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Designing performance-oriented sustainable building skins with Paracloud- GEM
INTRODUCTION
The advanced digital workshop explored the use of digital climate simulation and parametric tools to design and fabricate sustainable building skins. It was led by Dr. Eyal Nir, creator of parametric software Paracloud GEM, and assistant professor Ruth Ron. As a reaction to the redundant standardization and mass-repetition of Modern residential towers around the globe, the projects looked for the application of new simulation technology in connection with parametric software ‘GEM’ to create a highly customized, variable and locally suitable sustainable add-on building skins.
The design goal was to promote sustainable design and improve energy efficiency by utilizing strategies of preservation, mass customization and bottom-up self-fabrication. The seminar was set as a ‘glocal’ working group- working with generic Modern residential buildings around the globe, while considering local climate conditions and cultural differences.
About PARACLOUD GEM ParaCloud is a software boutique developing applications that power up existing CAD environments with simple to use Generative Design Tools. ParaCloud products enable Performative Design workflows by sharing the design data with various analysis tools. ParaCloud introduced a new approach towards generative design, based on 3D patterning and event sequencing. It works as easy as rendering images and textures on a surface, creating real 3D geometric patterns over design surfaces. The 3D patterns can be controlled parametrically to match the design intent. www.paracloud.com
THE COMPETITION The projects were submitted to ‘CLOUDSCAPES’ international competition
The CLOUDSCAP.ES AWARD is looking for innovative developments with regard to a building skin which might have an impact on: * energy efficiency * indoor environmental quality (thermal-, acoustical- or visual comfort, air quality) * outdoor environmental quality (heat island effect caused by structures, fresh air supply into the city, local environmental conditions, etc.) * embedded energy / resources required for construction
ParaCloud | GEM
WORKSHOP PROCESS
The students selected sites around the globe: Phoenix AZ, Miami FL, New York NY, Huntington WV, Hong Kong, South Africa, Egypt and Haiti. They analyzed and simulated the local climates using ‘Climate Consultant’ and ‘Ecotect’ to determine performative design criteria and goals. Next they selected a specific program, such as shading, laundry drying, water purification, structural reinforcement or a vertical garden. The parametric design process with GEM entails these steps:
Design of an overall surface- the MESH
Design a component or a set of COMPONENTS
Creation of surface population RULES, such as symmetry pattern, offset or gradient
POPULATION of the MESH with COMPONENTS over the existing building
THE PROJECTS Three teams have won awards for their submissions to a prestigious international competition of sustainable building skins. A fourth-year architecture student Paul Giese received third place for his project, entitled, “Performative Laundry Lattice.” Giese’s project focused on improving the overall energy performance in an existing 20-story south-facing apartment building in Phoenix, Arizona. The main challenges of the project are to shade the south-facing apartment units and relieve the extremely arid climate of Phoenix. It proposes to use wet laundry to both shade and moisturize the air, while reducing electricity consumption. In addition, the Laundry Lattice will add color and variation to the mundane existing facade. Two additional competition submissions have received a “Runner- up” award; John Guinn and Daniela Ettedgui for their project “Pleated Garden” - a system of planters of various sizes containing a wide variety of vegetation arranged on a vertical rippled grid, - and Charles Gurrey and Thomas Keiper, for their project “Vertical Garden_Hong Kong,” a dynamic façade comprised of a framed structure into which movable planter units are inserted.
