SUN, WIND, & LIGHT

A R C H I T E C T U R A L D E S I G N S T R AT E G I E S
second edition

THE IDEA OF SUN, WIND & LIGHT B O O K O R GA N I Z AT I O N

Sun, Wind, & Light is a book for designers who want
to consider the form-generating potential of climatic
forces in the earliest stages of the design process. The
result of four years of research, the second edition
was published in 2001. It expands the original, in-
creasing the number of strategies and techniques by
40%, doubling the page count, shifting the emphasis
to a stronger design perspective, providing more
recent architectural examples, updating the methods,
and incorporating more than a decade of research in
the field.
The book stresses the energy implications of using sun, 1) Analysis Techniques, which give tools for under-
wind, and light. However, it is organized by the archi- standing the climatic context of the design prob-
tectural elements designers manipulatestreets, open lem;
spaces and buildings, rooms and courtyards, and walls, 2) Design Strategies, which give concepts, prece-
roofs, floors, and windows. These elements are dis- dents, and tools for shaping architectural form to
cussed in terms of their organizationlayered, elongat- achieve low energy consumption, user thermal
ed, dispersed, compact, and zonedand their at- comfort, and effective lighting; and
tributesshape, orientation, enclosure, edge, and size. 3) Supplemental Strategies, which give mechanical/
In addition, the contents are matched to the scale that electrical-assisted strategies for supplementing
is being consideredbuilding groups, individual build- the architecturally-based strategies.
ings, and building parts.

V I S UA L C L I M AT I C PAT T E R N S
The book is graphics-intensive for three reasons: 1)
to communicate in the language of architects; 2) to
simplify the methods and reduce calculation, such as
with nomographs; and 3) to make the connection
between patterns of form and their associated en-
ergy processes. It is a series of small, well-defined
research projects, each requiring either assembling
and translating existing research into a form useful
to designers or developing a novel tool or technique
for designers to use.

A N AT O M Y O F A D E S I G N S T R AT E G Y
Each design strategy is intended to support design-
ers at making important schematic-level design
decisions about the form or organization of building
groups, sites, buildings, or building elements. Each
gives a short statement of the strategy, an explana-
tion of its energy-related phenomenon, and an ex-
ample of how the strategy has been used in an el-
egant way by another architect in buildings of high
design quality. Lastly, and very importantly, each
strategy offers a tool that helps to make a design
decision such as size, shape, organization, color,
material, etc.

STRATEGIES: STRUCTURE & ISSUES D E S I G N S T R A T E G I E S

The matrices below shows all of the 109 analysis Analysis Tech. Building Groups Buildings Building Parts M + E Supplement
techniques and design strategies categorized by 8. sky cover
9. daylight availability
29. solar envelopes
32. glazed streets
51. thin plan
54. borrowed daylight
78. reflecting surfaces
84. low contrast
102. task lighting
103. electric light zones
both their part and section within the books struc- 10. daylight obstruction 31. balanced urban patterns
35. daylight envelope
58. daylight zones
70. atrium
85. skylight wells
89. separate/combined openings
ture (horizontal axes) and by their role in building Daylighting 71. daylit room depth 92. reflected sunlight
94. daylight apertures
environmental issues of daylighting, heating, and 96. light shelves
98. daylight-enhancing shades
cooling (vertical axes). Analysis techniques help 101. glass types

1. sundial
designers understand the context or nature of the 2. sun path diagram
3. solar radiation
design problem, while design strategies help design- 4. wind rose
5. wind square
ers generate solutions. 6. air movement principles
7. site microclimate
11. bioclimatic chart
Heating 15. skin heat flow
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES 17. infiltration/ventilation
gain & loss
Web Resources: A web site supports the use of Sun, 18. building bioclimatic chart
19. earth contact
Wind, and Light by instructors, students and practi- 21. heat losses
22. balance point temperature
tioners. It adds additional resources not found in the 23. balance pointt profiles
28. topographic microclimate
29. solar envelopes
30. tall buildings
31. balanced urban patterns
33. loose & dense urban patterns
34. gradual height transitions
38. east-west building groups
41. winter outdoor rooms
42. neighborhood sun
43. windbreaks
46. migration
47. outdoor rooms
49. clustered rooms
52. east-west plan
53. deep sun
55. heat producing zones
56. stratification zones
57. buffer zones
59. rooms facing sun & wind
60. direct gain
61. sunspaces
62. thermal storage wall
63. roof ponds
64. thermal collectors
72. earth edges
74. breezy/calm courts
76. skin thickness 104. rock beds
77. mass absorptance 107. ducts & plenums
79. exterior surface color 108. buffer zones & air/air heat
82. solar reflectors exchangers
83. thermal mass 109. earth/air heat exchangers
87. breathing walls
88. insulation outside
89. separated/combined openings
91. well-placed windows
93. solar apertures
95. air-flow windows
97. movable insulation
101. glass types

1. sundial
text, including additional climate data and analyses, 2. sun path diagram
4. wind rose
keyed to the techniques, for more than 20 cities. 5. wind square
6. air movement principles
See: http://www.sunwindlight.net 7. site microclimate
11. bioclimatic chart
15. skin heat flow
Digital Image Library: A full library of the 700 illus- Cooling
16. window solar gain
17. infiltration/ventilation
trations and tables in the book has been developed gain & loss
18. building bioclimatic chart
19. earth contact
for use by instructors who adopt the book in their 20. shading calendar
21. heat gains
classes. It is available on CD from Mark DeKay. 22. balance point temperature
23. balance pointt profiles
26. ventilation corridors
27. shared shade
28. topographic microclimate
31. balanced urban patterns
33. loose & dense urban patterns
36. breezy streets
37. dispersed buildings
39. interwoven buildings & plants
40. interwoven buildings & water
43. windbreaks
44. green edges
45. overhead shades
46. migration
47. outdoor rooms
48. layer of shades
49. clustered rooms
50. permeable buildings
55. heat producing zones
56. stratification zones
57. buffer zones
59. rooms facing sun & wind
63. roof ponds
65. cross-ventilation
66. stack-ventilation
67. wind catchers
68. night-cooled mass
69. evaporative cooling towers
72. earth edges
73. water edges
74. breezy & calm courtyards
75. shady courtyards
76. skin thickness 104. rock beds
79. exterior surface color 105. mechanical mass ventilation
81. double skin materials 106. mechanical space ventilation
83. thermal mass 107. ducts & plenums
88. insulation outside the mass 108. buffer zones & air/air heat
89. separated/combined openings exchangers
90. ventilation openings 109. earth/air heat exchangers
arrangement
95. air-flow windows
96. light shelves
98. daylight-enhancing shades
99. external shading
100. internal shading & inbetween
shading
101. glass types

24. eletric loads 80. photovoltaic walls & roofs

Power 25. hot water loads 86. solar hot water

SIGNIFICANCE
The second edition of Sun, Wind, and Light is one of
the only sources to fundamentally integrate the
formal language of architectural design with the
discipline of building science. Climatic forces are
important in architecture because a buildings re-
sponse to climate is directly related to its energy
consumption, and because climate is a powerful
local context giving designers a means of regional
expression and placemaking.

M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N
Order the book from John Wiley & Sons
(www.wiley.com) or through any bookstore.
Instructors review copies are available from the
publisher.
See the Web Site listed above.
Contact Mark DeKay at the University of Tennes-
see. 865.974.3249. mdekay@utk.edu

G. Z. Brown and Mark DeKay