3 ms·
Yes, the surface area ratio is only applicable to whole buildings. But, regardless of how the interior is divided, the whole space has to be heated. (Empty apar
by picometer 3y ago
Yes, the surface area ratio is only applicable to whole buildings. But, regardless of how the interior is divided, the whole space has to be heated. (Empty apartments notwithstanding, since that would change the shared-internal-walls calculations.) The savings you get from multi-unit buildings ultimately comes from the resource-sharing of the multiple tenants, rather than the shape of the whole building.
- picometer 3y agoNow that I think about it, maybe the spherical or cylindrical shape is actually better suited to an apartment building. The inner units _would_ have typical rectangular angles. For units along the curved surface, some walls will be straight and some will be curved. Plus, the curvature would be “wider” for a larger building, which would make it a little easier to design or arrange furniture.
- Someone 3y agoThe inner units also would have zero windows. Even if that wouldn’t make them so undesirable as to be basically useless, that probably would be in conflict with building codes in large parts of the world. the best you could do is a fairly small sphere with kitchens, bathrooms and storage spaces in the inside.