Adaptive architecture: integrating low-energy technologies for climate control in the desert

The article describes a `climatically adaptive'approach to intelligent building in which a variety of technologies are integrated in the architectural design to provide thermal comfort with a minimal expenditure of energy. This concept is illustrated by the design of the Blaustein International Center for Desert Studies, a multi-use complex completed recently at the Sede-Boker Campus of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. In response to the local climate of this desert region, a number of strategies were developed by the authors to exploit natural energy for heating and cooling: earth berming of major parts of the building,'selective glazing'for seasonal shading and energy collection, a down-draft'cool-tower'for evaporative cooling and a hybrid mechanism for hot-air supply are several of the unique systems whose performance and feasibility are analyzed within the context of the overall building design.