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More on Sectors
Understanding your site’s energies
August 5, 2015 by Douglas Barnes — 1 Comment

Back to: Design Fundamentals I

The concept of sectors and the use of sector maps are design tools we use to
get a better understanding of the energies a site is subjected to, and the the
resources that are available on a site. While it is a useful tool for
understanding a site, it is one piece of the puzzle. A sector map is a tool to
help you understand a site, not a part of a site’s final design. It might be used
as a justification of a plan of action, but it is not the plan itself.

You might find it useful to make an overall sector map for a site, then more
specific ones centred around specific elements such as a house or a barn.

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 What gets included on your sector map will depend on your specific site. Apart
from the sun paths, you might include:

directional fire risks

prevailing wind
cold polar winds
hot desiccating winds (e.g. as in Australia’s east coast)
flood-prone areas
views
crime/privacy

Risk assessment
When designing a site, making a risk assessment will be one of the first things
you do. The risks you face will depend on your region and climate. For
instance, if you are designing a tropical site, you might decide whether to
eliminate ground cover around buildings to reduce the risk of venomous
snakes, or you might choose to try using guinea fowl to control snakes.

The most common risks you might face in most climates and regions include
but are not limited to fire, flood, landslide, slumping, or other shifting of the
soil, wind, and soil contamination. Find out the history of a site and of the
region. What has happened in the past? What might happen in the future? If
you face a realistic serious risk, your design will have to address that risk.

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 Climate specific risks are covered in other courses pertaining to those
climates.

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Recap of the Design Process In the Zone

How important are the basics? Designing with zones is designing

Important enough to review! action around energy, not energy
around action.

About Douglas Barnes

m a sustainable designer. I live in the countryside in Tweed, Ontario after calling different parts of
Ontario and Japan home.

Comments

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 Unaiki Robinson says
August 12, 2021 at 4:25 am

I tried to answer the questions in this section but it wouldn’t allow me. Kept
trying but the first question wouldn’t let me interact with it.

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The Fundamentals of Design

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