competition info
UF projects
Cloudscapes Award 1.explanation video 2.green + sexy 3.visual and virtual cloudscapes 4.the evolution of the building skin 5.the challenge 6.eligibility 7.registration 8.submissions CLOUDSCAP.ES AWARD is looking for: Innovative visionary developments with regard to a building skin, which might have an impact on: • energy efficiency, • indoor environmental quality, • outdoor environmental quality and/or embedded energy / resources required for construction We are looking for a sketch idea with: title, visualization up to 4 images,statement - a short text of up to 300 words in English. The jury will award $ 16 000 in prizes, one possible option is the following: 1st price: $ 10 000 / 2nd price: $ 3 000 / 3rd price: $ 3 000
the evolution of the building skin The building skin’s appearance has changed a lot during the last 150 years. Beginning with the curtain wall constructions in Chicago in 1870, by separating the facade from the load bearing structure the facade becomes a driving force for architects and engineers. The Bauhaus style, with its fully glazed industrial buildings, led to problems with user comfort. The invention of the insulating glass is for sure the next step to be mentioned. The oil crisis of the 1970s created the awareness of the need for a more sustainable building envelope and for saving energy. The double facade developments in the 80s seemed to be the solution for bringing back the natural ventilation, but was also criticized for comfort issues and overheating problems. Now we have gained the knowledge to build these buildings without problems, we can simulate the design in an early stage of its development and forecast the building’s performance. We are able to install decentralized mechanical service units into our highly developed unitized facades to fulfill the user’s comfort, we are able to choose from a wide array of solutions to create the best possible solution. But now we have to face a new problem: climate change. The building industry has to find answers and the facade will play a big role in this challenge. It’s time to change our mind; maybe the fully glazed, highly equipped facade isn’t the answer. How will the facade look like in the future? We think glass will still be a major part of it, but well chosen and positioned in areas in which it could serve its potentials. The facade will get new surfaces that create added value like energy production, sun harvesting or light redirecting. The huge field of new materials will lead into new solutions to fulfill the requirements of the future. The decoration of the future will be a function, not materials that just look cool. The conclusion: we have to create buildings that are able to sail, instead of motoring on full throttle.
the challenge The CLOUDSCAP.ES AWARD will be launched on September 15th and will run until December 30th, 2010, winners to be announced in January 2011. All participants are invited to post their work on the website during this time. On the 15th of each month 6 finalists - the projects with the most votes for that month - will be selected and placed into a separate gallery, not participating in the voting process anymore. The monthly winners will have the possibility to work on their project until the final submission date on December 30th. The jury will select the 1st place award and two 2nd place awards from the 18 finalists. The first participants will have less time to elaborate on the idea before posting it to the website, but more time to receive votes, and after the monthly selection, more time to develop it. The participants who decide to work more on their ideas and post them later will get less feedback and have less time for improvements. It is important for each participant to choose the strategy that fits best for them.
selection criteria: The online voting as well as the final judgment of the jury will be based on the following criteria: •What are the potential implications on environmental aspects described in chapter 1.1? •What are potential design implications? •How innovative is the proposed solution? •How realistic is the solution – is there a potential to get the solution into the industry within the next 10 years? Jury
Greg Lynn Thomas Auer Chris Bangle Hanif Kara Winfried Heusler Ulrich Knaak Daniel Dendra Stefan Behnisch
PERFORMATIVE LAUNDRY LATTICE Phoenix.AZ.US Paul Giese
The goal of this project is to improve the overall energy performance and lower the occupants energy costs in an existing 20 story, south facing apartment building in Phoenix, Arizona. The context presents 2 specific challenges that are addressed with this intervention, which are optimized parametrically to meet solar, wind and funtional criteria necessary to the project. The south and west faces receive an excessive amount of direct sunlight on the glazing, and Phoenix has nearly no cloudcover most of the year to block and scatter these rays. The main challenge of the project is to fully shade the units during the hottest times of the year, May-September, from 11am-5pm. These will reduce the overa ll energy level of the existing building, and create a more passive strategy of reaching a comfortable level in the apartments. The auxiliary challenge is to deal with and utilize Phoenix’s extremely arid climate. To address this issue the intervention will deal with the usually mundane and routine act of drying laundry. The dryer is one of the most expensive pieces of equipment to operate at a residential level for the occupant, costing between $300-600 annually for a family. Given Phoenix’s arid climate, laundry hung outdoors to dry can dry quicker than most places. The water that evaporates from the laundry is harnessed accordingly, to help counteract the arid environment and create a more comfortable environment inside the apartments, as they have sliding glass doors and operable windows to let in the cooler,moister air, coming from the laundry. The ‘Laundry Lattice’ addresses the issues of shading, humidifying, and drying clothes in tandem, as the lattice itself will provide some shading for existing apartments, and the subsequent articles hung in it will provide additional shading, and the benefits mentioned above. It will add color and dynamics to the mundane existing facade, as well as save its occupants money, while reducing the overall cooling load on the building envelope.
