https://www.buildinggreen.com/feature/problem-net-zero-buildings-and-case-net-zero-neighborhoods
All the usual talk about net-zero buildings almost never talk about the side effects or the big picture of said projects. The article discusses that individual and isolated net-zero energy buildings can be argued as meaningless, inefficient, or counter-productive. It is better to use the money effort to reduce energy in a larger site/community. That would actually save more energy.
Apart from that buildings that usually can reach net-zero energy as usually low storied ones. Thus creating a tendency to sprawl and spread the built environment which can create a problem with land use in addition to the need for fossil-powered transportation between those spread buildings.
Therefore it can be argued that instead of expensive isolated net-zero buildings it is better to concentrate our attention in whole energy-efficient communities. Of course that's not without its own problems; such as the difficulty to coordinate all the stakeholders and land owners in any given designated community. The success of such large projects also depend significantly on the participation of the occupants.
It does make sense that to truly make a difference on this planet we have to focus in building sustainable communities, not just greenwashed or glorified designer buildings. It relies more on the teamwork of the masses to make this happen, but that is the point of true change. It must be done by everyone, not just specialists and rich businessmen.
Saturday 29 October 2016
SUSD0003 Week 11: Josh's House
https://vimeo.com/102548268
In this video on a sustainable housing project we learned that a high-performing building doesn't have to be expensive, complicated, or uncomfortable. It is hard perhaps to plan all the strategies, but once enacted these smart designs can me a significant difference in terms of energy, water, and therefore spending and carbon footprint.
For example by using a combination of passive solar, appropriately high thermal mass, and natural ventilation Josh can manage to not use artificial heaters and coolers while keeping his entire house at a comfortable thermal comfort. The savings from his water collecting and recycling schemes also reduce his bill by about 90%.
And all at at the same cost of a typical house of the same size and type. What we can take away from his is that sustainability is not about expensive gadgets, but about smart planning.
In this video on a sustainable housing project we learned that a high-performing building doesn't have to be expensive, complicated, or uncomfortable. It is hard perhaps to plan all the strategies, but once enacted these smart designs can me a significant difference in terms of energy, water, and therefore spending and carbon footprint.
For example by using a combination of passive solar, appropriately high thermal mass, and natural ventilation Josh can manage to not use artificial heaters and coolers while keeping his entire house at a comfortable thermal comfort. The savings from his water collecting and recycling schemes also reduce his bill by about 90%.
And all at at the same cost of a typical house of the same size and type. What we can take away from his is that sustainability is not about expensive gadgets, but about smart planning.
SUSD0003 Week 11: No (full) glass!
https://sourceable.net/all-glass-facades-wont-exist-in-sustainable-cities/
This is an interesting look at the facades of most modern buildings ie all glass. They look sleek and clean (dare I say "cool") but they have several huge problems:
- In most climates require a significant amount of energy to cool/heat to a comfortable level
- Lets in solar radiation that even if the room temperature is at normal levels, occupants would still be bugged bu the radiant heat streaming in from the glass
- If designed to have high reflectivity to combat radiation it will instead create discomfort for the residents around the building
Baggs proposed a simple solution to the radiant heat problem: incorporate external shading to the facade. Sure it might look ugly and ruin the smoothness of the face but really who should care about that if external shading both reduces operational energy and discomfort from radiant heat. Or just not use an all-glass facade at all.
The major challenge is to get rid of the mindset of this all-glass facade that has been prevalent since early 20th-century Modernism/International style. Its time to move on with future... perhaps a future with no or little glass in our towers.
This is an interesting look at the facades of most modern buildings ie all glass. They look sleek and clean (dare I say "cool") but they have several huge problems:
- In most climates require a significant amount of energy to cool/heat to a comfortable level
- Lets in solar radiation that even if the room temperature is at normal levels, occupants would still be bugged bu the radiant heat streaming in from the glass
- If designed to have high reflectivity to combat radiation it will instead create discomfort for the residents around the building
Baggs proposed a simple solution to the radiant heat problem: incorporate external shading to the facade. Sure it might look ugly and ruin the smoothness of the face but really who should care about that if external shading both reduces operational energy and discomfort from radiant heat. Or just not use an all-glass facade at all.
