Literature Review

A Study of Sustainable Vernacular Architecture:

Typology and Building Physics
Resti Piutanti
146060500111004
Abstract
Vernacular architecture is the source of essential knowledge for sustainable, energy efficient
and climate responsive architectural design principles. There are a lot of knowledge that implied in
vernacular architecture where people should learn from. This is best done by looking at vernacular
design as a model system. This paper consist of a literature study with the main purpose is to gain an
information and basic knowledge about a sustainable vernacular architecture, then describe the
principles that used especially in typology and building physic.
Keyword: Sustainable Vernacular Architecture, Sustainable Typology, Sustainable Building Physics
Introduction
Architecture, art and tradition of a
vernacular settlements are the manifestation
of great indigenous in the diverse culture.
Peoples have through their efforts to create
rich and colorful styles of vernacular
architecture,
responding
to
local
environments. This reflects an thrive response
to geography, climate, distribution of ethnic
peoples and sustainable habitats.
Vernacular buildings were built by local
people using local material that available and
affordable technology to deal with the local
needs. The design of vernacular buildings is
the outcome of the traditional knowledge
based on trial and error approach (Singh, et
al. 2010).This type of architecture try to
response the local climate constraints. It
shows maximum adaptability and flexibility
towards the nature environment.
Vernacular architecture is the source of
essential knowledge for sustainable, energy
efficient and climate responsive architectural
design principles. It is significant and unique in
terms of concept of balance within everyday
life (Jayasudha P, et al. 2014). Sustainable
architecture it self is a term that used to
describe the movement associated with
environmentally
conscious
architectural
design or as known as environmentally
responsive. It is also popular as a 'green'
design in architecture.
Basically, vernacular architecture does
not rely on high-tech, energy-consuming
systems for heating, cooling, ventilation and
lighting. The buildings simply demonstrate

how climate can be modified through

orientation, form, materiality and layout to
achieve conditions for human comfort
internally. To adopt passive environmental
systems requires consideration in the early
stages of design, when initial decisions about
orientation, form and materiality are being
taken.
There are a lot of knowledge that
implied in vernacular architecture where
people should learn from. This is best done by
looking at vernacular design as a model
system. The principal purposes of this paper
were to learn about a sustainable vernacular
architecture and how to study or evaluate it.
Methods
This paper consist of a literature study
from several source such as academic
journals, conferece paper, books and other
references. The methods used was a
qualitative description. The main purpose is to
gain an information and basic knowledge
about a sustainable vernacular architecture,
then describe the principles that used
especially in typology and building physic.
Sustainable Principles
The definition of sustainability does not
specify the ethical roles of humans for their
everlasting existence on the planet. It also
fails to embrace the value of all other
constituents participating in the global
ecosystem. The need for finding long-terms
solutions that warrant continuing human
existence and well-being is far more
compelling than that of finding a proper
terminology to describe the human need. In

Arsitektur Lingkungan Binaan Universitas Brawijaya _TUGAS MK. BHS INGGRIS 2014/2015 |1

this respect, the debate on the terms green,

sustainable, or ecological architecture is
not terribly important (Kim, et al. 1998).
The Green approach to architecture is
not a new approach. It has existed since
people first selected a south facing cave
rather than one facing north to achieve
comfort in a temperate climate. Another
definition of sustainable development is
sustainable development
is a kind of
development that is able to protect human
health and improve ecological orders for
along period (Shohouhian, et al. 2005).
There are three principles of
sustainability in architecture. Economy of
Resources is concerned with the reduction,
reuse, and recycling of the natural resources
that are input to a building. Life Cycle Design
provides a methodology for analyzing the
building process and its impact on the
environment. Humane Design focuses on the
interactions between humans and the natural
world. These principles can provide a broad
awareness of the environmental impact, both
local and global, of architectural consumption.
The goal of sustainable design is to find
architectural solutions that guarantee the
well-being and coexistence of these three
constituent groups (Kim, et al. 1998).
Economy

Human

Design
(environment)

Figure 1. Relation between three principles in

sustainability

There are also some principles about green

architecture (Shohouhian, et al. 2005), such
as:
1. Working with climate: Buildings should
be designed to work with climate and
natural energy sources.
2. Minimizing new resources: A building
should be designed so as to minimize the
use of new resources and at the end of
its useful life, to form the resources for
other architecture.

