MA PRESENTATION 2000

AIR IN ARCHITECTURE:

A LOW ENERGY, PASSIVE STACK,

SUSTAINABLE HOUSING PROJECT.

Master of Arts Degree Dissertation

By

NICHOLAS JAMES KIRKMAN-WOOD

Master of Arts Degree in

3 Dimensional Design - Interior Architecture

LOW ENERGY SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE

Kent Institute of Art and Design

Ratified by

University of Kent at Canterbury.

Course tutors:

Francine Norris

Nicholas Blythe

Simon Bliss

Presented on 16th August 2000

In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for Master of Arts Degree in Three Dimensional Design

Abstract:

Having completed a successful Model Energy Home [66] project for the London Borough

of Sutton I wished to undertake a research project into Low Energy within a domestic

setting at the start of my MA programme, in September 1998. Research into low energy

housing and its constituent parts has helped my approach the problem from a different

perspective. Linking these various individual items became the target. The movement

of air and the reaction of each part of the house with it became that link. Occupants

perceive the ambient temperature of the house by contact with the air within it. Wall,

floor, roof, and window effectiveness is measured by the degree to which the air

temperature on either side of the respective item is affected. The heat transmitted

through each item governs its energy rating Which is measured by the rise in air

temperature. Air again plays a key factor in contaminated particulate transmission with

respect to health issues. Air is the link therefore to my energy efficient house design.

The project design solution proposed at puts forward one possible solution to the low

energy healthy living debate. I have shown through my research reasons why the

building should be produced as a holistic design, avoiding single faceted solutions to

solve complex problems. The design has movement and openness. Both of these are

essential to my project brief. Having produced four design proposals, the final one is the

design which satisfies both the core requirements and aesthetic aspects of the design.

I am satisfied that this solution can be built and that it will deliver energy savings whilst

providing a healthy environment in which to live. Furthermore This proposal should

provide a starting point for the next phase, that of a doctoral research project.

Acknowledgements

I should like to thank all those who have contributed in no small part to the success of

this paper. In particular I would like to pay tribute to the tireless efforts of the staff of

the MA programme and in particular the Head of MA, Francine Norris for her unceasing

help and encouragement. I am also indebted to Colin Perrott for his lecture “ Computing

creativity in design” along with Professor Peter Robertson's lecture “the future of design

in design education”, both part of the MA core lecture series at KIAD Rochester in

1998.

I should also like to thank Professors Porter and Norford for their help and assistance

during my research visit to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). A special

thanks is due to Professor Norford who supplied me with unpublished research on his

projects in Beijing. The MIT visit would not have been possible without the help and

assistance of Tevfik Bacioglu and his contacts within MIT. These contacts provided me

with the initial invitation to the university and the opportunity to participate in a

seminar and tutorials with Professors Porter and Norford.

Although I have viewed some aspects of the Erie-Ellington project unfavourably, the

Green Village Company comprising the architects and builders behind the project have

given me a great deal of help. Without their open minded approach, this project would

not have been possible .To them and for their presentation at MIT in November 1999

I warmly thank them.

There are several other fellow students from my first year who helped and encouraged

me considerably and to Nada & Abdullah Saudi in particular I would like to express my

thanks. To my girlfriend, Shelagh Moore, who has been such a support to me over this

last year and without whose help I would not have been able to complete the

programme. My family for assisting me in research during the first half of the course

and two friends in particular, Colin Perrott and Harold Robinson who have throughout

the two years of my course given me unstinting support and encouragement and have

never allowed me to lose sight of my objective. To all those who helped me with the

interdisciplinary project. I am unable to name them due to the need to respect their

confidentiality and anonymity. Without their help this part of the project would not have

been possible. There are many others who have helped me through the 2 years of the

programme and a special thank you should be extended to Ruddy Austin, Architect, for

his help, guidance and tuition which enabled me to reach required level for admission

to the MA programme, having not previously undertaken a BA degree course.

Additionally I would like to acknowledge all the many contacts within the Engineering

and Production-prototyping industries. Over the years they have helped me in gaining

first hand knowledge and understanding in the fields of production and CAD-CAM

engineering.

Richard Handyside’s advice on sustainable environmentally friendly products was

invaluable.

To all of the above I should like to extend my warmest thanks.

Contents: Page

0.1 Introduction : 6

Chapter 1: INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO ARCHITECTURE

1.1 Interdisciplinary approach to Architecture: Who knows what? 10

1.2 Phase one summary of findings: 11

1.3 Phase two summary of findings: 11

1.4 Lessons learned: 12

Chapter 2 : TEACHING TECHNOLOGY - DESIGN IN EDUCATION

2.1 Keeping pace with change 13

2.2 Teaching Technology; Design in Education 15

2.3 Design theory or Design practice? 16

2.4 Massachusetts Institute of Technology visit and Tutorials 17

2.5 Key Findings: 18

Chapter 3: SUSTAINABLE DESIGN USING AIR IN ARCHITECTURE

3.1 Introduction 20

3.2 In The Beginning: 20

3.3 The Greenhouse Effect: 21

3.4 Deadly Soup: 21

3.5 Location, cause and effect: 22

3.6 Who Decides? 23

3.7 The Challenge of the Future: 23

3.8 Health Issues in Interior Architecture 24

3.8.1 The Western Scientific & Technological Approach 24

3.8.2 The Oriental empirical approach to healthy living ( Feng Shui) 25

3.8.3 Location, Location, Location: 25

3.8.4 Ventilation, Ventilation, Ventilation: 26

3.9 Low Energy Architecture: 28

3.9.1 A Computer Derived Solution for Beijing 28

3.10 Sustainable Architecture for Low Income Housing: 29

3.10.1 The Boston Approach - Erie Ellington Project 29

Chapter 4 : MASTER OF ARTS PROPOSAL

4.0 Master of Arts Personal Project 31

4.1 Personal project objectives. 32

4.2 Heat loading on buildings 38

Chapter 5: DESIGN PROJECTS

5.0 Personal project. 40

5.1 Profiled Roof Project 40

5.2 Terraced house Project 42

5.3 Air-tech-Homes Project 46

Chapter 6: Design solution for MA exhibition

6.1 Low Energy Eco-Air-Housing Project 51

6.2 Project Summary 59

Text Reference 55

Appendix 1 Design criteria

Appendix 2 Selected Nud*ist text search results & Reference structure

Appendix 3 Erie-Ellington press releases & selected URL files

Appendix 4 Passive stack & natural ventilation selected URL files

“[*]” denotes text references “3.8.1" denotes chapter and sub-heading reference

0.1 Introduction :

This paper has been produced as part of my Master of Arts project report and should

be read in conjunction with the MA show held at KIAD in September 2000.

Sustainability is not a simple subject. I have therefore been able to only scratch the

surface of this subject. Low energy naturally ventilated housing combined with

“healthy holistic” living is the main thrust of my project proposal. The first three

chapters show a progressive development of my understanding of the subject, and an

introduction to the complex interrelationship between technological solutions and their

impact on the environment. There is a need to highlight the true cost to human health

of single track solutions. Research into this subject has been outlined within the first

three chapters. chapters fourth, five, & 6 documents the design project required by the

N. J. K.-W. MA Dissertation Introduction Pg. 6

MA programme. My research has been aided by the use of a


qualitative analytical programme Nud*ist N4. This has enabled me to collate both

logical argument and source materials efficiently thus allowing me to cover the subject

in greater depth in preparation for my doctoral studies. This paper therefore should be

read in part as an application to carry the research forward at doctoral level. This

project is by no means over...This is just the beginning.

The purpose of this MA proposal is to determine if a design could be developed which

was comparable in energy performance to the Erie-Ellington development in a suburb

of Boston Massachusetts USA. The Erie - Ellington project is spearheading the Low

energy sustainable architecture “Build America programme”. However unlike this

development, I would like to make use of natural or passive stack ventilation. The

reasons for this will become clear as this paper unfolds.

It has been demonstrated that the Victorians used the principle of air flow through a

building using chimneys as vent stacks thus adequately ventilating their buildings. This

system has been replicated partially by the Berkeley Homes development in London

Rd ,Westerham, Kent.

I began with the premise that air movement may be enhanced by the way the entire

building is shaped. Similarly an aircraft is not just dependent on it’s wing design for

flight but upon the design of the entire fuselage. I believe that the interruption of air

flow by a building can be utilised effectively in the inner space. Through careful

placement of vent louvres and ducting in appropriate places, both on the roof and on

the building facade. I contend that external air movement can be harnessed to create

healthy internal environments.

Through careful space planning and opening up of the wall spaces within the building

I can further enhance the air flow movement throughout the entire envelope. This I

suggest will eliminate or at least drastically reduce the need for mechanical ventilation.

The only aspect of mechanical ventilation that should then be warranted would be

extraction fans for bathroom and kitchen areas where additional forced extraction

would become necessary due to the build up of steam. Whilst the Americans favour

mechanical ventilation partly for the heat recovery potentials such systems offer,


research programmes in Europe are now investigating Passive stack ventilation (PSV)

and the possibility of recovering up to 70% of this energy whilst maintaining the use

of PSV systems.[1] The overzealous use of filtered air conditioning, which I shall

demonstrate, has potentially disastrous and hitherto hidden health costs.[2] The

“American approach” to energy efficiency is being taken up by architects in Europe.

I think that this will lead to higher health bills as sick building syndrome increases

exponentially to the use of filtered mechanical ventilation.

My research began with the six issues that I wished to raise for my first project. I

chose these as the environment, the greenhouse effect, sustainability, pollution, market

forces and the over-use of our energy resources. Further to this my research progressed

in depth into various fields including health education, computerisation and Feng Shui

amongst others. In looking at air quality I have discovered important research

suggesting alternative solutions for the improvement of air quality within the internal

environment.

My interest in the Feng Shui approach is related to the fundamental issue of holistic

living advocated by the original Chinese practisers of the art of Feng Shui rather than

the more fashionable and single solution approach popular today. I believe the answer

to environmental issues lies more in a holistic approach to the problem rather than the

addressing of a single issue at a time with little heed of the consequences of the

potential outcome. The way forward is, I believe in a multiplicity of solutions.

