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Architecture - Solar, Building Design and urban planning The existence of sunlight has impacted construction of homes from the beginning of architectural history. Advanced solar building design along with urban planning techniques had been used by the Chinese and Greeks who built their homes facing south in order to capture additional light and heat. Today we have advanced beyond simple building orientation to now incorporate many other techniques to maximise the use of sunlight. This practice of using sunlight in building design is called passive solar design. Some common components of passive solar architecture include; reducing the ratio surface are to volume (know as compact proportion), orientation of the building relative to the sun and selecting suitable shading /eves around the building.
If basic passive solar techniques are used along with an understanding of the local environment and climate then a building can achieve both a comfortable temperature range and also be well lit. The advantage of this is that the building does not need to incorporate as many energy consuming devices (limiting the use of other devices such as heaters, air-conditioners and lighting) . Additionally active solar appliances can also be incorporated to improve building design (active solar devices include items such as pumps, fans and adjustable windows). Today computer software packages are available that assist with passive solar design. They typically employ techniques such as modelling the different combinations of solar lighting, heating and ventilation systems.
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