional Malay house as a common housing type in Malaysia. However, double-storey house has become one of the common types of low-rise housing in Malaysia. Several passive cooling strategies have been adopted to cope with the hot-humid climate of Malaysia. In this study, the thermal comfort of a double-storey house was examined when different passive cooling strategies that were adopted from traditional Malay houses were applied using IES-VE 2019 building simulation software. The simulation was conducted for various design strategies such as changing concrete roof tiles to clay roof tiles, adding two small openings to the attic, removing the ceiling between the upper floor and the attic, and extending the overhang by 50% of its length for all the four facades. All these strategies were tested and compared between full-day natural ventilation and without any ventilation. The thermal comfort of these strategies was graphically defined based on the operative temperature. These analyses revealed that protecting the building envelope by extending the overhang by 50% of its length for all the four facades could ensure the best thermal comfort is achieved compared to other selected strategies. Recommendations for further studies are also outlined in this paper.

scholarly journals VEGETATION INSULATION SCREEN AS A PASSIVE COOLING SYSTEM IN HOT HUMID CLIMATE: HEAT AND MASS EXCHANGES

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 1368-1378
Author(s):  
Hodo-Abalo Samah ◽  
◽  
Magolmeena Banna ◽  
Belkacem Zeghmati ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Leaf Area Index ◽  
Leaf Area ◽  
Cooling System ◽  
Gain Factor ◽  
Passive Cooling ◽  
Humid Climate ◽  
Heat Gain ◽  
Area Index ◽  
Solar Heat ◽  
Solar Heat Gain

Planted roofs are passive cooling techniques that reduce the thermal load of buildings. In this paper, a Dynamic mathematical model based ontime average Navier-Stokes equationsfor a plantedroof in hothumidclimates has beendeveloped for evaluating the cooling potential.Transfer equations are solved using a finite difference scheme and Thomas algorithm. The model was applied for the simulation of a planted roof in Togolese climate conditions. Results showed that, evapotranspiration and Solar Heat gain Factor are functions of the Leaf Area Index LAI which is the most important parameter when considering the foliage material. For LAI equal to 6, latent heat peak value reaches 900 W.m-2while that of sensible heat is around 350 W.m-2. Solar heat gain factor can bereducedto 15% fortheplantedroofagainst 45% forbareroof. It is clearly proved that the foliage density and hence the vegetation canopy type selection greatly influence the thermal efficiency of the bioclimatic insulation screen. A larger Leaf Area Index reduces the solar flux penetration and increases evapotranspiration which is an important parameter when considering surrounding microclimate formation.

The effect of building envelope on the thermal comfort and energy saving for high-rise buildings in hot–humid climate

2016 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 1508-1519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seyedehzahra Mirrahimi ◽  
Mohd Farid Mohamed ◽  
Lim Chin Haw ◽  
Nik Lukman Nik Ibrahim ◽  
Wardah Fatimah Mohammad Yusoff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Energy Saving ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Humid Climate ◽  
High Rise ◽  
Hot Humid Climate

scholarly journals PRINSIP DESAIN ARSITEKTUR BIOKLIMATIK PADA IKLIM TROPIS

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 87
Author(s):  
Jarwa Prasetya Sih Handoko ◽  
Ikaputra Ikaputra
Keyword(s):  
Architectural Design ◽  
Design Principles ◽  
Tropical Climate ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Natural Conditions ◽  
Humid Climate ◽  
Hot Arid Climate ◽  
Hot Humid Climate ◽  
Tropical Climates

Arsitektur Bioklimatik adalah adalah suatu pendekatan desain yang mengarahkan arsitek untuk mendapatkan penyelesaian desain dengan mempertimbangkan hubungan antara bentuk arsitektur dengan lingkungan iklim daerah tersebut. Pendekatan ini menekankan pada aspek pemenuhan kesehatan dan kenyamanan ruangan bagi pengguna dan minimalisasi penggunaan energi pada bangunan. Sedangkan Tropis merujuk pada terminologi letak geografis daerah di sekitar equator diantara Garis Tropic of Cancer dan Tropic of Capricorn. Kajian ini membahas prinsip desain Arsitektur Bioklimatik pada iklim tropis. Dengan demikian dapat disusun theoritical framework terkait prinsip desain arsitektur pada iklim tropis. Metode yang digunakan pada kajian ini dengan menggunakan studi referensi. Dari kajian ini dapat disimpulkan bahwa Prinsip Desain Arsitektur Bioklimatik pada Iklim Tropis terdiri dari 2 (dua) tipe meliputi Prinsip desain untuk bangunan pada daerah Iklim Tropika Basah ( Hot humid Climate ) dan Prinsip desain untuk bangunan pada daerah iklim Tropika kering ( Hot Arid Climate ). Hal ini menyesuaikan kondisi iklim dimana bangunan tersebut didesain.PRINCIPLES OF BIOCLIMATIC ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN IN THE TROPICAL CLIMATE The growth of building construction that does not consider natural conditions causes the potential for environmental degradation due to energy consumption in buildings, which and results in the depletion of natural resource. In addition to the occurrence of global climate change phenomena that foster energy-intensive for buildings to fulfill the physical comfort. This condition raises awareness of the importance of architectural design based on local natural conditions including local climatic conditions or the utilization of bioclimatic potential. Bioclimatic Architecture is a design approach that directs architects to get a design finish by considering the relationship between architectural forms and the climate environment of the area. This study discusses the principles of Bioclimatic Architecture design in tropical climates. Thus the theoretical framework is expected to be arranged related to the principles of architectural design in tropical climates. Tropical climate refers to the terminology of the geographical location of the area around the equator between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn Lines. The method used in this study is a literature study or reference study. From this study it can be concluded that the principles of Bioclimatic Architectural Design in Tropical Climates consist of 2 (two) types, including design principles for buildings in the Hot Humid Climate area which has 2 seasons and design principles for buildings in dry tropical climate regions (Hot Arid Climate) with 4 seasons. These two design principles are influenced by several different climatic conditions between these two climatic regions. These two regions generally have high air temperatures; the difference is the diurnal temperature difference between the two climate regions. This condition requires a different response, especially in the design of the building envelope, where the design of the building envelope influences the level of heat gain and heat loss in the effort to create indoor thermal comfort in the building.

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