Design and Construction of Bioclimatic Wooden Greenhouses, Volume 4 Architectural Integration and Quantitative Analyses

This book is the fourth of four dealing with bioclimatic design and construction by focusing on the most basic and polyvalent of modern environmental systems: the bioclimatic greenhouse, the "Swiss-army chainsaw" of architecture. More specifically, this fourth volume focuses on architectural integration, environmental prediction and how to simulate and structurally size a bioclimatic wooden greenhouse. In more general terms, it helps us to consider how to design and build the structure of bioclimatic, low-energy architecture, with low environmental impact.

This multi-volume book covers both free-standing greenhouses that can naturally heat and cool themselves, and lean-to greenhouses that support the natural heating and cooling of buildings; this includes both agricultural greenhouses and greenhouses suited to host people. As a result, it is a trans-disciplinary work deriving its areas of concern from a broad range of study areas, spanning from environmental, to constructional, to structural, drawing the clarity of the approach from the fact that the topics are presented by a single author with a single voice and a designer's mindset.

To achieve this, the book adopts a composite set of explanatory strategies and communication registers – including extensive support by 3D construction drawings and examples – and presents not only stateof-the-art solutions, but also experimental ones.

Gian Luca Brunetti is an Associate Professor of Building Technology at the Polytechnic University of Milan, Italy. His research focuses on the topics of bioclimatic design, sustainable construction technologies, lowcost construction techniques suited to self-building and design-applied optimization.

Introduction vii

Chapter 1 Greenhouse Typologies 1

1.1 Stand-alone greenhouse typologies 1

1.1.1 At the core of the stand-alone solar greenhouse conception 4

1.1.2 Cold frames 10

1.1.3 Solar pit greenhouses 11

1.1.4 Tall stand-alone greenhouses 11

1.1.5 “Non-solar” stand-alone greenhouses 14

1.2 Greenhouses serving buildings 19

1.2.1 Integrating the direct gain strategy 19

1.2.2 Integrating the indirect gain scheme from attached solar greenhouses 21

1.2.3 Atria 44

1.2.4 Greenhouses as buffer spaces 46

1.2.5 The house-in-greenhouse scheme 47

1.2.6 Solutions using the ground as primary thermal storage 50

1.3 Additional readings 59

Chapter 2 Calculation Approaches 61

2.1 Thermal calculations 62

2.1.1 Calculation of the heat transmission through an opaque panel 62

2.1.2 Determination of the average temperature of a greenhouse in steady state 68

2.1.3 A simplified calculation method of the steady-state temperature in a stand-alone solar greenhouse (experimental) 72

2.1.4 Thermal flux through an indirect solar gain system like a solar wall 88

2.1.5 Thermal flux through an attached greenhouse 89

2.2 Computer simulation as a calculation approach 90

VI Design and Construction of Bioclimatic Wooden Greenhouses 4

2.3 Environmental simulation by means of open-source tools 92

2.3.1 Basic thermal modeling and simulation criteria 93

2.4 Structural calculations 136

2.4.1 Preliminary structural sizing 136

2.4.2 Preliminary structural sizing with open-source simulation tools 174

2.4.3 Techniques for exploring the design options on the basis of the simulated performances 178

2.4.4 Metamodeling 201

Chapter 3 Design Studies 211

3.1 What is still to be said in greenhouse design 211

3.2 Calimali’s greenhouse in Fagnano Olona, Italy By Greenhouse Design Workshop 212

3.3 House “D” in Nantes Xavier Fouquet 220

3.4 Bioclimatic house in Villeneuve-Tolosane, France – Nycholas Eydoux 229

3.5 House in Vals, Italy Studio Albori 247

3.6 Rehabilitation and extension of the house “AT” in Fagnano Olona Paolo Carlesso 257

3.7 Greenhouse from recycled windows at “Casamatta”, Gurone, Malnate (Varese), Italy Marta Robecchi 261

3.8 House “GdA” in Cairate, Italy Paolo Carlesso 270

3.9 A conference greenhouse at Cascina Cuccagna in Milan Studio Arcò 275

Conclusion 285

Afterword 287

Appendices 289

Appendix 1: Thermal and Acoustic Properties of Construction Materials 291

Appendix 2: Strength of Timber According to the Norm EN 338 295

Appendix 3: Properties of Transparent Materials 299

References 301

Index 319

Summaries of other volumes 323

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