INTRODUCTION
My research will examine techniques that optimize financial, environmental, quality, and energy aspects of contemporary architecture.
The work of Norman Foster and Partners will be considered in detail. This award-winning firm has many high-profile projects concerned with energy efficacy. I will examine Foster designed buildings in order to better understand strategies for maximizing savings and encasing ecological conservation through passive solar design.
Principles of Passive Solar Building Design
Passive Heating is designed with Solar Geometry; solar geometry uses the natural path of the sun across the sky in both the summer and the winter to reduce the need for cooling by air conditioning, the provide heat in the cooler months and to “animate” the spaces where we live and work (Szokolay, 2007).
Passive Cooling is designed using Wind and Shading; elements of passive cooling include louvered vents, roofs painted or made of light colored materials and put into place with insulation, thermal mass flooring and maximum glazing are all necessary components
Daylighting, the use of natural lighting is considered the main element of passive solar design; high solar gains are controlled with glass louvers, curtain walls or plants
(Transition: Let’s examine how passive solar design is advantageous, although not everyone agrees.)
V. An argument against passive solar says that the amount of energy produced is not enough to heat buildings in the winter and cannot be controlled in the summer.
A. But I respond that the key to successful passive design techniques is that they are site specific.
B. Passive solar design methods can be implemented by taking advantage of natural heating and cooling phenomena.
1. The locations of the windows and the orientation of the building are essential design decisions.
2. Most of the windows need to be on the south side of the house because the south side windows are over 12 percent of the floor area. Nfffffffffffo overheating will take place, and that is with no curtains on the windows (UCSUSA, 2016).
3. In open designs for the interiors of buildings, natural light can reach more areas and cut down on electric light use.
(Transition: While global warming may not be obvious to everyone, maintainable designs must be incorporated into modern building designs.)
VI. Contemporary architecture must value and incorporate passive techniques in order to maximize durability.
A. Norman Foster is an architect who applies innovative designs using passive solar techniques; such as the German Multimedia centered described in more detail above and is well-known for the practical yet decorative canopy over the circular reading room in the Courtyard of the British Museum. (Spectacular passive solar designs in modern architecture, Powerpoint slides here if a presentation)
B. Norman Foster, Multimedia Centre, Rothenbaumchausee, Germany
1. The roof is a constructed with cantilevered louvers over an indoor atrium for passive solar energy use.
1a. Louvers are a type of sunshade
1b. Louvers act as shading during the summer and in the winter allow full sun
2. Protection of solar gain is needed on the west wall so every office unit is able to control the glass louvers to allow the users of the building to control the comfort level in the office.
3. The architecture design takes advantage of
the fairly clean air from office units to warm and ventilate the atrium
the ceiling height is 3 meters, very high and that allows the passive control of temperatures from the concrete slabs from thermal mass
Lucio Picciano, Casa Luca, Vancouver, Canada: energy efficiency and savings even with a growing family
1. The simple rectangular also includes the glazing for the southwestern walls to optimize solar gain.
2. Many people cannot imagine that a passive solar home is possible in Canada.
3. The architecture design takes advantage of . . .
Exterior cladding is constructed from metal, glass and wood. The metal panels are finished with Kynar; a polyvinylidene fluoride resin provides protection from the weather conditions for the meta. sistaomThe architect included the installation of rainscreens that are vertically aligned, each panels is 26 inch height. Metal and glass curtain wall are constructed of structural steel, wood pieces are special western red cedar, edge grain, 20 inches long; Moisture barrier cladding is installed and “German Super Panel” of 4 x8 sheets.
Insulation is 4 inch compressed mineral wool
Windows are uPVC tilt and turn
Glazing is glass Cardinal triple pane 180/Clear/180, uvalue is 0.63
(“Casa Luca,” 2016)
B. Milan’s Basco Vertical Tree is known as the world’s first vertical forest because plants are intentionally designed into the passive solar scheme.
