Abstract | Currently, buildings use large amounts of their operational energy to counteract the impact of the external environment on their inhabitants. Recent years have seen a progressive attention on these themes due to the great energy saving potential of the sector, moving towards an integrated design approach between the building and its plants. Nevertheless buildings, although more efficient, are still conceived as containers of mechanically controlled microclimates. However, today, technology and new theories of comfort allow a radical rethinking of how buildings are conceived, designed and inhabited. This paper reports on a design research that investigates alternative models of habitable environments, proposing an original concept and role for buildings. The research aims to contribute to the discourse on new highly efficient buildings showing how an innovative design process based on the integration of adaptive comfort theory, building physics and thermodynamic principles, passive strategies and centrality of the user, can not only deliver less energy intensive and more comfortable buildings but also enhance the generative potentials of new forms and spaces towards a more contemporary and sustainable built environment. |
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