tems to allow for comfortable living and in turn have fed the fire for many more ecological
problems. But in our ancient cultures there are hundreds of structures that use effective climate
control without the use of mechanical systems. I believe their success was in their consider-
ation of the four elements earth, air, fire, and water. Through time they learned to use and pro-
tect themselves from these elements but in our modern day society we have lost some of those
basic principles.
All around our cities we can see examples of buildings that have failed to consider these
four elements in design. Some of the easiest examples are many of our society’s commercial
buildings starting with the large commercial warehouses to the many office buildings. These
buildings have become over reliant on mechanical systems and their pocket books which has
left simple building design fall to the way side. With this bad standard our buildings have
become a drain on society. But by simply considering these elements and making some basic
design decisions we can quickly change the built world’s energy efficiency.
To achieve this efficiency I hope to show the importance of considering the four elements
in design. I will show the unique qualities of each element along with the benefits of using
them as a whole. I hope to reintroduce the old and effective techniques along with some of the
modern uses of each. I have also looked into the some of the philosophies behind these ele-
ments and would like to show how these old thoughts should again be considered in the design
of an efficient building. Then as a final note I will look at how these elements can bring sensu-
ality and or spirituality into the built world.
Earth
To start off I like the words of the Chip Sullivan (2002),
“Earth may be understood both as the structural foundation and
as a source of sustenance, not only for physical life, but also the
spirit.” When using the earth I have found it important that we
reconsider its use as a building material. After considering
its use as a material I think it is also equally important to rammed earth home
consider the vegetation it supports and how we can effec-
tively use it for protection and as a passive system. I do
understand that we currently use earth in both these ways
already but I feel that recently we have lacked some cre-
ativity and again forgot some of what history has taught us.
Building Material
Earths inherent properties make it an excellent
building material. Though already being used in many
ways such as brick and concrete I feel there is still plenty
of new opportunity. Techniques shown in Earth Building
(2008) such as rammed earth, cob, or straw bale construc-
tion are all unique ways to use the earth as building materi-
al. Creative methods such as these I think are great things
to consider since they can be affordable, sustainable, and
aesthetically pleasing. Another strong advantage of earth
as a building material is thermal massing. Lechner (2009)
has shown in his book how thermal massing is an excellent
way to control night and day temperature swings in a wide
range of climates. Thermal massing can also be achieved
through subterranean spaces which can be a cool space on
a hot summer day or when combined with air flows can
help to cool the building. There are also modern technolo-
gies such as geothermal systems and green roofs. Geo-
thermal is a great option for a more sustainable heating and
cooling system which uses the earth’s thermals massing to
heat or cool the outdoor air for interior use. Green roofs
are another new option of building which has the benefits
of managing storm water, insulates the roof, and provides
green space on your building. These new technologies
along with reconsidering previous techniques such as
thermal massing are all great reason to reconsider the earth
when building.
Vegetation
Another way to look at the earth is in the life it
supports. Our history has shown many ways in which
people used to take advantage of vegetation to cool,
shade, and protect their homes. But in or current so-
ciety we mainly use vegetation as a purely decorative
element. But Sullivan (2002) has shown us some tech-
niques such the boscoes and the pineta which were land-
scape forms from the time of the Romans and Greeks.
Both of these techniques used landscape elements to
create microclimates. They generally created large
shaded areas that when combined with air flows would
bring cool air into the home. But vegetation can also be
used to protect from the cold winter winds or provide
seasonal shading to building faces. Including vegeta-
tion in the surrounding site and building can also help in
the purifying the air and soil. As for modern techniques
there has been a new movement called “Vegitecture”.
I learned of Vegitecture from Jason King’s Lecture
where he informed me of this movement that has looked
at how to return this element to the built world through
elements such as green roofs, vertical greening, green
walls, and much more. Many of these techniques in
Vegitecture can be used functionally for shading, insulating, and
purifying while also being aesthetically pleasing. As you can
see there are many ways in which we can use vegetation be-
Air
Air and air flows are constantly present but recently our
society has forgotten the benefits of natural ventilation. Many
of our institutional and commercial buildings have completely
dropped this way of cooling for mechanical systems. But I
hope to show the importance of using air for both curving ener-
gy requirements and for creating more comfortable spaces and
landscapes. So let’s begin with looking at the first problem, the
lack of operable windows.
Utilizing Air Flows