The 3 Design Strategies Keeping This Building Cool In Scorching Heat

[@SaraSaadouni_TAC]

The section at 2:53 - This refers to the angle of the sun ( *NOT the temperature!* ) Apologies if this has caused any confusion. The C was not meant to be there! 😅

[@V.D.]

Oh no, it had to be my comment, so pity 😂

[@crisdeeming2758]

Its called a safari roof landrover did it on their vehcles 50 years ago all but a little cruder due to the vehicle shape.

[@walkerx1813]

I was just about to ask about that, I went back over that section a few times to see if I missed you referencing temperature caused by the sun's angle with the ground

[@EnufIsTooMuch]

Good, solid, practical design work! About the double roof, this idea has been around for centuries, many cultures have figured it out. I've seen it done with desert tents, a large tarp spaced above the tent. Around forty years ago there was a medical office complex in Tucson, Arizona USA that did this with a stressed concrete roof above multiple independent single story buildings. It looked like a huge tent on multiple poles. The roof was on tall pillars, at least a ten foot clear space of free moving air above the buildings. The roof was large enough that the sun never touched the building walls. I was there for a dental appointment on a miserable day in August, temperature over 100F, and walking under that high roof the air was easily 15F cooler. Sadly, the complex lost the battle to modernization and real estate inflation. It was all torn down and a big ugly multi-story tower was built.

[@kennyhawley]

I saw that and at first I was like, huh? Then I decided it meant the angle.

[@walterpleyer261]

When people talk about "smart buildings", they often mean buildings with lots of sensors , electronics and complicated systems to regulate conditions inside. But truly smart buildings begin with designing a building so it doesn't need all of that or at least most) by placing relative to the sun, providing shae, using materials that absorb or release heat as necessary. In this sense this school is a particularly smart building

[@TomasNovotny-ep5br]

The hard part is to figure out hot to make it simple. When you see the design and people say: ahh this is so simple...yeah when you see it working, it is 😂

[@BuildNewTowns]

Exactly. I'm going to try to design some cool new, walkable towns with everything like this in mind.

[@pongop]

Good point! The truly smart part is working with Nature instead of against her.

[@fallinginthed33p]

Using local materials too.

[@Shouze163]

They are misguided. They define technology as fancy gadgets instead of application of the knowledge itself.

[@effervescentrelief]

For those who live in RV campers, they can tell you that adding a shade over the camper makes a massive difference when trying to keep cool. Wondering why this idea isn’t utilized more in the desert southwest of the US and other regions.

[@xyztnce]

On us Mexico boundary they build houses with dome roofs with oculus small window which serves as hot air evaporative.

[@whistlingsage9817]

I live in the desert southwest near the border with Mexico, and every year in the Spring and Fall we are treated to very heavy wind storms. We often see sustained winds of over 50 mph during the day that go on for many days, and an over-shelter like the one in the video would have to be very strong to withstand the winds here. We do use woven plastic mats stretched between poles like heavy dining flys over outdoor structures like playground sets and carports, but they only last a few years before they need to be replaced. Also, passive solar cooling stopped being a thing here when everyone got electricity. I'm not saying that passive solar cooling wouldn't be a good thing down here, just that it was cheaper to use existing building designs and hardware common in the rest of the U.S. than it was to design unique buildings for this region. Don't forget that price is always an important factor in building construction. It was cheaper to do what was already the standard in other parts of the country, and just run the evaporative cooler during the day to keep things cool. P.S. In the past we made buildings here with thick walls made from adobe, and they were very good at maintaining a liveable temperature inside them, but they also required a lot of upkeep, and the nature of the material limited what you could do with it.

[@xyztnce]

@@whistlingsage9817 wind speed is good at your end so why not you try wind turbine. it will spin all day/night and contineous source of electricity. if your weather is hot only and not humid than evaporative cooling is best n cheap for you.

[@thatguy7085]

Many camp resorts in Florida use this

[@kwonekstrom2138]

It's not uncommon for people to have a fully covered porch or an "RV port" over a single wide. Another common thing I see in the desert is a second steel roof to act as a radiant barrier. This is often done as part of roof repairs after the spring winds.

[@parrotraiser6541]

For once, a good, practical, building wins an architectural award.

[@stevensibbet5869]

It wins a dubious award only open to Muslims?

[@CitiesTurnedToDust]

I agree, too often, the award winners are impractical, artsy, space wasting works of ego and stupidity.

[@3nertia]

@@CitiesTurnedToDust Welcome to capitalism!

[@jeffharris7777]

​@@3nertiaOof.... literally nothing to do with capitalism. Please grow up.

[@3nertia]

@@jeffharris7777 Thank you for your misunderstanding and your "valuable" contribution to the conversation, Dunning-Kruger 🙃

[@jtknight4647]

Im a ventilation expert and business owner bringing natural cooling to the forefront, for people with and without much money. Love this story and yes the Venturi effect, convection abd thermal breaks are the key. Passive is the future.

