ENERGY EFFICIENY

THROUGH

SITE PLANNING &

LANDSCAPING
GROUP-2
JYOTI KIRAN
CHETAN REDDY
NILESH SUMAN
DURGA PRASAD
SAIKAT MAHATO
PRATEEK GANGWAR
VENKATESH KANISETTI

CONTENT

General Site Planning Considerations

Climate Responsive Site Planning

Optimal Solar Orientation

Optimal wind Orientation
Minimising Wind shade
Storm water Treatment
Hot & dry climate
Hot& humid Climate
Cold Climate
Composite Climate

Landscape
Purpose
Locations
Landscaping strategies
Wind break and wind channel
Shading
Paving
Techniques to save water
Bibliography

GENERAL SITE PLANNING

CONSIDERATIONS

OPTIMAL SOLAR ORIENTATION

In cold months
radiation is from
east of south

In hot months
radiation is from west
of south

Optimum solar
orientation 25deg east
of south

Massing & orientation of building to prevent exposure to solar

gain

OPTIMAL WIND
ORIENTATION

Typical Building :
Solid Massing

Multiple block configuration

stagger building heights
and void decks for better
air flow

Building with void

decks

Stagna
nt air
flow

Improve
d air
flow

MITIGATION OF STAGNANT AIR FLOW

AREAS

AIR FLOW DIAGRAM FOR DIFFERENT BLOCK

CONFIGURATIONS

Increasing height of
buildings to allow wind to
reach blocks behind

Building geometry and layout

to allow downwash to
ventilate streets and allow air
movement into buildings

MINIMISING WIND SHADE

The wider a building, the larger is the windshade behind it.

The Higher a building, the deeper is the windshade behind it.

Grouping buildings in a row parallel to

the main wind direction, a large
distance between buildings is needed
to guarantee proper ventilation.

When grouping buildings in a

staggered pattern, the distance
between buildings can be
reduced.

STORM WATER TREATMENT:

Treat storm water as a resource

capturing runoff and encouraging infiltration.
Use native plants suited to the local climate and precipitation and practice dry
scaping techniques where applicable.

A lot of Impervious spaces is un

desirable

intercepts the rainwater in the

greenery

Water cycle with unpaved

surfaces: the soil absorbs water
during rain, stores it and feeds it
to the ground water and back to
the air

CLIMATE RESPONSIVE SITE

PLANNING

HOT AND DRY CLIMATE

Compact, Enclosed and Inward looking building

Small courtyard is preferred
Protection from solar radiation
Promote cooling by evaporation using water and planting
Closed form, building mass enclosing cool air ponds
Include vegetation as air cooled while crossing green
shaded areas.
Reduce walking distance
Grouping building closely each other

Grid diagonal to east-west axis

Zigzagging alleys

Blocked streets

Traditional Oasis

WARM AND HUMID

Facing maximum air velocity

Minimising sun impact
Scattered pattern of buildings with large free
spaces between them
Minimum walking distance
Groups should be arranged in line across the
prevailing wind direction
Large surface area preferred over compact
buildings
Low rise building preferred

Groups arranged in line

across the prevailing wind
direction

Green cover on roof and

wall and balconies

Canopy effect by tree

Building scattered with

large spaces in between

Optimum Orientation

COLD CLIMATE

Building can be clustered to minimise exposure to

cold winds
Open spaces between buildings should be such
that they allow maximum solar rays to be incident
on the building.

East west street to allow maximum south sun to

enter building

Wide streets so a buildings do not shade each

other

Building s must be compact with small surface to

volume ratios to reduce heat loss.

Coniferous trees is more preferable. Some of the

temperate trees can also survive in this region.

COMPOSITE CLIMATE
Moderately Compact Internal Planning of
Houses
Courtyard, covered by pergola carrying
deciduous creepers is suitable
Take maximum advantage of prevailing
winds
Moderately dense and low rise development
suitable
Wide verandah
Deciduous plant can serve
High vegetation around helps to reduce
dust.

16%

5%

57%

22%
Air Conditioning

Area Lights

Maintenance

Ventilation fans

Break-up of energy consumption

COOLING LOAD COMPONENTS

A Break Up Of The Heat Gain Through Various Building
Components
26
%
55
%

WALL CONDUCTION

3%

16
%

GLAZING CONDUCTION
INTERNAL GAINS (LIGHT, PEOPLE,COMPUTERS)
ROOF CONDUCTION

LANDSCAPING

PURPOSE
Cut energy costs
Protect from winter wind and summer
sun.
Reduce consumption of water,

Visual barrier

pesticides, and fuel for landscaping and

lawn maintenance.
Help control noise and air pollution.
can reduce ambient air temperature,
mitigate Urban Heat Island effect.

Careful selection and

planting of trees around
your home can help
reduce your energy bills.

a lush garden
enabling you to take
advantage of the
cooling effect of air

Noise barrier

Cooling by
evaporation
decreases as the
humidity in the air
increases.

Provide outdoor shade

for summer and
greatly reduce the
ground temperature

LOCATIONS
GROUND GREENERY
protects against heat build-up
controls ambient temperatures at a macro level.
Includes water bodies, paving etc.

