Building techniques use both active and passive design

features in architecture to ensure comfortable living spaces,

by means of utilizing energy intensive materials that enable
overall reduction in energy usage.

Active designs use equipments that modify the state of the

building, creating energy and comfort. While passive designs
features are those that maximize energy efficiency by the
actual design of the construction itself.

Sun being the main cause of heat gain through the effect, of
solar energy transmission in buildings, it is necessary to
understand its effects, which would enable designers to orient buildings properly and design
shading devices.

Active architecture is the designs of buildings that contain mechanical devices, which transport
the absorbed solar energy to other locations in the building. Active designs use equipments such
as fans, air-conditioning, lights, pumps etc.

Selecting efficient equipment in active design, like using water conservation fixtures and
appliances, choosing energy efficient appliances and lighting, providing, exhaust fans in
bathrooms and the kitchen combined with a source of outside air are all means to an effective
active design features in architecture.

Passive architecture is the design of buildings and site planning that take advantage of local
climates enabling the structure to naturally assist the building in its ability to store thermal energy
from the sun and cool the structure by shielding it from the sun rays. Some examples of passive
design features are thick walls, skylights, high ceilings, ventilators and positioning of windows
and doors or openings etc

Passive design is a system or structure that directly uses natural

energy such as sunlight, wind, temperature differences or gravity
to achieve a result without electricity or fuel.

Passive Benefits
Passive designs are often valued for their simplicity and aesthetic
appeal. They also tend to have zero operational costs. As they often
contain no moving parts, passive designs potentially last for
centuries.
Passive Design Strategies

With many passive strategies, there is a trade-off between heating performance and
cooling performance. The building type and operation determine which strategies will
have the best overall impact on energy performance.

1 Passive Heating: Using building design to harness solar radiation and capture the
internal heat gains is the only passive way to add free thermal energy to a building.
Passive solar heating combines a well-insulated envelope with other elements that
minimize energy losses and harness and store solar gains to offset the energy
requirements of the supplemental mechanical heating and ventilation systems.

Elements that contribute to passive solar heating include the following:

1. Orientation
2. Building shape
3. Buffer spaces and double facades
4. Space planning
5. High-performance windows (clear, low-e)
6. Mixed-mode heat recovery ventilation (HRV)
7. Low window to wall area ratio (N/E)
8. High window to wall area ratio (S/W)
9. Operable external shading
10. High-performance insulation
11. Thermal mass
12. Minimized infiltration

2. Passive ventilation

Passive ventilation strategies use naturally occurring air flow patterns around and in a
building to introduce outdoor air into the space. Wind and buoyancy caused by air
temperature differences create air pressure differences throughout occupied spaces.
Buildings can be designed to enhance these natural air flows and take advantage of
them rather than work against them.

The passive elements that contribute to natural ventilation include the following:

1. Operable windows
2. Buffer spaces and double facades
3. Building shape
4. Space planning
5. Orientation
6. Strategic architectural features
7. Openings to corridors and between otherwise separated spaces
8. Central atria and lobbies
9. Wind towers

3 Passive Cooling
Passive cooling strategies prevent the building from overheating by blocking solar gains
and removing internal heat gains (e.g. using cooler outdoor air for ventilation, storing
excess heat in thermal mass).

Elements that contribute to passive cooling include the following:

1. Fixed/operable external shading

2. Thermal mass
3. Low window to wall area ratio (S/W)
4. Passive ventilation
5. Nocturnal cooling
6. Stacked windows
7. Passive evaporative cooling
8. Earth-tempering ducts

Nocturnal cooling uses overnight natural ventilation to remove heat accumulated in the
building mass during the day. The cooler nighttime air flushes and cools the warm
building structure/mass.

4 Daylighting

Daylighting maximizes the use and distribution of natural diffused daylight throughout a
building’s interior to reduce the need for artificial electric lighting.

The features which contribute to a daylighting strategy include:

1. Space planning
2. High ceilings paired with tall windows
3. Window size and placement (window to wall area ratio)
4. Interior surface colours and finishes
5. Strategic architectural features
6. Light shelves
7. Skylights and light tubes
8. Clerestories
TCI head quarter,Gurgaon

Concept 
Although this is an air-conditioned building, it attempts an interactive interface with the external environment to achieve
greater energy efficiency.
The basic design strategy is inspired by the traditional inward-looking haveli plan. The central fountain courtyard acts as an
environment generator for the office spaces opening toward it. The external skin is treated as a solid insulated wall with peep
windows for possible cross-ventilation and higher windows for daylight. Selection of materials and system of environmental
control is prioritised in favour of sustainability and efficiency in energy consumption so that a significant feature of energy
saving is actually the economy of the building envelope.

Description
This is an office building designed to meet the demands of a modern office, with high level of environmental
comfort, integration of systems to support information technology, with flexibility and adaptability for growth
and change. 
The building sits on a rectangular plot in an “institutional” area, which will have other office buildings
surrounding it. Three stories of offices and a basement surround the central court. The basement houses
building services and some work spaces too. 
The entire building plan is based on a planning grid of 1.4 m x 1.4 m which coordinates the ceilings with air-
conditioning and light fittings, locations for partitions as well as external windows - to permit a high degree of
flexibility in layouts for offices. 
The building opens towards its entrance through a planted and shaded forecourt with a water pool. The
orientation of all the interior spaces is towards the central court, with the exception of the managing
director’s suite which enjoys its own garden terrace on the top floor.

Exposure:
The Building adopts a compact rectangular form and minimum height above ground to limit exposure to the external
conditions. Openings on the external walls are designed for two separate functions: small peep windows at seating height
provide for possible cross ventilation and views out; larger windows at ceiling level are designed to distribute glare-free
daylight across the office floor. Taking the daylighting function into account the window area is minimised to 18% of the
external wall area. 
Both the entrance forecourt and central fountain court, towards which the building envelope opens out with greater
transparency, have a structural framework which would provide support for shading screens to be stretched according to
seasonal demands. 
The planting scheme along the edges of the site with tall evergreen (Silver Oak) trees, provides another protective layer for
the building.
Insulation: 
The orientation of the building is determined by the site. The small peep-windows, due to the deep reveal in which they are
set allow insulation in favour of winter, cutting out the mid-summer sun by the shade of the reveal on to the glass. The large
daylight windows house adjustable venetian blinds in a double-window sandwich. The blinds are to be adjusted seasonally
(three times a year) by the building maintenance staff to control direct insulation and to reflect light towards the ceiling for
distribution into the office spaces. The large glazed areas towards the central court and the entrance court rely on screens that
will be stretched and gathered seasonally. The structural frameworks enclosing the courts provide the necessary support
systems for the screens.
Heat Transfer:
In Principle, the building is a heavy mass construction insulated from the outside. Wall insulation is 25 mm thick
polyurethane foam protected by a dry red-stone slab cladding system. The roof insulation is 35 mm thick and has a reflective
glazed tile paving cover to minimise sol-air temperature on the roof surface. The daylight windows provide insulation by
way of tight-sealed two layers of glass with a venetian blind installed between the two layers. 
The glazing panels around the inner courtyard however are single glazed - it is anticipated that with the tall water fountain
working, the courtyard temperatures would shift substantially toward wet bulb temperature. This would considerably reduce
heat load from the courtyard side during summers, and during spring and autumn would act as a heat sink. While the choice
of single glazing here evidently means savings in capital expenditure, considering the year-round operation of the fountain
court.