Paper 13: The Building—A Climatic Modifier

Abstract

The authors first introduce the concept of the climatic modification characteristic of a building and discuss on what factors this concept depends. The high climatic modification characteristic of traditional methods of constructions is briefly described, and the reasons for the reduced climatic modification characteristic of post-war buildings are investigated. Finally, the implications of considering the climatic modification characteristic of a building as a method of design in terms of building form, method of illumination, and heating and cooling load are discussed in some detail, supported by the results of some of the authors' recent research work.