Hokkaido

week3

     Hello!
     I will tell you about the house of Hokkaido.
     Hokkaido is very cold, and it often snows in Hokkaido, so the house of Hokkaido has to have a lot of measures against cold and snow. In short, we are able to live warmly in the house of Hokkaido. However, this is not only characteristics of the house of Hokkaido. Surprisingly, the house of Hokkaido is cool in summer, and warm in winter. That is because the house of Hokkaido is high tight and high thermal insulate. In addition, the house of Hokkaido has a high efficient heating system and ventilated technology, so the house of Hokkaido has not only a comfortable thermal environment but also high energy-saving performance.

     Characteristics on the appearance of traditional houses in Hokkaido are that the roof is steep, that there is a chimney, and that they have double-entry doors and double-paned windows. First, I will tell you about the roof. The roof of the house of Hokkaido is a thatched roof of galvanized iron and there are few tiled roofs. That is because it snows in Hokkaido. Recently, two forms of the roof of Hokkaido appeared. They are s steep roof to drop the snow to the ground (rakusetsuyane) and a roof on which the snow melts (murakusetsuyane). The former is good on the house because snows don't lie on the roof, but it is hard to remove the snow off a road since the amount of snow which drop the snow to the ground increase. In addition, the solidified snow falls, so there is a great risk of the snows' hitting people. The latter is two forms. One is called a flat roof and is the form that the winds blow the snows. The other is called a duct roof and is the form that it looks like a flat roof when you look at it from the outside, but it has a slope toward the center of the roof. The snow melts from the inside touching the roof, so a duct roof has the form that the snow flows to underground with the duct. This is mainly used at the city. Second, I will tell you about heating systems of Hokkaido. Heating systems of Hokkaido is the method that warms everywhere in the house. That is because moisture is generated where the temperature is lower in one house. Recently, the number of the house with a chimney has decreased, and a method which is mainly used is "a central heating". "a central heating" is a method that warms the house with the panel everywhere to send out a hot water made in the boiler. In addition, there is also a method that uses a stove installed to the main place such as a living room instead of a boiler. Finally, I will tell you about ventilation. It is important for the house of Hokkaido. That is because, as the above, the house of Hokkaido need high tight and high thermal insulate, but as a result moisture rises. However, if you ventilate without thinking, heat escapes from the house. Therefore the concept of ventilation plan was generated. This is the concept of ventilating with acertain regularity so as not to impair the efficiency of heating.
     In short, the house of Hokkaido has a lot of measures against snow and cold.