Work sample 2023

I am a building sustainability specialist who reduces the impacts of buildings and cities on the environment and ecology by quantitatively measuring and improving performance factors such as thermal, lighting, air, and carbon metrics using digital tools and technologies. I also conduct data research to bridge existing knowledge gaps in our field, helping build better tools, processes, policies, and other interventions. I am an aspiring changemaker in this space who worked as an architect for four years and will soon graduate with an MDes Ecologies, Energy and sustainability track at Harvard GSD.

Design and Sustainability

Computational Design and Coding

Environmental Policy and Codes

Link

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Can we predict optimized carbon and R-values for green buildings in different climate regions?

Venture Startup Kritika, Harshika, Shubha, Jocelyn, Karina Sustainability Specialist + Presentation pitch Research, as-built, green envelopes, building assembly details, database, Machine Learning, sustainable workflows

Excel, Python

Spark Grant; Harvard Innovation Lab

For architects, builders, and developers who want to comply with the netzero city goals and laws, we at DeCarbon provide a digital knowledgesharing platform for green building assembly datasets with support of our industry partners that help bring sustainability to the core of each building project.

These collected dataset of details were furthur analysed to predict construction assembly performance in terms of operational and embodied carbon and cost.

This project was developed as a semester project by Kritika Kharbanda and the team expanded after DeCarbon’s selection into Harvard Innovation Lab. As the sustainability specialist, I am working on database development and second stage performance analysis

Step

Step

Method of analysis

Results

Step 1: Database Development

3: Selection and Prediction

Industry partners

2: Analysis

panel predicting carbon footprint of assembly

Handel Architects

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How can we create educational resources for the firm from our existing projects ?

Graduate internship

Louis K., Harshika, SWA Associates

Research Fellow + Intern

thermal analysis, passive house, Therm, sustainable workflows, building assembly details

Therm, Rhino, Grasshopper, Ladybug, Cove.Tool, Climate Studio, InDesign, Revit, Airtable, Bluebeam

HA Sustainability Fellowship Award 2022

The objective of the summer internship was to furthur the integration of sustainable design standards into Handel Architects’ practice. It included working with their internal sustainability group, conducting research and developing or testing tools to facilitate sustainable design within the office.

The work was developed into educational and marketing resource for Handel Architects and as the fellow I was also responsible for presenting research to fellow architects, partners, project teams across multiple office locations and conduct informational sessions for related topics. The 4 key projects I contributed on are:

Miami Dade radiation study

Thermal Break(down) Report

The building envelope is the most critical component to a building’s energy use and can be optimized with continuous insulation and high-performance glazing and the details at transtions and penetrations in the thermal envelope.

The Thermal break(down) report is an internal learning tool developed to compare and understand the concept of thermal bridging and how to eliminate envelope losses through different thermal break materials. I studied construction assemblies from Handel Architect’s high-performing passive house certified projects such as Sendero Verde, Winthrop Center, Cornell

• Compared assembly performance between details with and without a thermal break material using Therm.

• Developed a THERM workflow doc and a THERM model library for typical construction details.

The report contains details for 22 assembly details analyzed using Therm and the recommendations and strategies approved by Passive House and by SWA

Envelope details covered in the report

Sendero Verde Winthrop Center

Cornell Tech dorms

handel architects’ thermal break(down)

STEEL THERMAL SEPARATION

KEY PLAN

KEY PLAN

TO

9 Insulation placement

Submittal: 051000

Submittal: 051000

Steel Structure

cont. steel support connected to slab

UNMITIGATED THERMAL BRIDGE

UNMITIGATED THERMAL BRIDGE

- Significant point of heat loss

Unmitigated Thermal Bridge

- Significant point of heat loss

- Slab surface is cold at interior surface creating potential for condensation.

- Significant point of heat loss

EXTERIOR EXTERIOR

EXTERIOR EXTERIOR

- Slab surface is cold at interior surface creating potential for condensation.

- Slab surface is cold at interior surface creating potential for condensation.