In this MA paper I have set out a researched argument that I wish develop further at

doctoral level, for this approach. Many solutions which have been put forward in the

past have merit and should not be dismissed out of hand. This would be tantamount

to throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I have criticised the Erie Ellington project

for it’s over dependence on mechanical ventilation but it does have merit. They have

relied to a great extent on the air conditioning system to provide the energy values

required in the whole house. However I am very much in favour of the ethos which

they have presented for sustainable development. Had a ventilation system been

chosen which was based more on assisted exhaust system or passive stack system, I

feel that a better result would have been achieved due to the low energy inputs that


such a system would require. I do acknowledge however that the climate in North

America is far more extreme than that in Europe and therefore the need for additional

cooling and ventilation is far greater than would ever be found in this country .

Empirical wisdom should not be dismissed. Vitruvius, in 110 BC writing about the

effects of heat loading on buildings proposed that shade and the properties of

reflectivity of roofing surfaces could reduce heat loading by up to 30%.[3] There are

many solutions to the heating and cooling issue. An over reliance on technology is

therefore not potentially the best way forward. Should a solution be found which did

not rely on continual energy consumption to produce energy savings, this would be

most beneficial in the long run.

I have been fortunate in being in a position to apply this research in my everyday work

. I have recently completed a design proposal for a set of twelve houses in Shamley

Green . This in an internal layer follows a very simple passive stack system. I have

been able to not only put forward a theoretical model and apply many of the principles

which I have developed within this MA research project but to put this into practice

by the opportunity afforded to me when I was requested to present a design proposal

by London and Quadrant Housing Trust for a series of twelve low income houses to

be built in Shamley Green, Surrey. The designs of these houses are now before

planners, and should all go according to schedule, construction should begin in May

2001 with a completion date of December 2001.


Fig. 1. Knowledge of building terminology, expressed as a total percentage of people

apporached for this survey.

40%

15%

30%

15%

Declined

Score 50%

Score > 40%

Score< 40%

Chapter 1: Interdisciplinary approach to Architecture

1.1 Who knows what?

The value of this project was an introduction to working from one discipline with the

tools of another. As such it was explored in depth at the time and in my Post Graduate

Diploma submission. For these reasons, only the conclusion remains in this written

work.

The interdisciplinary project was designed to explore the degree of common

knowledge and understanding of features, terminology and graphical representation of

architectural design by selected groups of people from differing backgrounds and

disciplines.[4]

A group of architects, engineers, students of interior architecture at BA and MA levels,

and the General Public were selected randomly to conduct the sampling. Three

research projects were devised which were further sub - divided into two phases.

Initially the research timetable had only one phase, of two projects. However it

N. J. K.-W. MA dissertation Ch. 1 Pg. 11

Fig. 2. Correct identifiction of building materials and components. Expressed as a percentage.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Roof Score > 60%

Brick Sty les Score>60%

Timber Joint Score >60%

Concrete Floor SlabScore > 40%

became clear that the original aims for the research project were not being addressed

and an additional second phase was added to address this issue.[5]

1.2 PHASE ONE SUMMARY OF FINDINGS:

At the outset of this project I had the idea of creating a drawing of a room based upon

the results of the initial survey. I had assumed that most people completing the

questionnaire would guess when they were unsure of the answer. However I discovered

that respondents particularly those with a working knowledge of the subject, were

reluctant to participate in a written form. However those that did undergo the trial

performed well.

On the second set of questionnaires This took the form of a sheet of building

component names and blank spaces for those questioned to fill in their definition of the

building components itemised.

1.3 PHASE TWO SUMMARY OF FINDINGS:

Phase two had a 75% participation rate. It must be stressed that for this project street

polling was not considered an option. Due to the time limit and financial resources

required for such a study. Instead a limited cross section of people representing a

typical professional / client setting were selected. This for the purposes of this project

was deemed appropriate. When the first people were questioned regarding the reading


Fig 3. Correct Reading Drawn information expressed as a percentage of those questioned

Incline of road up hill poit A to point B went up hill

Contour map reading House Orientation

House Occupancy levels Façade Treatment

perspective drawing recognition Lableing identification

of the drawings, illustrations and finally viewing the model, the results were as follows:

1.4 LESSONS LEARNED:

The survey participation numbers for all three sections totalled only 26 returns and

therefore was too small a sample to make an accurate statistical analysis. In order to

carry out a truly representative survey much more time would have been required

together with a greater number of participants in order to provide a representative

sample for statistical purposes. However the experience and problems encountered in

conducting such a survey for my personal project has been a valuable learning

experience.

The Interdisciplinary approach to the project was achieved by bringing knowledge,

visual iconic symbology, Technical drawing, and Architectural model-making together.

This was carried out to evaluate this selected group understanding of terminology that

may be used in a first encounter between a client and the building designer.

The language of communication my be common usage English. The meaning of the


individual words however is open to a wide margin of interpretation. Therefore there

is a need to clarify the meaning of the words used in order for there to be a precise and

informed dialogue between client and Architect.

Chapter 2: Teaching Technology- Design in Education

2.1 Keeping pace with change

When setting out the vision of design in education for the Carnegie Mellon University

in 1998, Daniel P. Siewiorek [6] stated that;

“Design is the main differentiation between products and processes in the

market place”.

To maintain the commercial competitiveness of a company it is essential that designers

have access to the latest technological design procedures. This reduces the gestation

period of the development and thus gains a competitive advantage. Technology itself

is constantly increasing in effectiveness through computer process speeds; and

therefore programme efficiency. The rate at which these leaps of performances accrue

additionally continues to increase. Thus the effectiveness of a given design team is

irreversibly linked to the performance of the company’s computer effectiveness.

Competitive advantage is the key to market success and skill levels within the design

team of a company are therefore critical to this success.

“Design is the creative process that determines function, form, capacity and,

utility, the utility of a product or process [6]".

Products unable to satisfy the needs of the consumer will fail in the market place. The

design team requires more than computers and technology to produce a product that

is commercially successful. Marketing of a product in order to generate a need for the

item is also key to the success or otherwise of the design team. The interdisciplinary

alliance therefore of marketing, design, research and development is fundamental.


Cost of production of the product is a function of effective design through correct use

of materials, production methods, relevant technology, product distribution and

production quantities. Products may be precisely what the target consumer requires but

at a cost that few can afford. The company with the competitive advantage to the

consumer at the right price and at the right time will enjoy the most success.

This then sets out the traditional view of design practice and company’s vie with each

other to produce ever better products for the customer to purchase. Marketing of the

merchandise is aimed at a level so that even the most unimaginative and useless

products are given the “must have” label until a new model comes along. Allegiance

is then transferred to the new product. Where does the company recruit the personnel

needed in order to supply their needs? Are colleges and universities equipped to

provide the requisite training for the number of skilled designers needed. Are they able

to keep pace with the ever increasing leaps in technology? Currently there seem to be

two choices that academic institutions have to make. Keeping up with current best

practice whilst coping with the advances in technology and all the ongoing costs that

such a commitment demands, or teaching design theory and practice without direct

reference to technological enhancements.

Such a choice is however never clear cut. If the academic route taken is based purely

on technology then the ever increasing rate of equipment obsolescence would mean an

ever growing financial strain on the organization; in order to maintain the competitive

edge in the market place. Industry is able to sustain a higher level of ongoing

reinvestment as this revenue generation centre is not reliant on a fixed number of units

producing an ever increasing source of revenue. Cost per unit can be calculated before

the product is released onto the market and break-even production levels will allow for

increases in production costs as well as research, design and development costs. If the

marketing department states that a breakeven point is not sustainable, the product is

either re-evaluated and re-designed or dropped from the production equation

completely. Such changes may be made and implemented in weeks or at worst months.

Academic institutions may be slower to react. They are therefore more vulnerable to

changes in design technology and the implications of those changes on current or


future forces. A product may take three months to design and produce and one month

to evaluate in the market before reappraisal and possible re-design. In the space of one

semester the nature of the product and therefore the needs of industry for the skills on

offer by the recently graduated may change so fundamentally, that those who have

spent between one and three years training may find, that the majority of their skill

base is of little or no value to the potential employer. In the field of Computer Aided

Design Draughting one of the market leaders changed its product three times within

the space of three years. Each time change occurred the entire workforce associated

with this product had to be updated in order to maintain a competitive edge. At the end

of this upheaval there was no academic course to be found which could train personnel

on the latest version of the CAD system. All recruits to the company therefore had to

come from other commercial practices in order to seamlessly slot into the production

team without the need for further expensive training programmes. This left new

students applying for a position within the company seriously disadvantaged.

2.2) Teaching Technology; Design in Education

Organisational structures within the commercial or academic environment both require

effective communication routes to other operational areas. The same is true for an

effective design team. Effective solutions with ineffective routes of communication

lead to poor results and frustration to all. “A chain is only as strong as it’s weakest

link.” The same can be said for communication. A reduction in the communication

speed in one part of a system will lower the entire system to that speed. If for example

a new modem is installed into a computer with a communication Baud rate of 98,000

bits per second but the telephone line it is connected to runs at a Baud rate of 42,000

bits per second then this lower rate is the maximum communication speed at which the

system can possibly work if the telephone Baud rate cannot be increased.

Should a factory be setup with a central design and CAD centre with direct links to

CNC machining centres, and the flow of programmes matches the machine’s ability

to produce the product; bottlenecks will not be produced. This results in effective use

of both centres of design and manufacture. If however the capacity in the CNC

department is low, bottlenecks will be created resulting in the need to purchase more


machine time. Conversely should the machines work faster than the design team can

produce programmes, the system slackens and ineffective working practices occur as

a result. The same is true of the interdisciplinary relationships within a design team.

Should any part of the design process falls behind in either communication

effectiveness, lack of capital investment or out-dated working practice the end result

is under-achievement. Frequently this under achievement is not identified until rising

prices compared to competitors results in diminishing sales or loss of orders.

2.3 Design theory or Design practice?

In academic centres the need for change when realised; is so costly to implement, that

should funding be refused, the gap between industry and research widens still further.

This results in frustration to the students together with the loss of further teaching

opportunities. Rob A. Rutenbar[7] Professor of CAD Resources, Carnegie Mellon

University suggests,

“ it is difficult for academics to stay close enough to some of the real problems

to make relevant contributions” and he goes on to say that “ unfortunately,

there is now a strong perception on the part of industry that too much academic

work focuses on low-impact problems: meaningless refinements of individual

point tools, or designs in technologies too simple or too small for the critical

effects to occur”.

