A systems approach brings together the fields of ecology, economics, engineering, design, systems theory and thermodynamics to develop eco-compatible development systems.
SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGIES Optimum Orientation Daylighting Solar Radiation Regional Materials Renewable Energy BIM Analysis Financial Modelling Ecosystem Approach Community Development Building Technology Climatic condtions Natural Ventillation Water Management
PROJECTS En+ Holyoke 20 Sumner Chauhaus Urban AgriCulture Acoustic Installation KHOJ Artist Residence NeighborWorks America Graphic Design
En+ Holyoke
North Eastern Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) Net-Zero Energy Student Competition First Prize awarded
The primary design objective is to create an aesthetically pleasing, environmentally responsible and economically viable residential complex. According to the competition brief, the building is required to target 90% or more energy conservation over a baseline building built to today’s energy codes by integrating the super insulted construction methodology. Program Vision To create a comprehensive design solution for the site three fundamental principals were identified which helped the team in decision-making process throughout the design development and analysis phase. The principals were established in resonance with the South Holyoke Revitalization Strategy and Urban Renewal Plan.
stages and later on-site renewable energy generation helped the final design to go beyond net zero energy and achieve net positive energy status. The excess energy is then connected back to the grid and shared with neighboring buildings. • Mixed-Use Residential Development: A combination of residential units on the upper floors and commercial units at the street level respond to the guidelines provided by the South Holyoke Revitalization Strategy and Urban Renewal Plan. The design and placement of each unit helps further improve safety and security, promote social diversity, create a lively pedestrian friendly street setting, and improves the overall quality of life in the neighborhood.
• Net Positive energy (en+): By fusing climate responsive passive and active • Improved Density and Economic Viability: The design aims to maximize density and environmental control strategies, a net positive energy building is achieved which improve real estate value by achieving maximum density of 60 DU/acre on site while includes elements that promote non-motorized mobility and a healthy social taking into account cost effectiveness and economic viability. environment for occupants and visitors. To achieve this target, energy use reduction and optimization became a central component of the design process from the very early
Natural Ventilation Strategy The design incorporates solar chimneys to utilize outdoor air for ventilation of units during the cooling months (May-Sep) when the outdoor air temperature and relative humidity level is within comfort range. This would lead to great savings in the utility cost related to cooling during cooling period. Design Approach The building units are staggered and organized so as to optimize solar exposure to maximize solar gain through heating months and to minimize unwanted heat gain through summer months. This approach resulted in the stepping form of the building and allowed each residential unit to have access to north and south sun while east and west buffer spaces have minimal openings. The staggered form also frames the Carlos Vega Park which maximizes the vitality of this central space and also establishes the visual connectivity with the open space and providing opportunities for public gathering spaces.
(a) Buoyancy Driven (Stack) ventilation: The diagram (left) explains the basis of stack ventilation where the neutral plane determines the transition between indoor and outdoor pressure balance. To have appropriate airflow through the volume neutral plane has to lie above the highest floor and below the exhaust shaft. This is achieved by (1) creating a higher temperature differential in the solar chimney and housing units by providing dark colored walls in the chimney to absorb more solar radiation. (2) Providing a larger opening of the stack on top and (3) increasing the height of the stack. (b) Pressure difference driven natural ventilation: The solar tower’s aerodynamic design also utilizes the pressure differential created by annual wind movement from south-west direction during the summer months. The higher pressure on the windward side creates a positive pressure zone, while the northern façade windows on the leeward side create negative pressure, which creates wind movement through the unit from north to south and ventilating the air through solar chimney.
Energy Model Analysis Shadow Analysis To further refine the massing, shadow analysis studies were conducted in Ecotect for three specific days of the year – namely, Summer Solstice (June 21), Winter Solstice (Dec 21) and Spring/Fall Equinox (March/Sep 21). The blue and red colored shadows in the images below represent morning and evening shadows averaged over the entire day. During the summers the building receive maximum solar radiation and are idle for location of the photovoltaic. The dark red shadows show that during the summers the windows remain shaded due to the mutual shading in the staggered units. The Winter Solstice analysis shows that there is no mutual shading during the winters and hence all residential units receive low winter sun due to the optimal orientation of the fenestration. Similarly, the above Spring/Fall Equinox analysis shows that the green open spaces in the front and back can be used as summer gardens as well as winter gardens.
