Summer heat on the west facing site ?

[sholla]

Hi,

My site is west facing and I am building a duplex house in the 1st and 2nd
floor. As of now my plan is to use the normal clay brick for the walls.
My concern is that the afternoon sun will be on the west face,
it probably will get very hot during summer. Three bedrooms, one in the
first floor and two in the second floor are on this side.

What would you do to reduce the heat buildup ? Should I look into the
porotherm type clay blocks ? Is the heat buildup on the roof the
main culprit ?

Appreciate any advice in this regard.

[jackalbda]

Same with me as well. My architect suggested having a wardrobe on the south and west side of the master bedroom wall to reduce heat. In addition I planted two honge trees infront of my plot and the other side of the road.

[msn1270]

Multiple options will be available like. Ultimately you need to decide on the right choice which suits you.

1) Planting trees in front of the house to avoid the direct sun light on the Building(Feasible only if there is no electricity line infront of your house). It needs maintenance at regular intervals. Planting Coconut trees gives you good returns for long term.

2) Using a layer of Coconut shells on the Terrace. Typically used in kerala & Some of the other coastal belt's home to reduce the heat.

3) use of White color whether proof painting on the wall and the terrance. or use of Birla Kool Coat which can reduce the internal temp by 3-5 degrees by reflecting the heat, which also acts as water proofing agent.

4) Adopting Terrace garden(Needs thicker RCC roof and Very good Waterproofing)

5) Use venetian Blinds to the Windows instead of curtons

6) In few cases people hangs the washed wet cloths on the windows to keep the room cool and also dry the bloths.

7) There are few special kind of plants available which grows on the walls also known as "vertical garens or sky farms"(Ex. Have a look at the Leela Palace Hotel) which cover up the walls from direct sun light to some extent. This method also helps us to filter the polluted air

[yasif]

use Thermatek tiles on terrace to reduce heat

[nagsbhat]

Yasif, do you know anyone (or have you yourself) tried this at their home? Their specs look great but wonder the cost and effectiveness.

[yasif]

I had seen it at my friends house and planning for my house in future following is there contact details

No.101/5, 9th Cross, Patel Lane, Domlur Village, Bangalore 560 071
Tel-Fax: 080 -253 52493 /Tel: 65671883 / E-Mail: san.concaresystems@hotmail.com / info@sanchitaconcare.com

[ardesarchitects]

Hi,
I don't see any kind of technical valuable info about the Thermatek tiles.Why are they not giving info about what material are these tile made with.Any product will display its chemical ingredients with out mentioning proportions .In their website it doesn't say how is this advantages than a regular clay tiles used for thermal insulation from very old times.
In most case tiles installation on terrace fails at the joints.The water seeps below the tile from the joints and it stays for days together .This will create a long term issues on slabs.

Regards
Ar.Praveen.N
Ardes Architects and Interior Designers
ardesarchitects@gmail.com

[Vimal]

Hi Praveen,

What is recommended for terrace flooring to avoid water seeping through joints ?

Thanks
Vimal

[sholla]

Thanks for all the responses, I now have a sense
of the available options.

Actually my site has electrical lines running on our side.
And there is already one tree in the middle on the road
side. I don't know the name of this tree but I have seen
it often in our present area. It grows to a huge size and
branches keep falling during rainy season.
I would prefer to have a honge and neem trees
instead of this one.

Wardrobe in south/terrace garden/venetial blinds/specific
paints all seem practical ideas.

Has anybody considered specific elevation for this purpose ?