China

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The goal of this project is to introduce sustainable design in Shangri-La, in the North West of the Yunnan Province. Another purpose served by this goal is the use of bamboo for construction instead of wood. This is important as the demand for wood in Yunnan is high.
Traditional Tibetan houses use large amounts of wood as construction material (90 - 120 trees per house) and as fuel for room heating. With the introduction of energy efficient building there will be less need for wood for heating and cooking.
Advanced concept design and renewable energy technologies such as solar energy, solar hot water, solar cooling and biogas will be applied to show people a way of making their traditional house more energy efficient and environmentally friendly.
The Energy Efficient House will be located in the Xiaozhongdian Reservoir Relocation Tibetan Village.

The house design is based on the traditional Tibetan house. An important change is the lack of cattle in the house. The house has two courtyards: one on the south side for the people to stay and work and one on the north side for storage and to keep some small cattle. The wall of the south courtyard is partly made of cladding, This can be bamboo plywood or another laminated and weather protected material. The cladding wall can be made higher or lower depending on the sun and the time of the year. The other walls are constructed with the concrete post and beam system. The non-bearing walls are made of boxes (bamboo plywood) and insulated. The outside is covered with the traditional clay-technique.
The outside walls to the streets have small windows both for keeping the heat inside and for privacy. The windows to the south court are large to let the sun in. The large windows are constructed with double frames. Entrances to both courtyards are protected against cold winds by double doors. The houses gain a lot of heat from the sun but the cold wind will blow it away, it is therefor important to have a double entrance.
The first source of energy for heating and hot water is the sun. Passive solar energy comes in through the windows. The large double windows make it possible to control the heat. If it is not needed it can be vented away. The solar hot water system that is integrated in the roof is large enough for both supplying the kitchen and bathroom with hot water and heating the house on cold days. Especially the rooms on the north side will benefit from this form of heating.

Our clients are: The Nature Conservancy, Kunming & ShangriLa Botanical Garden