Urban Ooru

As I hang out on the 7 th floor of the spanking new apartment block, various thoughts cross my mind. It ’ s a nice balmy late afternoon, the sun shining bright in the western sky and I hear the sales executive in her stilettos giving the young couple a tour of the home. She is explaining the plan of the home – the living area, the dining, the well-lit kitchen, the spacious bedrooms and oh yes, the well-appointed toilets. The footsteps are now closer and I overhear the couple saying that they have a green thumb – I like that! That talented and pretty architect chose custom designed terracotta tiles to clad my floor and wrapped me up with a wonderful child-safe toughened glass railing through which one could enjoy the views of the garden city. I like the couple as I hear them – I can see their passion for greenery and outdoor spaces. I can see them filling me up with potted plants and brightly painted handmade curios. I can feel the weight of a couple of wicker...

Introduction The aim of  this article is to introduce the reader to the concept of passive solar architecture and to stress its importance for achieving building energy efficiency.  “The passive solar concept is to allow nature to operate our systems with a minimum of mechanical interference. We know that the potential for heating, cooling, and powering our dwellings, factories, and office buildings by non-mechanical means exists. Our ability to allow this to happen is limited only by our imagination.”  David Wright, AIA In today’s context of global warming, the quote, by one of the foremost proponents of Passive Solar Architecture, is an important reminder for a more sustainable way of designing, building and operating our buildings.  The concept of passive solar architecture has existed since time immemorial. Human beings in the pre-fossil fuel era have always built their dwellings with intelligence combined with an intuitive understanding of thei...