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Building with coherence and ecological materials provides multiple benefits that should be understood and appreciated as does bioclimatic architecture, a type of construction that takes advantage of natural resources, such as the sun, vegetation, wind and rain, to reduce environmental impacts and energy consumption. In fact, this type of work is linked to the ecological, as it also has an impact on the healthiness of buildings through better thermal comfort, control of CO2 levels indoors, better lighting or the use of non-toxic building materials endorsed.
In bioclimatic architecture, balance and harmony merge with the environment, since the entire design of the building is adapted to the climatic conditions of its surroundings, taking into account factors such as terrain conditions or air currents, among others. In short, we are talking about an architecture that is sensitive to the impact it has on nature, which tries to minimize energy consumption and with it, environmental pollution. To achieve this, bioclimatic design is based on the climatic analysis of the study site, for which it is necessary to process the main climatological data (temperature, humidity, rainfall or radiation, among others) using graphs, maps, or projections typical of solar geometry.
The sun is the main source of energy that affects bioclimatic design, so it is necessary to acquire an idea of its trajectory in the different seasons of the year, motivated by the Earth's rotation axis, which is not always perpendicular to the plane of its translation path with respect to the star, but forms a variable angle depending on the annual period. This rotation affects the radiation received by south-facing vertical facades which, in a city like Cáceres, receive most of the radiation in winter, while the other orientations receive hardly any. On the other hand, in summer, the sun is more vertical at midday, so the south facade receives less direct sunlight, while the east and west facades are especially punished in the mornings and afternoons.
The most usual, when the climate is cold, is to benefit as much as possible from: the thermal energy of the sun, for example for heating and domestic hot water; the greenhouse effect of glazing; or to minimize heat loss (through good thermal insulation) if there is a heating element. When the climate is warm, other solutions include: building wide walls; using light colors on the roof and facade; using awnings and special glass, such as double glazing; or having good ventilation and using a cooling system (insulating the house).
By directing the orientation of glazed windows to the south in the northern hemisphere and to the north in the southern hemisphere, more solar radiation is captured in winter and less in summer, which reduces energy costs.
Windows with adequate solar protection, elongated vertically and located on the inside face of the wall, let in less radiation in summer, preventing overheating of warm rooms. However, this effect is not advisable in cold places or during the winter. Windows should be larger and located on the exterior face of the wall, with glazed bay windows, to enhance solar radiation capture.
With a correct thermal insulation adapted to the environmental conditions of each place, a great return on the money invested in the construction of the building can be achieved. For example, it is normal to use thick walls that delay temperature variations, due to their thermal inertia, or to construct buried or semi-buried buildings, also taking advantage of this property of the surrounding soil, stabilizing the temperature oscillation and reducing energy costs.
The thermal and pressure difference between two rooms with opposite orientations generates an airflow that facilitates ventilation, which is very useful in hot or humid climates to maintain adequate thermal comfort. To properly design ventilation it is necessary to know the direction, velocity and temperature through the climatic data of each study site. This allows ventilation can also be used, for example, to increase air humidity, especially in hot dry climates.
By integrating renewable energy sources in bioclimatic architecture, it is possible to obtain self-generated and non-polluting consumption. It is even possible to generate more than what is consumed, which could be sold to the grid. The most commonly used sources are wind, solar photovoltaic, solar thermal and geothermal energy.
