Role of the Architect

Reduction in energy consumption and use of renewable energies have become too important in terms of sustainable development for them not to be taken into consideration in the architectural field: in fact the building sector is responsible for a third of energy consumption in Switzerland.

In this context, the architect has a very important role as he or she acts as a consultant for customers and must therefore behave impartially while defending the technical, aesthetic and financial interests of a client. He has the duty to inform him or her of the advantages of a low energy consumption building which uses renewable energy.

A lot of current thinking on the problem of comfort in buildings is based on the idea that it can be tackled at a later date using artificial systems for thermal control: this leads local climate factors being ignored and often just worsens climatic problems rather than solve them.

The aim of an energy conscious project is to optimize natural control systems so as to regulate both natural energy gains as well as losses through a buildings envelope.

Decisions on the optimization of the thermal envelope of a building and on the right choice of renewable energy must be taken at the start of a project so as to integrate these notions into the project concept. It should be pointed out that decisions which have most impact on a buildings energy behaviour are those taken at the beginning of the planning process.

BiPV

In the case of BiPV integration, due consideration at the beginning of a project will permit better integration from aesthetic, energetic and economic points of view.

The architect must therefore have the knowledge and the tools to promote photovoltaic integration in a building. He must be aware of the possibilities, the obligations, the advantages and the disadvantages.

Economic factors are usually decisive and this penalizes photovoltaics because the external costs of fossil fuels are not taken into consideration. These are either social, health or environmental costs caused by the use of pollution creating energy.

Often cantonal incentivisation subsidies are available. In 2008, a new Swiss tariff incentive for photovoltaic electrical energy will come into effect.

One aspect of the art of building construction is how to best make use of the myriad of renewable energy solutions.