Building Energy Conference Report.

Here is another report done by Andrew Marsh on Modelling Buildings For Energy Use and the effects of using multiple simulation tools. Once again the link to the full text is below, otherwise I have also posted the abstract.

http://companyshed.com/1023649200/documents/2006_IEECB_1.pdf



Abstract:
Increasingly, legislation (including the imminent requirement for the energy abelling of buildings) is requiring the building industry to produce more accurate estimates of the energy performance of buildings and building services in use. This accuracy is unlikely to be met through means other than dynamic simulation models. However, in practice detailed information about important factors which affect the energy use of both new buildings during the design phase and existing buildings during operation can be very limited. This paper considers the accuracy with which the existing dynamic simulation models EnergyPlus and ESP-r predict temperature in one existing commercial office building for which the authors have detailed information - including measurements of internal and external conditions at every 15min intervals over 1 year period. It examines the predicted temperatures produced using two different simulation tools with two different modelling strategies: single zoning and multiple zoning. The predictions of internal temperature for the office building are then compared with the physical measurement of temperature in the building to provide an indication of the accuracy with which the complexities of a real situation can be predicted. The work forms part of the European project AUDITAC: “Field Benchmarking and Market Development for Audit Methods in Air Conditioning”, and builds on a previous project undertaken by the Welsh School of Architecture – “AC Energy Use in Offices: Field Monitoring Study”. As part of the process, the paper discusses the strategy used to generate compatible input data for the two energy modelling software packages. The establishment of compatibility is important to enable valid comparisons to be drawn between the different simulation algorithms. The paper ends by drawing preliminary conclusions as to the most important building modelling variables for the test building, and therefore which variables should have the most time spent on them when establishing values. Similar studies will be undertaken on a number of buildings in various typologies and European climatic conditions to ascertain how the relative importance of these variables changes. This information is particularly important for deciding which data must be provided to enable building modellers to produce the most accurate models possible for energy analysis.

Capabilities of energy performace simulation programs.

Here is the link to a handy report comparing the differences between different ecological analysis tools. I have also posted the abstract below.

http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/tools_directory/pdfs/contrasting_the_capabilities_of_building_energy_performance_simulation_programs_v1.0.pdf

Perrine Pod

Was reffered to an interesting series of photos of a modular concrete system being implemented in Albany. Seems to be a similar system to my proposal however it also uses a series of concrete columns and beams.

Gherkin project

This is a project we did recreating the structural system of the gerkin by Norman Foster in London. We started by creating a swirl in Max and after a series of edit functions we finished up with the object in the pictures.

Jeffrey Smart tutorial

Today we used a 3D modelling program to recreate a painting by Jeffrey Smart. It was quite interesting.

This was the original image we had to recreate.

Here is a screenshot of the Rhino model we made. Each member of our group modelled a part of the scene.

This is the final rendered image using Vray in Rhino.

We then had to alter the render slightly to make it our own.

This is my final photoshopped image.

And this is Wills image. Cool.

Environmentally responsive architecture article

Just read an interesting article by Simos Yannas on environmentally responsive architecture. It is from the 20th Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture held in Santiago CHILE, 9 - 12 November 2003.

Yannas suggests an environmentally-responsive architecture is not a fixed ideal, but an evolving concept to be redefined with project. He believes education should take a driving role in this evolution and that we need to move beyond the technical fixes perpetrated by current practice and start extending the architectural vocabulary towards expressing the temporality of natural and operational cycles in more diverse and creative ways.

Perry Lakes Site

The sporting facilities at Perry Lakes were built for the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, however, they are now considered substandard and in need of replacement. For a number of years the State Government and the Town of Cambridge have been negotiating a way in which replacement facilities would be developed with negotiations predicated on the new facilities being funded from the sale of the Perry Lakes land.

The land comprises Lot 712 and is contained within Certificate of Title Volume 2138, Folio 21. An easement for the Serpentine Trunk Main (water supply) exists in favour of the (former) Metropolitan Water Supply, Sewerage and Drainage Board. The Perry Lakes land (the Site) has an area of 1556 hectares.

The Site is located in the Town of Cambridge and is approximately 7 kilometres west of the Perth Central Business District. The Site adjoins the existing residential area of Floreat and is bounded by Alderbury Street to the north, Brookdale Street to the east, Underwood Avenue to the south and Meagher Drive to the west.
The Site contains various sporting facilities including a basketball stadium, athletics track, grandstand and associated facilities that were built for the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. The Site also includes a rugby oval and clubrooms that were built in the mid 1980s.

