The sun and architecture. Climatic potential

At a time when access to energy resources is a serious concern for most of the world's leaders, the use of renewable energies as a replacement for fossil fuels is a key issue in the debate on how to harness the sun's rays.

The sun's energy supply is essential. It is the direct cause not only of most of the natural phenomena we perceive (diurnal alternation, atmospheric temperature, cloud cover and wind), but also of our sustenance through plant growth and animal husbandry. Finally, through the age-old transformations of certain plants and animals, then petrified, solar energy is the primary cause of the fossil fuels that have enabled the development and maintenance of our industries and cities.

Irrespective of the effects of delay, accumulation and concentration, due to the food chain and fossil fuel stocks, the sun's energy contribution is considerable in relation to the consumption of our societies. As Professor Jacques Neyrinck pointed out in 2000, human activity induces an average consumption equivalent to around 1% of the solar energy flux available on the planet as a whole. But the paradox lies in the fact that 95% of this consumption is drawn from the "capital" represented by fossil fuels in their various forms.

When you consider that space heating accounts for some 20-25% of energy consumption in Western society, it's easy to understand the interest in solar energy studies and the rise of the notion of bioclimatic architecture. This notion, implicitly implemented in vernacular architecture, today incorporates the possibilities offered by new materials (insulation, glazing) and is encouraged by the development of increasingly demanding standards and labels for building energy performance (RT2005, HQE, Minergie, etc.).