[@trainwreck420ish]

Frank lloyd Wright houses have been working like this since the 40s and John lautner also. FYI this isn't that new, it's just people actually pay attention to it now

[@jtknight4647]

@@trainwreck420ish exactly, its new to many not to history. Same with WHF(whole house fans) 50 year old tech making a huge comeback. People just dont know what it is and i remind them its tried and true NOT new

[@nullobject7966]

​@trainwreck420ish Do you have any resources that you recommend to learn more about passive heating/cooling? Books, websites, articles, physics concepts, literally anything. I'm going to build my first home on a budget next year, and looking to explore ways for passive heating/cooling. I'm very interested in geothermal.

[@trainwreck420ish]

@nullobject7966 yea, here in KZbin. There's thousands of hours of architecture and especially mid century modern architecture. I am biased towards frank lloyd Wright and John lautner as mentioned. The two wrote books about organic architecture and the reasons for building such a way. Also Albert Frey and Kendrick Kellogg are awesome as well. There's a quincy Jones Richard neutra and meis van Der Rohr. Try to find mid century modern architecture and stuff built before the widespread adoption of ac. Also Africa has been living for thousands of years without having air conditioning. Also Muslim countries have awesome technology for beating the heat. Towers and domes aren't just for looks.

[@wilfredvanvalkenburgh2874]

​@@nullobject7966Wow! You have just asked a deeper question than you probably realized. Do you just want to know for your one house, or do you really want "to know"? If one house, what climate? Auburn University' Rural Studio might be a good place to start.

[@DOTTORE_FOX]

We need much more architects like him!!!

[@writerconsidered]

I once thought of a design here in the US for a mobile home park. Set up a solar panel system on top of the mobile homes that cover the entire roof, and have it raised to allow air flow between the roof and the panels. It would achieve three things. First it would be an entire electric power plant. Second help cool down the trailers. Third protect the roof of the trailers from rain which could over time leak into the trailer. What I didn't think of was an airplane foil.

[@Cherrysmith2809]

This is a great idea!

[@OOICU812]

And perhaps you could sell any excess energy produced to power company.

[@rachaellee2629]

Good idea but.... Roof fires...

[@davidparker9676]

Mobile homes are the worst type of housing. Why make a carport for a mobile home when you can just build a real home without wheels under it and a design in all of the natural ventilation and insulation? Mobile homes make IKEA furniture look like fine-quality furniture. Nobody should permanently live in temporary housing.

[@TheMissPoovey]

I’ve thought of that for parking lots at the airport. Miles of usable sunspace.

[@avinamerkur1484]

local people solving local problems with global knowledge - thats the past, present and future of human kind.

[@CUBETechie]

I love Francis Kéré s presentations especially in german they have this positive and enthusiastic energy

[@Skidderoperator]

Locals must be white. Whites were making bricks in the video.

[@pongop]

Yes, and by working with Nature!

[@b_uppy]

The point with the thick tombe walls is that the heat dispersed at night keeps the rooms pleasantly warm at night instead of too cold due to too quick heat dispersal. This makes optional night time use of these rooms practical as well.

[@jmhatyoutube6283]

Thank you for that observation! I was wondering why on earth the architect would want to use a heat absorbing material instead of a heat reflecting one for the wall of this building. So, it’s about regulating temperature, not just cooling. That makes it even more interesting.

[@Anonymous-sb9rr]

@@jmhatyoutube6283 It's about cooling. The walls cool down at night and absorb heat from the air during the day, which cools down the air. It could've used a reflective material on the outside, but who wants a reflective building? It's also in the shadow so I don't know how big the difference would really be. As you could see in the graph, it doesn't really get cold at night. Even in the coldest nights, it's still 15 degrees Celsius outside and it's gonna be a lot warmer inside.

[@RT-eb6vo]

Proivided you can get past bureaucracy and corporate money.

[@b_uppy]

@RT-eb6vo I have to agree with you on that. Lots of housing techniques that are cheap for do-it-yourselfers are "overlooked" by those that approve the universal building codes. It's disappointing in the least, and saying it's disgusting may be too mild......

[@jasondoust4935]

This is a great common sense building. Thank you for presenting it to us. The ram used to make those blocks is an easily dismantled UN design that can be welded together in just about any steel fabrication shop. The basic model is powered by one person. No external power source required. The blocks are moist loam with around 3-5% cement and are air dried for a few weeks before being laid. I've been to a course on this tech and it's fascinating. Look up the CINVA ram for more information.

[@bardmadsen6956]

They should do experiments to see if the can handle long term water saturation, if so you could wet the wall and it would be 10-15% cooler. I've been interested in passive homes since 1967 watching real hippies building a house of mud bricks, just as a interest over the years. I tiled swimming pools in the SW USA, thousands of them, in 122 degree F, near the end I would put up a 40'X20' 70% shade, like a knit nylon, and even had 12+ tiny misters. And only swam-coolers at home. I live past the 45th now and think why people don't build houses alike the arcane Russians with a central huge mass of masonry for the wood-stove/oven. The thinks I think of baking or freezing...

