Page 36 - Hong Kong Green School Guide

3. Green School Guide - 3.1 Green School Sites
Hong Kong Green School Guide 34
Benefits
• Better air ventilation and air quality;
• Complete climate positive design shall reduce energy for air conditioning and
mechanical ventilation;
• Minimal maintenance required; and
• Decreased capital costs for air conditioning or mechanical ventilation.
Issues to Consider
a. Opportunities
• Orientating the major façade of a building perpendicular to summer winds
can maximise wind-induced ventilation;
• Narrow building should be adopted in the design to facilitate fresh air
distribution across the floor and provide shallow room layout to increase
natural lighting;
• Opening at high level (such as the roof or atrium) offers a good outlet for both
buoyancy and wind-induced ventilation; and
• Building features such as wind catcher, solar chimney, wind wall, etc. can
capture wind more effectively.
b. Constraints
• Wind availability to the subject building can be affected by site wind availability,
local topography, vegetation, and surrounding buildings;
• Windows orientation and opening method can impact on the effectiveness of
wind coming into the building; and
• Ambient air quality and noise level (e.g. near heavy traffic) can limit the
utilisation of natural ventilation.
c. Solutions
• School can investigate the feasibility of incorporating natural ventilation design
with the building design professionals during new school development;
• Building orientation, location for opening, floor plan layout and building
features such as wind catcher, solar chimney, and wind wall shall be assessed
by Authorised Person (AP) and BEAM Professional;
3.1.2 Natural Ventilation Design Applies to NS