Building Systems for Interior Designers
Chapter One
Natural Resources
Like our skins, a building is a layer of protection between
our bodies and our environment. The building
envelope is the point at which the inside comes into
contact with the outside, the place where energy, materials,
and living things pass in and out. The building's
interior design, along with the mechanical, electrical,
plumbing, and other building systems, creates an interior
environment that supports our needs and activities
and responds to the weather and site conditions outdoors.
In turn, the environment at the building site is
part of the earth's larger natural patterns.
THE OUTDOOR ENVIRONMENT
The sun acting on the earth's atmosphere creates our
climate and weather conditions. During the day, the
sun's energy heats the atmosphere, the land, and the
sea. At night, much of this heat is released back into
space. The warmth of the sun moves air and moisture
across the earth's surface to give us seasonal and daily
weather patterns.
Solar energy is the source of almost all of our energy
resources. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun
triggers photosynthesis in green plants, which produces
the oxygen we b ... read full excerpt from Building Systems for Interior Designers ebook
