Shading: 4 Eco-Friendly Features of BluHomes Breeze

A passive cool house is an eco-friendly house that is cool and comfortable just by its design, without relying on air conditioners. It takes advantage of shading to avoid heat coming from the sun. Here are the 4 shading features of BluHomes Breeze that make it an eco-friendly passive cool house.

1. Super Wide Roof Overhang

​The roof overhang is the extension of the roof beyond the walls. Like a visor of our cap that shades our eyes, this roof overhang shades the walls and windows from direct sunlight. The longer the roof overhang, the more sunlight is shaded and the cooler and more comfortable the house gets.

 The roof overhang of BluHomes Breeze is 1 meter wide, almost double that of the conventional house that is only 0.3 to 0.5 meters.

2. Window Canopy

Most of the heat in our homes comes from our windows. It is the weakest part of the building envelope where heat can easily penetrate. Serving also like a visor of our cap, window canopies are overhangs on top of the window that prevent direct sunlight from entering the house and can make the house significantly cooler.

All windows of BluHomes Breeze has a 0.3-meter deep canopy that blocks direct sunlight from penetrating through the windows.

3. Horizontal Window Blinds

Window covers are crucial in making our homes cool. Ordinary window curtains and venetian blinds are not so effective in passively cooling the house because, when you close them, sunlight cannot enter but the natural breeze also cannot enter. You need these natural breezes to enter the house to cool it.

This is what horizontal window blinds are designed to do. You can control the blades to block the sunlight, yet it allows natural air to enter the windows. ​All operable windows at BluHomes Breeze are provided already with white horizontal window blinds that are made of PVC.

4. North-South Orientation

​The orientation of the house is also very critical to achieve a passively cooled home. This is because of the movement and position of the sun. In the Philippines, it is best to orient the house facing north or south. Since the sun rises at the east and sets at the west, because of the north-to-south orientation, only the sides and the top of the house receive direct sunlight. 

The front and back faces of the house is not heated, making the house much cooler and more comfortable for the homeowners. Each unit in BluHomes Breeze is oriented facing north or south. This means that the front and back faces do not receive direct sunlight. Since these are townhouse units where another unit is attached to its sides, the right and left sides of the house are also not heated.

Passive cool homes are what we hope for the future of real estate in the Philippines. It takes advantage of the natural surroundings and building science to make the house cooler and much more comfortable without relying on air conditioners. This will lower down our energy consumption and our emission of bad carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Eco-friendly homes are the best way to move forward.

Learn more about BluHomes Breeze, an eco-friendly townhouse development in Amparo Caloocan, at www.bluhomes.ph/breeze.