INTERIOR INTERIOR

Description:

Steel canopy support

Steel Structure

Description:

SWA observed

Steel canopy support

structural thermal 2nd-floor resident canopy and the facility entrance

SWA observed

structural thermal 2nd-floor resident canopy and the facility entrance

This application installing the thermal canopy as indicated and construction

This application installing the thermal canopy as indicated and construc

Required Actions: None at this time.

Required Actions: None at this time.

--

Continous 3” Schock Isokorb Thermal Break

CONT. 3” SCHOCK ISOKORB THERMAL BREAK

CONT. 3” SCHOCK ISOKORB THERMAL BREAK

- Heat loss reduction: 56%

- Heat loss reduction: 56%

Installation @ Sendero Verde

- Condensation risk is eliminated

- Heat loss reduction: 56%

- Condensation risk is eliminated

NEW YORK , NY | WASHINGTON

NEW

YORK NY

Project Lead Architect , ANL Associates

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Professional Practise

ANL Associates

Architect, Project Lead

Site sustainability, Green Certification, Architecture, Interiors, acoustic, GRIHA, green certification, heritage, reconstruction

Tender Competition awarded in 2017, GRIHA green rating 3/5

2023

As an architect at ANL Associates I have contributed to 24 projects in my 3 years over there while leading 4 of those. Raj Bhavan ceremonial hall and secretariat office was a project that I had a lot of autonomy over as an architect hence directly worked on sustainability strategies, certifications and coordination.

Context

Raj Bhavan is the official residence of the Governor of Maharashtra. It is located in Mumbai on Malabar Hill, in 50 acres of sylvan surroundings, surrounded on three sides by the sea. The estate has several heritage bungalows, large lawns, and a beach. The original hall in the estate was demolished due to structural safety. The brief included reconstruction of the ceremonial hall and Secretariat office block.

Site Location in Mumbai

Green Certification -GRIHA by IGBC

The following key strategies were adopted by the project team to reduce the building impact on the environment:

Architecture & Energy efficiency :

• 96.6% of the total occupational area is day-lit.

• Lighting power density (LPD) of the project is 5.94 W/m2, which is lower than the ECBC specified limit of 10.80 W/m2 for convention buildings.

• All air- conditioners and fans installed in the building are BEE 5-star rated.

• Solar PV system of 5 kWp has been installed.

Water and Waste:

• Reduction of 65.49% from the SVA GRIHA base case has been demonstrated in building water demand by installing low-flow plumbing fixtures.

• Rainwater storage tank of 3.2 kLd capacity has been constructed on site.

Sustainable Building Materials:

• Reduction of 45.87% from the SVA GRIHA base case has been demonstrated in embodied energy by using Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) slabs and Autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) blocks.

• Low VOC and lead-free paints have been used to maintain good indoor air quality.

• Granite and vitrified tiles have been used as flooring material.

How can we reduce embodied carbon through our design processes?

Life Cycle Analysis of concrete stool

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SCI 6126 Materials

Johnathan Grinham

Harshika, Finn, Jeanelle, Dylan

Lifecycle Anlaysis, Embodied Carbon, Benchmarking, Cradle to Grave, Product Design, Fabrication

Ansys Granta for LCA, Rhino, CNC cutting

Presented at GSD finals exhibition

The course explores the science of materials, its classification, building methods and other associated challenges such as the energy, health, and societal implications of using any material.

For the future of materials we explore hybrid mixes with concrete. We conducted a study on concrete and foam/Sisal fibers and the nearand long-term environmental and social impact of these materials. We attempted to lower the embodied carbon of our product, leverage this knowledge to reform the stool design. This understanding has direct applications in building design.

3 design alternatives with The lifecycle assessment was a key design driver in our fabrication strategy.

With experimentation between different materials the base, best and worst case scenarios were compared for the material. Within the assumptions, the Life cycle analysis of product showed Sisal fibers as an additive reduced the overall CO2 equivalent emitted. But the end of life recyclability gets tougher in composite materials. Most energy is expended in transporting Sisal which is local to Mexico.

