Climate Considerations in Building and Urban Design

by Baruch Givoni, 1998. John Wiley & Sons, New York. Hardcover, 496 pages, $64.95

 

Baruch Givoni has long been a champion of passive approaches to climate control in buildings. In Climate Considerations in Building and Urban Design he documents the theory and practice of low-tech comfort in buildings and the relationships between design of urban areas and local climate.  Climate Considerations is a thorough text that is organized into three parts: building climatology, urban climatology, and building and urban design guidelines. Parts I and II provide a theoretical framework for passive climate control supported by numerous studies. The style is a bit dry, and some chapters make extensive use of formulas and mathematical models. Some of the graphics and figures in the book suffer from a lack of attention, occasional problems with labeling, and other oversights.

Givoni uses detailed analyses and examples from around the world to make the case that people can be comfortable in conditions well outside the range typically prescribed in engineering texts. He then presents strategies for keeping buildings within this expanded comfort range using window orientation, ventilation, shading, surface colors, thermal mass, appropriate materials, and insulation. Passive solar heating and cooling is covered, drawing heavily on examples of houses built in the 1970s in the U.S. Southwest. Givoni’s review includes some systems that he acknowledges are theoretically interesting but technically unrealistic, such as the use of water-filled bags on a roof to radiate heat into the night sky.

Part II, on urban climatology, focuses more on broader issues than building design, including urban density, orientation of streets, and the integration of green spaces.

Givoni notes the impacts various design choices have on the urban climate, particularly in relation to the temperature rise known as the “urban heat island” effect.

Part III provides a more juicy nuts-and-bolts analysis of design ideas suitable for use in buildings and urban areas in four different climate zones: hot-dry, hot-humid, cold, and cold winters/hot-humid summers, though attention to the latter is limited. There is considerable focus on low-cost housing in developing countries.

The somewhat technical, quantitative approach taken by Givoni lends credence to concepts that might otherwise be discounted. While Climate Considerations is not perfect, it serves a valuable purpose in promoting simple design approaches, rather than energy-intensive mechanical systems, for making buildings comfortable.