In response to Phoenix’s inherent climate, this intervention aims to both counteract and utilize th arid conditions present in the site. Shading the vuilding became the promary prgram for affecting the buildings shortcomings. It receives a large amount of south-western exposure and the surrounding buildings don’t help in shading any unit above the 6th floor. Also, the need fir humidity in additin to shading catalyzed the idea of harnessing evaporating water from drying clothes, through catching the strong, cool east winds on the site and bringing the moist air inside, creating a more comfortable and subsequently affordable environment for the tenants of the building.
HEATING AND COOLING- 4% of the utility bill, according to the DOE’s energy efficiency and renewable energy network (EREN) ELECTRIC DRYING - costs between $300-600 per year to dry 3 loads a week. The intervention is meant to incentivize there activities- by hanging laundry to dry in the designed system, the tenant would save money HVAC, humidifying, and electric dryer costs. The more laundry that is hung, the more shades and humidity the tenant receives.
SOLAR ANALYSIS
% daily solar exposure
calculated shading requirement envelope
MESHING PROCESS
Two approaches were taken in regards to meeting the performance and design goals. One being a ‘static’ or passive system, to address and utilize environmental conditions inherent to the site, and one that is ‘kinetic’, allowing the occupants more control in how solar radiation enters their apartment via an operable system. Once this bounding mesh was created for both prototypes components were developed to performatively utilize the interstitial dimensions allowed by the mesh.
STATIC SYSTEM The ‘static’ component was designed to passively address shading needs, while also providing additinal shading from hung laundry. It was heavily influenced by the parametric meshing process, to accommodate needs of drying, shading, and humidifying Its varying aperture sizes react to the gradient of solar radiation reaching the facade,and within that variation, sub modules were inserted to accommodate the various scales of clothing/linen articles to be hung. Clothes can be hung from hangers or magnets, as it is a lightweight, primarily metal system.
KINETIC SYSTEM The ‘kinetic’ component iteration was created to address the design criteria actively, rather than primarily passive as the component above. It is a closable envelope,composed of a series of different size, operable tracks, that accommodate variable sizes of clothing and linen to be dried. This further incentivizes the act of drying laundry, and allows more customization by the occupant to hang laundry or control light entering the apartment. The mesh design process provided a minimal control of the envelope form, leaving the amount of shading up to the occupantssubjectivity.The result is a sweeping and random pixelation of the facade, providing more privacy, shade, and an interactive patial experience for the occupant.
STRUCTURAL CONCEPT
PHYSICAL MODEL
PLEATED GARDEN
Johannesburg.South Africa John Guinn + Daniela Ettedgui
The pleated garden is a system of planters of various sizes containing a wide variety of vegetation which are arranged on a vertical rippled grid. Where a flat building envelope will get primarily the same amount of sun on its surface most times of the year, the pleated garden enables a varied amount of sunlight, allowing for a much larger diversity of vegetation to thrive on it. The specific placement of each planter is decided based on the specific needs of the type of plant which is grown there, such as sunlight requirements, planter size, and projected plant height growth; this data was input into a script developed with the ParaCloud GEM software and populated on the surface accordingly. These considerations allow plants, which are not normally grown in vertical arrangements, like citrus trees, to be a viable option when looking to begin gardening in a high rise environment. The planters are also removable and customizable due to the tenants’ requirements. This is possible because the planters are cut and folded from a single sheet of material, allowing for customizable planters in width, depth, and height, which fit within each one of the pleated grid’s irregular and unique grid cells. This data, gathered from ParaCloud GEM, is calculated in Grasshopper for Rhino, and oriented into flat foldable sheets prepared for fabrication. The cells in the Pleated Garden can be removed, replaced, and reconfigured for optimizing vegetation growth at all times of the year, creating an ever changing facade that comes to life with human interaction. South Africa’s Mediterranean climate allows for a potentially broad variety of agriculture. The temperate summers and mild winters of Capetown provide the site with plenty of sunlight. The existing apartment building is shaded by exterior facing balconies that run the length of each floor’s perimeter. These balconies shade the entire core of the building nearly all times of the year, however, the balconies themselves are flat, receiving full and consistent sunlight everyday.
