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Climate
and Building Design
Temperate Climate
Hot Dry Climate
Warm Humid Climate
World Meteorological Organisation Headquarters-
Design Innovation
  Temperate
Climate
The
temperate climate has mild to warm summers and cool winters. The need
for winter home heating is greater than the need for summer cooling.
It is a relatively comfortable climate, especially near the coast, where
summers are cooler and winters warmer than further inland. In the mountains
of the Great Dividing Range, winters are cold and summers are pleasantly
mild.
Design
aims
To warm the house in winter and keep it cool in summer.
The
building block
- Does
it have access to the winter sun?
This is really important! Avoid blocks which will be overshadowed
in winter by obstructions north of the house site.
To get information on solar elevation at noon on the shortest day
of the year check the AUSLIG web site (http://www.auslig.gov.au/geodesy/astro/smpos.htm)
or contact the State Museum or Observatory in your capital city.
Some useful telephone numbers are: - Western Australia - the Perth
Astronomical Observatory, Bickley, on (09) 293 8255 or email perthobs@iinet.au
Victoria contact the Planetarium at the Victorian State Museum (03)
9669-9942 Tasmania - the Planetarium at the Queen Victoria Museum
and Art Gallery at Launceston (003) 31 6777
CSIRO bookshops also have a useful publication, SUNSHINE AND SHADE
IN AUSTRALIA. http://www.publish.csiro.au/books/detail.cfm
- Do
the block‘s long sides run east-west?
This is an advantage, but not essential
Your
house
- Windows
- Does it
have lots of glass which faces north?
- Do the windows/other
glass have eaves or other shading designed to admit the sun‘s
heat in winter, but not in summer?
- Heat
Storage
- Can your house
store heat internally, using bricks and concrete to absorb heat
during the day and re-radiate it at night?
Heat Storage Capacity - Bricks, stone and concrete are effective
heat storing materials. They need to interact with the house‘s
internal environment. For example, a concrete slab will absorb and
store the sun‘s heat during the day, if it‘s covered with
slate, hard vinyl or ceramic tiles. When the sun sets, the slab
is still warm, so your house keeps a pleasantly even temperature
around the clock. Carpet and cork will limit this effectiveness
because they insulate the concrete slab from absorbing the heat
coming in through the windows.
Double brick walls or internal brick walls will also act as heat
stores. Brick veneer walls cannot act as internal heat stores, as
the bricks are on the outside of the house and lose most of their
heat back to the atmosphere.
- Insulation
- Does your
house have insulation for walls and ceiling?
The type and amount required varies with the climate - contact the
Energy Information Centre in your state for details. In cooler climates
(along the Great Dividing Range and most of Tasmania) it‘s
cost-effective to insulate timber floors and provide edge-insulation
for concrete slabs.
Insulation comes in two types: -
1. Bulk insulation - for example, pink batts. This insulation has
a high resistance to the flow of heat by conduction. It is useful
in heated or air-conditioned houses, to keep the heat in (or out,
as the case may be). The colder the winter where you live, the more
you need.
2. Reflective foil insulation - for example, Sisalation.
This is a laminated sheet, one side of which is silvery. It resists
the flow of heat by radiation. It is wonderful in the roof and walls
in hot, sunny climate.
- Circulation
Have you draught-proofed your house by:
- adding weather-strips
to the lower edge of external doors and the toilet door?
- hanging
curtains which touch the windowsill or the floor?
- filling
up gaps round plumbing pipes, windows, etc.?
- installing
a damper or tight-fitting cover in fireplaces?
The
Garden
- Do you have
plants which shade your east and west walls in summer?
Deciduous trees or vines will allow partial access to the winter
sun and shade in summer. Dense evergreens can provide shelter from
cold winter wind
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