Sustainable Buildings AE 790 Assignment #5

1. Sustainable Buildings AE 790Assignment #5 By: Mark Cartella & Carly Litofsky

2. Outline • Sustainability Defined • Life Cycle • Design • Operations • Renewable Resources • Reflection • Conclusion • Questions

3. Sustainability Defined • Sustainability – “The ability to provide for the needs of the world's current population without damaging the ability of future generations to provide for themselves. When a process is sustainable, it can be carried out over and over without negative environmental effects or impossibly high costs to anyone involved.”www.sustainabletable.org/intro/dictionary/ • Sustainable Design – “Sustainable design or building “green” is an opportunity to use our resources efficiently while creating healthier buildings. It provides cost savings to all through improved human health and productivity, lower cost building operations, and resource efficiency—and it moves us closer to a sustainable future.” - http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/greenbuilding/ • Sustainable Building – “A sustainable building, also known as a green building, is a structure that is designed, built, renovated, operated, or reused in an ecological and resource-efficient manner. Green buildings are designed to meet certain objectives such as protecting occupant health; improving employee productivity; using energy, water, and other resources more efficiently; and reducing the overall impact to the environment.” - http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/greenbuilding/Basics.htm

4. Life Cycle • Steps toward a sustainable building are made in each phase of a building’s life cycle • Design* • Construction • Operation* • Renovation • Etc.

5. Design • The design process is crucial in the creation of a sustainable building • The building must be designed with the ability to help further the goal of self-sustainability

6. Design Considerations A designer must consider: • Window size, placement, and type • Floor to ceiling heights • Aesthetics; efficiency can be beautiful

7. Design Alternatives A designers view on conservation: • Ideas of using the “rubble” from a destroyed building to give it new life • Utilizing materials found on site • Lebbeus Woods

8. Operations • Statistics – Current Buildings • Root of 30% of all green house emissions • Produce 136 million tons of waste annually • Consume 36% of total energy produced in U.S. • Consume 65% of total amount of electricity produced

9. Operations • Actions • New ways to use current energy – through new innovations of current technology • Development of new energy sources (i.e. hydrogen, biomass) • Use of renewable energy sources (i.e. solar, hydro, wind, geothermal)

10. Hydrogen • Most plentiful element on Earth • When isolated, can produce clean burning fuel • Can be used for both electricity and transportation • Viewed by many experts, on a large scale, to be the only true replacement to fossil fuels

11. Bioenergy • Derived from stored biomasses animal waste, plant matter, agricultural residue, landfill methane, and much more • Very versatile • Can be used in the energy forms of steam, heat, or electricity, but also can be converted to a fuel for direct combustion, and co-firing.

12. Solar • Derived from the sun to produce clean burning fuel through utilization of photovoltaics • Constantly replenished • Two forms • Passive – windows, skylights • Active – devices such as boilers and furnaces being ran off of electricity produced by solar cells

13. Hydro • Derived from natural movement of water which is then converted into electricity • Accounts for 10% of United States’ total energy production • Increase in utilization is unlikely due to dwindling numbers of new available sites and strong opposition from environmentalists.

14. Wind • Fastest growing renewable resource • Just until recently have wind turbines and other energy producing wind devices been implemented into the actual building design • Dependant on climate and weather conditions • Intrusive to environment

15. Geothermal • Originates from heat within the Earth • Obtained through thermal conduction • Energy can be harnessed in the form of hot water or steam • Two uses • Direct – heating of building or drying food • Indirect - production of electricity through a generator to distribute power.

16. Reflection Wise energy choices are just the beginning. A building must be: • Aware of itself • Aware of its environment • Aware of its own effects on the environment

17. Aware of itself • Awareness of energy its energy needs • Awareness of system capabilities • Such awareness can be achieved through the use of technology • Sensors • Databases • Robotics

18. Aware of its environment • Understand external conditions in order to make efficient system adjustments • Decrease the need to design all systems for extreme conditions • Aware of how much energy is available to it at any given time • Awareness achieved through technology including innovative software and sensor networks

19. Aware of effects of environment • Take steps toward reducing impact • Note when more emissions are made • Note what positive impact it can have on its neighboring community or society at large • Can it produce extra energy and put it to a humanitarian use?

20. Conclusion • What is an intelligent building? • An intelligent building is a self sustaining structure independent of all outside variables in which appeases all stakeholders’ needs in the most efficient manner possible through out its entirety. • An intelligent building is one which utilizes various methods (including technology) in order to improve comfort, increase efficiency, reduce impact, and improve the building process in order to effectively serve its purpose as a structure. • Is a sustainable building an intelligent building? • YES! A sustainable building, through adaptive computer technology, would produce all required necessities throughout its entire life cycle while efficiently utilizing resources and having a minimal impact on its surroundings; thus achieving “Intelligence”!

21. Works Cited • Green Building Design and Construction Home Page • http://www.ase.org/ • http://www.advancedbuildings.org/ • http://www.crest.org/ • http://www.iisbe.org/iisbe/gbc2k5/teams/canada/ILC/ILC_pg5.htm • http://www.intelligent-systems.info/wisan/Sensor%20network.jpg • http://www.realloghomes.com/showcasehomes/The_Galaska_Home_10_6.html • http://www.nef.org.uk/Images/co2tonne.gif • Woods, Lebbeus. Radical Reconstruction. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1997

22. Questions ?