South Africa’s Mediterranean climate allows for a potentially broad variety of agriculture. The temperate summers and mild winters of Capetown provide the site with plenty of sunlight. The existing apartment building is shaded by exterior facing balconies that run the length of each floor’s perimeter, however, the building’s facade is relatively flat, receiving full and consistent sunlight.
PARTIAL SUN PARTIAL SHADE
FULL SUN
YEARLY TEMPERATURE AVERAGES
YEARLY CLOUD COVER PERCENTAGES
PARSLEY
THYME
ONIONS
CHILIS
RADISHES
TOMATOES
LEMONS
YEARLY RAINFALL IN MM
BASIL
LIMES
ROSEMARY
GRAPEFRUITS
LAVENDER
ORANGES
X 495
NO COMPONENT MESH PANELLING FROM SOLAR RADIATION
ADAPTED PANELLING FOR PLANT HEIGHT
+ x 356
x 164
x 69
+ + x 44
+ x 55
Fabricated rib system
Rib System
Ribs for assembly
Unfolded planters for fabrication
Physical model
Planter assembly sequence
VERTICAL GARDEN: HONG KONG Hong Kong.China Charles Gurrey + Thomas Keiper
The vertical garden is a dynamic facade,constantly changing from user operation. The system is comprised of a framed structure into which movable planter units are inserted. Each unit is customized to there sidence planting needs. The independent movement of each unit allows for the accommodation of a range of lighting conditions. The site for the vertical garden is the Sau Mau Ping Estate in Hong Kong, China. The estate is one of the earliest public housing estates in its district. In total, the estate provides 12,310 residential flats and houses upwards of 38,000 residents. Geographically, Hong Kong consists largely of steep, rocky hillside. Due to the large population and the unproductive landscape, the implementation of the vertical garden should be well received by the residents of the estate. PERFORMANCE GOALS The design of the system is based on a function of solar exposure and a given plant’s light requirements. Each unit is designed to accommo-date a specific range of light conditions, plants and container sizes. Hong Kong has a humid subtropical climate with hot and humid summers and mild and sunny winters. Annually, Hong Kong receives an average 1,948 hours of sunshine per year.Each unit within the system contains a customizable planter tray, which can be organized to the owners plant size requirement.Each planter is mounted on a set of tracks that allows for an owner to move his or her tray in and out to accommodate a given plant’s specific set of light requirements. Thus, the facade is continually transformed throughout the day, month and year as users individually operates their trays. The overall deployment of the unit is an ordered randomness that allows ultimately for user control. The concept is that the unit is available to all residents; the population pattern of the units on the facade is a result of user demand. The system has the ability to grow on the facade as more residents purchase the units.
sOLAR RADIATION ANALYSIS ( % seasonal shading)
SOLAR AND CLIMATIC ANANYLIS
SEASONAL CROP VARIATIONS
CONCEPT MODEL
PLANTER MODULE OPTIONS
Each unit within the system contains contains a customizable planter tray, which can be organized to the owners plant size requirement. Each planter is mounted on a set of tracks that allows for an owner to move his or her tray in and out to accommodate a give plants specific set of light equirements. Thus, the facade is continually transformed throughout the day, month, and year as users individually operates their trays.
25%
50%
75%
90%
POPULATIONS
SECTIONAL DIAGRAMS
SCALE MAIL SCREEN West Virginia.US Kyle Proefke
Water quality is a serious issue that affects many aspects of daily life. Many of us enjoy access to clean water, but poor quality H2O is a reality for millions all over the world. In the U.S., water as well as landscape, air quality, and biodiversity have been adversely affected by coal mining. This has especially been a problem in the Appalachian region where mining affects water quality locally and throughout the region through acid runoff and acid rain. The scale-mail screen demonstrates a new facade for an apartment building in a West Virginia town that experiences sub-par water quality as a result of acid rain and runoff. The new facade addresses acid water neutralization and collection for use by residents, and water treatment before being released back into the environment. The proposal deals with both of these problems through paneling and drainage systems made of acid neutralizing limestone and landscape features that treat water before draining.
