Bioclimatic Design

Passive Solar Design Principals

  • Site analysis –sun path, prevailing winds, site topology and vegetation
  • Site plan – building orientation, position, foot print and drainage
  • Building Design – openings layout , natural daylight  lighting
  • Materials – wall roof floor insulation and thermal mass/inertia
  • Weatherization – natural ventilation roof, sun shading roof overhangs

Prof. Sergio Los SA Bio-Climatic House study 2014

Our Bio-Climatic Architects will apply the

Guidelines for Green Building Design

                  Resulting in:

  • Natural Climatization with pleasant ambient temperature all year round
  • Significantly improved dwelling wellness without relying on air conditioning and heaters
  • Favourable social impact , more privacy , more safety
Bio-climatic design concept

Substantial benefits “built in the design”
at NO EXTRA COSTS

Envirocrete houses are constructed using 18cm thick (thermal mass) wall panels. .The walls are painted in light colors and the roof is painted  for reflecting the sunlight in the summer. The walls are painted in light colours and the roof is painted in order to reflect the sunlight during summer months. The roof overhangs are constructed to facilitate the interior thermal conditions, i.e. longer (1m) on the weather side (north facade), and shorter (60cm) on the opposite side (south facade). Then need for cooling the house during summer is reduced.

The thermal inertia of the mass of the wall panels, allows for the retention of accumulated heat, making the house warm during cooler weather. The need for heating during winter time is therefore reduced.

80 %

Reduction in summer cooling requirmentS

56 %

Reduction in winter heating requirments

Take a look at Envirocrete’s  headquaters bio-climatic house concepts

Project Better Living Challenge @ Cape Town World Design City 2014

The person’s every day life in the house  and not the house itself  is the central focal point of  our bio-climatic architecture and designer and planners

Better Living Challenge context Cape Town WDC 2014 show case solutions for low income living solutions forBetter Living Challenge context Cape Town WDC 2014 show case solutions for low income living solutions for
Synergia Progetti Natasha Pulizer Sergio Los Bioclimatic design Better Living Challenge Cape Town WDC 2014Synergia Progetti Natasha Pulizer Sergio Los Bioclimatic design Better Living Challenge Cape Town WDC 2014
SOLAR ASSYMETRY of  the building
  • Massive building envelope with thermal and acoustic insulation
  • Sunspaces, porticos, earth integrated systems
  • Natural ventilation and lighting all year round
  • House face street orientated est – west to protect from wind blowing in north south direction
Synergia Progetti Natasha Pulizer Sergio Los Bioclimatic design Better Living Challenge Cape Town WDC 2014Synergia Progetti Natasha Pulizer Sergio Los Bioclimatic design Better Living Challenge Cape Town WDC 2014

Alcove, Entrance, Kitchen and Services

  • Dwelling spaces are rationaly divided to ensure privacely
  • All service appliances are located along the south wall facing the streat
  • Flexibility and simplicy in design allow easy future upgrade and expantions of the house
Synergia Progetti Natasha Pulizer Sergio Los Bioclimatic design Better Living Challenge Cape Town WDC 2014Synergia Progetti Natasha Pulizer Sergio Los Bioclimatic design Better Living Challenge Cape Town WDC 2014

TOP VIEW -Rationaly organized

  • Front garden with high raise tree for protection and confortable shadow
  • Fundamental vegatable garden for sustainable living
  • Natural ventilation and lighting all year round
  • House est – west orientation to protect from wind blowing in south-est direction
Synergia Progetti Natasha Pulizer Sergio Los Bioclimatic design Better Living Challenge Cape Town WDC 2014Synergia Progetti Natasha Pulizer Sergio Los Bioclimatic design Better Living Challenge Cape Town WDC 2014

NORTH facad for collecting light

  • Large windows for collecting plentifull of light at all times
  • Large overhangs for shielding direct  exposure to heat during peak sunlight hours.
  • A portico window with large windows and lateral entrance door
Synergia Progetti Natasha Pulizer Sergio Los Bioclimatic design Better Living Challenge Cape Town WDC 2014Synergia Progetti Natasha Pulizer Sergio Los Bioclimatic design Better Living Challenge Cape Town WDC 2014

SOUTH facad enhances security

Fewer and smaller windows for:
  • Reducing energy/heat dispertion.
  • Impeding burgular intrusions and increasing safty
Synergia Progetti Natasha Pulitzer Sergio Los Bio-Climatic DesignEnviroCrete headquater Jewel Beetle Street Raslouw AH Centurion 0157 SA

BIO-CLIMATIC DESIGN

from concept to reality

Synergia Progetti Natasha Pulitzer Sergio Los Bio-Climatic DesignSynergia Progetti Natasha Pulitzer Sergio Los

Energy Savings – Buildings thermal perfomance

Our structural engineers  always take  into account

Guidelines of SANS 204: 2011 Energy Efficiency in Buildings

energy-loss-from-poor-insulation

Building Insulation Thermal Efficiency

In order to provide a possible measure to judge the thermal efficiency design of a house or proposed layout of a residential development, Envirocrete will follow the recommendations of the Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA), i.e. taking into consideration:

  • Local weather conditions, ecosystems, and hydrography of the environment to maximize performance and lessen overall impact
  • Leverage wind and sunlight patterns
  • Utilization of locally sourced building materials and low-impact construction techniques
  • Reduction of energy consumption for heating, cooling, lighting, and equipment
  • Minimize overall energy balance throughout construction and during use