[@2adamast]

Never understood the Cinva ram where in the 18th century they mounted the brick press under the surface of a table with a body weight pedal, making filling from a surface and pressing by body weight much simpler

[@chekote]

I wish there was some data provided in this video about the temperatures experienced within the building itself.

[@Tomasrrb]

Eas thinking the exact same thing. It's a shame that no results were shared. How much actual cooling is it able to achieve consistently over regular buildings?

[@danielheckel2755]

@@Tomasrrb -6 Celcius. The Aga Khan Award for Architecture lists the Gando primary school by Francis Diebedo Kéré as six degrees Celcius cooler compared with the common tin roof alternative.

[@danielheckel2755]

-6 Celcius. The Aga Khan Award for Architecture lists the Gando primary school by Francis Diebedo Kéré as six degrees Celcius cooler compared with the common tin roof alternative.

[@kobrapromotions]

Thats pretty much the average temperature where I work in Australia (mining, remote areas) and we often use similar building strategies in the outback. The second roof is a common one. We also sometimes add native vegetation to encourage the development of microclimates.

[@freeshrugs63]

In SE Kansas we have an average summertime high of 93 with humidity. It's hot. But we pay no attention to natural solutions. We could learn from this design. Save a lot of energy.

[@beth8775]

This roof structure might not stand up to the storms we get in tornado alley. I would love to see thermal mass get more attention though. Earth sheltered buildings are much safer in a tornado as well benefitting from the thermal mass.

[@q.e.d.9112]

@@beth8775 I visited an “Earthship” rammed earth house in New Mexico during August, about a dozen years ago. It was 91 outside and 73 inside, mid afternoon.

[@arcanondrum6543]

Well "...we pay no attention..." because capitalism wouldn't have it any other way. There's 300 million Americans, get one dollar from each of them once and you're wealthy. Get one dollar (or more) profit from each of them every month and you can own a television network and some Senators.

[@MarcoArezzo76]

And what about strong winds? 🤔🤔

[@brodriguez11000]

Current heat wave is well past that. Any future design will have to take climate change into account.

[@josdesouza]

That's my favorite kind of intelligent building. Kudos to Diébédo Francis Kéré!

[@GaiaCarney]

Yes! Diébédo Francis Kéré has gifted this community with a beautiful school building ☮️ I hope more can be built to benefit more children!

[@kenpatton8761]

A friend of mind in Washington State has a triple-wide manufactured home. He added a “pole barn” roof 4 feet over his house. It not only provided shade in summer, which sometimes topped 105 degrees, but helped in winter as well with the “snow load”. He did extend the chimney from his fireplace up and through the added roof height to keep smoke from being trapped inter the added roof even though the “pole barn” was open aired on the sides, smoke could still be caught under it on no or low wind days. This was back in 1988……Cheers

[@MrPhotodoc]

Even my cats know laying under a car in the summer is where the cool breeze is.

[@johnvrabec9747]

If you want to see these techniques on an architectural scale, visit Taliesin West in Scottsdale Arizona. Frank Lloyd Wright designed his winter home and school with these techniques. He used skills developed by the long past native people in the desert southwest to use on the site. Anytime you are in the Phoenix area, please take a tour. It's very cool.

[@asjeot]

Loved that it was designed by a local architect who understood the requirements and built and affordable, functional building

[@Jannikheu]

As an urban climatologist I can say this is a very wisely constructed building, definitely earned the recognition!

[@JamesPfeiffer-z2j]

Outstanding. Think outside the box. Rely on AC and suffer when the power goes out.

[@peterp5099]

Fortunately the solution comes in the same package as the problem. The same sun that creates the heat provides also the solar energy to run AC. With today’s technology, cooling is a much smaller problem than heating.

[@IRACEMABABU]

@@peterp5099 No, it makes entropy grow. Passive solutions always are better because they're neutral about energy.

[@mikelundrigan2285]

Easy and relatively simple way to build the school and keep it temperature controlled,without using electricity or other power sources, in a very hot location! This is a brilliant solution to an increasingly overheated world! Bravo!!

[@dmays67]

Fantastic and heart warming to see great thinking going into solving a local problem. Not looking for awards and accolades - just fixing a local problem and helping locals in a practical, wonderful way. Fantastic! Bravo!

[@keithsuggs7935]

As I watched this I was hoping for a temperature for the area which was said but, I wanted an internal temperature from inside the "no A/C needed" building. I think with the smart design, and available materials it's much better than normal building practices. However, I would venture to say it's probably not in the 70 degree range for an air conditioned structure. Very thoughtful!

[@GlueTubber]

maybe not in the 70 degree range, but the heat-load is greatly reduced, and that means less A/C is needed to cool to the desired temp! :)

[@keithsuggs7935]

@@GlueTubber Exactly what I was saying. Is it 30° cooler or 5°. Orientation of a building with respect to sun exposure can do a lot. Trees can produce almost miraculous results. Just wondering about the before and after.

