AboutPaul S. Brown, AIA Expertise How to work with an Architect. What to expect for design fees. What services are normally
included; what are not included? How do I find an Architect in my area? Why do I need an
Architect? How to be clear about your space needs. Why time must be managed properly.
Experience 24 years involvement in the practice of Architecture, including some teaching experience. Most of my work has been within the employment of various firms, but I have also done some small-scale projects on my own.
Particular interests include Environmental Design, "Green" Design, and Appropriate Technologies. LEED (TM) Accredited Professional.
I have some specific experience with Historic Preservation, Medical Facilities, Commercial Interiors, and Public School projects.
Education: Bachelor of Environmental Design Degree (Architecture), 1978, Miami University in Ohio. I am registered to practice professionally in the states of Massachusetts and Maine.
Question As you'll see, I know zip about building or climate-type issues and sorry if this is ignorant question :-)
I would like to know about temperatures in two sides of a duplex, if a person has a choice which side to take. Should we expect either side to be cooler, especially in summer afternoons? Here are the details I thought may be significant:
The duplex is a one-story building with of course two separate units. The duplex is in a U-shape, the legs of the U being the one-car garage for the corresponding unit, with the front of each unit being the back line of the U. The front doors, oddly I guess, are sliding glass-door patio type doors, and there is a good-sized window being the top of the U. The units are facing west (the front door and garage part of each unit).
To clarify one detail about the U shape, the garages do not extend to become part of the back line of the U. Rather, they end just before the back line of the U, and all of that back line of the U is house only. In other words, each garage is attached to the wall of its particular unit, but the entire back line of the U is house only, not garage. I mention this because maybe (I'm jus guessing) that if the garage to the south unit actually extended so far as to include the south part of the back line of the U, then maybe we could assume that that garage might block some of the sun from the south so therefore that unit (the south unit) might be cooler.
So obviously one unit is north of the other, both facing west. Facing the north unit from directly across the average-width residential street (or maybe just a little bit more north), there are two Paul Bunyan-sized trees :-), at least twice as tall as the duplex or more.
I noticed at about 2:00 one afternoon, and again a couple hours later, that the shadows of the eave of the garage roof of the south unit covered the doorway and much of the front courtyard of the south unit and (I assume because of being in that shadow of those eaves, or maybe because of some of the son's power from the south being blocked by the garage itself? -- may be dumb guess), the courtyard area of the south unit felt much cooler than the courtyard area of the north unit. (The front of these courtyard units comprise the center of the U, divided by a wall about six feet tall which I think was brick.)
To the south of the south unit there is another one-story house. The south unit and that neighboring house are separated by a pathway about five foot wide beside the south unit, then a wooden fence about 5 feet tall, then I think a narrower pathway on the house's side, then the neighboring house.
The units are each 2 BRs, 950 sq. feet each and identical inside except exactly reversed. They each have a good-sized back-yard, divided by a five or six foot wooden fence.
There is no AC or fans in the unit.
As you can see, I am compulsively detail-oriented even when it is probably of no use whatever :-), but anyhow as I said, my question is: is there any way to figure which unit is likely to be cooler inside on summer afternoons?
Trivial compared to most questions you deal with, I'm sure! But not to someone who's sweated miserably through record-breaking heat these last summers (San Jose, California) and there is no AC or fans in the units :-(
If other info will help, let me know. Thanks in advance, much appreciated!
Answer Hi Susan:
Not a trivial question at all, in San Jose!
I'm not sure I have an exactly accurate mental image of the layout; like many of my peers, I do better with drawings than words. But, here is what I can offer to help.
In the summer, with the sun higher in the sky at mid-day, both units will probably experience an equal amount of heat gain; most of which will come through the roof. I think the bigger concern is morning sun from the east, when the sun is lower, which will raise the temp early in the am. And the biggest concern, much more important than either the morning east sun or mid-day south sun, will be the evening west sun. My guess is that this is where most of the uncomfortable overheating might come from, as the sun drops late in the afternoon and starts pouring in through the sliding glass west-facing front doors. Are there other windows on the west/front face?
I can't get a picture in my mind of where the Paul Bunyon-sized trees are... do they have lower branches that will protect the house from westerly low afternoon sun? If so, pick the unit that has the most shade from these trees. If they shade a bit during the mid-day also, so much the better. There is nothing like a good shade tree to keep down the heat inside your home; and they are much more environmentally friendly than window-mounted A/C units!
I hope this helps, perhaps a little bit, anyway.
Enjoy the new place!
PB