It is possible that theory rich academic proposals may lead to a divergence of interest

between industry and academia. Rutenbar[7] stated when looking at the future of CAD

research in his own university;

“ many in both industry and academia feel that the research directions of the

field have perhaps turned inward too much...almost always, the blame for this

detachment is lain on the increasing distance between research and practice”.

Rutenbar [7] believed that increasing cost and diversity of technology was one possible

explanation for this. He also felt that there was an “ increasing distance between CAD


researchers and designers”[7].

2.4) Massachusetts Institute of Technology visit and Tutorials

“The art of green design is not just what is put into a building, but what is left

out. The nicest systems are those ones you no longer need”.[8]

It is one of those coincidences in life that what you are looking for is not always what

you find, and what you find is often better than you were looking for. So it was, when

I set out to talk to Professor Sibel Bozdogan at the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology, Boston, USA. Unfortunately, the appointment had to be cancelled due to

reasons beyond her control and I was instead given the name of Professor William

Porter. This in turn led to an introduction to Professors Fernandez and Norford. The

tutorials I had with Professors Porter and Norford, were extremely interesting and

introduced me to the philosophy and approach of MIT to design education.

Professor Porter [9] indicated that teaching on the subject of sustainable architecture

was given mainly in year three of the BA Architecture programme at MIT. In his

opinion, this has lead to a divided rather than holistic approach to sustainable

architectural design. Professor Norford on the other hand, fully supported the current

approach and stated that not only did students benefit from the sustainable architecture

tuition only in year three but furthermore suggested that much of the current

sustainable strategy may soon be incorporated within computer software, material

selection, environmental, heating, lighting and fuel consumption issues highlighted as

the design is produced on screen.

It was William Porter's [9] view that too little teaching of computer technology was

given to students at the outset of the course. He predicted that this would resolve itself

as the general level of student computer literacy increased over the following three

years. At the same time computer aided help facilities will require students to become

computer dependant.


Les Norford [10] was of the opinion that many of the technical aspects involved in the

design process would be incorporated within computer programmes thus leaving the

written text book in a minor position compared to the situation ten years ago. “Bolt

on” Computer programmes are currently being written for AutoCAD enabling students

to become well versed in all areas of Architecture and structural analysis. He was quite

emphatic that this was the only way forward. The pace of change allied to the need to

progress still further in a given direction could and probably would only be met by

software writers interfacing with technology. When accessed via the Internet this

would give instant access to new programmes at a fraction of the cost of printing

together with the ability to integrate the old and new as far as add-on programming was

concerned. To emphasise this point further he gave me two papers[11]& [12] which he was

to present at a forum in China the following week demonstrating the ability of software

written within the MIT campus to evaluate the needs of the Beijing air-conditioning

with existing and proposed housing stock.

2.5 Key Findings:

Thus far the student’s role in this debate has been a passive one; in that he or she, once

within a university setting has little say in the short term as to how tuition or research

is structured. Their only choice may be made by voting with their feet at the time of

their selection of University when the technological resources available in individual

colleges may influence their decision. If technology continues to advance at the current

rate there is the prospect that the number of universities able to offer the technological

edge and and as a result high quality applied research will diminish at an ever alarming

rate. This will lead to fewer opportunities for post and under graduate study.

There seems a stark choice to be made for academic institutions. Firstly to instruct and

spearhead research in applied technologies thus enabling industrial advancements.

However this might only be successfully achieved by a few leading universities who

command the financial resources required to keep pace with the increasing complexity

of computer technology. Alternatively theory rich non applied teaching and research

methods may be utilised in the hope that results can be taken up and applied in the

industrial sector. Following my visit to MIT in September 1999 I found that there was

a third option which was the subsidisation by industry of the technology required by


the universities to produce the calibre of graduate required.

Industry is unlikely to decrease it’s demand for increased power and flexibility in the

field of computer aided technology to allow competitors and academics to catch up.

This will lead to fewer, highly trained, individuals in fewer locations with the ability

to exert a strangle hold on both the academic and industrial sectors and all the power

that is associated with that position. The alternative envisaged by Siewiorek [6] in his

“Our Design process vision” is not much more attractive;

“We envision a time when the end user will interact with a computer-based

design system.”.

This would potentially do away with much of the current debate on applied versus

theory rich research, as designers may at a stroke be made redundant eliminating the

need for costly centres of industry and education. However this would have both a

human and economic cost to society. Is this the future?

What is certain is that visual communication is the key factor in effective design

communication. The ability to communicate visually with or without the aid of

computers is and will remain, fundamental to design education. Those colleges and

universities lacking in computer teaching facilities, and by this I mean a dedicated

computer per student; as found in the leading American universities, will need to work

that much harder to produce the students with the edge that industry will increasingly

demand. Although difficult, this would by no means be impossible as the human mind

has infinitely more potential than technology. One only has to look at history to

identify genius’s in various fields who have overcome the most enormous odds to

create music, literature and inventions which are still marvelled at today. The same is

true of design. Ultimately their has to be a working partnership between the human

mind and technology.

Following my research into design and education, I also additionally questioned, are

books on architectural design now destined to be archived in Historical libraries rather

than becoming vanguards of current practice? It would appear so. Most textbooks are

now obsolete by the time they are published. Les Norford suggested that


“as computer help products became more universal within MIT, the need for

reference books will diminish still further”[13]

This put me at a cross roads in my research to date. Insight into the media world with

their need for ever growing sales figures and lower production costs combined with

current thinking within MIT, made it clear to me that the production of a manual with

a high level of visual aids would be both prohibitively expensive and potentially

obsolete by the time it was published.

Investigating computer interfacing directly into software programmes was well beyond

the scope of a single MA programme These final pieces of information enabled me to

realise that within the constraints of the MA programme at KIAD, my investigation

into visual aided text reference manuals for all practical purposes was over and that I

would have to look at another idea to develop further.


Chapter 3: Sustainable Design using Air in Architecture

3.1 Introduction

Sustainable development is the concept of living and developing in ways which ensure

future generations can enjoy the Earth's riches. In other words - living today with

tomorrow in mind [14]. Urban regeneration must address the area of Effective Energy

Consumption if it is to have any long term sustainable future in the U. K. of tomorrow.

The reduction of Energy consumption along with pollution caused by Carbon

Monoxide is now mandated under “Local Agenda 21 [15] following local

implementation of agreements reached at the 1992 United Nations “Earth Summit” in

Rio de Janeiro.

In my post - graduate research paper I compiled examples of past universal practice

in order to put the debate into context, and thereby define the direction of my research

into Effective Energy Consumption and it's effect within the Urban Regeneration

programme. The future depends on the understanding past mistakes and successes, and

the design of an energy efficient sustainable urban environment. [16].

3.2 In The Beginning:

The taking of the famous photograph looking back at earth following American

astronaut Ed White's space walk of 1965 could be argued as a seminal moment in our

evaluation.[17] For the first time man was able to <see' our small planet in the context of

a vast universe.

The Kyoto agreement in 1997 brought green issues to the forefront of the political

agenda. Previously champions of this cause had been Green-peace and fringe elements.

Einstein’s theory of relativity E=MC2 was used to promote government sponsored

television advertisements selling the concept to the public that there was an economic

benefit to energy efficiency. “Energy Efficiency equals more cash to you”.

This brought awareness of the environment and the relative effects down to

individuals. Manufacturers of white goods [18] are now required to display information


on their products giving, in most cases consumers an informed choice at the point of

sale. This enables the consumer to understand the meaningful running costs and energy

efficiency of most of the products used.

Thus the value placed upon the environment of the future is demonstrated by how

society lives today.

3.3 The Greenhouse Effect:

The build up of Carbon Monoxide in the atmosphere has increased dramatically. The

burning of fossil fuels, combined with deforestation & pollution by industrialised

countries has lead to the changes in the earth’s climate. Carbon Monoxide allows most

of the solar radiation to penetrate the atmosphere, but prevents radiating heat from

escaping back into space. The resultant climactic change means that the earth may heat

up between 1.50C and 4.50C within the next 50 years. If pollution were to cease

immediately, the detrimental effects would continue for a further 150 years. The

European Union’s commitment to the reduction of Greenhouse emissions to 8% below

1990 levels by 2008 - 2012 was announced in British parliament in May 1998 [19].Plans

are in place to restrict motor traffic in urban areas should pollution levels rise above

accepted levels. The possibility exists that access to town centres may be restricted to

non - polluting vehicles on specified days only thus restricting lifestyle choice. Indeed

in the Saturday Telegraph of 29th July 2000 Ken Livingstone Mayor of London

announced his plans to charge motorists for access to central London thereby

instigating economic controls on traffic.[20]

3.4) Deadly Soup:

The mixture of gasses emitted from a modern city are many and various, ranging from

Arsenic { coal and oil fired power stations}, Nitric acid {motorised transport},

Hydrogen chloride { incinerators}, Sulphuric acid {produced in sunlight from H2 S in

sewage treatment works} and Carbon Monoxide {all land and air transport, oil & coal

fired power stations}. The air breathed by the earth’s population on a daily basis

comprises all of the above. London smogs of the past resulted in extremely poor


visibility. However the gases breathed today by London’s inhabitants are probably

more toxic than these “pea souper”.

The regeneration of cities has to take in to account the need for sustainable

development along side a reduction in pollution [21]. Less has to mean more. Less

pollution has to be combined with more housing in the form of Urban Regeneration.

“Over 90% of the population of the UK live in conurbations covering 10% of

its land area and it is estimated that, by the year 2000, half of the world's six

billion people will live in cities [22] ”.

The use of cities and the suburbs is therefore going to have more impact both now and

in the future than at any other time in our history. Energy efficient design and urban

regeneration projects need to work in synergy. Indeed the average parking space

allocation of per dwelling has shown a considerable decrease in line with Local

Planning Authority Guidelines.

3.5) Location, cause and effect:

Location of a development is extremely important and is in most cases influenced by

external factors. Tony Blair at a labour party conference prior to last election stated the

importance of

“Education, Education, Education”

In building a conurbation the developer’s cry has to be “Location, Location, Location”.

The soil structure and previous use of the site all contribute to the development cost

and therefore to the final production cost of the building to be placed on the site.