[@Elementaldomain]

@@keithsuggs7935if you live in the desert, like I do, shade makes a lot of difference. I have double layered roof, airspace in between. Liquid silicone material on top of roll roofing. I would venture to say the temp drop inside their school is no more than ten degrees. A ten degree drop plus better shading via the Venturi roof helps….but people have to realize hot is still hot and those people are used to it, so the little difference makes a bigger difference for them rather than people who are used to more comfort in the states. It’s all relative…..😂

[@Craig_Tucker48]

@@Elementaldomainif only this video would be honest like you.

[@abdushakoorjamalmokalane1719]

Hey Sara thanks for recognising Francis,many didn't know about this

[@RasheedKhan-he6xx]

I love when simple solutions are intelligently applied. Bravo.

[@redman2751]

The last 20 seconds or so was the most important. It just made sense. It wasn’t for an award, or energy star rating.

[@bruceparker6142]

I like the concept. I wonder if that location experiences hurricane force winds. The external roof looks like a wing that could experience major lifting forces in such conditions.

[@clarkpalace]

Zero hurricanes there

[@jasondoust4935]

Glen Murcutt has done similar work decades ago in Australia's Northern Territory, where cyclonic wind forces are a major consideration. It's a different climate with different solutions, but it can work. Look it up.

[@X4R2]

Theoretically the upper roof would be pushed down onto the lower roof because of the low pressure between them caused by the Venturi effect. Now whether that's really true, IDK. They'd have to measure the pressure above and below the upper roof during windy days.

[@bruceparker6142]

@X4R2 I was thinking the other way around. Higher airflow above the upper roof resulting in low pressure and slower speeds below the upper roof resulting in high pressure. The pressure difference resulting in the air below the roof going from high pressure to low pressure causing lifting of the roof. Like an airplane wing.

[@allegrosotto2126]

@@jasondoust4935Glenn Murcutt sadly still not respected for his wonderful designs. I attended a lecture of his years ago - very inspiring 👍

[@tw8464]

Thank you for teaching us about this architecture

[@lovely-mk4rt]

I watched the award ceremony, which included the design concept, of this brilliant young architect. The world’s leaders would do well to learn from him. I’m happy to see more information coming out about this design. Hopefully it will be used in areas that heat extreme is changing the landscape

[@DavidDavidunderthebridgeChampi]

We absolutely forget that the most common building material on the earth is earth. SIP Adobe combines many aspects of this. Strategies in this buildings and some of the more esoteric designs of earth homes in parts of the US need to be adapted/used appropriate to that region. Just like this school. Hope to see more of this used in other parts of the country/buildings.

[@larkop6504]

Thanks, this is perfect for tropical location😁

[@nzrockdj]

On a much smaller and simpler scale here in Rarotonga I have seen the double roof affect on a 35sqm foldable house. Brilliant idea and cools the house so well. Another huge benefit of the double roof especially if there is wide overhangs is that the house is protected by the elements so much better because of the large roof overhead.

[@allegory7638]

Left out the 4th, and most important strategy, which is to be located in a low-humidity area. Humidity makes ALL the difference in the world. Get in the shade in a hot arid location and you're good to go.

[@chapter4travels]

Exactly, low humidity and cool nights make this kind of building work, just like the Earth Ship homes. I want to know how you keep birds and other critters out of the space between the two roofs.

[@richardshen6404]

Amazing architecture I would also like to incorporate it in house according to the local setting and the icing "I love the way you talk" 😊

[@EmiliaMarincel]

Very interesting . Thank you for information . My respect for that african atchitect , Kere ! ❤

[@stefanvanhaeren7712]

It’s nice watching you explain,.. good buildings and living ereas come from symplicity and humbleness regarding earth and creation,…:)

[@SaraSaadouni_TAC]

Thank you 🙏🏽 I totally agree!

[@beth8775]

Brilliant! I love seeing passive cooling ideas.

[@itaraju]

Thanks for this video. I’ve known before about this project, but your explanation about it, pointing out why one option was better than others, was great.

[@gabrieleg6384]

Hallo Sara. Let me first thank you for your amazing work: for your efforts to advertise the beauty of a modern and more sustainable Word trough the architecture point of view. I do really hope that more and more people will fall in love with the subjects that you show us. Please consider the idea of making a video about how to transform an old and inefficient house in a more efficient house 🏠. Thanks

[@SaraSaadouni_TAC]

Thank you for your comment 🙏🏽 sounds like a great idea and I’ll definitely add it to the list 👍🏽

[@jadedrealist]

It's been over 100 degres (F) in my area for 3 weeks, hitting highs of around 114. We could definitely use this type of design. (Sacramento CA).

[@Craig_Tucker48]

It would drop to 94 degrees on a breezy and non humid day.

[@pongop]

This is amazing and inspiring! Great strategy for living in hot and extreme climates. Another good strategy is dome roofs. And my favorite strategy of all is building (and growing food) underground, like with earthships, hobbit holes, and the Forestiere Underground Gardens, in Fresno, California. The Underground Gardens are an excellent example and definitely worth checking out! Thank you for this video!