The energy analysis of the building was conducted in Design Builder to appropriately simulate the effect of heat transmission to neighboring units and through floor and roof. Nine dwelling units were simultaneously simulated with the circulation core in between. The output was then normalized and applied to the entire building design. The primary objective of this exercise was to optimize the building design and reduce energy load by decoupling the active and passive design strategies. An iterative process was adopted to achieve ‘Passive House’ standards of building construction and energy use by reducing thermal bridging and air infiltration. This was achieved in 6 iterative steps. Step 1: Optimized Heating/Cooling Schedules 144.63 kWh/m2 Step 2: Better Insulation Step 5: LED lighting with lighting controls 75.25 kWh/m2 47.8 kWh/m2 Step 3: Radiant Floor Heating/Cooling Step 6: Efficient Appliances 63.2 kWh/m2 40.5 kWh/m2 Step 4: Triple Low e Argon Filled glazing Step 7: DHW Scheduling 54.9 kWh/m2 35 kWh/m2
20 Sumner
Double Skin Facade Retrofit project The objective of the exercise was to develop a trombe wall system for an existing single family home without affecting the structure and with minimum alterations in design. The design intervention was pursued by first understanding the way a trombe wall functions. The design responds to four climatic variations of Summer Day, Summer Night, Winder Day and Winter Night of Cambridge,MA. • Summer Day: Louvers shade the facade and prevent direct daylight inside the building structure while the top and bottom vents are opened to maintain the the temperature inside the double skin cavity equal to outdoor temperature. • Summer Night: The louvers are all opened and interior air is flushed out and cold air allowed to eneter the building. • Winter Day: Louvers prevent any direct daylight from penentrating inside the building while all the vents are closed so that heat can build up inside the double skin cavity and act as athermal barrier. Thus preventing the building from loosing any heat to outdoors. • Winter Night: All the louvers are closed so no heat is lost to cold night time temerature of outside while internal vents are opened and ot air from the cvavit is allowed to flow inside the building.
Design Approach The preliminary analysis of the property at 20 Sumner indicated the possibility for the integration of a passive heating system on the south face to improve building performance and reduce fuel consumption. In order to analyze the south-facing rooms separately from the rest of the building, a DesignBuilder energy model was created. The model was then calibrated based on actual fuel consumption records for the building and HOBO data. Conceptual analysis of passive heating systems indicated that, for this specific heating dominated climate, a Trombe wall is more appropriate compared to a double faรงade system since it provides better insulation values while reducing interior temperature fluctuations. In order to optimize the Trombe wall to better suit thermal comfort design intents and daylighting needs of the interior spaces, various types of thermally massive material and glazing systems were simulated in DesignBuilder and DIVA. The optimized design has a 200 mm (8-inch) concrete wall as thermal mass, a 150 mm (6-inch) air cavity, double-glazing external curtain wall system, external vents to prevent overheating during the summer, internal vents to provide convection heat transfer during winter and ventilation during summer, optimized windows to provide more uniform daylighting throughout the space and reduce glare, and a mechanically operated exterior shading device (optional) that responds to climate conditions to reduce heat loss during winter months and minimize unwanted heat gain during summer months while allowing a controlled amount of daylight to enter the interior spaces at all times. The final Trombe wall assembly has an 8% efficiency for the amount of heat transferred into the interior spaces though the Trombe wall divided by total incident solar radiation on the exterior surface of the wall. The cost benefit analysis of the system shows a 15-year payback time for the Trombe wall system without the shading device (at $41,328.54) and a 22-year payback time for the system with the shading device (at an assumed additional cost of $20,000). The new design proposal results in an 83% reduction in fuel consumption (oil and gas). While the system provides a radical reduction in fuel consumption, because of the small scale of the building and the relatively low annual fuel costs before the redesign ($3,302.23), the annual savings of $2,756.71 compared to the cost of the system results in a relatively long payback period (15 year without the shading device and 22 year with the shading device). Overall, we conclude that the client should move forward with the redesign as a long-term saving strategy that improves occupant comfort while reducing the negative operational impacts of the building on the environment. Total heat gain from Trombe wall during Oct-Apr: 640.95 kWh Total solar radiation incident on Trombe wall from Oct-Apr: 15453.32 kWh Trombe wall efficiency : 640.95/15453.32 = 4.1%
Chauhaus
Daylighting Re-Design
The objective of the project was to produce shading intervention in Chauhaus cafe which had the problem of direct sunlight penetrating inside through large glass windows on the Eastern and Southern side and causing glare issues.
