Activity Sheet 2: Building Design (KS 4)

Using the sun's energy to heat a building is called "solar gain". The solar gain can be increased through good design. Good features include large south facing windows, small north facing windows and good insulation. Obviously, if the building is in shade, solar gain is reduced. Modern buildings usually incorporate these features. In this activity, you will investigate solar gain in buildings.

1. Use centimetre squared paper to make plans of two buildings and their surroundings to scale. Think about an appropriate scale and the measurements you will need to make (You might use a scale of 1cm to 1metre.) Use these plans to mark on features such as walls and trees which might shade the buildings and consequently affect solar gain. Remember not to look directly at the sun as this may damage your eyes.

2. Work out the direction of the sun and wind in relation to the buildings studied.

3. Identify areas around the buildings studied sheltered from the wind. You could investigate this effect by measuring the height of other buildings and structures which might cause the sheltering. You might also look into the effects of the distances between buildings or structures. Mark these sheltered areas on your plans.

4. In a similar way, identify shaded areas. You could use the "sun assessor" to measure shading. Mark the shaded areas on your plans. Compare the results achieved with the "sun assessor" with those measured by a light meter.

5. Use your plans to predict which of the buildings you have studied should have the greatest solar gain.

6. Design an experiment to test your predictions.

7. Did your experiment confirm your predictions? If not, can you explain your results?