How is mediterranean architecture related to the climate

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Passive is a passive renovated apartment in Madrid. Above, the construction process during which the entire enclosure was sealed and insulated. Below, the apartment finished. The Passivhaus standard is one of the best known. The main target of passive houses is to obtain high levels of indoor comfort , maintaining a very low energy consumption. This standard is focused on controlling the heating and cooling demand, providing solutions for execution and design of passive components, always with the support of energy efficient active systems.

The importance of the local climate should be noted when establishing both project and construction strategies. While the energy demands will have to be the same regardless of location, the design and construction responses will have to be completely different depending on the climatic conditions of the context. Therefore, when making a consideration concerning the application of the Passivhaus standard in the Mediterranean climate , local climatic demands must be taken into account, in order to give adequate solutions.

It will be necessary to reconsider the basic principles on which the standard works so as to adapt them to this climate. Compactness and orientation must address the production of shade in summer and the optimization of openings, being the buildings in the Mediterranean climate less compact than in continental climates, considering their orientation and size.

With a correct orientation and compactness, solar gains will be maximized in winter and minimized in summer, by means of fixed or mobile solar protection. The presence of thermal insulation will be essential, but in smaller proportions than those used in continental climates. The thickness of thermal insulation can be optimized, depending on the climate, to the point where the increase in thickness is of little relevance to improving energy efficiency. Insulation in floors will be meaningless, since they act as a heat-absorbing well.

This is how the concept of thermal inertia in terms of the use of materials emerges. The walls will absorb the heat from the air, keeping the rooms cool in summer, and retaining heat in winter, to keep the building warm.

In the Mediterranean climate, triple glazing will not be so necessary, but a good arrangement of them. It is convenient to make a distinction between north and south windows, being necessary triple glazing to north, in order to isolate in winter and double glazing to south, to allow the entrance of solar radiation and therefore heat gains in the interior.

Overhangs, brise-soleils and shading lattices are important passive mechanisms in the Mediterranean climate. In the image, our project 5 Gems in Marbella. Tuel and Eltahir found that this projected drying of the Mediterranean region is a result of the confluence of two different effects of a warming climate: a change in the dynamics of upper atmosphere circulation and a reduction in the temperature difference between land and sea.

Neither factor by itself would be sufficient to account for the anomalous reduction in rainfall, but in combination the two phenomena can fully account for the unique drying trend seen in the models.

The first effect is a large-scale phenomenon, related to powerful high-altitude winds called the midlatitude jet stream, which drive a strong, steady west-to-east weather pattern across Europe, Asia, and North America. But in the Northern Hemisphere, those winds run into obstacles, with mountain ranges including the Rockies, Alps, and Himalayas, and these collectively impart a kind of wave pattern onto this steady circulation, resulting in alternating zones of higher and lower air pressure.

High pressure is associated with clear, dry air, and low pressure with wetter air and storm systems. But as the air gets warmer, this wave pattern gets altered. That high-pressure area creates a dry zone with little precipitation. That requires the addition of a second mechanism, the reduction of the temperature difference between land and sea.

That difference, which helps to drive winds , will also be greatly reduced by climate change, because the land is warming up much faster than the seas.

That, in turn, amplifies the pressure differential, adding to the high-pressure area that drives a clockwise circulation pattern of winds surrounding the Mediterranean basin.

And because of the specifics of local topography, projections show the two areas hardest hit by the drying trend will be the northwest Africa, including Morocco, and the eastern Mediterranean region, including Turkey and the Levant.

That trend is not just a projection, but has already become apparent in recent climate trends across the Middle East and western North Africa, the researchers say. The fact that the underlying physical processes are now understood will help to ensure that these projections should be taken seriously by planners in the region, he says.

Eltahir has been working with government agencies in Morocco to help them translate this information into concrete planning. Previous item Next item.