In our modern society we have become too dependent on the use of the mechanical sys-

tems to allow for comfortable living and in turn have fed the fire for many more ecological
problems. But in our ancient cultures there are hundreds of structures that use effective climate
control without the use of mechanical systems. I believe their success was in their consider-
ation of the four elements earth, air, fire, and water. Through time they learned to use and pro-
tect themselves from these elements but in our modern day society we have lost some of those
basic principles.

All around our cities we can see examples of buildings that have failed to consider these
four elements in design. Some of the easiest examples are many of our society’s commercial
buildings starting with the large commercial warehouses to the many office buildings. These
buildings have become over reliant on mechanical systems and their pocket books which has
left simple building design fall to the way side. With this bad standard our buildings have
become a drain on society. But by simply considering these elements and making some basic
design decisions we can quickly change the built world’s energy efficiency.

To achieve this efficiency I hope to show the importance of considering the four elements
in design. I will show the unique qualities of each element along with the benefits of using
them as a whole. I hope to reintroduce the old and effective techniques along with some of the
modern uses of each. I have also looked into the some of the philosophies behind these ele-
ments and would like to show how these old thoughts should again be considered in the design
of an efficient building. Then as a final note I will look at how these elements can bring sensu-
ality and or spirituality into the built world.
Earth
To start off I like the words of the Chip Sullivan (2002),
“Earth may be understood both as the structural foundation and
as a source of sustenance, not only for physical life, but also the
spirit.” When using the earth I have found it important that we
reconsider its use as a building material. After considering
its use as a material I think it is also equally important to rammed earth home
consider the vegetation it supports and how we can effec-
tively use it for protection and as a passive system. I do
understand that we currently use earth in both these ways
already but I feel that recently we have lacked some cre-
ativity and again forgot some of what history has taught us.

Building Material


Earths inherent properties make it an excellent
building material. Though already being used in many
ways such as brick and concrete I feel there is still plenty
of new opportunity. Techniques shown in Earth Building
(2008) such as rammed earth, cob, or straw bale construc-
tion are all unique ways to use the earth as building materi-
al. Creative methods such as these I think are great things
to consider since they can be affordable, sustainable, and
aesthetically pleasing. Another strong advantage of earth
as a building material is thermal massing. Lechner (2009)
has shown in his book how thermal massing is an excellent
way to control night and day temperature swings in a wide
range of climates. Thermal massing can also be achieved
through subterranean spaces which can be a cool space on
a hot summer day or when combined with air flows can
help to cool the building. There are also modern technolo-
gies such as geothermal systems and green roofs. Geo-
thermal is a great option for a more sustainable heating and
cooling system which uses the earth’s thermals massing to
heat or cool the outdoor air for interior use. Green roofs
are another new option of building which has the benefits
of managing storm water, insulates the roof, and provides
green space on your building. These new technologies
along with reconsidering previous techniques such as
thermal massing are all great reason to reconsider the earth
when building.
Vegetation
Another way to look at the earth is in the life it
supports. Our history has shown many ways in which
people used to take advantage of vegetation to cool,
shade, and protect their homes. But in or current so-
ciety we mainly use vegetation as a purely decorative
element. But Sullivan (2002) has shown us some tech-
niques such the boscoes and the pineta which were land-
scape forms from the time of the Romans and Greeks.
Both of these techniques used landscape elements to
create microclimates. They generally created large
shaded areas that when combined with air flows would
bring cool air into the home. But vegetation can also be
used to protect from the cold winter winds or provide
seasonal shading to building faces. Including vegeta-
tion in the surrounding site and building can also help in
the purifying the air and soil. As for modern techniques
there has been a new movement called “Vegitecture”.
I learned of Vegitecture from Jason King’s Lecture
where he informed me of this movement that has looked
at how to return this element to the built world through
elements such as green roofs, vertical greening, green
walls, and much more. Many of these techniques in
Vegitecture can be used functionally for shading, insulating, and
purifying while also being aesthetically pleasing. As you can
see there are many ways in which we can use vegetation be-
Air
Air and air flows are constantly present but recently our
society has forgotten the benefits of natural ventilation. Many
of our institutional and commercial buildings have completely
dropped this way of cooling for mechanical systems. But I
hope to show the importance of using air for both curving ener-
gy requirements and for creating more comfortable spaces and
landscapes. So let’s begin with looking at the first problem, the
lack of operable windows.

