Research. Projects related with selfsufficient building
RS_2: SELFSUFFICIENT BUILDINGS
Liliana Viveros DĂaz
Soft House Sheila Kennedy
Soft House Sheila Kennedy
The SOFT HOUSE designed by the applied design research division of Kennedy & Violich Architecture, Ltd. ( known as KVA MATx) is an architectural project for an adaptable and sustainable pre-fabricated “hybrid house” capable of generating it’s own renewable power through a set of energy harvesting products, designed by KVA MATx to work in harmony with the architecture of the pre-fabricated house. The SOFT HOUSE provides a number of mobile, co-operative energy harvesting surfaces which work together in a network. The SOFT HOUSE transforms the concept of the household curtain into a set of energy harvesting textiles that distribute renewable electrical power, adapt to the changing space needs of living and working in a compact home and generate up to 16,000 watt-hours of electricity—about half of the daily power needs of an average household in the United States.
"Surfaces that define space can also be producers of energy, The boundaries between traditional walls and utilities are shifting."
Soft House Sheila Kennedy Materials SOLAR TEXTILES How they work? Work like the now-familiar photovoltaic cells in solar panels. Made of semiconductor materials, they absorb sunlight and convert it into electricity. Translucent movable curtains along the SOFT HOUSE perimeter convert sun light into energy throughout the day, shade the house and form an insulating air layer for the building envelope. Integrated into the design of a skylight, a central energy harvesting curtain can be lowered to create an instant habitable room. Folded upward, the central curtain becomes a suspended soft luminous chandelier that defines the open living area with integrated solid state lighting. Light generated by the SOFT HOUSE textiles becomes literally soft—as a flexible space making material that can be touched, held and experienced in new ways.
Transbay Transit Center Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects San Francisco, USA
Transbay Transit Center Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects San Francisco The Transbay Transit Center Project is a visionary
transportation
and
housing
project that transforms downtown San Francisco and the San Francisco Bay Area’s regional transportation system by creating a “Grand Central Station of the West” in the heart of a new transit-friendly neighborhood.
three
The project consists interconnected elements:
of
Replacing the Transbay Terminal
outdated at First and
Mission streets
Extending Caltrain California High Speed
and Rail
underground from Caltrain’s current terminus at 4th and King streets into the new downtown Transit Center
Creating a new neighborhood with homes, offices, parks and shops surrounding the new Transit Center
Transbay Transit Center Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects San Francisco Water Management diagram
SELFSUFFICIENT ASPECTS: Green roofs
Wind Turbines Grey water management: the building will manage stormwater and reuse greywater. The water reuse and conservation system will save 9.2 million gallons per year, the equivalent of 19 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Geothermal system of heating and cooling: Beneath the Transit Center, a massive geothermal heat exchange system will be built into the building's foundation. Running the length of 4 1/2 city blocks, it will be one of the largest geothermal installations in the world.
Transbay Transit Center Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects San Francisco Energy diagram
Transbay Transit Center Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects San Francisco Ecology Diagram
Beach Roads Foster + Partners Singapore
Beach Roads Foster + Partners Singapore
With over 150,000 square feet of mixed-
use program this green tower complex in Singapore will occupy an entire city block with stores, residences, hotels and a transit station. In addition to sustainable strategies for catching and channeling wind and rain water geothermal systems will be used to heat the building complex.
Beach Roads Foster + Partners Singapore
SELFSUFFICIENT ASPECTS: The incorporation arrays of solar cells on the buildings’ facades Ribbon-like canopies (also covered with thin-film solar cells) will start at the base of the complex, and rise up the exposed east and west elevations of the towers, where they form a series of vertical louvers. These will filter the sun and will transform the towers into a series of vertically linked green spaces. The buildings’ slanted facades are oriented to catch the prevailing winds and direct air flow down to cool the ground level spaces
California Academy of Sciences Renzo Piano California, USA
California Academy of Sciences Renzo Piano California, USA SELFSUFFICIENT ASPECTS: Green rooftop provides significant gains in heating and cooling efficiency.
The six inches of soil substrate on the roof act as natural insulation, and every year will keep approximately 3.6 million gallons of rainwater from becoming stormwater The steep slopes of the roof also act as a natural ventilation system, funneling cool air into the open-air plaza on sunny days. The skylights perform as both ambient light sources and a cooling system, automatically opening on warm days to vent hot air from the building.
California Academy of Sciences Renzo Piano California, USA Selsufficient aspects
1 Recycled materials One external wall and a portion of the African Hall from the original structure remain in place near the new planetarium. The rest of the building — 9,000 tons of concrete, 12,000 tons of steel — was demolished and recycled. The steel used in construction is also recycled, and shredded blue jeans insulate the walls.
2
Passive climate control The undulating roof helps guide fresh, cool air into the central piazza and stale, hot air out through high-point vents. This lessens the need for expensive, energy-wasting airconditioning and ventilation systems.
3 Living roof More than a lawn overhead, 1.7 million native plants insulate the roof, capture rainwater, and provide a 2.5-acre habitat for butter flies, hummingbirds, and other critters. And that nifty thatch is framed by 60,000 photovoltaic cells along the roof's perimeter.
4 Natural illumination Computer modeling determined optimal locations for windows to maximize illumination of sunlight-hungry coral reef and tropical rain forest installations without overheating the rest of the building. (Most offices get working windows for natural light and temperature control.)
5 Water conservation Ocean water piped in from the Pacific cycles through natural filtration systems for aquarium tanks. Toilets flush with reclaimed water, sparing California's stressedout water-delivery network.
California Academy of Sciences Renzo Piano California, USA Selfsufficient aspects
Surrounding the Living Roof is a large glass canopy with a decorative band of 60,000
photovoltaic cells. These solar panels will generate
213,000 kilowatt-hours of energy per year and approximately
provide up to 10% of the Academy's electricity need. The use of solar power will
prevent the release of 405,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emission into the air
California Academy of Sciences Renzo Piano California, USA BioTray
BioTray
is
a
natural,
biodegradable,
modular system for vegetated roofs. The modules are 17� square trays composed of
natural latex and coconut coir. Coconut coir is a fibrous, rapidly renewable product derived from coconut husks. Unlike traditional modular systems, the coconut fiber decomposes over time and the BioTray module is
converted media (soil).
into
growing
eliminates the use of plastic in growing and installing This
vegetated roofs, increasing sustainability of the roof.
the
California Academy of Sciences Renzo Piano California, USA Denim Insulation and Radiant Floor Heating
Insulation also keeps buildings warm. The Academy, rather than using typical fiberglass or foam-based insulation, chose to use a type of thick cotton batting made from
recycled blue
Warm air rises. A traditional forced-air heating system for the 35-foot-high public spaces in the museum would be wasteful in the extreme. Instead, the Academy is installing a
jeans.
radiant heating system
This material provides an organic alternative to formaldehyde-laden insulation materials.
Tubes embedded in the concrete floor will carry hot water that
museum’s floors.
holds more heat and absorbs sound better than spun fiberglass insulation. Recycled
in the
denim
warms the floor.
insulation
It is also safer to handle. Even when denim insulation is treated with fire retardants and fungicides to prevent mildew, it is still easier to work with and doesn't require installers to wear protective clothing or respirators.
The proximity of the heat to the people who need it will reduce the building’s energy need by an estimated 10% annually.