The surrounding land uses include low density residential development to the north and east, Perry Lakes reserve to the west and the offices of the CSIRO and the AK Reserve land to the south.
The Site is located within the existing residential area of Floreat approximately 7 kilometres from the Perth CBD and 3 kilometers from Subiaco.

Given the Site’s location there are already a significant number of existing community facilities located within close proximity of the Site including Cambridge Library and the Boulevard Community Centre. Retail and commercial services including restaurants and cafes are located within walking distance of the Site at the newly refurbished Floreat Forum.

Floreat Park Primary School is located 1 kilometer north of the Site on Brookdale Street and Shenton College is located 2 kilometres to the south. The Department for Education and Training has advised that all future students from the development will be able to be accommodated at Floreat Park Primary School and Shenton College.

District recreation amenities including Challenge Stadium, Bold Park Aquatic Centre, Floreat and City Beaches, Perry Lakes Reserve and Wembley Golf Course are all located within 3 kilometres of the Site.

Land uses that immediately surround the Site include low density large lot single residential development to the north and east, Perry Lakes recreation reserve to the west and CSIRO and the AK Reserve land to the south.

Under the Perry Lakes Redevelopment Act 2005 the AK Reserve Minister (supported by the Department of Sport and Recreation and the Department of Housing and Works) is responsible for building new sporting facilities for athletics, rugby and basketball on the AK Reserve land and adjacent land that may be included in the AK redevelopment area.

Recent Pressures in Housing Australia

The recent influx of housing demand and development in Western Australia closely followed the high activity in the agriculture and resources industry. The urban area of Perth has doubled in size since the 1970s to 63 100 hectares. Low density urban spread with single detached houses remains the dominant mode of urban development in Perth. (p. 195 state of the environment report WA 2007)

There are three major factors in the rapid change of housing in Australia,

Environmental issues – More than ever, there is a greater awareness and higher expectations by the public on environmentally conscious development. It is up to architects to implement responsible, sustainable solutions to the general housing market and help reduce the waste of the Earth’s resources.

Change in demographics – The average number of people living in households in Australia is decreasing. It has decreased every decade from 4.53 in 1911 to 2.57 in 2001 and a projected 2.2-2.3 by 2026. This shows the future will bring the need for more small housing solutions and flexibility in household types.

Affordability pressures – According to the 2008 International Housing Affordability Survey, five Australian cities are listed in the world’s top 20 most unaffordable. Perth is among one of the most unaffordable cities to buy a house in the world.

Historic development of Housing in Australia

Australia has seen several rapid housing growth periods. The evolutionary cycle of development for Western Australia in particular has seen periods of intensive development followed by slower steady growth.
During the late 19th Century a rural to urban migration following the end of the gold rush and external migration added to a period of huge urban population growth. The high demand for housing combined with buoyant economic conditions fuelled a housing boom which remained unequalled until after the Second World War.
There was a general slump in building activity until the end of World War Two. The post war climate of reconstruction and innovation was fuelled by soldier re-settlement, high rates of immigration and a huge backlog in housing demand.
There have been several schemes adopted regarding the growth of cities in Australia since. For example Perth adopted the Corridor Plan for Perth in 1970. This addressed the prospect of endless urban growth along major transport corridors and around a network of sub-regional centres. In 1987 Metroplan sought to consolidate existing and future urban development and facilitate growth in a new pattern of centres in the middle suburbs. 2004 saw the release of the Network City plan. It emphasized growth management in an effort to contain fringe urban growth and renew and regenerate the existing urban area with a network of activity centres connected by a series of corridors.

By 2031 future population forecasts predict that the Perth and Peel region will house a population of more than 2.2 million people. This is an addition 556,000 people on today’s population. To accommodate this level of growth a further 328,000 dwellings and approximately 356,000 jobs will be needed. (Directions 2031)
The growth of the population shows there will be a need for improvement in building design and specifically providing new methods and strategies for housing growth in Australia. The need for experimentation and innovation not only in dense urban dwelling prototypes but also the model of a single detached house will become increasingly important.