3. Respect for users: green architecture

recognizes the importance of all the
people involved with it.
4. Respect for site: A building will touch
this earth lightly
5. Holism: All the green principles need to
be embodied in a holistic approach to the
built environment.
Understanding Climate Condition
The climate varies from place to place
with physiographic features, so that it is
needed to understanding the climate
condition. Peoples are not passive in relation
to their environmment, but they express
direct response to make themselves
comfortable. The response to climate
condition is an active approach that peoples
did by trial and error, especially those that
could be seen in vernacular architecture.
The climate at micro-region is more
important for study as the thick vegetation,
water body and topography plays a significant
role on habitat (Dhote KK, et al. 2012).
Climate has a major effect on the
performance of the building and its energy
consumption. At the small scale of an
environment, the local conditions are further
diversified according to the topography, the
altitude and the sea distance. Those
conditions is influencing the temperatures
and the precipitation, besides that, the
remaining factor is the influences of season
(Bouillot, Jean. 2008).
Various climatic zones affected by
topography, altitudes and latitudes are
distributed according to season and location
forging a complex tri-dimensional climatic
character (Renping, et al. 2006). There are
several elements that make up climate. The
major of these elements are (Anna, 2009):
1. Temperature, is a degrees range of hot or
cold the atmosphere is. Temperature is a
very important factor in determining the
weather, because it influences or
controls other elements of the weather,
such as precipitation, humidity, clouds
and atmospheric pressure.
2. Humidity, is the amount of water vapor
in the atmosphere.
3. Precipitation, is the product of a rapid
condensation process (if this process is

Arsitektur Lingkungan Binaan Universitas Brawijaya _TUGAS MK. BHS INGGRIS 2014/2015 |2

slow, it only causes cloudy skies). It may

include snow, hail, sleet, drizzle, fog, mist
and rain.
4. Atmospheric pressure (or air pressure), is
the weight of air resting on the earth's
surface.
5. Wind, is the movement of air masses,
especially on the Earth's surface.
Architectural typology and building physics
Typology of a vernacular settlement is a
response to orientation, wind direction, and
topography of the site. Vernacular dwellings
could be evaluated in terms of building
physics criteria that pertain to solar geometry,
thermal mass, heat transfer, air movement,
and solar geometry. There are variables that
usually used to evaluate the responsiveness to
the cimate with a purpose of sustainability
(Habib F, 2012):
a) the layout of the buildings
Based on the layout we could
determine about the orientation in
relation to sun and wind, aspect ratio.
Basically, vernacular building usually have
a socio-culture factors that also affected
the orientation, but despite of that, it was
an indigenous knowledge as a response of
a climate condition.

flowerbeds,vine trellises, soft ground

surfaces) and their appropriate placing
serves as an additional climate modifier,
ensuring human comfort both indoors and
outdoors (Anna, 2009).

Figure 3. Plan of the settlement in Sernikaki,

Greece
Source: Anna, Vissilia -Maria. 2009.

Courtyard defines a relationship

between the house and passage part
outside, it is also a place for daily activities
of people in the house such as childrens
play, cooking in summer, preparing
agricultural products and garden-grown
products for own consumption or offering
in market, activities related to farm
animals and some other activities like;
producing handicrafts and other activities.

Figure 2. layout of vernacular settlement in

Central India
Source: Dhote KK, et al. 2012

b) spacing (site planning);

Site planning detach dwellings between
compact geometry (massive building) and
extensive courtyards (open space). These
were designed considering climate
conditions. In Sernikaki, a vernacular
settlement in Greece, gardens provide
shady and cool places that become the
main living units of the summer months.
The use of gardens along with their
associated landscape features (trees,

Figure4. Compact geometry and extensive

courtyards in Lahijan, Iran
Source: Habib F, et al. 2012.

Courtyard is important regarding

climate as well, in the way that considering
the distance between construction and
limit of residential part, sun shine and wind
circulation will be possible and it has a

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huge influence on repelling moisture from

construction and making comfort for the
person. Besides, courtyard preserves the
limits of house and it separates movement
paths of human and animals. Regarding
culture, courtyard width both protects
spatial limits of house and is a place for
neighbors to visit each other and exchange
information and sustain friendship (Habib
F, et al. 2012).
c) air movement;
Provision of fresh air: The rooms of the
dwellings are need to provided with
sufficient natural ventilation through the
appropriate placement of the openings to
take advantage of breezes as well as
through their sizes in relation to the size of
the room. In the tropical area, wooden
external shutters are often used as
controlled natural ventilation. In addition,
with the shutters people are able to
control the sunlight (Anna, 2009).

curtains, vertical shafts, external horizontal

shades, and shutters.
Since openings are directly related to
thermal comfort in dwellings that have
walls of high thermal inertia, the way to
handled is of vital importance. Windows
are supposed to have their shutters totally
closed during the warmest hours of the
day, not letting in either the light or the
heat from the outside. Other protecting
shading devices used along with the
external ones are: blinds, lattices, and
curtains (Anna, 2009). Wind catcher is also
one of the important elements of hot &
humid architecture which is used for
cooling and ventilation of internal spaces.