Stool Design fabrication process- Blobby ‘Concrete‘ seat and Gothic legs

Concrete+ Sisal + Mylar

Plywood + adhesive

Final product after fabrication

Eco Audit Report

Embodied Carbon Footprint Comparison

Base Case Seat- Concrete + Foam, Legs-Wood Best Case Concrete + Sisal, Wood

Case Concrete, Wood

Eco Audit Report

Life Cycle Assessment

Best Case Scenario- Concrete and Sisal fibers with plywood legs

Detailed breakdown of individual life phases

Total 20.1 kgCo2 equivalent, 210MJ

Material total energy 147 MJ

Manufacture process energy 2.4 MJ

Predicting embodied carbon for facades and retrofits using Machine Learning Models

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SCI 6485 Introduction to Machine Learning

Sabrina Osmany

Harshika, Kritika, Gabriel

Machine Learning, Generative AI, Computer Vision, Embodied Carbon, GANs, Material Classification, Segmentation, Supervised Learning

ResNet, Pix2Pix, StyleGan, Python, LCA

Selected for GSD Project Archives

The course provided an introduction to the rapidly advancing area of research in unsupervised machine learning with a focus on generative models. Recent advances in GANs have captured the public imagination with radical new possibilities for the design of products, interfaces, graphics, texts, buildings and cities. For designers, the potential of these disruptive new workflows cannot be overstated.

We developed a web application that allows building owners to understand the carbon footprint of their facades. Our main focus region for the proof-of-concept was New England residences. To enable citizens to make retrofitting choices, we have to help them understand the carbon footprint of building materials.

There were 4 key objectives of the web app:

Predicted the embodied carbon of the building facade from an image (exposed surfaces only).

Allowed users to switch materials and inform them of the environmental impacts

Created interactive content through generation of new material textures

Objectives achieved

Allowed users to users to map these generated textures on their buildings

Dataset training and validation tests

Contextual images

Contextual images

Results from ResNET 101 classifier for material recognition

Segmentation (Building to components and then to materials)

Challenges

Brick and Stone have similar patterns and texture in images and are difficult to differentiate and identify. The algorithm is also limited to only calculating embodied carbon in facades and cannot speculate the structural embodied carbon due to the nature of input.

New retrofit aesthetics using Pix2pix

Material color legend

Revised dataset based on materials

Pix2Pix image translation results of mapping new materials on the same facade image with high success.

Building scale

Exploring Natural ventilation potential of a high rise using CFD: Airflow analysis of NYT

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SCI 6125 Simulation

Ali Malkawi

Harshika, Kritika, Fernando, Quoc and Viviana CFD, NYC, high rise, air flow, natural ventilation Flovent, Ladybug, Rhino, Grasshopper

As cities continue to grow and expand, we need to understand - how to design for a dense downtown with the wind micro-climate, which is a characteristic area for most cities. Therefore, our group decided to look at the NYT building located in the dense urban downtown of NYC.

We were interested in understanding how to optimize the placement, size, and shape of building openings, such as windows and vents, to promote natural air flow and reduce the risk of indoor pollutants, such as particulate matter, entering the building.

Can we naturally ventilate a New York high rise? What are the challenges?

The following modeling challenges were observed in CFD simulations:

Heavy urban context model needed to be simplified to a closed box,

Combining interior and urban CFD did not give results, since the grid varied a lot in scale and range.

10th floor with single degree context massing (adjacent blocks only)

Height (in mm)

Thermal comfort and natural ventilation potential

Wind direction and speed

Temperatures of 14- 26°C for a period of 4 months, from JunSept

Total comfort hours: 1549 hours of total 8760 hours (17.68%)

Percent of time feeling comfortable = 36.84%

Percentage of Heat Stress = 2.14%

Percentage of Cold Stress = 41.78%

Wind speed

Prominent annual winds from the South, with an average speed of 5.5m/s.

Wind profile

During the summer, warm weather and strong sunshine can lead to high levels of ground-level ozone. This is a component of smog that can trigger coughing and throat irritation and lead to serious respiratory problems.