[@manasikashyap]

Love it!!! Please do more videos on passive cooling designs. Thank you!

[@SaraSaadouni_TAC]

Very glad you like it! More to come 💪🏽

[@wyaldkingdom]

So what is the temperature inside of the classroom?

[@danielheckel2755]

-6 Celcius. The Aga Khan Award for Architecture lists the Gando primary school by Francis Diebedo Kéré as six degrees Celcius cooler compared with the common tin roof alternative.

[@Craig_Tucker48]

That is -6 degrees cooler than outside, not -6 degrees. Considering how hot it gets in the day, that is still hotter than most people would consider comfortable. There is a reason they never gave us a temperature reading in this video, despite this being the focus and key measurement that would empirically verify their achievement.

[@danielheckel2755]

@@Craig_Tucker48 Believe me, it is a world of difference for the Burkina Faso kids who otherwise would have to endure ambient temperature.

[@Craig_Tucker48]

@@danielheckel2755 I agree, it does make a world of a difference. Where I live is hot all year. But this is hardly “no aircon needed” like it says on the thumbnail. Anyone who disagrees is welcome to trade in their aircon for this house.

[@Wul-Lop]

🙏 🙏 🙏 🇧🇫 🇧🇫 🇧🇫 ... Genius design by mercy heart... Respect Diébédo Francis Kéré from Thailand...

[@SladkaPritomnost]

Wow, built such a great design with almost no infrastructure is a great achievement!

[@amechealle5918]

My grandfather made a 3 wall family covered patio like this waaaay back in the late 1940’s. Even when the weather was blazing hot the patio was cool. When my grandparents passed away their home was sold. The new owners were going to tear down the patio until my uncle explained how the roof over the patio worked. The patio is still there today with only a few changes. My grandfather had a few different engineering degrees and was a mind blowingly interesting man.

[@SaraSaadouni_TAC]

That’s wonderful! It’s common sense most of the time with these things! And there’s a lack of awareness most of the time from users of the space! Glad they kept the covering over the patio 👍🏽

[@alineharam]

Your video was very excitng. I know it may not have been intendended, but it was EXCITING.

[@TommyAlanRaines]

95F is a cool day in western Texas to Phoenix AZ. In the southwestern area of the US temperatures can exceed 120°F / 48.9°C, Architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed a few buildings located near Phoenix to be cool in those high temperatures. Also homes in the American in southwest once used construction principles that allowed air to flow which kept them cooler. The Arabian area also built structures that stayed cool during extreme temperatures.

[@Elementaldomain]

Yeah….I laughed at that. I live in the High Desert now, but used to live in Palm Springs. I would run at night and it was still 120 at midnight. 😂

[@petrlonsky2332]

Dr. Ye Tao uses similar approach to cool roofs in Freetown. Moreover, he ads reflective layer on roof to reflect more sun rays back. Incredible how simple solutions can be so effective. Hope more architects will learn such hacks 👍🌍🕊

[@Elementaldomain]

Yes. Desert dweller here, liquid white silicone roofing material, three layers thick. It’s not that cheap white stuff you buy at Home Depot, it really is thick.

[@stanglassman]

I had an architect who built his Biophilic home in a similar style in a nice neighborhood here in Tampa, FL. The city made him build a large fence to cover the home because they thought it a blight and out of place. It was back in the 80s. Today they’d probably be fine with it. It was surprisingly comfortable inside even during out hot humid summers.

[@bobjuniel8683]

Give us the statistics: Temperature in the sun, In the shade, and with the Venturi roof. Is it an open roof gap over a ceiling built as an inner roof? Are there vents in the ceiling? One side elevation shows a flat inner roof and curved outer roof, another shows a curved inner roof and curved outer roof. Which is it? Ventilated roofs over ceilings are common in hot countries. In Thailand the gable angle is very steep, about 50°, to allow the hot air to rise. Fans are used to create a breeze. In Thailand often a flat roof becomes an open air top floor over which a gable roof is built for extra shade, This floor is commonly used for clothes drying, which in itself reduces heat required to evaporate water. Bird wire is needed to stop flocks of birds nesting and pooping. The houses are often raised one floor height above a pond of water, or in modern times, above a car port, bathroom, laundry and open kitchen, Traditional houses did not have glass or fly wire, this allows full natural airflow. Mosquitoes and insects can be a problem and insect nets over beds are often required. Verandahs prevent the sun from shining on the walls, and usually have herbs and plants growing in them to the increase shade. Sometimes verandahs are so wide that there are no inner walls. I have 37°C in the carport at 4am in the morning. Thermal bricks hold the heat making the house hot at night. This choice is related to whether the temperature drops significantly at night. Concrete block houses do not cool at night in Thailand, and need airconditioning. The break through is the Venturi effect of the roof. I need to see statistical evidence of the increase in air flow. I am sure it would be an improvement.

