Study and analysis of the climate in Greek cities with the aid of climatic data: Climate analysis as a design tool in undergraduate students’ projects

Abstract

The analysis of the climate and the microclimatic conditions of a place is directly linked with the principles of bioclimatic architecture and thus provides an insight for the first stages of the design or redesign of buildings. The aim of this article is to provide a methodology for the first stages of building design which as far as bioclimatic and sustainable parameters are concerned, involves the analysis and the comprehension of the climate. Climatic analysis can be done with a combination of different sources, data and software, with the primary aim being the identification of the basic climatic parameters and their effect on comfort and energy consumption. After that, and with the use of psychrometric diagrams, climatic data can be directly linked to bioclimatic design strategies that can be introduced from the very beginning of a design project. The proposed methodology has been developed within the framework of undergraduate architectural technology courses and could be applied not only to undergraduate and postgraduate students’ design projects, but also to professional work, such as architectural competitions around the world and actual projects.