GREEN ROOFS
provides thermal insulation to interior spaces below it
becomes a habitable space for people and animals,
thereby promoting biodiversity.
slows storm water runoff and improve its quality

VERTICAL GREEN WALLS

reduces heat transmission into the building, if installed on the
east and west faades protects the faade from weathering
forms feature walls that express creativity
requires early consideration for maintenance,
structural safety, irrigation and long-term durability of the
backing wall.

Landscaping Strategies
Temperature
Maximize warming effects of the sun in the winter
Maximize shade during the summer
Deflect winter winds away from buildings
Funnel summer breezes toward the home
Hot-Arid
Provide shade to cool roofs, walls and windows
Allow summer winds to access naturally cooled homes
Block or deflect winds away from air conditioned homes
Hot-Humid
Channel summer breezes toward the home
Maximize summer shade with trees that still allow penetration of low angle winter sun
Avoid locating planting beds close to the home if they require frequent watering
Cool
Use dense windbreaks to protect the home from cold winter winds
Allow the winter sun to reach south facing windows
Shade south and west windows and walls from the direct summer sun, if summer
overheating is a problem

Wind break and wind channels

Maintain some distance to let winter sun in
reduce wind speed as much as 30 times the windbreaks
height.
save up to 25 percent on heating costs.
The tree heights within the windbreak should be varied

The effective zone of protection for a windbreak can

be 30 times the height of the trees. However, the
maximum protection occurs within 5 7 times the
tree height.

vines are used

to create a wind
break directly
against a wall

Two to three rows of evergreen

trees in staggered order should be
used. If using deciduous trees, there
should be five to six rows.
Evergreen trees on the north and
west sides afford the best protection
from the setting summer sun and
cold winter winds

TREES

shading

Deciduous trees with high, spreading crowns can be

planted in the south to provide maximum
summertime roof shading.

Trees with crowns lower to the ground are more

appropriate to the west, where shade is needed from
lower afternoon sun angles.

Trees should not be planted on the southern sides of

solar-heated homes in cold climates because the
branches of these deciduous trees will block some
winter sun.

SHRUBS AND VINES

Shrubs - to shade split air conditioning .For good airflow and access, plants
should not be closer than 3 feet to the compressor.

Vines and shrubs-fill in rapidly and begin shading walls and windows within a
few years.

wetness or continual humidity are problems

effective in reducing noise and dust pollution.

Using vines which lose foliage in the winter can be used for summer shading
as long as vine stems do not significantly block winter sun.
Evergreen vines will shade walls in the summer and reduce the effects of cold
winds in the winter

Air cooled by evaporation at the

plants leaves.
The shade created by the arbor
is also beneficial

Shrubs or vines
providing shade to the
walls

Ground cover

Absorbent and Reflective Materials

Groundcover also has a cooling effect by evapo-transpiration.

The temperature above a groundcover is10 to 15 degrees cooler than above a heat absorbent material
A heat absorbent material like asphalt will also continue to radiate heat after the sun has set. minimize the
use of heat absorbent and reflective materials and/or shade them from any direct sun
Open grid paving slabs that allow for plant growth should be considered when surface carparks are
designed for. These allow grass to grow over as well as allow for surface rainwater runoff to infiltrate into
the ground. Both reduce heat build-up in the hard surface

GRIHA GUIDELINES
Hard pavements also reduce the perviousness of a site
Total paved area of the site under parking, roads, paths
or any other use should not exceed 25% of the site area
or net imperviousness of the site not to exceed the
imperviousness factor as prescribed by the NBC 2005
(BIS 2005b), whichever is more stringent.
Total surface parking should not exceed the area as
permissible under the local by-law and
more than 50% of the paved area to have pervious
paving/open-grid pavement/ grass paver or
a minimum 50% of the paved area (including parking) to
have shading by vegetated roof/pergola with planters or
a minimum 50% of the paved area (including parking) to
be topped with finish having solar reflectance of 0.5 or
higher.

Heat island effect due to

Streets
Sidewalks
parking lots
Buildings
Heat island effect can be
minimized by the use of
shading
reflective surfaces

Techniques to save water

using species, to eliminate fuel, water, and time consumption associated with
lawn mowing, watering, and trimming

drought-tolerant native, or indigenous, plants.

Some species are naturally more resistant to pests, so they require less
pesticides
Certain grasses, such as buffalo grass and fescue, only grow to a certain height
15 centimeters and are water thrifty

zone irrigation, drip irrigation and rain water detectors to minimize water
consumption
bioswales instead of concrete drains
using non-potable water sources such as captured rainwater, recycled grey
water, treated wastewater or collected condensate water from air
conditioning systems.

REFRENCES

collections.infocollections.org/ukedu/en/d/Jsk02ce/3.2.html
Manual of Tropical Housing and Buildings by OH Koenigsberger
cpwd.gov.in/CPWDNationBuilding
https://www.wbdg.org/design/site_potential.php
http://www.energysavers.gov
The Benefits of Plants and Landscaping Compiled by Marc S. Frank, April 2003
landscaping.sustainablesources.com
www1.eere.energy.gov/library/pdfs/16632.pdf
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article
www.wbdg.org/design/site_potential.php