Global warming will lead to a rise in the sea level. History has shown that the sea level

has risen and fallen by 150 metres from ice-age to tropical climatic conditions. We are

currently living in an ice age, and the most stable climatic conditions the planet has

ever known [23]. Global warming may well upset this equilibrium resulting in the loss

of many low lying costal regions. This combined with the shift of the UK landmass

downwards in the south means that land such as the counties of Suffolk and Norfolk

may well be reclaimed by the sea thus exacerbating the overcrowding of the cities. This

will result in increased pressure on all urban conurbations within the next 50 years.

Re-planning of access routes throughout the country may be required. Indeed


communication systems taken for granted today may be unusable in the future.

3.6 Who Decides?

Who should accept responsibility for the global energy efficiency debt? The designer

of the houses we live in? The developer demanding the lowest cost for maximum

profit? Or the end user for not insisting on the type of housing they wish to rent or buy?

A common factor influencing all the players in this equation are market forces and

economic necessity and if progress is to be made there should be a perceived advantage

to all parties..

Social and economic needs within the community will become the deciding factor in

a liberal democracy. The public should be protected from over zealous town planners

and dominant developers imposing solutions across the board. Cost-effective solutions

for the sustainable future mirroring the aspirations of the local population have to be

produced, in order produce harmonic developments in scale with the problems facing

the urban population of the UK.

3.7 The Challenge of the Future:

“The challenge is ... to mobilize, to start rebuilding a world that is in

ecological and human equilibrium[24].”

The B. R. E. D. E. M.[25] model was set up to assess energy loss as required by “Local

agenda 21". Energy consumption by domestic appliances is not assessed within the B.

R. E. D. E. M. programme's findings; but is the area where major energy savings can

be made. This oversight must be addressed.

Reduction in excessive use of domestic electricity, fuel, and water could produce a

more sustainable future. A reduction in room temperature of one degree reduces fuel

bills by 10% per room [26]. Condensing boilers can cut down the total fuel required for

heating the home and providing hot water by, 10 - 15% [26]. However the leading

manufacturer of condensing boilers has yet to produce a boiler of this type in it’s range.

The increased urban housing need is one of the great challenges facing civilisation

today. Housing schemes work best when the social needs of the local population are


taken into account. It is important to establish how people wish to live and the impact

on urban design caused by transport, work, leisure activities, shopping, etc. Building

without reflecting these needs produces out-dated blighted building designs rapidly

falling into disrepair. Urban regeneration has to reflect the changing demands of

society adapting to the advances of communication, reflecting effective energy

efficient designs for a sustainable future.

3.8 Health Issues in Interior Architecture

3.8.1 The Western Scientific & Technological Approach

Heath issues in building are not a new science. However since Legionnaires disease

first struck a Midlands hospital [27] public awareness has risen. The symptoms of “Sick

building syndrome are no longer merely regarded as a mild sense of feeling unwell or

a slight headache. The real dangers of cooling and ventilation systems have now been

identified and the need has arisen to examine all cooling and ventilation methods for

buildings including those which had previously been regarded as “safe”.

The debate appears to turning full circle. Today buildings are designed with total

atmospheric control. The very microbes of life are being cleaned out of the air we

breath in buildings leaving the air with such a low moisture content that it can begin

to pose a heath risk in it’s self. Recent research into asthma has concluded that the

firstborn and only children of middle class families are most at risk from developing

asthma due to the excessively clean environment maintained around these children

preventing them from gained controlled exposure to toxins and thereby acquiring

immunity [28].

Current hospital practice bans all mains water without filtration from use as drinking

water, for fear of legal action should a patient become ill during an out-patient visit.

Micro-filtration is used to clarify, stabilise and sterilise all incoming water to remove

specific particle contamination, organisms which may spoil in addition to a final

sterilisation process to remove all microbial contamination [29] .

Health issues are not confined to hospitals. It is a sad fact that those living in a poorer

sociol - economic environment are at a higher risk of ill health than those in a higher


sociol - economic bracket. A study in Canada by C. Waslishyn and J L Johnson (1998)

examined the effects and particular health problems of women living in a housing

association co-operative for low income women [31]. Their findings were that

“Living in poverty results in poor health, that the majority of the poor are

women” and most importantly “that treating the health problems of individuals

without consideration of the effects of the environment are doomed to

failure”[31].

3.8.2 The Oriental Empirical Approach to Healthy Buildings (Feng Shui)

Feng-Shui is defined by Ernest J. Eitel, one of the first western writers to document

this Chinese art in 1873 as

“ The art of perceiving the subtle energies of nature and the landscape, and the

science of reconciling the best interests of living earth with those of all its

inhabitants. [32]”

Although this explanation is succinct, a greater understanding at this point would be

of more use.

Feng-Shui has many facets and was envisaged as a whole life philosophy. Nearly three

thousand years ago an order to rationalise life was devised. I shall outline the two main

areas that will be expanded upon in my Master of Arts research studies.

3.8.3 Location, Location, Location:

In common with Architecture the concept of Feng Shui perceives location as a key

element in the fortune of the building and its inhabitants. Every Chinaman takes great

care in the siting of the tombs of relatives in order to ensure good fortune to the living.

As the site chosen for a burial place takes into account

“the happiest conjunction of all heavenly and terrestrial elements” it is clear

that the same rules can be used for the choice of a location for a home [33].


There are perceived to be two different magnetic currents within the earth’s crust, one

male, one female, one positive and the other negative. The comparison to the upper and

lower portions of a man’s arm is made and the ideal site is considered to be

metaphorically speaking in the elbow region. Therefore it was considered favourable

to locate buildings or indeed cities at a point midway between two opposite energy

forces. Elevations of ground were considered to be landmarks which could be used,

rising land elevations were considered to be male and uneven softly undulating ground

, female. The favourable location of Canton City is cited as an example being situated

between

“the angle formed between two hills running in gentle curves towards the

Bogue, where they almost meet each other, forming a complete horse-shoe.”[34]

In all things a balance was considered necessary.

This then sets the parameters of a favourable or non favourable site upon which to

build. It appears to me that there might be a more rational explanation as to why this

set of criteria had been set in the first place. Might it be, for example that such a select

location has a greater advantage of being sheltered from the elements; wind, rain, cold,

and excessive heat? Additionally Eitel goes on to explain that the most undesirable

place to site a dwelling is one with no natural form of shelter or one that might in

today's engineering terms be more liable to slippage or subsidence.[35]

3.8.4 Ventilation, Ventilation, Ventilation:

The heart of the Feng-Shui philosophy as I see it is the doctrine of nature’s breath or

ventilation. They use this philosophy to explain almost every phenomenon in Nature

and once again it is seen as the spiritual energy of male & female principles [36].

The American model of interior architecture concludes with the need to control all

internal air within a building, down to the extraction of all undesirable viruses and

toxins. This man-made sanitised space that we are asked to live in works well on paper,


as did the buildings which have now been classified as having “sick building

syndrome”. Is there ever a case for too much technology? Do we need to be separated

from our natural environment? Mothers nowadays clean down every surface in order

that their new born children may be shielded from what are perceived as harmful

bacteria. However although this may protect the child initially, it removes the

opportunity of the child coming into controlled exposure to these organisms and

thereby any chance of that child becoming resistant and gaining immunity to harmful

micro-organisms. Is this not doing humanity a disservice as they will then be ill

equipped to cope with these organisms when exposed in later life? Additionally the

deaths in native Eskimo tribes in Canada due to exposure to the common cold virus

carried by the settlers of their country is well known.

Has Feng-Shui anything to offer in today's society? In William Spear’s opinion society

today has become far too dependent on technology and computer aided design in it’s

search for energy conservation and has only just begun to see the consequences of

many of the proposed solutions on both the environment and the health of society as

a whole [37] . He feels that we should perhaps become more aware of the impact of

energy which cannot be as easily measured. Spear accepts that computer technology

is here to stay but feels that the designers of the future “will of necessity, use

intuition, instinct, and creativity much more in order to build vital environments

sensitive to the people who inhabit them.[37]

In conclusion I think that there is a possibility that some of the old world thinking of

Feng Shui may provide a few of the solutions to our energy conservation problems of

today. If by doing so this proves to be less damaging to our own health and well-

being then this would be advantageous. One of my guiding philosophies over the

coming months will be that

“the art of green design is not just what is put into a building, but what is left

out. The nicest systems are those ones you no longer need [38.]


3.9 Low Energy Architecture:

3.9.1 A Computer Derived Solution for Beijing

Vanke City Garden, Beijing is the setting for the “computational fluid dynamics” trial

outlined in the paper by Professor Les Norford of MIT, Boston, USA entitled “Design

of natural ventilation and outdoor comfort by a team of architects and engineers with

the CFD technique”.[12] The paper investigates the effectiveness of use of a courtyard

of a selected building within a development to capture the prevailing south wind for

natural ventilation provision. The results showed that stack ventilation or assisted

ventilation would be required as the courtyard size made little impact on the ventilation

of the building. This was due to both low wind speeds and the proximity of a tall

building adjacent to the site and the resultant shadowing effect this had over the target

site.

A second study was undertaken mapping the effects of high-rise buildings on a site in

Vanke Doushi Garden Beijing [12]. A set of three designs were produced, each

developed from the results of the predecessor. The paper concluded that computational

fluid dynamics (CFD) were useful tools in the provision of natural ventilation and

thermal comfort in buildings. The CFD technique enabled engineers to calculate

airflow distributions in and around buildings thus assisting architectural design as

several alterations were required to gain the ideal environment both inside and outside

the building. This was a good example of interdisciplinary work.

Computer simulations without resort to wind-tunnel experimentations and the rounding

up errors associated therein demonstrates CFD tools to good effect. This is a positive

step, which may well lead to a reduction in the need for mechanical ventilation and the

wider use of natural resources.


3.10 Sustainable Architecture for Low Income Housing:

3.10.1 The Boston Approach - Erie Ellington Project

Further to my meeting with Professor Les K. Norford and my interest in sustainable

architecture, I was invited to attend a lecture a t MIT. This was given by The Green

Village Group, a group of New England architects, and Energy Value Housing Silver

Award Winners in 1998, invited into Massachusetts Institute of Technology to give a

lecture on sustainable architecture

The Green Village Group had proposed the creation of a series of low-income homes

in Erie-Ellington Boston Massachusetts, USA, based upon a dry heating and cooling

system. This "Eco-Dynamic" system relies upon total control of the building envelope.

