Construction Technology: Climatic Design in Auckland, New Zealand

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of climatic design considerations for sustainable buildings in Auckland, New Zealand, focusing on the subtropical climate of the region. It begins with an introduction to Auckland's climate, including temperature, precipitation, wind patterns, and sunshine, highlighting the key characteristics that influence building design. The report then delves into specific design considerations, such as balancing solar radiation, providing wind protection, and ensuring proper ventilation. It explores various design strategies, including street layout, building orientation, and form, to maximize natural energy use and minimize environmental impact. The report emphasizes the importance of incorporating sustainable and energy-efficient design strategies early in the planning process and draws on case studies from regions with similar climatic conditions to offer practical building design ideas. The conclusion underscores the critical role of climate in building design and highlights the need for sustainable practices to create comfortable and energy-efficient buildings.

CLIMATIC FOR
SUSTAINABLE
DESIGN

Introduction
• Auckland, New Zealand experiences a
subtropical climate with the region lying
about 13⁰ of latitude south of Tropic of
Capricorn. does not experience any
extreme temperatures
• Summers are often warm
• have high humidity
• winters tend to be mild and damp.
• Rainfall is received throughout the year

Temperatures
• Mean daily temperature during summer is
23⁰C
• Mean daily temperature during winter is
14⁰C
• Warmest month is February with temp
19.8⁰C
• Coldest month is July with temperature of
10.6⁰C

Temperatures
Monthly sea surface temperatures

Precipitation
• Mean annual rainfall is about 1240 mm.
• Heaviest rainfalls are experienced during
depression to the northwest or north
associated with strong winds blowing from
north to northeast over the city.
• There be variations in wind direction and
cloud cover as a result if minor causes
however fine weather is predominant in
the region (Tan, Lau and Ng, 2016).

Precipitation
Monthly/yearly rainfall normals

Frosts
• Region Auckland experiences mild and
frosts
• mild and frosts are often light and not
frequent
• frosts mainly taking place under quite
stable conditions are often accompanied by
shallow inversions
• Two frost types are recorded:
• air frosts
• ground frosts
• Ground frosts are frequent in this region

Winds
• The flow of air over Auckland is mostly from
the southwest direction
• mostly experienced in winter and summer
• the amount of winds are observed to
increase during summer from the northwest
as a result of the variation in the location of
high pressure belt (Tan, Lau and Ng, 2016).
• The coastal regions of the city tend to be
more windy that the sheltered inland
regions.

Winds
Mean monthly/yearly wind speeds (km/hr)
• Spring season tends to be the windiest
• The largest number of light wind days
is recorded in summer and autumn

Sunshine & Solar radiation
• Central and eastern parts
receive relatively more
bright sunshine in
comparison with the
southern and western
regions and the islands.
• The least levels of
sunshine are received in
the Pukekohe regions.

Fog
• The frequency of fog
changes all over the
region.
• Advection fogs that
result from warm moist
masses of air moving
over the cool regions
are often experienced in
summer and autumn

Design Consideration for Subtropical
Climate
• Ensuring a balance between the various
conflicting needs
• Finding solar radiation gain in winter and
offering solar shading in summer
• Providing protection of wind during winter
and proper ventilation during summer
(Tan, Lau and Ng, 2016)
• Construction of properly natured houses
having moderate heat capacity of storage
• Use of windows of medium