Problem:

• Uncomfortable wind speed at the east, northeast, and southwest side of the building. Wind speed especially bad at northeast corner, which reach up to 8.6 m/s

• Wind shadow region in the urban plaza towards the East of the tower

The annual average set by the World Health Organization’s guideline is at 10 μg/m3 of PM 2.5. As seen in the image, several locations in Manhattan  exceed this limit.

Ozone concentration mapped

PM 2.5 concentration limit

Planar Airflow studies at urban plaza

Vertical Airflow studies around the high rise

Strategies proposed:

By redistributing the windows to improve it for the prevailing wind corridor and by alternating the distribution of elevators, while maintaining the spatial requirements, we could have a significant improvement and resolve the identified issues in the baseline study.

Solution 1: Window redistribution

Solution 2: Alternating the distribution of elevators and 3: at urban level adding foliage and canopy

SITE: Location

Optimizing Tensile facade design for Convention Center using daylighting simulations

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SCI 6466 Optimizing facade Performance

Andrea Love

Individual

Daylighting, EUI, Tensile, facade, WWR, irradiation

Climate Studio, Climabox, Ladybug, Climate Consultant, Rhino, Grasshopper

Visual appearance

Building envelopes are at the intersection of design, performance, and occupant experience in architectural design. Facades influence many aspects of building performance from energy usage to comfort, daylight, natural ventilation, and connections to the exterior. In this project we balance these competing priorities while trying to realize a design vision for a facade that aims at controlling light inside exhibition space, reducing glare and also simultaneously helps in minimizing the EUI The convention center site is located in Eastern Delhi

Façade skin

SCI 6466 Optimizing façade performance

Harshika Bisht

Source: Google Earth

Proposed facade visualization

Site

Methodology

Methodology

SCI 6466 Optimizing façade

Degree Days

Koeppenclimate Zone: Temperate, Dry Winter, Hot Summer (Cwa)

ASHRAE climate zone: Very hot (1)

Total number of cooling hours: 5688 hours

Cooling and Heating Degree Days

Months

Cooling Design Conditions

Hottest month: June

Hottest week: 6/ 3 - 6/ 9

Shoebox model

Convention Center: Tensile Façade skin

SCI 6466 Optimizing façade

DESIGN : Program

Harshika Bisht

Second life for undergraduate studio concept: Program, Plan and initial facade sketch.

DESIGN : Program

Orientation and solar gain

SITE: Orientation

Convention Center: Tensile Façade skin

Original orientation

BASE CASE

SITE: Monthly surface

The radiation on surfaces , largely due to no hindrance from blocks The Angles between 45- 235 degrees were not possible due to other a single continuous surface with respect to sun path. The roof is the highest incident radiation on its surface. Individual

Original orientation

Convention Center: Tensile Façade skin

The radiation on surfaces , largely due to no hindrance from blocks 235 degrees were not possible due to other a single continuous surface with respect to sun path. The roof is the highest incident radiation on its surface. Individual

Roof East

SITE:

Sunpath

High altitude angle during summer- proximity to equator

Surface Radiation

Façade radiation – for early massing studies

Individual surface performance

The results can be used to decide whether it is advantageous for a building to be oriented along the West/East axis or not.

West, East and Southern facades require shading devices to

Orthographic sun projection

Solar Irradiation on facade

Orientation and Surface Radiation

30/45 degree Scenario 1

SCI 6466 Optimizing façade

235 degree Scenario 2

surface Radiation on convention center block

blocks around the site.

30/45 degree

235 degree

other building blocks. Due to circular nature of the building, the facades show variation in radiati

Individual façade performance is covered on the next slide.

blocks around the site. other building blocks. Due to circular nature of the building, the facades show variation in radiati

Individual façade performance is covered on the next slide.

to cut down on the radiation. The roof needs to be also treated as the maximum gain comes from the roof.

