5. House design
A prototype for a typical house in Thailand was designed based upon the analysis and results from the site plan. Obviously, Thai houses need two cooling systems: an active system with conventional air-conditioning for the hot months, and a passive system with natural ventilation in the cool months. Air-conditioned buildings should have a compact shape to reduce heat gains, while naturally ventilated buildings should have a large envelope and an irregular shape [15]. Hence, a conflict exists between the design of the air-conditioned and naturally ventilated buildings. Our climate analysis showed that natural ventilation can be used for no more than 4 months per year in Thailand, so the design should be optimized more for air-conditioning type. Our design has a compact shape to reduce heat gains, but also has large windows for natural ventilation.