1. Two residential towers located in Milan, Italy
1a. The taller tower (360 feet) holds approximately 550 trees and the smaller tower (249 feet) holds approximately 350 trees along the four exterior vertical walls
2. The architectural designers are Stefano Boeri, Gianandrea Barreca and Giovanni La Varra
3. Botanists and horticulturists were expert advisers for the design
4. The trees are from three to six meters in height and the purpose of the trees is to mitigate the smog in the air and the trees also produce oxygen
5. The trees moderate temperatures and muffle noises.
6. Experiments with trees were done in wind tunnels to prove that the trees could withstand powerful winds
7. The trees are held on balconies made of steel-reinforced concrete measuring 28 cm thick
C. The Bullitt Center in Seattle, USA (built in 2013) is known as the one of the greenest buildings with the highest aable design in the world. Therefore the environmentally focused features are mentioned here, because the classic passive solar designs are integrated into the Bullitt as well.
1. The lifespan of the building is 250 years
2. The Bullitt Center is carbon neutral,
3. and energy neutral as well.
4. The Bullitt Center has its own self-sufficient water processing system,
5. and its own self-sufficient sewage processing system.
6. Photovoltaic panels are used to generate electricity.
D. The designer Santiago Calatrava’s Innovation, Science and Technology Building at Florida Polytechnical University is lighted with natural day light
1. A trellis made from lightweight aluminum is wrapped around the building.
2. The trellis cuts the solar gain by about 30% (Chino, 2014)
3. The roof resembles “skeletal concrete ribs and vaulted archways” so the building seems like a living creature: the roof moves because it is built with 46 aluminum louvers to control the amount of sunlight entering the building.
(Transition: Passive solar techniques seem to be active because they “respond” to the local weather conditions, optimize the comfort level and decrease energy use (Branz, 2013).
VII. Solar architecture integrates the following key elements, not only location that determines climate and materials that bring specific characteristics to each project but also the . . .
A. Orientation of the building is assessed in order to control heat gain and heat loss
B. Building layouts, in terms of the total buildings and sections of the buildings provide the shapes that control air flow
C. The diversity of window designs makes the window an essential element of distributing solar energy. The three main considerations for window design are the window insulation, window orientation and the window glazing
D. Heat gains and losses are determined by the use of shading, the thermal mass and building insulation
ventilation
VIII. CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
The technology of today is offering innovations in process such as window frame, cantilevers and cladding materials that passive design is an economical choice. In fact, if one stakes advantage of carryout a life cycle assessment; passive designs are not only better for human and natural ecologies, but they are also cost effective. A life cycle assessment
Products for sustainable buildings are highly sophisticated to the point where even the paint that is chosen also adds to the comfort level of the residents. Modern techniques are safe, but in the past could not have chosen due to their hazardous characteristics. For example inert gasses like krypton, xenon and argon can be injected between two panes of glass for window treatments. Using inert gasses for insulation is an inventive concept and one that works well because the thermal losses from inside a room are dramatically reduced. A large proportion of the surface area of a building is the windows, therefore adopting new methods insulating between glass panes and glazing on the surface of glass is highly logical. Materials like fiberglass and kynar allow an architectural designer to create imaginative designs without reducing the practical considerations of sustainable building.
The point of solar design is not to master the weather, but to integrate the features of the natural environment into the design. Weather is not the enemy, but instead a natural partner in the design. Distributing solar energy without mechanical or electrical devices allows each building a uniqueness that matches no other built environment.
IX. SUMMARY
Passive design has specific features derived from the elements at the site and upon the climate and the weather at the particular location. The orientation of the building must be carefully evaluated so the optimum placement may be chosen; planning a design takes longer than simply throwing up a typical house or multi-storied office building.
The incredibly lightweight materials that offer high strength and thermal advantages to a building are spectacularly used by an architect like Norman Foster. The shapes and textures of the Gherkin at 30 St. Mary Axe, City Hall and the Millennium Bridge all located in London are intriguing. The work of Foster around the world is shocking in its originality. The unique features of his designs coupled with the practical green outcomes are the perfect combination to represent passive design.
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