Harshika Bisht

South West

Center: Tensile Façade skin

Wall window ratio and it’s effect on illumination

Design Development: Wall to window ratio

Convention Center: Tensile Façade skin

85 % 60%

ratio

Optimizing façade

40%

Illumination Study: Base Case study – WWR 85 %

AIM – exhibition halls require 300- 500 lux levels. Over lit near the curtain wall No Underlit spaces

SCI 6466 Optimizing façade

40%

Convention Center: Tensile Façade skin

Daylight autonomy analysisOperating hours: 8 am-6 pm without DST 300 lux levels were always achieved during the year

Harshika Bisht

ASE shows the over lit spaces. For 250 hours of the year, we have 1000 lux near the external envelope. Since it is greater than 10, hence glare control is required.

Illumination levels on average were 2150 lux levels annually.

Harshika Bisht

Illumination Study: Scenario 1 WWR – 40 %

SCI 6466 Optimizing façade

40 percent wall to window reduces the average lux levels but also reduces the daylight autonomy. Hence the optimum wwr is between 40 and 60.

SCI 6466 Optimizing façade

SCI 6466

Harshika Bisht

Harshika Bisht

Development: Wall to window ratio 60% 40%

Center: Tensile Façade skin

Convention Center: Tensile Façade skin

Illumination Study: Scenario 1 WWR – 60 %

Design Development: Horizontal component

Design Development: Horizontal component

ratio -50% Required depth With light shelf

Required depth With light shelf

Development: Horizontal component

The horizontal component effectively cuts down, the lux levels and still provides high daylight autonomy Additional vertical component required on East and West façade to cut down glare

Development: Horizontal component

Required depth With light shelf

shelf

SCI 6466 Optimizing façade

The horizontal component effectively cuts down, the lux levels and still provides high daylight autonomy Additional vertical component required on East and West façade to cut down glare

The horizontal component effectively cuts down, the lux levels and still provides high daylight autonomy Additional mponent required on East and West façade to cut

Horizontal shading using bris soleil –supports cable net grid for vertical component

Horizontal shading using bris soleil –supports cable net grid for vertical component

Less depth of shade on top More diffused light

Horizontal shading using bris soleil –supports cable net grid for vertical component

The horizontal component effectively cuts down, the lux levels and still provides high daylight autonomy Additional vertical component required on East and West façade to cut down glare

Less depth of shade on top More diffused light

Light shelf to break the glare further down

Less depth of shade on top More diffused light

SCI 6466 Optimizing façade

Harshika Bisht

SCI 6466 Optimizing façade

Harshika Bisht

Harshika Bisht

SCI 6466 Optimizing façade

Harshika Bisht

SCI 6466 Optimizing façade

Harshika Bisht

SCI 6466 Optimizing façade

Harshika Bisht

Convention Center: Tensile Façade skin

Option 1

Shading strategies- Vertical

Strategy 1

SCI 6466 Optimizing façade

The vertical component effectively cuts down glare on both West and East sides after a couple of iterations with different spacing intervals

Harshika Bisht harshikabisht@gsd harvard edu

Systems 2

Harshika Bisht harshikabisht@gsd harvard edu Environmental Systems 2 GSD-SCI-6122

Step 3: Vertical Shading additions + design explorations + Task 2

06/21 at 12 00 noon

at

00

Vertical tensile fins

Vertical Tensile fins

Convention Center: Tensile Façade skin

Convention Center: Tensile Façade skin

Strategy 2

Strategy 2

Translucent

fabric screen

SCI 6466 Optimizing façade

The second translucent skin allows light to pass through at 50% transparency It does not cut down glare as effectively and the middle of the room does not achieve the desired lux levels throughout the year

Translucent fabric screen

Translucent fabric screen

Material

The

Winter solstice 12/21 at 12 00 noon Summer solstice 06/21 at 12 00 noon

The second translucent skin allows light to pass through at 50% transparency It does not cut down glare as effectively and the middle of the room does not achieve the desired lux levels throughout the year Therefore Strategy 1 is selected

2 GSD-SCI-6122

SCI 6466 Optimizing façade Harshika Bisht

The vertical component effectively cuts down glare on both West and East sides after a couple of iterations with different spacing intervals

solstice

The first figure shows the energy use intensity for the given box design for cooling, heating, electric lighting and equipment. The energy use intensity corresponds to the sum of the different energy uses of the building divided by the conditioned floor area. The second figure shows CO2e emissions from gas and electricity and the last figure shows the cost of energy.

