DESIGNING A SELF-SUFFICIENT AND EARTHQUAKE-RESILIENT FUTURE HOUSE WITH AN OUTER ENCASING STRUCTURE FOR SEISMIC RESISTANCE AND HEAT CONTROL

Abstract

Design of safe houses against disastrous events has been always noticeable for communities, and one of the main concerns in building engineering societies. It is also desirable to create a house that can be self-sufficient in energy as well as water supply, and also protected against the heat, specifically in warm regions. In many warm countries and coastal areas, located in earthquake prone areas, in addition to the seismic hazard, the residents face temperature rise and direct sunshine on and into the buildings, which can make houses warmer, and necessitates the consumption of lots of energy for cooling. So, the use of an outer envelope structure as an external shield around and above the building is a good idea for controlling the heat, and preventing direct sun radiation on the building’s façade on the one hand, and using the shield as an encasement for creating the required seismic resistant in the building. This way, in addition to the seismic resistance, the building’s skin does not absorb the sun's rays during the day, and as a result, the building cools down faster. Another function of the outer envelope structure is placing the solar panels to charge batteries for generating electricity and heating water. By doing this, the most sunlight will be absorbed by the solar panels, and the outer shell will let the least amount of sunlight to reach the body of the building. Furthermore, installing a glass atrium space in the central part of the building causes the hot air, which is lighter, to be directed into the atrium and from there to outside. The created self-sufficiency in energy and water supply helps the building to be disaster resilient in case of a large earthquake, which may cause electric power outage and water cut for a long time. As a result of such design, the sustainability and disaster-resilience can be achieved together, as a goal of architects and building engineers with regard to future houses. © 2024, International Association for Earthquake Engineering. All rights reserved.