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UNIT 5: THE SUSTAINABLE SITING, DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF TOURISM FACILITIES
Windows and Vents
Windows and vents can be used in combination with insulation and direct gain to
direct natural ventilation, heating and cooling as required.
Examples of Good Practice
An example of the use of passive solar in a large commercial building
is the 250,000 square foot Codex World Headquarters building in Canton,
Massachusetts, USA:
• The building is lit by natural daylight year round, through a range of
passive daylighting devices including the extensive use of windows
and skylights, as well as a high central garden with a large glass roof
supported by slender white columns.
• The garden is landscaped with date palms and fig creepers, all
drought-resistant plant varieties.
• The garden provides natural light to the office floors that are served by
windows opening to the garden on three sides.
In Santa Fe, New Mexico, a series of ‘solar clay’ homes demonstrate passive
solar design principles for the region’s mix of hot summer days, cool nights and
cold winters.
• All public rooms, including the dining/kitchen area, have at least one
window and sometimes a door leading to a greenhouse. In winter, the
windows are opened to allow the heated greenhouse air to circulate
through the house.
• The concrete-block and clay walls between the greenhouse and the
house can prolong the sun’s radiated heat for up to five overcast winter
days (a rare occurrence). Since by natural convection hot air rises and
cool air sinks, the greenhouse is placed lower. The heated greenhouse
air circulates through the house, falling as it cools. Solar engineers
refer to this natural movement as a ‘thermosiphon’. No fan or other
mechanical device is needed.
• In summer, the greenhouse is isolated from the house, and is shaded
and vented to keep it cool. On summer nights, windows to the house
are opened.
• A solar water-heater on the south face of the greenhouse provides
hot water.
• The house requires no back-up heating.
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3.1.3 Renewable Energy Use
Renewable energy is energy that can be produced at the same rate as or faster than
it is consumed. It therefore does not contribute towards the depletion of natural
resources. It also avoids carbon dioxide and other greenhouse-gas emissions.
Renewable energy sources include solar, hydro, wind, bio-fuels and geothermal
energy.
‘Renewables technology’ has gained much ground in the last ten years:
• There have been significant improvements in the efficiency of
renewable-energy technology;
• Related capital costs have dropped;