APPENDIX

Reducing EUI for a single-family residence

SCI 6125: Simulation

Instructor :Holly Samuelson

Team: Harshika, Quoc, Viviana and Kritika

Tags: Thermal zoning, massing, WWR, shading, thermal mass

*All values for site EUI and kgCO2 are considered with floor area = 160kgCO2, as we were making comparative studies for best & worse case

Methodology

Investigations on zones, massing, WWR, shading, thermal mass, and schedules to find the best and worst performing alternatives. We divided the task based on different parameters that impact the EUI and kgCO2 and studied them on the baseline building to find a range between the best and the worst cases.

The climate is Phoenix, Arizona.

How to reduce energy use in single family residences through design in arid climates?

Snapshot of the solver setup:

To understand the impact of WWR, we prepared an optimization model in Grasshopper, using the Brute Force algorithm as defined in Colibri1, and used it with Design Explorer2, both developed by Thornton Tomasetti.

Best scenario (window settings only) - Solver:

We found that the WWR is directly related to the site kgCO2. The lower the WWR number, the lower are the emissions. 600 iterations were run, and there is a clear gradient with the WWR and kgCO2. All the results can be viewed at:http://tt-acm.github.io/DesignExplorer/?ID=BL_3IVJUln

Range of kgCO2: 7,040-7,680kgCO2

Best scenario (window settings only) - Solver:

Total CO2: 7,040 kg CO2

Total CO2: 7,040 kg CO2

Bio-climatic high rise in Delhi

Undergraduate thesis, 2017

Guide :Rekha Bhardwaj

Tags: Thermal zoning, massing, WWR, shading, thermal mass, glazing tints

Noida Sec -15 is a growing corporate hub moving away from it’s initial identity of an industrial location, with lower real estate costs than Delhi and proximity to this capital city.

Site is located opposite to a metro station which acts as catalyst in the new urban setting for development; allowing higher built up area as per Transitoriented development policy. The central focus is also shifted to a public mode of transport thereby promoting more sustainable means of commuting. Due to excellent connectivity by road and metro; along with potential development schemes nearby, the site is strategically suited for corporate or co-working office spaces in future.

Tint on glass to reduce it’s transmittance

South West facade

Shadow matrix

Insolation study

Roof gardens

Summer roof gardens are shaded between 1-3 during periods of uncomfortable hot hours. Winter roof gardens are sunlit between 11 to 3 providing excellent spaces to sit in.

Location of solar panels

Potential locations and their shading hours are identified. From solar irradiation hours these get the most uninterrupted sun throughout the year

Sequestering Carbon by maximizing opportunity for green foliage. Site planning to mitigate Urban Heat Island effect

City scale

Do different parameters of solar chimney such as opening size and height have an uneven influence on its effectiveness in different climatic condiitons ?

Solar Chimney effectiveness in dry climate

MIT : Space conditioning of low embodied carbon buildings

Instructor : Les Norford Team: Harshika, Nuknik and Quoc Tags: ventilation, solar chimney, dry climate,

Solar chimneys are a cost-effective choice for a cooling and heating system compared to air conditioning or heating units. Hence, we investigate their effectiveness in different parts of the world. We are interested in recognizing the parameters that affect the comfort conditions and whether it varies between each climate classification

Adjusting between chimney opening size % shown to be the least impactful from 10% to 100% parameter for all climate regions. For cities and climate regions with extreme heat temperatures like the tropical climate regions (A) and dry arid desert (BSh, BWh), there is an observed decrease in discomfort hours as chimney height increases.

