Design of bioclimatic houses

If you still don’t know the main elements used in bioclimatic architecture, keep reading! In today’s article we want to explain and make very clear the difference between passive and active architecture.

We will take the opportunity to also list the most interesting ecological construction techniques for the design of bioclimatic single-family houses. We started!

Bioclimatic architecture is carried out in ecologically built houses and is what is known as the art and technique of designing, projecting and building houses that are 100% committed to the environment. In this type of housing, known as bioclimatic houses, interesting construction factors are taken into account such as the use of the sun, water or air to convert them into energy.

The result is a home that is thermally comfortable, healthier and self-sufficient in terms of energy consumption. Its basic principles are:

-Full use of sunlight through passive elements, such as the orientation of the house

-Fully advanced mechanical ventilation systems. In fact, bioclimatic houses seek to generate clean, efficient and ecological energy

-Minimal environmental impact. For this, its construction uses non-toxic materials, which can in turn be recycled, and that do not require much energy expenditure for their extraction

-Architectural design respectful of the vegetation, avoiding the felling of trees for its construction

Bioclimatic houses are closely related to the passive house or passive house design. In fact, these homes are built following various criteria and techniques that allow exponential savings in energy consumption, just like the Passivhaus.

However, bioclimatic buildings go a step further in terms of ecological architecture, including among their characteristics a constructive design that takes into account the climate, the native fauna and flora that surround the house.

Bioclimatic dwellings or houses usually have the use of solar energy as their indisputable property, both in winter and in summer. To do this, the home must be built thinking about making the most of the hours of sunshine and also achieving good insulation against the cold.

Ideally, through the arrangement of the house and the construction of our rooms at home, it is possible to enjoy an optimal temperature and comfort throughout the year. All this, without using the heating in winter or the air conditioning in summer.

Here the color of the paint on the exterior and interior walls of the house comes into play, choosing light colors and a reflective surface. But also cross ventilation systems, such as free cooling or free cooling.

A natural cooling system that uses normally filtered outside air instead of recirculated inside air. For this, a cold production equipment is used.

In the construction of bioclimatic houses we usually find houses that are built buried or semi-buried, to better take advantage of the thermal inertia of the land that surrounds them.

For this reason, in most of these homes, thick walls are built that retard changes in temperature, with air chambers that interrupt the thermal flow between the inside and outside of the house, etc.

For all that has been said, the design of bioclimatic houses is usually done following the following criteria and ecological construction techniques:

1. South facing rooms

2. With ecological covers that are capable of recovering heat in winter and insulating from heat in winter

3. Its facades designed according to the orientation

4. Small perimeter, to minimize environmental impact

5. With a good cross ventilation system and sun protection on windows

6. Acquire a water reuse system in common risk areas

7. Construction of an interior patio to introduce direct solar radiation into the rooms of the home