apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

All I can think about is the spiders getting in.

This is a case of form overriding function. Looks great, but not a good idea. Hot air rises and cool air falls. This is just going to allow the cooler air flow out of the home while retaining the hot air near the ceiling. Awning windows are great, but put them up high if you want to ventilate heat from the room....

I think that only works if there is a big temperature differential.
"Air chimney" effects were worked out in Persia long ago but people are struggling to make them efficient now.
This house calls it a solar chimney
http://www.aiatopten.org/hpb/overview.cfm?ProjectID=271
the "F10"

definitely a great vermin door, and a fabulous way to get more dirt/leaves/etc blown into your house!

i love the landscaping in the first picture- they look like plans that i would have a hard time killing.

As commenters above mentioned, these windows will only be beneficial for ventilation if there are corresponding windows at the top of the house somewhere... unless there is a whole house attic fan or similar to draw the hot air up and out?

I think spiders can climb (or the ones I've seen can) so I don't think low windows = more spiders, but my first thought was also that the low windows would allow more critters in... (cats, squirrels, raccons in the best case, rats in the worst).

Are there screens on these windows? Maybe that is enough to keep the critters out, same as any other window?

At least it looks nice. Wait for the wonderful clickety clack of exoskeleton critters to cross the floor, like scorpions.

But with pets or children, that's a no-no.

I'll stick with the old tried and true (and not so attractive) floor fan by the sliding door.

makes more sense it seems to put them at the top to let the heat out?

Also, we have raccoons here that would want to come in.

I dont like it.

Everything else in those pics is fabulous. But I must agree, re: dirt, critters and other issues.

I just came back from your website though, Bruce, and it's great. I love the Cabana, and I've just started going thru it.

speaking of rats ... my friends have these in their Santa Barbara rental and they were watching TV one night and ... well, you guess the rest!

Yeah, I don't get it. Inside the house the air is hotter near the ceiling because it is trapped there. Outside the house the air is hotter near the ground because that's where the heat radiates from. So what was the point of this design?

If the intention really was to improve the cooling effect then why not start with some shade?

there are screens on these windows, which should keep most critters out...

as for raccoons, they come out at night, and I would never leave unattended windows open, so don't see how they could come in... (raccoons are great climbers, and if they really wanted to come in, they could climb up just as easily if the window were at the top, like a transom)

luckily, no rats in our neighbourhood...

Screens will keep vermin and other pests out, but they won't do anything for dust which is worst closest to the ground. High ones seem smarter.

I visited a home on St. Thomas V.I. where the roof didn't meet the walls. There was a good sized gap for ventilation. The only issue they had was lizards.

It may on the principle where sash windows opened at the top to suck out the warm air, and at the bottom to draw in cool air. It works with our Victorian home anyway !

Oh no thanks!! Any sort of creature can get in. I would have thought that since heat rises, wouldn't it be best to have the awnings at the top so that the hot air flows outside? Isn't that better air flow?

I think Carol's got it right... with screens, bugs and rodents may not be an issue but wind could easily blow dirt inside. Many condos have these types of windows at floor level but opening at the top. Of course, up in the sky dirt isn't as much an issue anyway.

Hi I've seen a similar design on an eco apartment tour in Adelaide South Australia that worked very effectively.

The heat chimney effect works despite the lower overall height of the house because the outside air has to move through the planting directly in front of the window, which cools it enough to stir up the heat difference inside the building.
From there you need an outlet, or higher opening window on the lee side of the building, as the outside air flow passes over the roofline it will cause a lower pressure zone in the lee of the building and the warmer, higher pressure air at the top of the house will be sucked out.
Hey presto, natural air flow without line of site windows, high chimney space or mechanical assistance.

And Maybe we use different window screens down here, but they look like they have regular old fly screen mesh to me as the inner frame has that dark plastic/metal bevel to hold the screen in place.
All my Awning windows have them and as it's mesh dirt can't get through and the bugs certainly don't get through there! Guess if your worried about rats and other four leggers in your area then you've got bigger issues though!

Cheers!

Ah, thanks for the explanation there, edsmiles.

I also noticed at Bruce's website that this window design is featured on some second story windows. As long as a screen is there, it's all hunky dory.

re: Carol K mentioning lizards in St. Thomas V.I.....

having lived in Hawaii for some time, and I love the tropics and all the interesting situations and challenges it presents.... one thing always seen in the house were geckos. But they were more of a benefit than a nuisance, as they ate any insectoid critters, and their little chirping sounds just added to their charm.

Tropical bugs suck. 8^0

Frank Lloyd Wright designed houses to take advantage of natural ventilation -- of course, he put the awning windows at the TOP of the wall, to let hot air escape.

Are awning windows at the top of the wall called transoms? Or are transoms only the awning windows put on top of door frames? I've been told that transoms do an excellent job of keeping rooms cool during the summer.

transoms are above the doors and up high and can have an awning type hinge mechanism..awning windows open out for ventilition usually and there is also casement windows that open vertically like a book for ventilation

I've seen windows like this before, both the awning and the slider versions.

I noticed the screens on those and virtually all windows today come with them as far as I know.

Once I attended classes in a wing at a local community college, built in the 50's I believe, had the double awning style, that is, an awning at the bottom, and one at the top of each section and the wall was mostly window and what happend is that the upper awning opened inward, the lower ones outward and it seemed to work when it got hot but I was not there for much of the warmer months if I recall.