Day 6, Alternative Passive Design Technologies around the world

Asia is placed right next to the equator, which means it has different climatic conditions compared to Europe. So, we thought it would be interesting to find out how Asia is responding to the climatic conditions and their passive design technologies. We were able to discover that Passive house design technologies are used in a reverse way as opposed to Europe.

Sachinthanathan Shantihini is a practicing Chartered Architect and an Academic who took us through Passive design technologies and considerations in Asia and mainly Sri Lanka.

The speaker started the presentation introducing the climate, lifestyle of people and how buildings could be designed to accommodate them. And these three main questions were answered throughout the presentation.

1) How to integrate day light without the heat and glare?
2) How did they ventilate spaces without the heat and dust?
3) How did they bring the great outdoors inside without compromising on security and safety?

The presentation was quite insightful and more importantly, left us wondering what the perfect Summer Holiday would be like!

The research and final diagramming has happened in multiple softwares. Word, InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, SketchUp but we made sure to put it all up on our Miro board to go through each and every study and diagram development so we could all comment and improve each other’s output and basically, GROW TOGETHER!

The first group, the Energy generation group studied about various methods that are being used when dealing with passive house designs. The topic was further simplified by looking at energy generation methods as solar, bio-energy, wind power, indirect solar gains, and general water systems. Each of these topics ended up in really cool diagrams that are being developed to their best potential!

The team quite enthusiastically expressed their thoughts on the whole project. And we thought this is something that’s worth sharing with everyone! Well, what’s the use of all the effort if you don’t find it enjoyable and meaningful!

M. Arch student testimonies

Samuel Andrew Sayle
Working with Ecospheric on a live project expanded my knowledge on sustainable technologies, whilst developing my own leadership skills. Helping the BA’s was a rewarding task, by helping them with tips and tricks learnt in practice that I wish I was told during my UG degree.

George Edward Williams
Using the Little Rissington project as a teaching tool for how sustainabile and innovative technologies are embedded into a contextually challenging project has been fascinating. Working alongside the BA students to produce the visual content to support the building’s planning application has been a valuable experience. During the project we have interacted with the project team, Ecospheric and Rural Solutions, as well as various industry leading professionals to learn about environmental design.

Holly Millburn
This project has been a great opportunity for me to learn more about innovative technologies in a rural context. It has also been great to be involved in a live project, and to have been able to give our BA team the experience of utilising research in practice.

Michael Thomas Walsh
Having already had an interest in sustainable technology, I found this project to be insightful. Being asked to look at potential innovations whilst being mindful of the sensitive planning context really pushed me to think outside the box and reconsider how I approach sustainable design.

Kathleen Karveli
With my previous experience in sustainable technologies being limited, this project has been an opportunity to explore innovative solutions towards a zero-carbon future. Working alongside a large group has been a given me a great insight into the challenges and prospects of a live projects such as this.

Arundika Weerasekera
Passivhaus designs are something I’m quite familiar with as an Asian but I was more interested in learning how the countries with a temperate climate addresses the design complications sustainably! I was able to learn a surprising amount of knowledge in just a two weeks period and how they’ve been utilised by our client Ecospheric. A great team of Masters and Bachelors students made the experience significant.

BA student testimonies

Saif Hajazi
The Ecospheric project has given me an insight into technologies that are aiding to shape the future of sustainable architecture. It was extremely insightful researching into ground-breaking and future technologies that haven’t yet reached the mainstream market. It has allowed to me to gain knowledge in sustainable and Passivhaus architecture that I can hopefully take forward throughout my degree.

Niya Lijo Kankapadan
Coming into this I was looking to learn principles regarding passivhaus design. But what I ended up with was all that and more! With the numerous talks from experienced passivhaus specialists and architects, we applied this understanding into a project with Ecospheric and Rural Solutions allowed for a holistic appreciation for the concept. Working with the M.Arch and undergraduates has been an interesting experience as it opened up new perspectives and ideas for sustainable solutions.

Fraser Matthews
This project was a good in-depth summation of the varied technologies and principles behind passivehaus design, appropriately shown through a real building project and talks from industry professionals. It was a great opportunity to practise some of my earlier learning and skills from the Environmental Technologies module of my course and there was an excellent level of teamwork to ensure that the 2 weeks was never overly intense.

Ryan Mall
Working on this live project has allowed me to research, and become more knowledgeable on, elements of Architecture I may not have considered. It has also taught me the importance of sustainable energy and how it can be implemented into building design.

Jacky Cheng Kai Li
In this ECOtswolds project, the experience of taking part in a live project and working alongside masters students have been fantastic. Listening to speakers and researching innovative energy system has brought great insight to me on the push for more carbon neutral structures.

Fabio De Luca
This project has helped to expand my knowledge based on green technologies which can help to push for a more sustainable future. It's been a great opportunity to develop my skills on various software’s including with help from MArch students who have work experience in practice.

Chi-Hao Tseng
The project was a great opportunity for me to learn about the current architectural landscape, including net carbon zero and Passive House designs using cutting edge building strategies, technologies, while taking heritage and site context into careful consideration. Additionally, it enabled me to get a taste of what an active project is like in real life by hearing from the professionals, and to hear from MArch students about their experiences after undergraduate, and helping me learn various software and diagramming skills.

Alexia Teodora Borocoman
I enjoyed how this project emphasized on innovative technologies within architecture while including traditional, passive methods of construction. Moreover, this project offered me an insight of the profession through several talks and tutorials and consolidated my passion for energy-efficient design.

The final day was quite hectic; but we were thrilled to see the output of both the publication and the document we did for our client. This GIF shows the spread of sheets (ie-document) we did for our collaborators/client showing the research and graphic skills of two weeks with a team of 15 M.Arch and BA students.

The document was an interactive PDF which included the four main areas the project looked regarding Passivhaus design technologies. And the best part, the client absolutely adored the output and in fact suggested that the whole team attend site visits in the coming months to see the progress of the Little Rissington project!

Await our blog post about the document hand over meeting we had with our client!