The thermal efficiency of a building is primarily affected by meteorological factors surrounding the building. The indoor temperature distribution is strongly affected by the outdoor weather conditions. It is estimated that without adequate ceiling insulation, 42% percent of household heat is lost through the roof. Walls account for around 24% percent of heat loss and 10 percent of heat is lost through floors. Therefore good thermal insulated walls and roof can minimize the influence of the outdoor weather condition on the indoor temperature distribution of the building

Direct cost COMPARISON

Envirocrete has conducted a study on it’s showcase bio-climatic house in Centurion to evaluate the effect of the walls and roof on the heat flow dynamics

The overall building thermal efficiency findings are summarized in the following comparison table that refers to low income household end use energy intensities (GJ/annum)

The full study determines much it costs (ZAR) to run the household per annum for a low income family of 3,3 persons

Our engineers will calculate the thermal performance of the building by running a

THERMO PHYSICAL SIMULATION on the building materials

RDP Subsidery House 40 sqm

40 sq.m. Subsidy house with low income plan approved by National Home Builders Registration Council  (NHBRC) 

  • walls: 140 mm hollow concrete blocks with 5 mm of plaster on the outside,
  • floor: 100 mm in-situ concrete surface bed of 75 mm concrete and 25 mm screed,
  • roof: corrugated iron sheets,
  • ceiling: no ceiling, no ceiling insulation,
  • glazing: 6 mm clear glass, single glazing, loose hanging, no weatherisation, metal-framing,
  • doors: 12 mm timber door, loose hanging, no weatherisation.
EnviroCrete Bioclimatic house - designed by Prof Sergio Los Factulty of Arcitecture of Venice - For Better Living Challenge Context Cape Town WDC 2014 - SA Agrèment Approved 2018 in accordance with a low income budget requirments. The house is constructed with modular Envirocrete precast pannels 1200 x180 mm on a conventional 75 mm concrete floor slab on a damp proof course on compacted fill, and a composite Envirocerete slab roof assembly of corrugated sheetmetal/EV slab 650 x 140 mm with overhead corrugated sheet metal external covering.

48 sq.m EnviroCrete Bio-climatic house certified by SA AGREMENT

  • walls:  200 mm solid precast panels 1200 mm with 5 mm of plaster on the outside
  • floor: 100 mm in-situ concrete surface bed of 75 mm concrete and 25 mm screed,
  • roof: composite silicawood slab sheet metal shutter plus detached corrugated iron sheets with air gap
  • ceiling: composite ventilated roof
  • glazing: Glass: 6.38 PVB Safety Glass clear glass, single glazing precast into wall polymer frames full weatherisation, aluminium frame,
EnviroCrete house energy class A

Notable Reduction on Your Electricity Bill

Download Complete study : ENERGY SAVINGS FOR SOUTH AFRICA households

Lowering the CO2 carbon footprint

EnviroCrete® building system

has the unique ability to accomplish both tasks together

Tackling climate change and reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG)
 CO2 in the atmosphere, can be removed in 2 ways: –

  • Reducing harmful emissions

  • Removal through storage

This can be accomplished by reducing harmful  “carbon sources” and increasing ecological “carbon sinks”

Carbon store effect – Embodied energy

Carbon store effect

On average, the utililization of one a cubic meter of solid wood in the construction industry is equivalent to reducing (permanently storing) 2.0 tons of CO2 content 

With Photosynthesis process Trees capture CO2 combined with water derived from the soil to produce the organic material of wood. A certain amount of CO2 is therefore permanently captured and stored in wood.

Not only is the production and processing of wood highly energy-efficient, giving wood products an ultra-low carbon footprint, but wood can be used to substitute for materials like steel, aluminum, concrete or plastics.

On average, the ‘totally natural production’ of a cubic meter of solid wood creates around 1,1 tons less CO2 emissions than the ‘man made production’ of an equivalent amount of fossil fuel-intensive materials (e.g. steel, concrete or plastics). This 1.1. tons of saved CO2 emissions coupled with the 0,9 tons of CO2 (already) stored in the wood, means that every cubic meter of wood substitution for fossil fuel-intensive materials saves a total of roughly 2 tons of CO2., i.e. one cubic meter of wood permanently stores 2 tons of CO2,

CO2 SAVINGS from combined CARBON STORE & ENERGY SUBSTITUTION effects

CO2 Savings by combined carbone srore effect and energy subsitution Envirocrete matateial

While the carbon store effect of wood products helps keep CO2 out of the atmosphere, an even greater carbon gain comes from the substituting wood in place of other, more fossil fuel-intensive, materials such as concrete and steel.

The energy input required to produce conventional construction materials, such as cement, steel, aluminum, plastic, etc. averages at 22% (cumulatively) of the total energy expended over the lifetime of buildings constructed with these materials.

In contrast EnviroCrete® Raw, an alternative building material, with its primary component being wood, requires very little energy in the production process, and the material in its raw state as well as in its completed state, stores energy permanently.

On average, the production of a cubic meter solid EnviroCrete® panel,combining Envirocrete® Raw -treated woodchips  with Portland cement, and water, creates an approximate CO2 equivalent saving of 1.4 ton.

National Resources CO2 Reductions and Savings in SA
12,42

 Million ton/annum

CO2 reduction by
sequestration

5,6

 Million ton/annum

CO2 reduction by
substitution

Notable Reduction of the Global Carbon footprint

Download White Paper : ENVIROCRETE-Study on global CO2 emsions reduction