FACADE ORIENTATION AS A MAJOR DESIGN CONSIDERATION

摘要

In general, the facade is designed as a defensive intermediate between the indoor environment and the outdoor climate. In spite of a difference in orientation, one does surprisingly often find the same fa$ade system applied onto a building in all four different geographical directions. If the climatological characteristics are studied, parameters such as solar radiation, daylight, wind load and rain load prove to be totally different by orientation. These differences usually seem to be neglected and are certainly not exploited. A parameter such as solar radiation is not only related to the orientation of the building, it also highly influences energy efficiency. Consequently, facade orientation should be one of the major considerations in the building process. In this study, five different facade systems are analyzed in relation to orientation and passive solar design for the Dutch geographical situation. The study concludes with a design proposal based on geographical orientation.