SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS FOR CHINESE URBAN AREAS

A cooperative program is underway between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tsinghua University for sustainable building designs in Chinese Cities. The initial focus of the MIT effort is on residential structures suitable for Beijing and Shanghai . Natural ventilation could provide comfortable conditions for a portion of the cooling season. This requires careful design of building interiors as well as the exterior of individual buildings ans building groups . Computational fluid dynamics allows the most promising designs to be explored. Careful design of buildings will help to minimize solar gains in the summer. Other technologies under study include ground coupled heat pumps and dehumidification systems. The use of such technologies and designs will be reviewed.