Building Orientation To Optimize Sun Exposure

It is probably easy to notice that all the home design articles place a stress on benefits of natural light. Research done over time reveal natural light makes us more active and productive at work while, on the other hand, its absence leads to sleeping disorders, addiction to stimuli such as caffeine, nicotine and medicine while decreasing our professional performance. For this very reason, based on these studies, architects are now considering the potential natural light has when designing a house. So here is more on building orientation to optimize sun exposure.

So, positioning a house depending on the cardinal directions is very important because this significantly influences the thermal balance of the building. An architect knows this very well and this is why it is highly recommended you seek advice from a specialist. So, in countries lying in a temperate continental climate prioritizing south-facing windows is the main goal. This is the side of the house which will receive the more heat in winter. For this reason, there would be good to be placed residential areas and rooms that you use most often. However, the rooms which are located southward need blinds suitable for a sun that can sometimes be too strong.

The north facing sector is the cool part of the house and therefore you can here place rooms that do not use very often or have large glass areas, for example, bathrooms, office, storage or dressing. In the same time, if you cook a lot, you can place the kitchen to the north to avoid the heat excess.

Since they get a lot of light in the morning, east and south-east are suitable for bedrooms or playrooms for children. However, if you do not cook very much and therefore do not use a heat source to produce steam, then you can also place the kitchen on the east side. After all, a room flooded with natural light in the morning is ideal for a family breakfast.

Last on our list is west. This cardinal point provides good light in the afternoon and evening. All depends what area of ​​the house you want to receive as much as possible, natural light in the afternoon. If the living room is a seating area, a reading and discussion place with friends then it can be placed to the west. If, instead, is a multi-media area with screens that are hardly noticeable in strong sunlight, avoid west.