Versadome

The Versadome is a modular building system based on three organic shaped rigid structural shells in the nature of arches and domes. All components are designed to stack for easy transportation and assembly. Four complete units (approx. 800 square feet of enclosed space) can be stacked and transported in one standard shipping container. I really like the idea of it being stackable and easily transported. Would be quite effective in reducing the transportation energy of a building. Not too sure about the material its made of though.

Habitat 67

Habitat 67 is a housing complex and landmark located on the Marc-Drouin Quay on the Saint in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Its design was created by architect Moshe Safdie based on his master's thesis at McGill University and built as part of Expo 67. It was designed to integrate the variety and diversity of scattered private homes with the economics and density of a modern apartment building. Modular, interlocking concrete forms define the space. The project was designed to create affordable housing with close but private quarters, each equipped with a garden. The building was believed to illustrate the new lifestyle people would live in increasingly crowded cities around the world. Interesting concept of stacking and quite relevant. I like the modularity but still has a bit of variety. Also uses concrete.

Material editor

Just figured out how to make a new material in Ecotect. The standard material library is quite extensive however did not include the Thermomass insulated concrete wall I needed. I went into the materials editor and created a new material, assigning each layer with a thickness and selecting the approriate settings. It also has a handy little detail screen which can also be exported.

AEC magazine article on Ecotect

Martyn Day from AEC magazine gives a usefull review of the advantages and disadvantages of Ecotect. He states

"There is a lot of talk about green building design and many architects are coming up against design-related criteria of Part L. WIth building performance becoming key, Martyn Day evaluates a low-cost solution that could be the answer to better building design."

The link to the article is below.

http://aecmag.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=215&Itemid=32

Domino on Archicad

So for this tutorial we had to model and document Le Corbusiers Dom-ino project in Archicad.

I found the program pretty hard to navigate at first but once I started to become familiar with the interface it got easier. I can see how it can be usefull when changing the design however I feel there are also alot of limitations in the design process.

This is a copy of the final drawings output from Archicad

Ecotect Video

Zeobond Ecrete

I've been looking for an alternative to traditional concrete due to its huge embodied energy and the massive amounts of C02 emmited from production.

The manufacture of cement produces about 0.9 kilograms of CO2 for every kilogram of cement. Around 5 – 8% of global CO2 emissions result from cement manufacture, making this product one of the more polluting activities undertaken by mankind.

I found a Fly Ash-Based Geopolymer Concrete E-Crete by Zeobond which uses supplementary cements such as slag and fly ash to ensure a highly significant reduction in material input, energy input and emission output. E-Crete is a material with a low embodied energy that would be ideal for the module production.

Donovan Hill Prefab

This prefab housing unit by Donovan Hill Architects acknowledges the housing need in areas of limited skill and resources. Mining operations, indigenous housing and exotic holidaying share these conditions.

They designed prefabricated housing blocks that are able to be trucked on site and placed in different configurations to establish dwellings.

Thermomass

I am looking at using Thermomass concrete for my modules. It is basically an insulated precast concrete sandwich panel that uses a layer of styrofoam to insulate.

IKEA Prefab housing

IKEA has now released their own prefabricated houses.They are built in a quality-controlled factory, delivered and assembled in a day. They suggest it provides space-saving, functional homes at a good proce. They have flexible open plan layouts, high celings and large windows giving them a light airy and contemporary feel.

I'm not convinced on the design but on the right track.

Thermal tutorial.

The next tutorial involved the analysis of the building made in the previous tutorial.

The first step was to check the zones were separate.

Next I had to specify what climate the house was in. I chose to import the climate data for Perth W.A.

I then could choose each seperate zone and view what the outside temperature was compared to the internal temperature.

Through the graph I could see the internal gains were too high.

I then went into the hourly heat gains and losses to see what was causing the high levels of internal heat gain. The graph showed that it was comming in through the ceiling as it was not insulated.

So I went back to the model, assigned the ceiling as plasterboard with insulation and recalculated the graph.

This process fixed the heat gain from that source and showed the direct link between insulation and heat gain.

This process will be very helpful to the energy efficient design of my final module.

Modular car design

Housing production could take note of the developments in the car industry. Designers are predicting car design will be more flexible and will develop into separate modules.

Here is an article from The Independent newspaper online.


http://license.icopyright.net/user/viewFreeUse.act?fuid=NDQ5OTg3Mg%3D%3D




Here are some pics of different concept sketch designs of modular cars.