[@pansepot1490]

Yeah, looks like someone found a pop article online and just read it. Very scarse on details and no follow up whatsoever. According to the video this project won an award in 2004. *That’s 20 years ago!* well, if the design is so effective it must have spread far and wide, right? Where’s the photos of all the other buildings that have been built on the same principle? Are there any? Perhaps what works great on paper is not all that great irl?

[@Elementaldomain]

Click bait. I live in the desert. 95 is considered a balmy day - LOL. First of all, the people in Burkina Faso live in primitive conditions - the little relief they feel from the heat is different than people who are used to living in a country like the U.S. Secondly…..humidity, or lack thereof, plays a big difference. On a 8% humidity day here, even 95 doesn’t feel bad…..during Monsoon season that same temp can make you feel like you want to die. I have lived here since 1978. I have electricity but also am set up for off grid. I have compound style houses…..each is 10x12. Double layered roof with air space in between layers. Top layer is covered in liquid silicone roofing material - three coats I made evaporative coolers that run off a 100w stand alone solar system. Fan is 60w….pump is 20w. Standard 100A lithium batteries. My little houses are normal wood construction, wool inside wall insulation. 36x40” windows on three sides. On a 110 temp day, with low humidity…..inside each house is about 75 tops. I often have to wear a sweatshirt till mid morning.

[@bobjuniel8683]

@@Elementaldomain 👍Good I did not say "click bait." No problem. I believe,double roof with air flow in between, and maybe a sod topping and grass with automatic night watering if water is freely available. Heavy black plastic used for water sealing concrete slabs and walls, or over a timber, timber and iron or reinforced concrete slab all with plastic waterproofing, Consider reinforced concrete pillars and cement block walls with steel rods and infilled with cement for wall strength. Then mound earth up to the inner ceiling roof at an angle of 30° from the ground, grassed, the walls plastic waterproofed. Door and widows double glazed gas filled. I cannot do the engineering safety calculations. Imported steel and concrete are very expensive compared to local timber. Different tooling and jigs or boxing adds expense. 12' X 12' or 3.6m X 3.6m is the concrete slab module and 4' X 4' or 1.2m X1.2m is the strong timber floor stump spacing module. Wall timbers are at 2' or 600mm centres spacing. So 12' X 12' module are cheapest to build. Consider 12' X 18' living plus 6' X12' wet room Shower, basin, toilet, washing machine or trough. The kitchen sink and cooking area along the 12" inner wall on the opposite side to the wet room. All plumbing close. In simple timber cottages for a couple, the wet room was separate to the house for odour exclusion. We used to go to the toilet outside, and eat inside. Now we cook and eat outside and go to the toilet inside. The Asian wet area and eating open air downstairs and sleeping upstairs with the cooler evening breeze works but it requires an expensive staircase, and dust and no security from people. Insect and animal life is a factor to consider, Families live side by side, and they have watch dogs, if a dog bites you and you kill it you can go to jail. Every system has its strengths and weaknesses. I admire your building initiatives. Well done, 👍✅

[@jdillon8360]

Great video. It would be nice if you could talk about the orientation of the building, which didn't seem to make it into the video.

[@crappo8459]

Beautifully done 👍👍👍👍👍

[@ddlang2514]

Love this. Just wondering how the top roof holds up to high speed wind gusts like those form storms.

[@lewieanderson6579]

Truly fascinating. Need to build more like this instead of the new ways they are coming up with. The less electricity we need for ventilation the better.

[@jburch5752]

What is the temperature inside the classroom? What if you don't have wind? How does it cool below the ambient temperature? And of course what are the humidity levels?

[@Craig_Tucker48]

These silly little details would destroy the narrative of this video. Hush my child, you ask too many questions 😉

[@shader26]

Such an elegant solution! The architect was excellent, and so was the explanation. One other thing about air conditioning, it dumps the heat taken out of the inside of the building to the outside, making areas around the buildings with a/c even hotter. Also given human nature where when a/c is available they often crank it up so it is freezing inside, instead of just comfortable, wasting energy. This was a great video, would have liked to know the temps inside the building when outside is 40 deg.C. How much it can cool?

[@Craig_Tucker48]

You do realise that the same heat is being released by this building right? Granted there is the ac motor produces their own heat and some people crank their ac way more than the my need, but let’s not pretend that heat is not dispersed in every situation a room cools…

[@shader26]

@@Craig_Tucker48 yeah, I actually had not, thanks for pointing that out. But as you say too, you can’t crank up the cooling dumping even more heat. I was in Sante Fe years back, it was at least 100 deg F. or more, and you had to take a sweater or jacket in town for going into shops. Begin sneezing right away, and when you go out again it’s like a wall of heat hits you. Not good. Seems insane specially knowing just bringing temp down less would feel just fine getting out of the heat.

[@Craig_Tucker48]

@@shader26 I so agree with that. Makes you get sick easier too swapping from cold buildings to hot outside so many times a day.

[@josefpichler7271]

Keep it simple and stupid! No one knows more to use this phrase than Mr. Kere! Whe can learn a lot from him! Thank you for your ideas!

