Construction Technology 5: Design Considerations for Subtropical Climate in Auckland, New Zealand

CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY 5
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Contents
CLIMATE OF AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND....................................................................3
Introduction............................................................................................................. 3
Temperatures.......................................................................................................... 3
Rainfall.................................................................................................................... 4
Frosts...................................................................................................................... 4
Wind........................................................................................................................ 5
Sunshine and Solar radiation................................................................................... 6
DESIGN CONSIDERATION FOR SUBTROPICAL CLIMATE...............................................7
Design Strategies.................................................................................................... 8
Street layout........................................................................................................ 9
Planning and Form............................................................................................... 9
The orientation of the building...........................................................................10
Structure of Building.......................................................................................... 10
Roof design........................................................................................................ 11
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................ 11
REFERENCES............................................................................................................ 12

CLIMATE OF AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
Introduction
Auckland, New Zealand experiences a subtropical climate with the region lying about 13⁰ of
latitude south of Tropic of Capricorn. The region does not experience any extreme temperatures
with the climate being generally warm and coastal. The summers are often warm and have high
humidity while the winters tend to be mild and damp. Rainfall is received throughout the year
with most of it being experienced during the winter season that lasts from June to August (Chen,
Yang, and Wang, 2017).
Temperatures
The mean daily temperature during summer is 23⁰C even as the average daily temperature during
winter is 14⁰C. The region received about 2060 annual sunshine hours and a mean annual rainfall
of about 1240 mm.
Figure 1: Monthly sea surface temperatures

Rainfall
The heaviest rainfalls are experienced in case of depression to the northwest or north associated
with strong winds blowing from north to northeast over the city. The sunniest days are
experienced when the conditions are anticyclonic in a relatively light south-easterly flow (Huang
et al., 2016). There may be an occurrence of changes in the direction of the wind as well as cloud
cover as a result if minor causes however fine weather is predominant in the region.
Table 1: Monthly/yearly rainfall normals
Frosts
In comparison with other regions, Auckland experience mild and frosts that are often light and
not frequent with the frosts mainly taking place under quite stable conditions are often
accompanied by shallow inversions in which there is an increase in temperature with an increase
in the height. Two frost types are recorded: air frosts as well as ground frosts with the former
being quite frequent in this region mostly in the sheltered regions.