Green architecture

1. Introduction

I will talk about the different kinds of bioclimatic houses but above all about different architectural techniques to optimize the energy efficiency of the places we live in. (above all=surtout)

1. Problematic

How to optimize the energy efficiency in a house?

2. Different kinds of bioclimatic houses

Today they are many types of bioclimatic houses to answer the general problem of environment and energy. I will present two of them:

3. Positive energy houses

These are houses that produce more energy than they consume.

4. “Effinergie” houses

This is the first “effinergie” house built in France in 2008.

It is called “La bonne maison”. This label means that this house consumes between 40 to 75 kWh/m² a year.

2. Location North/South

The location of the rooms is very important.

In the South, living rooms, drawing rooms or kitchen have large glass surfaces allowing better heat input.

In the East and South-East, rooms benefit from the rising sun. In the West and South-West, they get the sunset.

In the North, service rooms that don’t need much light like stairs, halls or toilets shouldn’t have too large openings to avoid contact with the cool winds of the North. These parts are called “espace tampon” (space buffer) to protect the rest of the house from a loss of thermal energy.

When possible, grow trees in the Southern part of your garden and evergreens on the Northern side to improve thermal comfort even further.

In the South they will let sunlight in all through the winter but not in the summer because they have leaves
In the North they will stop the wind.

3. Heat

A proper application of the greenhouse effect is a verandah.

It is important to have one to increase the thermal flows coming from the South and transmit them to the whole habitat.

The best position for the verandah is the last one