[@jmhatyoutube6283]

I believe the phrase you’re looking for is, “Keep it simple, Stupid!”

[@Gayiman]

Great idea. But my only worry is about wind gust that tend to rip off iron sheets especially where there is a confinement.

[@StillOnTrack]

Awesome! It seems like cob would integrate nicely with this kind of a design as well!

[@Yohann67]

I first heard about these grass roots concepts in the Barefoot College Ted Talk. Love this stuff.

[@Brian-os9qj]

Very well presented and thought provoking. Thx

[@appleimacdude]

So how has this building fared after 20 plus years? Any problems with wind-driven rain getting around the first roof, and into the building? Any other problems with this design that has had to be dealt with? Fascinating video and ideas -

[@SaraSaadouni_TAC]

I am not sure but I found out later that the roof collects rain water! The project is featured in the website of the Kéré foundation. One great thing about the project is that the local people were trained to participate in the construction so hopefully they know very well how to maintain it and take ownership of it! Thanks for your comment 😊

[@mikebikekite1]

It would of been nice to know the temperatures actually achieved inside the building as this is the real proof of concept.

[@Craig_Tucker48]

I know right… I wonder why they didn’t include such a simple test…

[@Sunny-x7l2u]

Beautiful explanation. Beautiful gal❤

[@mattyboy8270]

My dad's Landrover in the 70s had a double skinned roof. Very handy for Summer holiday trips when few cars had A/C.

[@jimdob6528]

Hmmm…. I literally designed something very similar to this when I was 14 and building shelters in the woods when it was 96f on average and my little shacks would stay cool every single day. Glad to see a better explanation as to why this concept worked.

[@jhowell5931]

This kind of architecture is called "using common sense". We need more of this not only in realty, but also everyday life.

[@maximusone7990]

First of all, great job on the design. Great usage of physics. If only more peоple would use logic like this. Second, I don't know where are you from, but 35 degrees celsius is a mild temperature for a big part of the world. Almost the whole Mediterranean (Spain, South Italy, the Balkan peninsula, Turkie ...), the Middle East, North Africa etc are experiencing temperatures above 50 degrees celsius for 3 moths a year or more.

[@BlackCat_2]

It's like Texas! I hope to build a new small home soon. I will keep these tips in mind. Heidi

[@claytronico]

A good number of years ago I did some thermal analysis with SolidWorks Flow Simulation, a tool used for analyzing products like computers and phones, to do some basic probing on the idea of a shade over a roof. What I found was that there needed to be a pretty good size gap, similar to the one shown in this video, to make the concept effective. It is typical of passive flow, density driven flows need a ton of space because the driving force is low. If wind were the primary driver, you could reduce the gap, but then the strategy falls down on a calm sunny day. The holy grail is a passive geothermal heat pipe that uses water as the working fluid. Heating from above, cooling from below is stable though, and can't be used to drive circulation, the driver being changes in density. Ever wonder why the stuff at the top of a cooler can be warmer that the stuff at the bottom? Heating from above, cooling from below, flow shuts down, and with the thermal conductivity of air being so small, the column stratifies thermally. Fun fact, the thermal conductivity of the materials that thermal insulation are made from is actually pretty high compared to the insulation as furnished. The reason is simple, insulation has one job, keep air from moving. The drag induced by insulation nearly eliminates the effects of density driven flow. The Achilles heel, wind loading on the shade is high in storm conditions, so designing it to withstand high winds is probably cost prohibitive. Probably better off designing to be easy to repair than resist crazy wind that only comes around once every 10 years.

[@jzgs423]

This sounds fantastic and inventive... at the same time, as someone who has lived in villages in the developing world, I took one look at all the materials used in the roof's support structure and wondered whether "local people" really are able to afford such a solution on their own. This building project was undoubtedly funded from the outside. In fact, in the video that shows "local people" making the bricks, it's possible to see a bunch of outside people who are working on the bricks next to someone holding a fancy camera. All of that is okay, as far as it goes... I'm very happy that such an architecturally ingenious project was funded on behalf of this specific community! Nevertheless, the solution almost certainly is not sustainable just from those small, local village economies. That means that this design, however ingenious, will almost certainly not catch on organically in other villages.

[@lonzo61]

Very efficient, functional and beautiful design.

[@luisjorge153]

Imagine if instead of spending so much money in making powerful weapons for war and destruction, humanity would spend that money in such a clever and very useful infrastructural project, like the one you are showing us in this video. What a beautiful world we could have!

[@snowbank8617]

In theory this looks wonderful. How about some actual numbers that show the theory works? When classes start in the morning what is the outside temperature versus the inside temperature ... and at some points through the school day.

[@SkylerTanner]

Roughly 20 years ago, Dwell featured a home in the Southern California desert near Joshua Tree called the “Desert Shed.” It featured 3 main features: 1. A concrete slab that was at least double the amount of a normal 1500sq ft home with the house built directly on top of it (to reduce temperature swings from such a massive slab), 2. A metal roof built up over the house for the previously mentioned venturi effect, and 3. The house was south on the slab with its windows facing south to gain solar energy in the winter and take advantage of full shade in the summer.

