When planning your new home in the Caribbean, your priority might be the design and aesthetics. You want your property to have the “wow factor”, with cutting-edge architecture that makes it stands out from the neighbours.
You might want to incorporate your environmental credentials and build with sustainability in mind at every step. Or your property could be all about the view!
Whatever your design motivation, when building in the Caribbean, your final design must solve the problem of how to keep cool.
During the summer months especially, the heat can become overwhelming. If you don’t want a huge electricity bill each month, you need to create a design responsive to the Caribbean climate with the maximum amount of shade and ventilation.
Many older colonial properties built in the Tropics tackled the issue with some clever design decisions we can still learn from today:
Courtyards: many houses were laid out around a courtyard, with arcades enabling residents to move from room to room in the shade.
Doors: typically very tall with small windows or postigos (blind doors) that could be opened to provide light and ventilation without disturbing the residents’ privacy by opening the whole door.
Ceilings: vaulted ceilings were not easy to build but were higher than flat ones and kept rooms cooler.
Mamparas: these swing doors, with decorative glass panels and fancy woodwork, were popular in the 1800s and allowed air to circulate between rooms.
So, if you’re considering building a home in Barbados or anywhere in the Caribbean, what principles should you consider? Here are our top suggestions to make your Barbados house cool throughout the year without relying too much on air conditioning.
1 Orientation
Where you place your home on your plot of land will determine how well you can maximise the prevailing winds and protect against sun exposure.
Architropics explains that the prevailing winds generally come from the east in the Caribbean, with the sun path passing primarily to the south for most of the year. The reason for this sun pattern is because the Caribbean islands are north of the equator.
If your design is rectangular, they recommend considering orienting the length of your building east to west. This orientation minimises exposure to the morning and evening sun.
However, the wish to minimise sun exposure needs to be weighed with taking advantage of the all-important prevailing breeze. Therefore, determine which rooms need the most ventilation and locate them towards prevailing winds.
Don’t forget to ask your architect about openings, roof overhangs, and where to locate trees and vegetation to create as much shade as possible.
2 Shade
Ask your architect for a shading strategy. Not only will this limit the sun heating walls and surfaced, which then transfers to interior spaces. Direct sunlight through windows, for example, can significantly increase the internal temperature of your home.
In Barbados, as the sun’s path tracks to the south for most of the year, horizontal shading is ideal for north and south-facing walls and openings.
A small roof overhang might protect the north-facing wall of a single storey home. At the same time, you will require a much larger overhang to shade an entire southern wall.
As with older home styles, verandas and patios can shade northern and southern facing walls when the sun is at its highest during the middle of the day.
Architropics recommends that walls facing east and west have vertical shading such as screens or vegetation to protect them from solar heat gain.
Large trees can also provide general, creating cooler air temperatures entering the house.
3 Ventilation
To create a comfortable indoor temperature without resorting to air conditioning, you need to have a constant, unobstructed flow of cool air passing from one side to the other.
This process is called cross ventilation and should be incorporated into the design process. You require a minimum of two openings on different sides of each room. This encourages air movement in the entire room and not just the corner.
For example, large casement and louvre windows and doors allow air to pass through almost 100 per cent of their opening. On the other hand, sash or sliding windows permit less than 50 per cent of its opening.
And make sure windows are protected in some way so they can remain open during rainfall or overnight without compromising your security.
It is also recommended that you include vents at or near roof level to let hot air escape and draw cooler air through lower-level windows. This technique is called the stack effect.
4 Materials and Construction
Concrete blocks, in-situ (cast-in-place) concrete, or masonry bricks are the preferred choice throughout the Caribbean. However, they absorb heat during the day and release this into the room at night. Lightweight materials do not store heat and are better for their thermal qualities.
Discuss the options with your architect but remember that concrete walls offer other benefits such as their resistance to hurricanes, flooding and mould. And if you use a mass wall system, shade them with roof overhangs, screens or shady trees.
5 Roof Design
As the most exposed area in your house to the sun’s rays, your roof is responsible for radiating considerable heat into a home.
Architropics recommends using light-coloured, reflective roofing materials to reduce the amount of heat passing through the interior.
They explain: “A double roof system also has benefits in reducing the heat that enters your home. Double roofs comprise two layers of roof. An air space typically separates the two layers. Hence, the upper roof layer protects the lower roof from direct sun exposure. This system significantly reduces the heat gain on a roof”.
Other solutions to keep your home cool include high roofs and steep pitches, which allow the heat to be safe from people in the space below.
6 Exterior Spaces
Within your new home, you’ll want to include plenty of outside spaces such as patios, verandas, and courtyards. These will be usable throughout the year and can provide shade to interior areas of the house.
Ensure that you partially or entirely cover exterior areas to provide both shade and protection when it rains.
7 Energy Efficiency
Shockingly, over 20 per cent of the world’s energy usage goes towards construction and maintaining houses, apartments and other residential buildings.
So, when building your new home in Barbados, ask your architect to use more energy-efficient strategies and practices such as:
- Solar thermal panels for heating water
- Solar/photovoltaic for electricity generation
- Low wattage lighting
- Water-saving devices
- Rain-water storage
If your house is well designed, you should avoid or limit your use of air conditioning systems to keep your home cool throughout the year.
The team at Berkan Construction can work with you and your architect to ensure your new home is not only cool, comfortable and stylish but also functional and sustainable. Contact us today.
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