Utilizing Air Flows

As I have shown above many of our buildings are being

built without operable windows and in turn trap-
ping all the solar and radiant heat throughout the
day. Sullivan (2002) goes through many old and
effective techniques such as porches, evaporative
cooling, high ceilings, and subterranean cooling.
These techniques utilize shade, water, and earths
thermal massing with air to cool spaces with natu-
ral energy flows. Each of these old techniques is
a valid and effective way of cooling that should
always be considered before mechanical systems.
Sullivan (2002) has also gone through many land-
scape elements such as arbors and shaded walks
that are also great ways to use earth with air to
create comfortable spaces. By
using these landscape elements
you can create both sheltered
areas form the wind along with
shaded areas to cool the air and
protect from the sun. Again by
simple considering this element
you can help protect your spaces
from uncomfortable wind tun-
nels and instead use the air for
comfort cooling in an enclosure.

Alternative Energy
As for energy efficiency we can again start with the
operable windows along with many of these techniques
mention above. These passive methods are tried and true
methods through time and should never be forgotten but
instead implemented and redesigned into our modern day
and age. But our advances in technology have shown us
a great modern technique to use and collect wind power.
Wind mills have been used for a long time now but with
modern improvements they have promise to be a new
sustainable energy source for our society. Though when
talking with Bruce Isaak (personal interview conducted
October 10, 2009), who works with Minnkota power
industry, we discussed some of the current problems with
wind turbines which were the maintenance costs that are
too high and the life span that is too short. These current
problems are driving up the cost and making them un-
feasible but with each day there are advancements in this
field that are making them more and more feasible as an
alternate energy source.
Fire
When considering the element fire I will be looking at
how the sun impacts the built world. Being that the sun is the
energy source for almost all living things I feel it is important
that we as an organism also know how to use and protect our-
selves from the sun. I will be using this section to stress the
importance of sun as a light source and how it affects the heat-
ing of a building.


Lighting Aesthetics
Being that we no longer need the
sun as a light source we have begun to
lose sight of its aesthetic power. Our
modern day buildings have become
dominated by man made light which
has given us a stable lighting through-
out the building but has lost the power
that natural lighting can bring. A space
defined by natural lighting can have a
much more profound effect on a person
both physically and mentally. Lechner
(2009) looks at some techniques used
to pull lighting into space such light
selves, sun space, clerestories, and
sunlight’s. Using these elements and
always considering natural day lighting
can quickly help to improve your struc-
tures lighting variance.


Solar Energy
Day lighting can also greatly benefit or hinder our spac-
es since the natural lighting also provides a large amount of
heat. But by considering this element in the design process we
can easily use the suns heat to our advantage. One of the most
important things to consider is the orientation
of the building. Lechner (2009) has show that
southern orientation can make an 80% differ-
ence in the efficiency of a building. Knowing
how the sun path affects our design is one of
the first things to consider when looking at
fire and sadly one of the things that has been
forgotten. Though beyond just collecting sun-
light we can use it with an already mentioned
technique, thermal massing. Thermal massing
can protect us from a hot day as it takes time
for the suns energy to transfer through the mass
but it also stores heat and radiates it into the
building at night. This can also be used in cool
climates to collect and store heat in the build-
ing during cool winter months utilizing the
greenhouse effect. This effect can be beneficial
in circumstance mention above but it can also
cause overheating which is why we should also
be concerned with how to protect our build-
ing from the sun. Lechner (2009) shows solar
shading to be the best way to protect a build-
ing from the sun and mentions shading devices
such as horizontal overhangs, vertical fins, egg-
crate shading, and moveable shading devices.
Though as effective as the passive solar meth-
ods are Lechner (2009) also looks into the help
photovoltaic’s can give in curving energy cost of the building.
Lechner shows that in the right climate photovoltaic’s can be an
excellent energy source that is sustainable, nonpolluting, reli-
able, and at a low cost. By using all of these techniques we can
make fire into a friend of the built world rather than the enemy
that drives up the energy bill.
Water
Again in this day and age our society has lost our concern for
how to use water to our advantage. With the advancement in
our society water has been become an overlooked resource but
by taking another look at this resource we can find ways to take
advantage of our graywater or rain water. Water is also unique
in its ability to both cool and heat space. But let’s first look at
ways of conserving and reusing our waste water and rain water.


