Environmentally conscious housing design for arid climates

Abstract

In a context of climate change and energy crisis, it is imperative for architectural design to assume an active role by incorporating knowledge on sustainability and energy efficiency as a structuring part of the design process. In this direction, the training of professional architects in this area becomes decisive. This paper presents an environmentally conscious single-family housing project located in the Metropolitan Area of San Juan, developed as part of the final work of the Diploma in Energy Efficiency and Sustainability. The methodology is structured in three phases oriented to the study of the site and climatic characteristics, the evaluation of different technological solutions for the envelope and the integration of active renewable energy systems. The analysis of the results shows a 59,3% reduction of the annual heating thermal load compared to a traditional house, together with the capacity of the
photovoltaic system to cover 46.6% of the electricity demand for self-consumption. It is concluded that the proposal, the result of a professional training oriented to the application of contextualized solutions, evidences the positive impact obtained by integrating these criteria from the initial stages of the architectural design.