Passive heating

Passive heating is about using the sun as a source of free home heating. Put simply, it involves letting winter sun in and keeping unwanted summer sun out. This can be done with relative ease on northern elevations by using properly sized overhangs and shading devices to exclude high angle summer sun and admit low angle winter sun. The polished concrete slab works as thermal mass, absorbs solar radiation and readmits heat during cooler/colder nights during winter.

Passive cooling

During Melbourne’s hot summer months, passive cooling maximizes the efficiency of the building envelope by minimizing heat gain from the external environment and facilitating heat loss. Location of windows to capture cooling summer winds from the south to enhance cross ventilation. Additionally, by properly sizing these windows, smaller windows on the southern orientation and larger on northern orientation, to create more effective cooling – i.e. Venturi Effect, the increase in air velocity accelerates cooling through convection. The polished concrete slab will work as a heat sink and keep air cool.