[@patrickworrall5582]

So interesting, well written and explained.

[@Lostboy811]

So pretty much what is common at least with the double shading having a roof over a roof or a canopy to take the most direct heat of the sun. But pretty ingenious design itself. I bet even common jars of water near the ceiling may be employed to reduce the heat by evaporated water

[@DeanJayJackmanJr]

Thank you for highlighting this genius design!

[@GeckoHiker]

I'm watching this video from my earth sheltered, partially underground home in the Ozarks, so I'm particularly interested in passive design. I've often wondered if underground buildings are feasible in very hot climates like this. For instance, our design had to focus on surface water management and collection because we get a lot of rain. I imagine flooding during a raining season as a limiting factor for underground building design.

[@gumse666]

I've seen a similar design on a winery in Mosel, worked great. Cool inside even with 35 deg C outside,

[@robertwillis4061]

Saw a few years ago a television programme by the British adventurer / outdoors man Ray Mears. He was in North Africa around the Sahara Desert. He had a Land Rover parked up. He said that he would normally use two parachute fabric covers spaced approximately 30cm apart. He said this kept the temperature down a considerable amout in comparison to a single layer.

[@fabianbuentello5694]

Great information. Thank you!

[@Tomasrrb]

I wish more data on the achieved temperature cooling was provided. How much heat is this building able to disperse consistently? 3 degrees Celsius? 5? 10?

[@Craig_Tucker48]

There is a reason these details were left out.

[@counterbalancelife4305]

Simplicity is still the ultimate sophistication.

[@DavidPellerinmaison]

Very well explained a d very interesting. Thanks!

[@AdamPrue-de5tw]

Prue ving my drawings and hypothesis. Very nice!

[@martinrhoads6168]

What is the temperature difference insiide vs outside? Put solar cells on the roof to use for an AC. Collect rain water to store from the roof.

[@Craig_Tucker48]

Good solution. Makes running an AC much cheaper. As for why they did not include temperature in this video which needed it to verify should be obvious.

[@waltermessines5181]

Listening to this, even reading a telephone book, would never bore me.

[@laius6047]

Thia is exactly the ideas that need to be inforporated everywhere around the world since the flimate is heating. Im from eastern europe and 20 years ago when i was kid i rememebr summers being much midler than now. In most apartments people now must have ac's or they cant live comfortably. New building are so badly planned,no roof overhang, huge floor to ceiling windows facing south. No large trees around the house. Absolutely crazy that elthey think ac is going to solve all that. Well good luck

[@jeremybaker7502]

And drop the temp by another 5 degrees by planting trees and plants around the garden.

[@vsubhuti]

Why didn’t they add more greenery and tree water combinarn*

[@flashrandom]

They may not grow

[@PeggyEscobar-v8j]

@@vsubhutiit’s arid. They probably didn’t have much water

[@mangakhawlhring3054]

If they can plant trees when and everywhere they wanted, it won't be a 'hot semi arid climate'

[@Clouds-su3dc]

How about painting buildings white to reflect sunlights heat back to space keeping heat from entering in.

[@3101home]

Very informative video. Curious if the school bldg has any heating system for the cooler winter season?

[@SaraSaadouni_TAC]

No as there is no need for heating.

[@ToshiSanglir-qx3cn]

This is a naturally smart building!

[@kylek29]

Switch uses this same technique for their data centers here in Las Vegas. A double layer roof, high albedo layer (on top), and they use cooling towers to push cool air between the upper roof and the lower roof.

[@Moondoggy1941]

IN Palm Springs Ca. there are trailer parks where people are doing something like this, they are building large patio covers over their trailers to block 100 % of the direct sun light.

[@ajaj2572]

That’s great! I can’t imagine getting a city permit for making holes in my roof to put a second roof on it

[@TheSpecialJ11]

The best part about passive designs is you can slap air conditioning on top of them and it'll barely run, but when it really does get that hot where your passive design allows the temperature to rise past 80F, you have the option of turning the AC on. Sure, without the insulation typical in the AC paradigm of an American home the AC will be less efficient, but with all of the passive energy savings you already have, that's okay.

[@bobbydelcavallo7181]

Absolutely brilliant ❤❤❤

[@AethericEchoes]

I missed the part that told just what the "cool" temperature inside is.

[@Craig_Tucker48]

Their silence is deafening. As someone who lives in a building like this I will disclose that it shaves a few degrees off, but only if there is wind and only if humidity is low. The people touting this probably live in air conditioned appartments.

[@czvelez]

Great video. Good explanations ❤

[@SaraSaadouni_TAC]

Thank you 🙏🏽

[@Craig_Tucker48]

@@SaraSaadouni_TACWhy did you not include temperature readings in your video? As someone who lives in a house like this, surely if it were as cool as you say this simple and quick piece of evidence would clinch your argument?