PROBLEM SEEKING

from Portfolio 2023 - Nada Abdel-Aziz

by Nada Aziz

LIVING ROOM DESIGN|BUILD FOR

RESILIENCY STUDIES FOR GREENVILLE, MS

FLOOD ZONE MAP

Data compiled from FEMA ﬂood zone maps and MARIS, Mississippi GIS database.

PERENNIAL STREAM

INTERMITTENT STREAM

PROTECTED BY LEVEE

HUNDRED YR FLOODPLAIN

SITE LOCATION

WATER INFRASTRUCTURE

Greenville has a sewage system too large and outdated to properly maintain with its decreasing population and tax revenue. When the sewage system is overwhelmed by stormwater, the sewer overﬂows partially treated sewage into the river. The city was recently sued by the EPA for repeated violations of the Clean Water Act.

FOOD ACCESS MAP

Data compiled from USDA Food Atlas using US Census tracts.

LOW INCOME AND LOW FOOD ACCESS USING VEHICLE ACCESS LOW INCOME AND LOW FOOD ACCESS WITHIN 1 MILE

LOW INCOME AND LOW ACCESS WITHIN .5 MILE

NONE

SITE LOCATION

HEALTH WELLBEING

38% Lacked any physical activity in the past month when surveyed

70% Overweight or Obese

BMI in adults

40% Obese BMI in adults

For Greenville, community health and wellbeing is a resiliency challenge. Many areas have low access to food resources such as grocery stores. Likewise, the city’s recreational spaces are limited.. Data in diagram above is for state of MS from CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

Access To Parks And Recreational Space

GREEN SPACE AND 15 MIN WALKING DISTANCE

SITE LOCATION

CONSTRUCTED

PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM

KBTU/SQ FT/YR 23

ENERGY USE INTENSITY MEETS 2030 CHALLENGE STANDARD

BUILDING ENERGY USE

RAINWATER COLLECTION

Daylighting Analysis

SPATIAL DAYLIGHT AUTONOMY (sDA)

KBTU/SQ FT/YR 23 ENERGY USE INTENSITY MEETS 2030 CHALLENGE

BUILDING ENERGY USE

SOLAR GENERATED

Analysis created using Sefaira, assuming typical VAV HVAC system. Building envelope R values were based on ASHRAE Advanced Energy Design Guide for 50% energy savings.

Floor area with daylight autonomy, adequate light levels without artiﬁcial lighting for 50% or more of year.

Floor area without daylight autonomy.

Infiltration Basin For Stormwater Management

Hvac Challenges

Occupancy levels can ﬂuctuate wildly, such as between peak occupancy when building is in use as a storm shelter (100+ persons) to having low activity during school or work hours (1-5 persona). Many rooms such as the classroooms will lie unoccupied for a large percentage of the day.

Active Chilled Beams

ACB require less fan energy than traditional all-air systems, while improving comfort though reduced noise. ACB use chilled water circulated through the building to cool hot air.

Hydronic Radiant Flooring

Radiant ﬂooring systems can be comfortable at temperatures 6-8 degrees lower than conventional heating (ASHRAE).

Demand Control Ventilation

DCV is the use of sensors to reduce the building ventilation rate during low occupancy hours and to ramp up the ventilation rate during peak occupancy. This reduces the amount of air being actively conditioned, thus preventing unnecessary energy use.

Energy Recovery Ventilation

Before indoor air is exhausted, an ERV system transfers heat from the warm outdoor air to the stale cold indoor air, pre-cooling the new air and reducing energy costs.

Individual Enviromental Controls

Thermal Comfort Strategies

TARGETS FOR SDA

LEED V4: “Each regularly occupied space achieves sDA300/50% value of at least 55%”

Target Achieved: 95% of ﬂoor area achieves sDA300/50%, meaning these areas receive more than 300 lux more than 50% of occupied hours.

ANNUAL SOLAR EXPOSURE (ASE)

WATER MANAGEMENT

Floor area overlit more than 250 occupied hours annually

Floor area without excessive annual sunlight exposure.

TARGETS FOR ASE

Small scale systems, such as ductless mini splits allow dormant areas to be lightly conditioned when unoccupied while allowing individuals to control their thermal comfort in the space.

WELL Building Standard: “Annual sunlight exposure (ASE1000,250) is achieved for no more than 10% of regularly occupied space.”

Target Achieved: Only 4.4% of ﬂoor area experiences overlighting with 1000 lux for more than 250 occupied hours annually.

Material Challenges

Few environmentally friendly materials are manufactured regionally. Therefore, reducing environmental impacts of typical, regionally available building materials is critical.

Gypsum board has a high energy and carbon footprint. Lightweight gypsum uses less water and energy to manufacture than standard gypsum and reduces transportation energy.

Mineral wool is produced from rock such as basalt, a naturally renewing volcanic rock, and recycling manufactoring byproducts, unlike other typical petroleum based insulation. It is also produced in Mississippi.

4 CONCRETE

Cement and concrete have high carbon impacts. However, concrete has a long durable lifespan. Concrete is reduced to only the ﬂoor slabs. The use of ﬂyash as a mix additive can reduce the cement content, decreasing the carbon footprint.

5 PLASMA CUT SHEET STEEL

Steel is a high carbon impact material. Local steel manufactors use electric arc furnaces, which do not depend on fossil fuels and typically have a high recycled steel content.

Plasma cutting is also a local fabrication capacity, allowing the panels to be transported a short distance to the site.

SMALL TOWN BLOCK REVITALIZATION FOR HATTIESBURG, MS

Spring 2021 - Prof. Jacob Gines, Fourth Year Studio

Vacant Parking Lot

Abandoned Downtown Buildings

Situation

Like many Mississippi small towns, Hattiesburg’s downtown is more dormant due to suburban trends such as big-box stores and shopping malls drawing activity to town outskirts. The project brief is to imagine development that would spur activity in the downtown area. Using urban mapping analysis, the studio chose different programmatic avenues and strategies for increasing downtown vitality. The studio also chose to focus on revitalizing one semi-vacant block of abandoned historic buildings, allowing for a broader scope rather than a depth of focus on one particular building.