PASSIVE STRATEGIES FOR ACID WATER TREATMENT
WATER COLLECTION SYSTEM
DRAINAGE SYSTEM
GEOMETRY + MESH POPULATION STUDIES
PHYSICAL MODEL
PERFORMATIVE LOUVER SYSTEM Miami.FL.US Kyle Altman + Naomi Maki
The south facades of these high-rise structures receive a large amount of unrestricted sun exposure year round.The north facades also gain a considerable amount of sunlight in summer and less in the winter, causing the northern spaces to be cooler than the south space in the winter. Based on studies of sunlight percentages on building facades, a series of ‘solar hotspots’ begin to formulate a strategy for an active, sustainable skin containing photovoltaic cells that allow for the collection of solar energy. A system of louvers creates openings for balconies- to provide exterior views while another system of openings expands and contracts depending on the louver openings and windowson their facades. The panels of the skin will be placed at an optimal angle in relation to the dispersal of sunlight on the facades, while simultaneously taking on the passive strategy of acting as a shading device to the apartments. The skin is generated to develop an environment holding thats specific performances including sun shading, reflectance, and transmittance. Perforations are distributed throughout the louvered intervention according to peaks and troughs of exposure percentages to their respective areas on the skin,
SOLAR ANALYSIS
Louvers consist of PV cells for radiation collection. When the louvers are bent horizontally the perforation becomes more opaque. The more vertically orientated louvers are more translucent.This develops an opportunity for thermal gain on each floor for the winter and less radiation for the summer.
There are six different components carying in amonts of perforation. The orientatio of the louver system determines wherther the perforation is more or less opaque. The building is all glass, which has a tendency to absorb lots of heat causing uncomfortable thermal levels. Below is a section of a typical perforation, towards the occupational space the hoels become tapoed, diffusing the direct radioation that occurs any further. The tapering also allows for the PV cells to pick up more light from the reflection of the hole resulting in a more efficient building according to its environment.
PHYSICAL MODELS
VERTICAL GARDEN
Brooklyn.NY.US Joshua Fisher + Ian Svilokos
Public housing projects of the past decades aimed at creating efficient, low-cost, and socially active places to live and interact. Over time, these installations have turned towards monotony and seclusion. Proposed is an add-on architectural skin that will better the lives of the inhabitants it envelopes; socially, ecologically and experientially. Queensboro is an example of public housing that could seemingly be found anywhere across the United States. Defined by a strict modulation, from both the scale of the complex to the window detailing, and complete lack of ornamentation, the buildings are stark and banal. The addition of a vertical garden on the building’s facades would break this rigid pattern created by the apertures, producing a more visually exciting environment. The various plants from the gardens will stimulate the population to be one that is more active and engaged communally. The structure and form, based on a plant’s cellular structure, will create a more eco-friendly environment by capturing, collecting, and filtering rain water as it travels from the roof to the ground also watering the system of gardens. The structure will doubly act as a sunshading device, cooling the temperatures of the interior spaces of the building while creating a phenomenological experience. The skin will be an enlarged lattice that envelops the facades. The lattice will be self supporting and attached to the balconies of the buildings (and in the case of Queensboro, sets of balconies will be added). A subsequent layer of skin, at a much smaller scale, will be added in select areas that encompass the balconies to provide a sense of security for anyone gardening out on their balcony. The cross section of the skin will vary in thickness and include garden beds, allowing for the planting of small fruits, vegetables, and flowering plants.
Queensboro is an example of public housing that could seemingly be found anywhere across the United States. The site is definined by a strict modulatiron, complete lack of depth and ornamentation: it is a colorless, lifeless, and empty community.
VARIOUS TEST MODULES TO BE POPULATED
CONCEPTUAL RENDERING
With the introduction of the new skin and balconies, the number of hours of direct heat gain (into the apartments will drop drastically, thus eradicating the need for air-conditiong units, and lowering energy bills for the occupant.
RECOVERING HAITI: A VERTICAL GARDEN Port Au Prince. Haiti Enrique Bejarano + Eduardo Herrera
The program for this intervention is to create window farms while reinforcing an existing residential building in Port au Prince, Haiti, that survided the January 12 earthquake. Window farms are usually modular, low energy, high-yield edible gardens that for the most part are built using low-impact or recycled materials. The challenge is to merge a structural support system for the existing structure and a window farm as an integral part of the facade of the building. Modules are provided for growing highly nutritious vegetables/ plants such as collards, kale, cabbage, spinach, radish, watercless, bean sprouts, etc.