Arquitectura bioclimatica en un entorno sostenible
About this book
Arquitectura Bioclimática en un Entorno Sostenible (Bioclimatic Architecture in a Sustainable Environment) F.J. Neila González | Editorial Munilla-Lería, Madrid, 2004 | ISBN: 978-84-89150-64-5 | Series: Arquitectura y Tecnología, No. 4 "Arquitectura Bioclimática en un Entorno Sostenible" by Francisco Javier Neila González, Professor at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) and founder of the ABIO research group (Bioclimatic Architecture in a Sustainable Environment), is the most comprehensive Spanish-language academic textbook on bioclimatic design published in the early twenty-first century. At 443 pages, richly illustrated with diagrams, graphs, and photographic examples, the book bridges theoretical climate science, passive building physics, and architectural design methodology in a way uniquely suited to the Spanish and Latin American built environment context.
The work addresses a paradox at the heart of early-21st-century Spanish architecture: a country with an exceptionally generous climate resource—abundant solar radiation, mild winters in Mediterranean zones, strong diurnal temperature swings in continental regions—yet with a building stock dominated by thermally deficient envelopes and a near-total dependence on mechanical heating and cooling. Neila argues that this situation is the result of a disconnect between architectural education and climate reality, and the book represents his effort to restore that connection through rigorous, quantitative teaching tools. The book is structured into nine substantive chapters that follow a logical pedagogical arc from foundational climatology through passive design strategies and into specific technical applications.
The first chapter establishes the theoretical relationship between climate and the built form, drawing on the concept of "bioclimatic invariants"—recurring design responses found in vernacular architecture across different cultures that share similar climatic conditions. Neila demonstrates how traditional Spanish and Mediterranean architecture encoded climatic wisdom in features such as internal courtyards, whitewashed walls, deep-set windows, and roof overhangs. Rather than romanticizing these solutions, he translates them into quantitative design principles applicable to contemporary construction.
The second chapter is devoted to solar radiation: the geometry of the sun's path, methods for calculating solar exposure for any given latitude and orientation, solar shading analysis (including the use of solar diagrams and stereographic projections), and the evaluation of passive solar gains through transparent and opaque components. This chapter functions as a technical toolkit, providing the reader with the analytical methods needed to assess a design's solar potential before construction. The third chapter addresses global environmental comfort, synthesizing the physiological and psychological bases of thermal comfort, the principal comfort indices (Fanger's PMV/PPD model, Givoni's bioclimatic chart, Szokolay's ASHRAE-based extensions), and their application to architectural design.
Neila places human biophysiology at the center of bioclimatic design, making the argument that buildings should be designed around the thermal experience of their occupants rather than around energy metrics alone. Chapters four and five form the strategic core of the book, addressing passive bioclimatic design for winter and summer conditions respectively. For winter design, Neila covers direct solar gain systems (south-facing glazing, thermal mass walls), indirect gain systems (Trombe walls, water walls), attached sunspaces and solar galleries, and the design of insulated envelopes that minimize heat loss.
For summer design, the author addresses natural ventilation principles (stack effect, cross ventilation, wind towers), evaporative cooling (courtyards with water features, fountains, vegetation), solar control through shading devices, and the exploitation of radiative cooling to the night sky. Both chapters are structured around quantitative design methods, providing calculation procedures and worked examples rather than qualitative descriptions alone. The sixth chapter tackles energy conservation and the calculation of building energy needs with the systematic rigor of an engineering text.
Neila explains the energy balance methodology, U-value calculations for composite wall assemblies, window energy performance, thermal bridge analysis, and the estimation of heating and cooling loads. This chapter equips the reader to quantify the performance implications of design decisions rather than relying on intuitive judgments. The seventh chapter is devoted to the thermal inertia of construction elements—a concept of central importance in climates with significant diurnal temperature variation.
Neila explains the principles of heat storage and time lag in massive walls, demonstrates how different materials (earth, stone, concrete, brick) compare in their capacity to dampen temperature fluctuations, and provides guidance on optimizing wall mass for specific climate conditions. The relevance to earthen construction is direct and explicit: the author highlights raw earth and compressed earth as among the most thermally effective natural materials for achieving high inertia at low embodied energy cost. The eighth chapter examines underground architecture as an extreme expression of thermal inertia strategy: buildings fully or partially embedded in the earth take advantage of the stable temperatures of the deep ground to dramatically reduce heating and cooling energy demand.
Neila reviews historical and contemporary examples from diverse climates, addressing the structural, waterproofing, daylighting, and ventilation challenges that underground construction presents. The ninth and final chapter extends the bioclimatic framework to the design of exterior spaces: plazas, patios, parks, and urban streets. The author addresses solar access in urban canyons, wind behavior in built environments, the urban heat island effect, and the role of trees, water features, and permeable surfaces in moderating outdoor microclimates.
This chapter reflects Neila's understanding that bioclimatic design is not confined to the building envelope but extends to the urban fabric that conditions the thermal environment of entire city districts. Throughout the book, Neila maintains a dual commitment: to scientific rigor (every design strategy is underpinned by physics equations and performance data) and to practical applicability (worked examples, design charts, and rule-of-thumb guidelines make the tools usable in real design practice). The book has been widely adopted as a teaching text at Spanish and Latin American schools of architecture, and Neila's ABIO research group has used its methodological framework as the basis for decades of ongoing research on urban bioclimatic characterization and sustainable building codes.
Sources consulted: UPM Portal Científico – ABIO group page (upm.es); Dialnet article record (dialnet.unirioja.es); Casa del Libro product page (casadellibro.com); NAOS Libros description (naoslibros.es); Buscalibre product page (buscalibre.us); SlideShare chapter preview (slideshare.net); ResearchGate author profile for Javier Neila (researchgate.net); LinkedIn profile (linkedin.com).