Climatic Considerations

Climate has a considerable influence on the life of man and his economic activity. The , climate of a particular site is determined, first and foremost by its location on the globe. Hence global climatic considerations will have to be taken into account first. Secondly, local site conditions also affect the climate and hence the site-climatic considerations will have to be studied next. It is possible to control the specific climate of a particular building by structural design and/or mechanical devices. 

It is important to realize that the increasing tempo of the developmental activities of man has started affecting the global environment itself (in an adverse manner) and many national and international agencies are demanding the imposition of controls on development at national, regional and local levels. However, this is a topic beyond the scope of this text.

A study of the physical parameters that influence the climate will help us to choose locations properly and site our buildings in the most effective manner, and to design our buildings and services to take advantage of the natural climatic conditions and also to mitigate the negative impact of such building activities on the environment.

Climate is defined as that state of atmospheric environment that results from the combined processes of the elements of weather, averaged at any given place, over a period of years. Climate is dependent on the geographical latitude, elevation above sea level, the physical state of the atmosphere such as its temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind conditions and the terrain of the place.

Let us now proceed to study the various physical aspects of climate at the global and local levels respectively.