Figure 6. Aplied openings (windows in Rumah

Gadang)
Source: wikipedia.org

Figure5. Air movement in vernacular houses of

Yunnan, china
Source: Renping, Wang and Cai Zhenyu. 2006

d) openings (sizeposition, protection);

Sizeposition of openings: the place of
the opening is according to sun
orientation, topography, views, and wind
patterns. Their types, proportions and sizes
are determined by the orientation of their
wall. Thus, optimum views, natural lighting
and cooling breezes are achieved with
suitable orientation, design and geometry
of the openings as well as their
juxtaposition.
Protection of the openings: Protection
of the openings from solar radiation during
summer is also achieved with the use of
movable shading devices such as wooden
external shutters that permit the dwelling
to be fully shaded during the summer but
fully exposed to solar radiation in winter.
Such devices are: blinds and lattices,

e) building envelope (walls: construction

materials-thickness, roof construction
detailing)
Due to the climate condition and the
wather in locaton of settlement was built,
there are importants thing that have to be
considered, such as the material that used
in sructure. The thickness of wall affect the
temperature inside the building. In the
hot-humid area, thin wall usually used so
that the temperature inside and outside
did not have too much different range. In
hot and cold climate, usually used thick
wall to protect the temperature inside the
building.

Figure 7. thick wall in Sernikaki house in Greece

Source: Anna, Vissilia -Maria. 2009.

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Roof construction have to built

considered by climate as well. In tropical
climate, roofing is the major need of the
building. The roof protect whole body of
the building from both rain and sun. The
space inside the roof is also important to
maintain temperature inside the bulding.

Figure 8. Roofing in Rumah Batak Toba

Source: wikipedia.org/rumah batak toba

Conclusion
Vernacular architecture is the source of
essential knowledge for sustainable, energy
efficient and climate responsive architectural
design principles . There are three principles
of sustainability in architecture; economy, life
cycle design , and humane design.
Climate has a major effect on the
performance of the building and its energy
consumption. Various climatic zones affected
by topography, altitudes and latitudes are
distributed according to season and location.
There are several elements that make up
climate. The major of these elements are;
temperature,
humidity,
precipitation,
atmospheric pressure, and wind.
There are variables that usually used to
evaluate the responsiveness to the cimate
with a purpose of sustainability, such as: 1)the
layout of the buildings , 2)spacing (site
planning), 3)air movement, 4)openings (size
position, protection), and 5) building envelope
(walls: construction materials-thickness, roof
construction detailing.

Bouillot, Jean. 2008. Climatic design of

vernacular housing in different provinces
of China. Journal of Environmental
Management; 87:287299
Dhote KK, Onkara P, Dasb S. 2012. Identifying
the Sustainable Practices from the
Vernacular Architecture of Tribes of Central
India.
American
Transactions
on
Engineering & Applied Sciences; 1(3): 237251
Habib F, Ensieh, Nia G, Nejad HH. 2012.
Evaluation of a Sustainable Lahijan
Vernacular Settlement (N Iran) and its
Landscape: Architectural Typology and
Building Physics. World Applied Sciences
Journal 20 (4): 527-531
Jayasudha P, Dhanasekaran M, Devadas MD,
Ramachandran N. 2014. A Study on
Sustainable Design Principles: A Case Study
of a Vernacular Dwelling in Thanjavur
Region of Tamil Nadu, India. Indian Journal
of Traditional Knowledge; 13(4): 762-770
Kim, Jong-Jin and Brenda Rigdon, Project.
1998. Sustainable Architecture Module:
Introduction to Sustainable Design.
University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI
Renping, Wang and Cai Zhenyu. 2006. An
ecological assessment of the vernacular
architecture and of its embodied energy in
Yunnan, China. Building and Environment;
41:687697
Singh MK, Mahapatra S, Atreya SK. 2010.
Thermal performance study and evaluation
of comfort temperatures in vernacular
buildings of North-East India. Building and
Environment;45(2):320329
Shohouhian, M and F. Soflaee. 2005.
Environmental
sustainable
Iranian
traditional architecture in hot-humid
regions. International Conference Passive
and Low Energy Cooling for the Built
Environment, Santorini, Greece

References
Anna, Vissilia -Maria. 2009. Evaluation of a
sustainable Greek vernacular settlement
and its landscape: Architectural typology
and building physics. Building and
Environment; 44 ; 10951106

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