The flow of air is dependant in no small part on accepting less that half a square inch

leakage per one hundred square feet of external wall, roof, window, door, and floor

areas. By this control of "Infiltration",of air, heating is reduced by 30% giving an

overall CO2 reduction of 800 pounds per annum, over 50 years with corresponding

reduction in energy usage. The projected building cost was less than US$80.00 per

square foot rather than the local norm of US$107.00 per square foot [39] The energy

savings in these new homes are evidently so great that only one heating /cooling system

is required for a three unit-housing block, as opposed to a similar conventional design

which requires a system three times greater. The designs having been granted relevant

planning assent were in the early stages of on site construction in September 1999.

The advantages put forward for this design were the conservation of energy with a

corresponding reduction in condensation, a major concern in timber fabricated

buildings in the USA. The arguments focussed upon controlling the air flow through

the building. There was to be a highly refined control of air ducted to control both the

temperature of the building and to give clean air to the occupants. The mass production

of these modular sealed building units were to be controlled to a high degree under

factory conditions.


Commendably this architectural group was determined to provide a workable low

energy, sustainable solution to a defined housing need. However the total reliance on

technology was seen as a panacea. The design of the buildings was a conventional one,

the building process having been tested and proved by the Canadian timber cabin

manufacturers to be successful, for more than ten years. The only novel aspect to this

project was the tanking of the external membrane.

The Erie Ellington project solution took no account of natural shading or the benefits

that this may bring to the housing project. Vitruvius, in 110 BC commented on how

the use of colour may substantially affect a building’s energy use [3]

It was his view that “In a hot climate, a white or light-coloured roof in combination

with well-placed shade trees can lower the building's cooling load by 30%”.

A project built in Israel in 1999 corroborated Vitruvius’s theory with an identical

energy saving of 30% through the use of a sophisticated shading system which was

additionally aesthetically pleasing [41].

It has become clear to me during the course of my research that single track solutions

purporting to solve energy efficiency problems do not take a holistic approach of the

way in which we live.

I was drawn to an article in “Health Estate” discussing the problems of unsupervised

smoking in dangerous areas following the introduction of smoking restrictions in

Morrison Hospital, Swansea.[42]. The problem of smoke filled buildings had been

resolved, but a secondary problem of litter and congestion at potentially vital escape

doorways was created in it’s place. Michael Corbett supports the argument that only

if a multitude of problems are solved by a single solution, can the upheld solution be

justified. He says and I quote:

"You are on the right track when your solution for one problem

accidentally solves several others. You decide to minimise automobile use


to conserve fossil fuel, for example, and realise that this will reduce noise,

conserve land by minimising streets and parking, multiply opportunities

for social contact, safer for children." [43]

This single track approach has been enlightening to me and has given me the incentive

to investigate alternative solutions or combining proven technology such as the

solutions provided in places such as Beijing with vernacular architecture in order to

find a workable solution in the London area. For as Ted Saunders commented; “

Vernacular architecture is almost always climactically appropriate” [44],

Chapter 4: Master of Arts Personal Project

4.1 Personal project objectives.

This chapter set out to document my route through to a designed resolution of my

personal project. My underlying objective up to this point has been to highlight the

dilemmas associated with the paradigm of sealed buildings. To achieve the government

mandated energy savings, required in the 1992 United Nations Rio de Janeiro “Earth

Summit”, by the total dependance upon filtered Mechanical-ventilation systems is in

my view fundamentally flawed. Low energy affordable housing using passive stack

ventilation coupled with sustainability is an achievable goal. My proposal is to

demonstrate this. I identified three parallel projects that could be undertaken which

would each individually achieve this project goal:

1) A research based project; To collate related published research on

sustainable low energy domestic architecture. This would culminate in

the production of a “Teaching Manual”.

2) A design based project; To design a building demonstrating a viable

alternative to a Mechanically ventilated housing project, concluding

with the production of drawings, models.


3) An education based project;. Production of a graphic based manual.

This manual would be produced to aid teaching regarding the benefits

of natural ventilation.

I felt that each of these projects were achievable initially. However as my research

progressed, it became apparent to me that all were achievable given appropriate time

and financial resources. Within the constraints of this MA programme however, I

concluded that it would be best to focus on project Two as the subject of my MA in

Design.

4.2 Introduction

Air in architecture is my defining theme for this MA personal project. My research,

outlined in chapters one to three, has focussed on low energy building materials,

environmental aspects to building issues, temperature loading of the internal

environment, and health issues related to lifestyle options. Linking all of these issues

is the movement of air through the internal spaces in a home setting. I therefore believe

that Air in Architecture is a link between low energy building, reduction or elimination

of sick building syndrome, and the opening up of the spaces within the home to create

a viable agreeable living environment.

Richard Rogers wrote in his book “Cities for a small planet”[45];

“half the energy derived from fossil fuels is consumed by buildings....According

to the Scientific American, the buildings of the industrialised world consumed

in 1985 an estimated $250 billion worth of energy...“Three-quarters of everyday

energy use in buildings is accounted for, in more or less equal proportions, by

artificial lighting, heating and cooling.”[46]

My aim is to develop a design incorporating sustainable technologies, whilst

simultaneously reducing its resultant pollution and running costs. The challenge of my

project is to reduce the energy consumption required within the domestic setting. I


believe that this can be achieved through the use of low energy appliances, prolonged

use of natural lighting via opening up of internal spaces, and by viewing the function

of the core elements of the house. In view of the pressure on the environment today it

is important that my project design is sustainable. This is defined as the concept of

living and developing in ways which ensure future generations can enjoy the earth's

riches. In other words living today with tomorrow in mind.

I also considered whether a single housing project could be transported from an urban

to a rural site with little or no structural alteration? The Victorians were able to achieve

this in their terraced houses. The modern day equivalent is the terraced Berkeley Home.

These houses are seen in both housing environs with little internal restructuring, the

external appearance being influenced by the vernacular architecture of their

surroundings. My design proposal is therefore located in both an urban and rural setting

thus demonstrating a similar design flexibility.

Canadian and American buildings are currently receiving praise for their ability to seal-

off the external atmosphere from the internal environment. To achieve the desired

lowering of energy there is a reliance upon mechanical filtered ventilation systems.

“Passive Stack” ventilation on the other hand relies upon natural air movement

throughout the building, using stairs and natural air movement exhausting through

mechanical or passive exhaust ventilation systems thus promoting fresh air circulation.

Frank Lloyd Wright wrote in the New York Times on October 4th 1953;

“The physician can bury his mistakes, but the architect can only advise his client

to plant vines.”[47]

What would happen if architects' adherence to a single design ethos resulted in the

ability to prematurely bury their clients as efficiently? Should buildings be built at any

price? Is there a design philosophy that can provide low energy buildings and at the

same time provide for a healthy comfortable living standard?

My contention is that a multi-disciplinary solution will have greater health benefits


whilst reducing energy requirements for the design. My design ethos is founded in the

augmentation of good ideas from around the world, and from the present and the past

alike, to create a workable alternative to the sealed building approach in domestic

architecture.

H. Kawada et al's Medical research [48] into airborne Tuberculosis at the Department

of Pulmonary Medicine, National Medical Centre of Japan, Tokyo, published in April

1998, concluded;

“this outbreak was caused by exogenous reinfection. Which may be one patternof tuberculosis transmission in this high-risk environment”[49].

Fig 4.2.1 Air circulation using natural gravity convection within a room

High risk environments are created by poor damp air conditions with stale air or air

that has been re-circulated with inadequate or non functioning screen filtration systems.

Victorian buildings designed with natural non mechanical ventilation systems fall into

this category when “upgraded” with sealed double glazed windows and doors, thus

providing an ideal environment for hostile bacteria to infect the inhabitants. The

increased use of Double glazing is considered to be one of the reasons for the increase


in TB cases in the UK by some medical personnel.

J. Korsgaard's [50] research into the epidemiology of house-dust mites, carried out in the

Department of Chest Diseases, Silkeborg County Hospital, Denmark concluded that

in temperate climates increased indoor air humidity is directly related to the occurrence

of house-dust mites. Present-day building of energy-efficient houses with increased

sealing of the building envelope, parallelled by a similar renovation of older houses,

has increased indoor air humidity and is considered to be the cause of the almost

fourfold increase in the occurrence of house-dust mites in Danish dwellings. These

dust mites are considered to be the cause of asthma and other respiratory illnesses.

Recurrent incidences of sickness in long-haul aircraft has been frontline news recently,

with recurring reports of flight sickness in Boeing 777 aircraft. This has been attributed

to recycled air within the sealed cabin which is in essence the same principle as

controlling the air through the use of recirculating filtered air within a sealed building.

Recent studies have shown that the lack of exposure to micro-bacteria in newborn

babies and toddlers of up to two years old, due to over cleaning of surfaces by over

protective parents produces a higher incidence of respiratory illness [51]. It is likely, I

believe, that over cleaning of the air-borne particulates will produce simular results.

The introduction therefore of cleansed sanitised air as a major constituent of the

internal building's atmosphere could well produce similar results in the future.


Problems with health appear to be linked to humidity levels, ventilation and filtration

systems, particularly with respect to recycled air. Fresh air must flow through a

building at the rate of 20 m3 per person per hour [52] in order to provide adequate

ventilation for the occupants. At this rate damp and the threat of mould build up is

reduced or eliminated.

Fig 4.2.2 Typical Victorian terrace of cottages, Downe, Kent. Photo Nick Wood 19/06/00

The Victorians used natural ventilation induced by draughts from windows and doors,

aided by open fires, to promote air movement through the building. Air moved from

high pressure hot rooms to lower pressured colder rooms. These rooms during the day

would be on the upper floor, thereby promoting air flow from the living rooms through

to the upper sleeping rooms and then venting out through open unlit fireplaces.

The modern equivalent Terraced house I have chosen for comparison is a Berkeley

Homes development in Westerham , Kent. “Austin Court” [53] completed by uses

trickle venting systems to replace ill-fitting windows found in the Victorian home.

Internal doors are fitted with integral louver panels thus promoting inter-room air

movement.


Fig 4.2.3 Berkeley Home development, London Road, Westerham, Kent. Nick Wood 19/06/00

The designs are further aided by the introduction of exhaust ventilation in bathrooms

and kitchens. In my view, Fire regulations not withstanding, the boxed stairwell is

where the design inhibits air movement.