12m

Window Height: 3.5m

Window Opening: 100%

JAISALMER

Discomfort hours: 5769 h

THESSALONIKI

Discomfort hours: 3718 h

TRIPOLI

Discomfort hours: 3052 h

Chimney Opening: 100%

Chimney Height: 5m

Window Height: 1m

Window Opening: 100%

JAISALMER Discomfort hours: 5613 h

THESSALONIKI Discomfort hours: 3631 h

TRIPOLI

Discomfort hours: 2315 h

Height: 5m

Height: 3.5m

3081

WINDOW HEIGHT

Chimney Opening: 100%

Chimney Height: 5m

Window Height: 5m

Window Opening: 100%

JAISALMER

Discomfort hours: 6436 h

THESSALONIKI Discomfort hours: 2919 h

TRIPOLI

Discomfort hours: 2385 h

Chimney Opening: 100% Chimney Height: 12m Window Height: 8m Window Opening: 100%

JAISALMER Discomfort hours: 6241 h

THESSALONIKI Discomfort hours: 3402 h

TRIPOLI Discomfort hours: 2326 h

Baseline

Height: 3.5m

Window Opening: 100%

JAISALMER

Discomfort hours: 6390 h

THESSALONIKI

Discomfort hours: 2899 h

TRIPOLI

Discomfort hours: 2315 h

WINDOW OPENING %

Chimney Opening: 100%

Chimney Height: 12m

Window Height: 3.5m

Window Opening: 100%

JAISALMER

Discomfort hours: 5769 h

THESSALONIKI Discomfort hours: 3718 h

TRIPOLI

Discomfort hours: 3052 h

ITERATIONS

Chimney Opening: 100%

Chimney Height: 5m

Window Height: 3.5m

Window Opening: 10%

JAISALMER

Discomfort hours: 5368 h

THESSALONIKI

Discomfort hours: 3933 h

TRIPOLI

Discomfort hours: 2420 h

Chimney Opening: 100%

Chimney Opening: 100%

Chimney Opening: 100%

Chimney Height: 5m

Window Height: 1m

Window Opening: 100%

JAISALMER

Discomfort hours: 5613 h

THESSALONIKI Discomfort hours: 3631 h

TRIPOLI Discomfort hours: 2315 h

Baseline

Chimney Height: 5m

Window Height: 3.5m

Window Opening: 40%

JAISALMER

Discomfort hours: 5488 h

THESSALONIKI Discomfort hours: 3746 h

TRIPOLI

Discomfort hours: 2299 h

Chimney Height: 5m

Window Height: 3.5m

Window Opening: 80%

JAISALMER

Discomfort hours: 5933 h

THESSALONIKI

Discomfort hours: 3402 h

TRIPOLI

Discomfort hours: 2165 h

Baseline

https://bit.ly/MassESretrofit

How can we retrofit buildings to be more resilient to extreme weather events?

MassES Retrofit tool for Massachusetts

Type :

Team :

Role :

Keywords :

Tools :

MIT Energy Hackathon, 2022 Harshika, Kritika, Yiwei, Bryce Sustainability Specialist + Presentation pitch retrofit, Massachusetts, planning tool, energy audits, code compliance, climate policy, deep and shallow retrofits wireframe, low fidelity prototype Tableau, Climate Studio, Grasshopper, Figma

Commercial buildings account for a significant portion of energy consumption in Massachusetts, and retrofitting them with energy-efficient technologies can help reduce their carbon footprint while saving building owners and tenants money on energy costs

Massachusetts Clean Energy Center aims to accelerate the growth of the clean energy industry while promoting sustainable development in Massachusetts.

MassCEC is interested in developing a retrofit planning tool for commercial buildings in Massachusetts because it can provide building owners with a cost-effective and efficient way to identify and prioritize retrofit opportunities. The tool can analyze building energy usage and provide recommendations for retrofitting opportunities. This tool was developed as per the brief provided but scales up the scope beyond building owners to energy auditors, govt agencies and architects.

Decision making process

The tool takes into account critical retrofitting decisions such as building envelope improvements, HVAC upgrades, lighting improvements, and renewable energy installations. The tool also considers the financial feasibility of retrofitting, including the potential return on investment and available financing options. Overall it helps promote energy efficiency in Massachusetts and contribute to the state’s clean energy goals

Results

The tool gave end use consumption, cost and carbon footprint as primary indicators on performance dashboard. For both shallow and deep retrofits, it provided annual charges and payoff period.

Tool Interface