ON
friday
NOV 22, 2013
and shading; rainwater
harvesting including
well insulated roofs; and
walls as well as landscape as
an integral design element for
shading and cooling and so
on. An architect that
specialises in sustainable
designs naturally
incorporates passive design
in his or her work. Other than
not costing anymore to the
project, it can also save up to
40%of the building’s running
costs besides creating a
comfortable environment for
the occupants.
There is also active design
which basically refers to
incorporating green
technologies ie. photovoltaic
systems, wind turbines,
anaerobic digesters to treat all waste water,
energy efficient air conditioning etc. However,
for the purpose of this article which is seeking
to capture the advantages
of working with the
environment rather than
against it, we will take a
look at a couple of projects
by DesignUnit that are
known as “passive”
developments and review
its impact on the
occupants as well as
the environment.
In sympathy
with nature
Known as the Bamboo
House, this residence is
located in a gated
community in Kuala
Lumpur. The sloping site
of this detached house was
not cut and filled by the
original developer who
also planted tree belts on
common adjacent land to
help form the concept of the house. The site,
orientated approximately east-west, falls by
4m from the road to the rear, allowing the
lower ground spaces (garden level) to be
semi-submerged into the slope. This allowed
for stable internal temperature andminimal
disturbance to the site. A single roof plane
gives unity to all spaces (internal and
external), blurring the distinction between
house and garden, thereby encouraging
outdoor living. Its open concept also
maximises contact with nature (green, water,
breeze, light, sound).
Designed as a “passive” house to save
energy by encouragingminimal or no air-con
use and flooding the interior with diffused
by RUBINI KAMALAKARAN
Sustainability
should consider both the
environment and its inhabitants to some
equal measure, if we are to reap the long-
termbenefits in dealing with the major
environmental problems facing the planet.
While it means that we must, as Sufi teacher
and author Llewellyn Vaughan Lee imparts,
“shift away from seeing Earth as something
separate fromourselves, not as a resource to
be used and abused,” we should also ensure
that the course taken towards sustainability
facilitates our well being.
In that respect, the property development
industry hasmade substantial breakthroughs.
Fromgreen technologies tomethods,
developers are endeavouring to consume less
energy, water and other natural resources
while producing less waste. More ambitious
developers are moving towards zero energy
buildings. The ultimate goal, to touch the
earth lightly in every aspect, while
maintaining a decent comfort level for
humans. John Bulcock, architect and founder
of DesignUnit which
specialises in sustainable
architecture says, in his
practice he strives for
the following:
X
X
Psychological well
being / stimulation
of people
• Architecturemust
communicate to us
through space at an
individual level and
stimulate us in our
own experience
•Maximum contact
with nature in all forms,
touching our senses
X
X
Physical well being /
comfort of people
• Thermal / Lighting /
Acoustic / Visual
• Safety and security
X
X
Reduced impact on nature
• Reduced energy consumption
•Minimal disturbance to landscape
• Choice of buildingmaterials
Designing sustainably
One of the keys to designing sustainable
homes/buildings is incorporating passive
design. Essentially, it means working with
the environment by taking advantage of
the natural climate and settings of the
development site. This includes considering
the sitting and orientation of the buildings;
maximising natural light and natural
ventilation; minimising the area of exposed
heat-absorbing hard surfaces; roof overhangs
In
harmony
with
n
a
t
u
r
e
>Whenwe “shift away fromseeingEarth
as something separate fromourselves”, we
discoverways toworkwith the environment
Energy consumption of three Malaysian bungalows
kWh/m2 year
KL Bungalow,
Bukit Tunku
KL Bungalow,
Bangsar
Bamboo
House
0
50
100
150
200
250
196
144
52
Lin Ho/PIX
mass keeps the house inside the
thermal comfort zone, not
necessitating the use of air-
conditioning.
X
X
Energy (Embodied Energy):
The embodied energy of bamboo is
very low as compared to hardwood
(230 times higher), concrete (1,870
times higher), recycled steel (4,400
times higher) and virgin steel (a
whopping 30,000 times higher). If
the full quantity of bamboo screens
(2 cubic metres) has beenmade of
hollow virgin steel bars, this would
have caused an additional CO2
emission of 17.3 tonnes,
corresponding to the emissions of a
typical car used for 1.5 years
(assuming 12,000 kilometres per
year).
X
X
Operational Energy:
During
the first twomonths that the
Bamboo House were occupied
(at the time of the scientific
study), the first energy bills
showed that it consumed 3-4
times less energy than similar
Kuala Lumpur bungalows that
have not been designed for
natural ventilation, instead rely
on air-conditioning to achieve
thermal comfort. In comparison
to the two KL bungalows, the
Bamboo House saved 24-37
tonnes CO2 every year, which
corresponds to taking 2-3 cars
off the road (assuming 12,000
kilometers per year per car).
X
X
Thermal Comfort:
It can be
concluded that there is no need
for air-conditioning in the house.
The use of ceiling fans can
effectivelymake the naturally
ventilated rooms comfortable at
all times as fans lower the
perceived temperature by 2-3
degrees Celsius.
X
X
Visual Comfort:
The daylight
measurements show that all the
rooms are sufficiently daylit for
most normal house tasks, hence,
virtually eliminating the need for
electric lighting during the day.
Some of the rooms have relatively
high daylight levels that can
effectively be reduced by using
reflective roller blinds installed
for all windows.
X
X
Air Quality:
The air quality of
the naturally ventilated space is
excellent as CO2 levels never
build up instead almost match that
of outdoor fresh air at all times.
The measured CO2 levels never
approach the 1000ppm limit by
which fresh air must be
introduced (eg. in office building)
to ensure an acceptable air quality.
X
X
Thermal mass:
The thermal
mass of the house buffers the daily
outdoor temperature swings –
even for partially outdoor spaces
like the covered terrace. The
advantage of the thermal mass is
that it cuts about 3 degrees Celsius
off the peak temperature
experienced inside the house, yet
keeps the house warmer than the
outdoors at night. Most
importantly, the temperature
stabilising effect of the thermal
** Follow our weekly column and part 2
of this article next week.
*Refer graph
Energy consumption
of three Malaysian bungalows
natural light, it is constructedwith low
maintenance off-form concrete and
“wrapped” in a bamboo sunscreen that
allows natural breeze and diffused natural
light to penetrate all spaces.
IENConsultants, experts in green
buildings, studied the impact of passive
design of the Bamboo House on its
occupants and the environment. Their
scientific findings revealed:
X
X
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