Conservation
When looking at water conservation there
are multiple examples in our old cultures. Sullivan
(2002) shows how cultures used cisterns to both
collect water and slowly deliver it to plants over
time. These same concepts have been reinstated
in modern systems called gray water systems. Ac-
cording to Ludwig’s website Graywater.net gray-
water is any water used in the home other than from
toilets. Graywater systems take this water and store
it in tank to be used for our land-
scapes. Ludwig (2009) also shows
that gray waters is an excellent way to
reduce water usage, ease the strain on
purification plants, and help with plant
re-growth. These systems can also be
used with butterfly roofs or just tied
into gutter systems to collect the annual
rain water. Then the water can be used
to maintain landscapes without putting
a stain on your pocket book.

Heating and Cooling
Water also has many properties that make
it an excellent element for heating and cooling.
As we have talked about earlier water when
paired with air or fire can allow for evaporative
cooling. It also has very high thermal mass-
ing so when paired with the sun can store and
radiate heat into your spaces. Lechner (2009)
has actually shown that water is better than the
element earth when it comes to thermal mass-
ing. Being so you can use water stored in pipes
or bags to store this heat. The bags are gener-
ally used on roofs so that they can be heated
during the day then insulated during the night.
Lechner (2009) also introduces the topic of roof
ponds which
can give the same effect but all of these run
the risk of the water getting into the building.
All structures need to look at the bad side
of water and find ways to keep spaces well
ventilated and protected from water to pre-
vent leaks, mold, and efflorescence. But like
all things water has its ups and downs but in
taking the time to study this element there is
plenty of opportunity for it to further design.

Tao of Building
When looking into the sustainability of our built world
I think it is important to consider the philosophy of these ele-
ments. In the Tao of Architecture Chang (1956) references
some of Laotzu thoughts saying that Taoists consider life as a
cycle with “nonbeing” being between life and
death but with there never being an ending. I
think this is valuable to consider in sustainable
architecture. As Chang (1956) put it “mans cre-
ation no matter how durable, is bound to vanish.”
This is exactly why we should be thinking also of
how our buildings will transcend through time.
How will they breakdown during their non-being
and how can they be reused in their rebirth. This
is but another reason to consider some of our
simple earthen materials for building because of
their ability to be easily broken down into another
material. Beyond sustainability we can look at
how Taoism has informed some of Fingerhuths
(2004) observations of sensuality.

Fingerhuth (2004) has done extensive research on mod-
ernism’s effect on the city. He let Taoism inform him on some
of the faults of modernism which I think he previewed well
with this statement, “All aspect of humankind, not just its ra-
tionality, should be considered in urbanism.” He goes on to
show that modernism was defined by thinking but left intuition,
feeling, and sense behind. But Taoism stresses that things are
defined by their opposites and without their
opposites they are left without meaning. Being
so the modern age’s buildings lost these as-
pects which left our building without sensual-
ity and feeling. I feel that these four elements
are again a great way to return to sensuality in
space. By considering these elements you are
able to restore the essence of nature into the
built world. I feel through considering these
elements and using them simply and elegantly
can give back a buildings sensuality and spiri-
tuality.