The Erie-Ellington project [54] , as outlined in the previous chapter, uses Mechanical

ventilation of a sealed building for both heating and ventilation. Whilst I have been

critical for the American dependance on the mechanical ventilation, climatic extremes

of temperature may require air cooling as part of the solution. However in UK which

has a more temperate climate and rarely experiences extremes of temperature, passive

stack ventilation could provide a solution. The Sealed building approach to architecture

for both countries may not be dismissed as lightly. This sealing of the building

envelope within the confines of both a European and American context is not only

unnecessary, but could in the long run prove to have detrimental health consequences.


Fig 4.2.4 Ribbon cutting ceremony at Eerie-Ellington, Photo Green Village Company.

4.3 Heat loading on buildings

Heat load of buildings has been seen to be dramatically reduced by the introduction of

natural shading. This can be provided by the proximity of buildings to shade giving

trees. Part of my design solution for this was to bring the shading onto the building

itself. This will be achieved by the introduction of balconies and planter boxes, the

planter boxes providing the environment for climbing plants.

Fig 4.3.1 “Sketch” drawing showing planter boxes and climbing plant climbing


wires.

Drawing Nick Wood 19/06/00

Dr B. C. Wolverton, a Scientist working on the NASA breathable environment Lunar

habitat suggested [55] Such as Hedera Helix (English Ivy) and Ficus Benjamina natural

shading to grow up climbing frames attached to the front of the balcony.

The value of shade is only truly appreciated in the heat of the day. The value of energy

is likewise inversely proportional its availability but also carries hidden costs to both

health and the environment. The need to conserve energy through nationally enforced

guidelines has produced a multiplicity of solutions including those specifically related

to building design and construction.

Computerization of building ‘U’ value analysis have enabled assessments to be made

of enclosed spaces prior to construction. The hitherto hidden human cost to human

health associated with poor building design have also been established. Complex

interactions between building materials, contaminating partials, humidity, visual

stimulation, ease of usage, perceived air quality, produce complex analytical engines.

The removal of the human factor from space computations and concentration on single

building related issues simplifies the analytical engine. This reduces the design costs

whilst being seen to comply with the current building regulations.

My approach to this house design has been to open up the living space allowing air to

flow through the building, thus reducing or removing the need for mechanical ducted

ventilation. The design proposal took me through several convolutions before a

workable solution presented itself.

The list of specifications which I thought the proposed design should satisfy are listed

in appendix 1, and became the parameters for my personal project.

Research into a Victorian terraced house and a newly build Berkeley Homes

development provided me with current and past building prototypes to use as a point

of departure for my project. The Erie-Ellington project in Boston provided the catalyst


to design a solution that was not dependant upon Mechanical ventilation for heating

and ventilation. From history I borrowed both the classical Palladian hierarchical order

of living and Vitruvius’s theories on the advantages of natural shading[40].

Chapter 5 Design projects

5.0 Personal project.

My personal project began with the specification of the design brief, as laid out in

Appendix 1. The starting point was the effectiveness of a profiled roof. I wanted to

produce a design in which the roof assisted in the extraction of the air within the

building. I thought that this would be achieved by rising heat creating a vacuum within

the building thus generating effective internal air movement.

5.1 Profiled Roof Project

When air moves over a profiled surface similar to that of a wing in an aircraft a

vacuum is created by a body of air moving over two or more surfaces of unequal

lengths. This was the theory that prompted my wing shaped design.

performance diagram shows the point at which stalling the wing occurs. It is at this

point that I need to introduce the step in the roof profile.[56]


Fig 2.1.7 This shows the point at which the boundary layer effect de-laminates from

the wing surface. At this point the co-efficient of drag increases exponentially. It is at

this point that exhausting air from the building could be effectively drawn from the

building.

fig 2.13. [58] Illustrates the effect various shapes have on the air that passes around

them. A. C. Kermode[57]

Furthermore air flow over an interrupted surface generates a vortex. The introduction

of an escape vent at this point would enhance the extraction of air from the building.


Fig 5.1.3 Wing Profile House Design Proposal 1 Drawing Nick Wood

These theories are acceptable for aircraft which have a predicted air velocity. Buildings

the other hand are in the main static structures that have air movement patterns flowing

past them at unregulated velocities. This became the undoing of this particular line of

design. Fig 5.1.3 shows this design. The reliance on the roof to provide the entire

answer to natural ventilation resulted in a single approach design solution, which was

the very approach I was looking to avoid.

5.2 Terraced house Project

Support from the MA course leader, Francine Norris, was provided by the suggestion

that I designed a terraced house comprising four units with the maximum external

dimensions of thirty metres by nine metres by eight metres height. The terraced house

was to have a single unit comprising a three bedroom house, one single bedroom

house and, two units comprising two-bedroom houses. Each house was to have two

horizontal planes and two vertical planes. One column only could be used. The vertical

planes were to be constricted so that one plane was twice the size of the other. This

suggestion enabled me to refocus the project from a different and untried angle. Neither

of us were sure whether this would work. Looking at the problem from a different

angle, far from being a insurmountable problem became an enjoyable challenge.


Fig 5.2.1 Terraced house project 2

The solution lay in widening the creative boundaries freeing me from previously self

imposed restrictions . No rules were set for party wall conditions. This meant that by

splitting the development into eight units, and allocating each proportionally to each

unit, the 3 bed unit getting 3 x 1/8th and the two bed units being allowed 2 x 1/8th etc.

the zoning of the unit was achieved. The party wall was then offset by 2m each side of

the dividing unit, and further split at the floor levels. By bridging the twin party walls

at the first floor level a bathroom space was created for each without the need for

additional internal walls. Double height living spaces were created from the ground

floor, with the stairs providing vertical communication between the floors. This

enabled me to achieve some of the opening up of space that I had been searching for.

Fig 5.2.1 shows an exploded view of this project.

However there were problems with this designed solution. The terraced outer units

were orientated through 180 degrees to the inner two units. This would have proved

unworkable in a terraced scenario with front access only. Additionally the splitting of

the party wall would result in increased building costs and present constructional

problems. Twin Rolled Steel Joists would have to be set on twin footings thus doubling


the construction cost for this item. Another problem with the proposal was the lack of

identifiable main access points to the building.

Notwithstanding the project was successful in that it allowed me to break free from

pre-conceived ideas of spacial design. This enabled me to look at the problem from

hitherto unseen dimensions. This enabled me to reconstruct the project using the

lessons learned. The project had not yet addressed the facade detailing, nor indeed was

it designed to do so. The next stage in design would need to look at this aspect of the

problem.

Fig 5.2.2 shows development of terraced house, 2 Bed unit. Drawing Nick Wood


I decided it would be beneficial to take this proposal further. With this floor plan layout

I wanted to explore the aspect of through ventilation and use of stairs for more than

vertical access.

Zaha Hadid’s work [59] with ramps which provided sloping vertical access from level

to level was of interest to me. Using stairs for mere vertical communication looked on

the face of it a waste of good living space. Lifts , if they were reliable and not energy

dependant would be far more use and less floor area intensive. Stairs were however the

low running cost solution that I needed for this project.

Using the inter-floor landing as an office space afforded one solution. This had the

ability of breaking away from single floor living. Stairs now could become living

spaces in their own right. The mezzanine floor accessed from the second inter-floor

landing would have had far reaching design implications. In this version the mezzanine

would have triangulated supported from the external front wall, the inner party wall

and the inter-floor stairs. Access to the second level balcony would be from this

Mezzanine floor, affording a one and a half floor height external frontage and a greater

feeling of openness and freedom of movement, when seen from the living room.

Enhancing the flow of air through the building was the next task. By opening up the

first floor landing corridor wall, air could move from the front to the back of the house

creating cross ventilation. Opening up the bedroom floor to create a double height void

through to the diningroom below would increase the flow of air through to the back of

the building. However the cost of this would be in building interrupted floors

necessitating the introduction of RSJ support at the floor edge. Noise from the dining

room to the bedroom, and vice-versa could prove to be a problem. However with a

young child in the bedroom, parents could keep a ear out for them and still enjoy a

meal. The bathroom followed a conventional type and would need fan extraction to

avoid steam buildup. Access to the rear balcony would be through the bedroom.

Several more lessons had therefore been learnt for the next design stage. Presenting

these findings to Francine Norris and peers proved useful. Colin Perrott was


informative and encouraging. His enthusiasm spurred me on when the thought of

“starting again” began to take its toll.

5.3 Air-tech-Homes

Fig. 5.3.1 Stairs with house attached. Stage 1 Fig 5.1.3 Drawing Nick Wood

Having finished the terraced house project and following the ethos of Eugene

DeLacroix who said that he never knew whether a painting was finished until he went

too far and ruined it, the MA proposal then took another turn . What had started out as

a straight forward project was now becoming complicated . Having seen that the main

principles could work, it was time to develop a project which was taken to completion

. Time was running out and the design needed to be finalised . I decided that the house

was really stairs with a house attached and I therefore started with this ethos in mind

putting in an entrance door to give a 1,2m corridor and then stairs directly beside it .

The rest of the house would be hung off these features .

This is not the conventional manner in which I had designed houses in the past but as

I have already demonstrated, producing conventional designs can be dangerous. It was

liberating to be able to start the design from a different angle. I was now looking at

buildings in a similar manner to the deconstructionists albeit in a limited way. I took

the building apart and reassembled it to see how it would fit together again. My design

to date had not demonstrated the unconventionality of some, such as the use of spirals


rising through the building, in the manor of Liibeskind [60]. In effect I was making use

of the stairs to go up through the building, but making them a larger feature than

hitherto deemed appropriate in a domestic setting. I wished to make the stairs part of

the living building rather than a functional apology stuck on the side. This alteration

allowed me to open up the living area to a 1.5m - 2m height void allowing a greater

freedom of movement of both of air and of intellectual space for the inhabitants .

