Importance of Passive Design for House Design and Construction in India

Passive design is inspired by climate, framed by the environment and built for comfort. In an ecologically diverse environment such as India, there is no one size fits all approach to passive design in both residential and commercial properties. Depending on your location in India, your passive design needs will be influenced by hot dry conditions, wet and humid conditions and cold and damp conditions.

Architectural forefathers understood the challenges of adapting home to climate in India. For warmer climates in India, a traditional way of cooling was with stepped wells, a pond dug into the ground or surrounded by walls above ground allowing the air to be-cooled by evaporating water in an enclosed, shaded zone. This innovative technique stood the test of time, providing cooling techniques in larger homes in India for generations. 

At Homes Plan India, we continue this innovative legacy with the same goal: to design buildings that place paramount importance to its occupants’ comfort. Our approach to passive design with wide-range of experience in designing houses across India, gives us the confidence to customise a home to your standards and provides you with the reassurance that environmental elements will be factored into any house plan design.

For plot owners across India, the importance of passive cooling for their home and climate controlled house design cannot be understated. Without taking climate into account and the requisite cooling and heating systems, homeowners can encounter a range of problems including mould, water damage and compromises to structural integrity. We understand these risks and have a full suite of solutions for all plot sizes, locations and topography.  

However, before considering a passive designed cooling or climate controlled system for your plot, it is good to understand the process and the immediate goals. Firstly, we recommend the best options to achieve passive cooling in a building. This is achieved by identifying the unnecessary thermal loads that might enter your future home. In our experience, there are typically two types of thermal loads homeowners need to be aware of - exterior loads due to the climate and internal loads due to domestic factors such as people, appliances, cooking spaces, hygiene and lighting.  

Once the aforementioned factors have been thoroughly analysed, we provide a recommendation on a customised passive cooling system. The ambition of any system is consistent across India: to transfer heat from the home to natural energy sinks such as air, water or the earth. 

Despite the environmental aspects of the passive-cooling systems, it is equally important to consider the efficiency benefits. In our experience, implementation of a passive cooling system on a plot reduces the energy needed for cooling. This not only cuts down on electricity bills but also gives the house a green feel in terms of emissions.  

The advantages are also cosmic. For example, passive cooling techniques can moderate the peak cooling load in homes, thereby reducing the size of the air conditioning equipment and the period for which it is generally required.  

In terms of some of the newer breakthroughs in passive cooling, solar techniques are playing more prevalent role in India. In particular, driven by both climate and economic factors, solar shading has been an effect climate control solution in many new homes.  

Particularly for more open plots, solar shading with locally available-materials like terracotta tiles, hay, inverted-earthen pots can reduce the temperature significantly. In addition, well-designed sun control plus the shading devices, can have parts of a building /separately placed from building facade, can play a major role in the reduction of heat gain, enhance cooling requirements and improving the natural-lighting quality of building-interiors. Furthermore, the design of effective-shading devices can depend on the solar orientation of a particular-building facade, which is key consideration depending on what part of India your land is located. 

Solar chimneys are other solution we are seeing in increasing numbers of passive designs. Acting as a natural ventilation, solar chimneys provide further homeowner comfort during the day if combined with an evaporation-cooling device.

Of course many other passive design and cooling techniques exist in an ecosystem as diverse as India. If you do own a plot and are looking to construct, it is essential that you understand the elements and design accordingly. With the amount of options available in India, we are available to advise, consult and design a home that works with, not against, the climate. Write with your queries to homeplansind@gmail.com and we will be glad to work along with you.

Why Outdoor living spaces are as crucial as the interior spaces when designing a new house plan

House planning is about creating an overall design that successfully uses the entire plot. When designing a new house it is absolutely vital that the outdoor space is considered in co-relation to the interior spaces of the house. Internal space planning is certainly important, but the outdoor space should not be compromised. They should complement each other and the outdoor space should be designed so as it feels just like stepping out into another room and is an extension to the interior space. Outdoor living spaces provide breathing room for the plot and frame it with which the rest of the design can sit. Critically, they are the key entertainment and living spaces and should be designed to fit the requirements of the rest of the building. 

Thinking about the design of the outdoor living space should take place at the same time as the rest of the house is designed - at the beginning. If it is designed as an afterthought then it is likely that it will not fit with the rest of the design, and may feel like a foreign space within the plot. It is important to ask the same questions that are asked in relation to the interior living spaces. What will you be using the space for? How much room is required? Are certain features necessary to be considered while designing the outdoor space? How often will the space be used? What time of day will it be used? Who will be using it and to what extent? If these questions are asked and then answered in the early stages, as part of the process of the overall design stage, then the result will be far superior and can be accommodated well with the overall design. 

The outdoor living space of a building is a minimal space between the house itself and the broader landscape in which it sits. A well-designed building will look 'natural' within its environment and broader landscape. A poor design will look out of place and context. The outdoor space is therefore a vital part of providing a bridge and a connection between the built and the 'natural' environment. Designers can give the outdoor living space key features that complement with each other and will be far more enjoyable and engaging. 

It is very important that the space should feel comfortable and work as an entertaining space. A client may feel that they want a larger living area but cannot compromise on kitchen space. This is where an integrated approach to outdoors and indoor design comes in. The designer could look at the overall space and use the outdoor space as an extension of the indoor living space. For larger parties, therefore, both the exterior and interior spaces could be used as a single area in which to entertain with, for example, some large French windows connecting the two areas can be used. Similarly, the outdoors space could be used to generate a different kind of experience to that created in the indoor living spaces. For example, the client may want a 'hideaway' area, which could be designed within the outdoors space, without compromising the indoor areas, which could be more of an open plan.

To achieve a good quality design, a client should not have to compromise on the outdoors space. Indeed, a good quality outdoors space will complement the indoor space and add to the overall positive feel of the house. It is important that it is budgeted for in the early stages of the design process and the aims and objectives are made clear. If this is achieved, the final space will be vastly more liveable and a more enjoyable space to experience. A custom house plan is the best way to achieve good overall design.