The design intervention was done with louvers, planters, reflective canvas and new glass panels with improved U-value. Through these measures we were able to achieve appropriate lighting levels (100-2000lux) in 85 % of the area which was uniformly distributed as compared to initial situation where only 30 % of the area received proper daylight. Daylight computation for (a) initial stage (right top) and (b) Final stage (right bottom) was performed using Rhino and DIVA plug-in which clearly established the excess and uneven amount of daylight distribution (red- ->blue on ground).
Urban AgriCulture Finalists Cities grow beyond jurisdictional boundaries, they are organic, dynamic and transitory in nature and will continue to expand. Urbanization is the phenomenon that determines this expansion and its pace. It is inevitable in the near future that the second tier and the third tier cities are going to make a transition to the one tier cities at a greater pace because of more untapped resources available at their disposal. We cannot contain this expansion within predefined boundaries and prevent it from gobbling the agriculturally productive lands. The way out is to find a mean to include farming into the urban areas so that both can mutually co-exist. Urban agriCulture Our project ‘Urban agriCulture’ attempts to bridge the gap between producers and consumers by means of introducing Hydroponics in urban setting. We would be engaging the stakeholders in the entire project cycle. This includes activities like identifying land for the setup, initial investment, working on the farm and other activities. The stakeholder urban dweller, farmers, government and distributors would be engaged as active. In this evolving economy where a substantial proportion of the
population is facing food insecurity and where markets for food grains are poorly integrated there is an obvious need for a better public food delivery system, which is well integrated in the urban fabric and has a symbiotic relationship with urban growth. In this food delivery system our proposal intends to merge agriculture and the city together into a composite model where farming is done through hydroponics on parcels of land provided by the government and developed and maintained by a collaboration of farmers, local community and trained experts. This can be done in two ways: a. Commercializing hydroponics and making it a profitable venture and b. Having a hydroponic set up for a community, where the community contributes to the capital investments and in turn gets nutritional food for consumption.
Acoustic Installation
Stimulating the auditory and visual perceptions through motion The sculpture experiments with the idea of physical transformation as the stimulus of an acoustic response enabling sound to play a sensory role in the combined movement of the sculpture and the user. The experiential sculpture should demonstrate a synthesis of the aesthetic form which aligns with the possibilities of how movement both creates and diminishes the qualities of sound. This site specific installation in located in Gund Hall’s north stairwell and spans four floors. This unique site encourages the relationship between the movement of the people in the stairwell and the sculpture itself. The sound created by the movement of the sculpture encourages the users of the stair to become aware of its full volume of space. The sound sticks are copper pipes with coiled metal wire and ball bearings which produce sound when the system rotates from one orientation to another.
KHOJ : Artist’s Residence Urban Retrofit
“Khoj is an experimental art laboratory where, dialogue, exchange, transfer of information, energy & skills could take place as an intensely lived experience.” “Khoj attempts to emulate the very processes, which underline our projects, those of experimentation and exchange while interpreting and responding to them spatially and experientially.It aims to reflect the organic nature of its growth as it constantly morphs; questioning, seeking and searching while being multi-functional and flexible in essence.” In this project I worked as a project architect, developed intital design concepts and oversaw On-Site consruction management. Design Concept The need to “have more space” was met by fusing two adjoining buildings acquired by Khoj into one. Khoj acquired ; over a period of two years, two independent units which previously functioned as a home office for an architect and a dwelling unit for a small family respectively.
NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley Doebele Community Service Fellowship Award
The Fellowship was awarded by Harvard UNiversity to work with NeighborWorks America in Woonsocket for 10 weeks for developing proposal for affordable housing in Woonsocket. The internship provided me the opportunity to interact with the local residents and understand their requirements through interactive session and site surveys. I developed a contour plan of the housing site using ArcGIS and survey data to help develop a new housing proposal that was more inclusive and on the lines of ‘NEW URBANISM’. The final proposal was to be submitted for Choice Neighborhood Fedral Grant. The experience in Woonsocket helped me understand the importance of community involvement in design process and beyond. IMAGES (clockwise from top left): Contour paln of site with relatively flat areas marked in grey, new proposed site plan with increased housing units and grid pattern roads, contour map of woonsocket colored by local youth in a community building workshop (this was a part of awareness campaign), staff at NeighborWorks America Blackstone River Valley meeting before field survey (I joined the staff in field surveys to interact and understand the local community from ground level).
GRAPHIC DESIGN Visual representation of ideas is the language of silent communication with the observer. Professional experience of 10 years as a graphic designer
Ink on paper
Logo Designs
Poster Design
Watercolors
Air and Water(Exhibited at One Harvard event 2012)
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