Fig 5.3.2 Full section of house prior to forming terrace. Drawing Nick Wood

My critics would say that this is a needless waste of space as the last square millimetre

of useable space has not been packed onto every floor. In my opinion that particular

approach produces “shoe boxes” that are neither elegant nor practical and destroy the

soul of the occupants. I would like to design a house that has more flow and movement

than conventionally found in low income housing. I am relying on tried and trusted

building techniques. In doing so I aim to prove a point on construction that designs

unconventional in their layout can be effectively built. By moving the sleeping quarters

on the upper floors which are in the Palladian mode to one side of the building I was

able to open up the living space below to allow more freedom for light and air to

penetrate into the heart of the building. By sloping the roof on a curve what I was able

to tuck the stairs underneath giving the semblance of a wave pattern or movement that

air would be seen to make if it were visible. This pattern is reminiscent of the wing

profiles that I was using in the initial stages of the project but in a more stylised form.


Using flat plate simplified the construction and I felt justified in using a wave pattern

on the lower roof through the introduction of laminated timber beams. The cost of this

would be offset by the reduction that I would obtain from energy efficiencies elsewhere

in the building. At this point glazing materials needed to be considered. I had looked

at conventional double glazing units and concluded that the argon filled low energy

glass double glazed units were those that I wished to use in the design. Whilst more

expensive than conventional double glazing, the energy efficiencies gained from these

more than off set the initial purchase price.

My aim was to design a building which year on year would give savings even though

the building cost may be slightly higher than the standard energy efficient home today.

It is my belief that investment in the future will pay off fourfold thus creating

sustainable development. I did not want to follow the line of saving money in the short

term to the detriment of long term savings. Investment in infrastructure at the time of

building allowing householders to reap the benefits over the life of the house, a time

span of some 50 years is in my opinion more acceptable than saving money by building

cheaply initially and retrofitting with energy saving strategies. Currently this is

happening frequently under local agenda 21 mandated schemes, where local councils

are obligated to update their housing stock . This places an exponentially high cost on

the energy debate and in a lot of cases is mere window dressing.

Double glazing has a payback period of over twenty years compared with wall

insulation or low energy lighting with payback periods of two and a half years and

several months respectively. These strategies are therefore more cost effective to

implement. In theory, the opening up of the roof with Velux windows should result in

prolonged daylight infiltrating the building thereby decreasing the amount of energy

required to light the building particularly on overcast days.

The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia, Norwich where

Foster Associates[61] encapsulated louvres within the glazing units thus saving cleaning

and maintenance of those systems was the inspiration for my next idea . Once the

double glazed units were installed as an argon filled system, I envisaged the


encapsulation in the remaining frame of a louvre sealed with a sheet of glass. This

would result in the same effect as was achieved at the Sainsbury centre but at a fraction

of the price. The roof lights would have mechanically operated louvres running on

solar voltaic cells with power back up for cloudy days.

Additionally Domestic hot water systems would be supported up by additional roof

radiators thus augmenting the heating system and reducing energy consumption.

Household grey water would be stored underneath the building and circulated back

through the planters which would also act as reed beds purifying the water.

Alternatively reed beds could be planted on site and the purified water then pumped

back into the dwellings to be used both internally and to irrigate the balcony systems.

Reed beds result in 99% water purity, well above domestic requirements but I aim to

use the recycled water only for irrigation purposes and for spraying onto the plants

thus creating additional cooling effects[62] Although pure enough for domestic

consumption, in the absence of considerable public education and promotion this may

prove unacceptable in some households. I therefore intend to use a dual system, one

for water which is recycled and one for mains water entering the house which will be

used for drinking and bathing. Bathwater will be recycled as grey water and can

additionally be used for the WC systems. Rain water collection will be through down

pipe filtration which will go into the main collection tanks augmenting the grey water

and to be used for irrigation purposes.

At this stage the design had taken on an orthangonal orientation and thus quite closely

was following a conventional design. The design was put up to full visualisation with

the construction and detailing of the interior surfaces and the construction of the

external walls. The house was now complete. However when the three were placed

adjacently as a terraced development, the design began in my opinion to look very

ordinary, uninspiring and lacking in architectural movement. This design would not

represent the movement of air within the internal spaces which had been a key design

element.


Fig 5.3.4 Terraced Project 3 buildings. Drawing Nick Wood

Lessons learnt earlier, particularly that of not changing direction completely until the

full design potential had been explored now payed dividends. I continued with the

design development establishing whether any further lessons could be learned. In order

to make the building more dynamic the stairs were rotated and relocated relative to the

front door. I then looked at the effect this had on the building as a whole.

The opportunity to attend a lecture by Zaha Hadid presented itself [59]. I empathised

with her unconventional style and approach. This was epitomised in her sketch for a

tennis court, which initially appeared unworkable but on further examination was

plausible. The exploration of the seemingly impossible resulted in the final stage of

design, which is now my design proposal.


Chapter 6: Design Solution for MA Exhibition

6.1 Low Energy Eco-Air-Housing Project

“It is not easy being green”[63] Kermit the frog, The Muppet Show, 1972

I have found the project design notebooks of great value to me throughout this design

process. Personally, this had been an underutilised medium previously, the computer

having been used in preference.

Fig 6.1.1 Sketch of possible floor layout (Scanned from own sketch book).Drawing Nick

Wood

I returned to the roof and looked at the flat profile 300 roof pitch. I looked at what

would happen if I took the ridge and twisted it across the floor plan, running the ridge


line from the centre of the rear of the building and allowing it to crash into the front

facade, at about 25o to the perpendicular. The effect was quite startling. The hidden

central recess of the building opened up, not only to light but equally importantly to air.

This allowed movement of air throughout the building presenting me with a great

opportunity, which I have now taken full advantage of. I attended a lecture by Zaha

Hadid at around this time and was fascinated to see her design proposals. There were

striking similarities with my own ideas. This gave me the resolve to progress with this

design proposal.

The final design is a set of single pitched rooves with a rotated ridge line. On the front

facade, a shed roof runs up from the first floor over the second floor mezzanine. When

two units are therefore placed back to back, the resultant appearance from the front

facade is a “conventional” two and a half storey house. This gave me a tremendous

opportunity. The front facade could now can be treated to fit in with an ultra modern

street setting, or conversely with a traditional village setting. Only when proceeding to

the rear of the house is the Deconstructionalist nature of the building revealed. Thus

finally I was able to satisfy this particular design criteria, that of transferability of

location of the design.

This was not the prime motivation for this line of thinking but had quite a beneficial

side effect.

“You know you are on the right track when your solution for one problem

accidentally solves others.” [64]

I had at the stroke of a pencil, produced a design addressing more than simply the

original design criteria. The design will work as a terrace, a semi - detached or a

detached house, and can be expanded or contracted to suit the occupancy numbers. The

flat sloping rooves are also less costly to build than the wave form of the previous

design.

The turning of the stairs through 300 allowed freedom of movement within the

building’s internal layout while the placing of the stairs in the middle of the building


opened up the building form. This freed up the front of the house for the kitchen and

entrance hall providing a conventional entrance scenario. This was the solution I had

been long been searching for.

The stairs could be used as part of the living space rather than merely effecting

transition from one plane to another. The space below the inter floor landing could be

utilised for grey water storage with storage of purified water also contained within the

same space. The area under the return stairs has been utilised for a work desk placed

on a pivot in order that it may be used either in the storage position, or rotated out into

the living space as the householders desire. The inter floor landing is designed to be

used either as an office or a library.

The design perimeter started off as a recta linear form. This developed along the

courtyard elevation into a sawtooth profile due to the need to afford privacy from the

adjoining terraced house. The rearward facing elevations have glazing panels set into

them whilst the return faces are flanking walls. An example of this design form can be

found in Basel Spence’s design for the Guards Chapel, Birdcage Walk, London, built

in 1962.[65]

Fig 6.2.2 Rear view of Project 4 showing movement in roof. Image shown minus

Balconies for clarity. Drawing Nick Wood


Windows for the project are to be Argon filled sealed double glazed units. A third

glazing pane encapsulates a solar powered mechanised louver blind system, inspired

by the design for the Sainsbury Centre, University of East Anglia, Windows have

been set into the roof over the living area. This enabled the provision of additional

daylight, another design criteria. Additionally it afforded a greater degree of ventilation

options for the occupants.

At the junction of the roof above the living area with the first floor walls, ventilation

and lighting opportunities have also been created.

6.2 Project Summary

This paper has been produced as part of my Master of Arts project report and should

be read in conjunction with the MA show held at KIAD in September 2000.

Sustainability is not a simple subject. I have therefore been able to only scratch the

surface of this subject. Low energy naturally ventilated housing combined with

“healthy holistic” living is the main thrust of my project proposal. The first three

chapters show a progressive development of my understanding of the subject, and an

introduction to the complex interrelationship between technological solutions and their

impact on the environment. There is a need to highlight the true cost to human health

of single track solutions. Research into this subject has been outlined within the first

three chapters. chapters fourth, five, & 6 documents the design project required by the

MA programme. My research has been aided by the use of a qualitative analytical

programme Nud*ist N4. This has enabled me to collate both logical argument and

source materials efficiently thus allowing me to cover the subject in greater depth in

preparation for my doctoral studies. This paper therefore should be read in part as an

application to carry the research forward at doctoral level. This project is by no means

over...This is just the beginning.

Additionally the following key linking findings were uncovered by my research:

i) air bourn diseases are linked with an exponential rise in filtered mechanical

ventilation. [1] 3.8

ii) Asthma is linked with sealed buildings.[50], [48],

iii) The rise of dust mite infestion rose in-line with the fitting of double glazed


housing. [50]

iv) Passive stack ventilation can be linked with heat recovery systems. 3.8.3

v) Fresh clean air is better than filtered air.[55], [52]

vi) Single issue solutions bring with them many unexpected seemingly unrelated

problems. [36], 4.2

vii) Passive stack houses are better than mechanically ventilated ones, provided

they are well designed.3.9.1 4.2 [1]

viii) An Holistic approach to design is the preferred design option. [36] 3.2.8

ix) Heat loading can be reduced by green shading [40]

The project design solution proposed at puts forward one possible solution to the low

energy healthy living debate. I have shown through my research reasons why the

building should be produced as a holistic design, avoiding single faceted solutions to

solve complex problems. The design has movement and openness. Both of these are

essential to my project brief. Having produced four design proposals, the final one is

the design which satisfies both the core requirements and aesthetic aspects of the

design. I am satisfied that this solution can be built and that it will deliver energy

savings whilst providing a healthy environment in which to live. Furthermore This

proposal should provide a starting point for the next phase, that of a doctoral research

project.

[*] denotes text reference notes,

3.8.1 denotes chapter an sub heading reference

Text Reference

[1] S. B. Riffatt & G. Gan, Passive Ventilation for Residential Air Quality Control,Institute of Building Technology, Department of Architecture & BuildingTechnology, University of Nottingham, UK, Sept 1997.

Text Ref. Page 55

[2] Menzies D. Pasztor J. Nunes F. Leduc J. Chan CH., Effect of a newventilation system on health and well-being of office workers, McGillUniversity, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Archives of Environmental Health. 52(5):360-7, 1997 Sep-Oct.” Sick building syndrome is the term given to aheterogeneous constellation of symptoms that affects workers in modernmechanically ventilated office.

[3] Vitruvius Architect 110 BC, Ecological design handbook, Fred A. Stitt,McGraw-Hill, 1999, p 12

[4] Original research Nick Wood, Post Graduate Diploma Submission, KIAD,January 2000.

[5] Original research Nick Wood, Post Graduate Diploma Submission, KIAD,January 2000.

[6] Siewiorek, Daniel P., “Design Process Vision”, Carnegie Mellon University,1998,paper publ ished on the Internet at http: / /www .ece.cmu.edu/pubs/vision/design.html

[7] Rutenbar Rob P., “Strategic directions in CAD”, Carnegie Mellon University,1 9 9 8 , p a p e r p u b l i s h e d o n t h e I n t e r n e t a thttp://www.ece.cmu.edu/pubs/vision/cad.html

[8] D. Lopez Barnett & W. D. Browning, Rocky Mountain Institute, “GreenBuilding Design” from a book by F. A. Stitt, Ecological Design Handbook,Chapter 2, P9, Published by McGraw-Hill, 1999.

[9] William Porter personal communication. Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology. November 1999.

[10] Professor Les Norford personal communication. Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology. November 1999.

[11] L. Norford, L. Caldas, J. Kaufman, L Glicksman, A. Scott, & Q. Chen,“Opportunities to maintain thermal comfort in Beijing housing without vapourcompression cooling equipment.” given to me by Professor L. Norford prior topublication in energy conference held in Beijing China, November 1999.

[12] Y. Jiang, H. Xing, C. Straub, Q. Chen, A. M. Scott, L. R. Glicksman, & L. K.

Text Ref. Page 56

Norford. Design of natural ventilation and outdoor comfort by a team ofarchitects and engineers with the CFD Technique. given to me by Professor L.Norford prior to publication in energy conference held in Beijing China,November 1999

[13] Tutorial with Professor L. K. Norford, to discuss air in architecture, and thestudies that were underway in India and China. Tutorial held at MIT, November1999.

[14] Local Agenda 21 for Maidstone, paragraph one; agenda21-Maidstone. html(November 1998)

[15] Local Agenda 21 for Maidstone, paragraph three; agenda21-Maidstone. html(November 1998)

[16] George Santayana, The life of Reason, Volume 1, chapter xii; published 1905

[17] Kenneth Garland, Aviation; the complete book of aircraft & flight, Missiles &Space exploration; , published 1980.

[18] Dieter Rams, The responsibility of design in the future, The role of productdesign in the post-industrial, published 1998.

[19] Department of the Environment Transport and the Regions policy statement,Introduction of the governments Environmental, Transport & Regionalprogramme during the UK presidency of the European Union, published May1998.

[20] Saturday Telegraph of 29th July 2000 Ken Livingstone Mayor of London.

[21] “Less is more” is attributed to Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886 - 1969),although it appeared in Robert Browning's poem “Andrea del Sarto” publishedin 1855.

[22] Professor Sir Geoffrey Allen, Urban Regeneration and the Environment,Chairman of the scientific steering committee, urgent-urban ~ renewal. html published 1998.

Text Ref. Page 57

[23] National Geographic “Careless Neighbours” April 1987 ;

[24] Martin Heidegger, Building, Dwelling, Thinking in “poetry, language,Thought”, Published in 1975

[25] Jerome B Wiesener, president Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,“the ozone enigma”, National Geographic, April 1987.

[26] Chris Read, Environmental Officer, London Borough of Sutton. Interviewconducted in October 1998, Subject Low Energy Housing.

[27] M. O. Austin, Interview with Mr Austin, November 1999, Subject: Sickbuilding syndrome in relation to a hospital environment.

[28] BBC 2 programme, “Nannies” February 1999

[29] D. Hunter, Health Estates Journal, Feb 1999, p 6

[30] Building Research Establishment Domestic Energy Model.

[31] Wasylishyn & Johnson, the effects of living in a housing association co-operative for low income women, Social Science and Medicine journal, 1998,Vol 47 part 7 pp 973 - 81

[32] Ernest J. Eitel, Feng-Shui; The Science of sacred landscape in old China,Synergetic Press, 1988 Afterward by John Michell.

[33] Ernest J. Eitel, Feng-Shui; The Science of sacred landscape in old China,Synergetic Press, 1988 P17




Text Ref. Page 58

[37] William Spear, Feng Shui made easy, Thorsons, 1995, p36

[38] Ted Saunders, 1994, Ecological design handbook, Fred A. Stitt, McGraw-Hill,1999.P11

[39] Bruce Hampton & Mark Kelly, Lecture given at MIT entitled The Erie-Ellington Community - A new paradigm for sustainable low income housing,1st November 1999.

[40] Vitruvius Architect 110 BC, Ecological design handbook, Fred A. Stitt,McGraw-Hill, 1999, p 12

(From Southern California Edison Consumer Information Sheets, referringto a study by Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. The colour of a buildingmaterial must be considered in conjunction with the absorptivity andemissivity of the material. For example, a white asphalt-shingle roof willabsorb more heat than a white aluminium roof. Light colours are generallybetter than dark colours for reducing heat gain, but whiteness to the eye is nota reliable indicator of infrared absorption).

[41] R. Ben-Dan, Unconventional solutions to conventional problems at PoriyaGovt. Hospital, Health Estate Journal, June 1999, V53, No.5, Pp 6-12

[42] Glasdon Manufacturing Limited, Health Estate Journal, June 1999,volume 53,No. 5 entitled “Facing up to smoking at Morrison Hospital”

[43] Michael Corbett, Developer, 1984, Ecological design handbook, Fred A. Stitt,McGraw-Hill, 1999. P 12

[44] Ted Saunders 1994, Ecological design handbook, Fred A. Stitt, McGraw-Hill,1999. P 11

[45] Richard Rogers & Philip Gumunchdjian, Cities for a small planet, Faber &Faber, 1997.

[46] Richard Rogers & Philip Gumunchdjian, Cities for a small planet, Faber &Faber 1997, Ch3, p83,

[47] Frank Lloyd Wright., New York Times 4 Oct. 1953, sect. 6, p. 47

Text Ref. Page 59

[48] Authors; Kawada H. Nakanishi Y. Takahara M. Nakayama M. Toyoda E. Kobayashi N. Suzuki T. Kudo K. Takahashi M. Abe C. , Institution;Department of Pulmonary Medicine, National Medical Centre of Japan, Tokyo,Japan. Title; Reinfection tuberculosis at a day-labourers' facility equipped witha sauna]. [Japanese], Source; Nihon Kokyuki Gakkai Zasshi. 36(4):353-7,1998 Apr.

[49] Authors; Kawada H. Nakanishi Y. Takahara M. Nakayama M. Toyoda E. Kobayashi N. Suzuki T. Kudo K. Takahashi M. Abe C. , Institution;Department of Pulmonary Medicine, National Medical Centre of Japan, Tokyo,Japan. Title; Reinfection tuberculosis at a day-labourers' facility equipped witha sauna]. [Japanese], Source; Nihon Kokyuki Gakkai Zasshi. 36(4):353-7,1998 Apr.

[50] Authors; Korsgaard J., Institution; Department of Chest Diseases, SilkeborgCounty Hospital, Denmark. [email protected], Title; Epidemiology ofhouse-dust mites. [Review] [21 refs], Source; Allergy. 53(48 Suppl):36-40,1998.

[51] Dr B. C. Wolverton, Luna research project, NASA 1999.

[52] Renson ventilation Ltd, Effective ventilation how at avoid condensation andother problems, Renson Ltd, 2000.

[53] Berkeley Homes London Road Development. Completed May 2000. Soleagents James Millard, 1&2 Grange, High street, Westerham , Kent.Development contained 6 houses. 1 house attached to row of three terracedevelopment plus a group of two houses Development semi-detached.

[54] A group of in-fill houses within a residential community on the outskirts ofBoston Massachusetts, USA. Built in association withthe “Build America”program.

[55] Plants and fresh air, www. geocities. com /Hot Springs/spa/4053/plants. html,2000.

[56] Handbook of Aerofoil Sections for light aircraft, Aviation Publications 1971,Page 103 Göettingen 289 performance diagram shows the point at whichstalling the wing occurs.

[57] Mechanics of flight, Longman Scientific & technical 1972, page 56, fig 2.17.

Text Ref. Page 60

This shows the point at which the boundary layer effect de-laminates from thewing surface.

[58] A. C. Kermode, Mechanics of flight, Longman Scientific & technical 1972,page 53, fig 2.13. Illustrates the effect various shapes have on the air thatpasses around them.

[59] Zaha Hadid Architect, @wupa.wustl.edu . 14/08/2000 Hadid

[60] Daniel Libeskind, Architect, designer of new extension to the Victoria & AlbertMuseum, London. & The Jewish Museum, Berlin

[61] Lord Foster , Foster Associates Architects.

[62] Expo 92 Seville Spain, Personal experience of green shade with water sprayersto enhance cooling effect on surrounding area.

[63] Kermit the frog, The Muppet Show, 1972

[64] Michael Corbett, Developer, 1984, (from book: F. A. Stitt, Ecological designhandbook, McGraw-Hill 1999.)Michael Corbett, Developer, 1984, extract fromF. A. Stitt’s book, Ecological Design Handbook, McGraw-Hill, 1999.

[65] Guards Chapel Birdcage Walk London. Designed by Sir Basel Spence, 1962.

[66] Model Energy Home comprising of two semi-detached houses, onewith energy saving appliances, one with “average” consumptionappliance. The model demonstrated the savings and advantages to begained from using low energy equipment, with “Payback” times. Thesetimes indicated to amount of time after which the appliance had paid forits self in ongoing energy savings. LB Sutton 19987/8.

Text Ref. Page 61

Documents

MA PRESENTATION 2000