The major challenge is to get rid of the mindset of this all-glass facade that has been prevalent since early 20th-century Modernism/International style. Its time to move on with future... perhaps a future with no or little glass in our towers.
Saturday 1 October 2016
SUSD0003 Week 9: Utzon Lecture: Innovating to Zero in the Building sector
https://www.be.unsw.edu.au/events/utzonlecture/innovatingzero
In this Utzon lecture series Prof Santamouris (which is also a regular lecturer for our ARCH Building Services Course) discusses mostly about the energy crisis in the present and how to plan for the future. Given the lengthy title it was actually a simple concept: reduce usage of energy. Half or so of the lecture was to convince the audience that the energy crisis is real and gripping. There was numerous real data, past, present, and future projections, that shows that the world needs to act and act soon. The later half also had facts and figures some relating to the consequences of not doing anything. He also reminded us that the whole world pledged to reduce energy consumption in the Paris Convention, yet arguably we are not going anywhere towards that goal. Many solutions were suggested, some simple others not so much, but they are potential solutions nevertheless.
Although the numbers and figures were muddled to us and to my mind rather off-focus at times, they do wonders in convincing us the necessity of innovating energy-neutral buildings(or at least environments that use less energy). It is true that a significant amount of capital is needed for both innovation and implementation of energy-reducing measures but the cost of not doing anything will be greater especially in human lives if the energy poverty isn't relieved by the time global warming has taken its toll. I do not think this is a simple call to change our behaviour to solve the problem either; sometimes we do not have a choice. Say if the temperature outside is 50 degree C and room temperature is soaring towards 40 degrees we have to use energy to cool down our living spaces else we might suffer from heatstroke. Such a scenario will be much more common in the future considering the heat-island effect in ever-growing cities and the rising global temperature due to climate change. Surprisingly many of the fixes are relatively easy. For example, our dark-coloured asphalt can be replaced with lighter coloured ones to reduce heat absortion in cities (most likely place to find large areas of asphalt roads/pavements). Lower temperatures means that we do not need as much cooling and therefore less energy is needed. In short, smart passive design can reduce energy consumption.
In this Utzon lecture series Prof Santamouris (which is also a regular lecturer for our ARCH Building Services Course) discusses mostly about the energy crisis in the present and how to plan for the future. Given the lengthy title it was actually a simple concept: reduce usage of energy. Half or so of the lecture was to convince the audience that the energy crisis is real and gripping. There was numerous real data, past, present, and future projections, that shows that the world needs to act and act soon. The later half also had facts and figures some relating to the consequences of not doing anything. He also reminded us that the whole world pledged to reduce energy consumption in the Paris Convention, yet arguably we are not going anywhere towards that goal. Many solutions were suggested, some simple others not so much, but they are potential solutions nevertheless.
Although the numbers and figures were muddled to us and to my mind rather off-focus at times, they do wonders in convincing us the necessity of innovating energy-neutral buildings(or at least environments that use less energy). It is true that a significant amount of capital is needed for both innovation and implementation of energy-reducing measures but the cost of not doing anything will be greater especially in human lives if the energy poverty isn't relieved by the time global warming has taken its toll. I do not think this is a simple call to change our behaviour to solve the problem either; sometimes we do not have a choice. Say if the temperature outside is 50 degree C and room temperature is soaring towards 40 degrees we have to use energy to cool down our living spaces else we might suffer from heatstroke. Such a scenario will be much more common in the future considering the heat-island effect in ever-growing cities and the rising global temperature due to climate change. Surprisingly many of the fixes are relatively easy. For example, our dark-coloured asphalt can be replaced with lighter coloured ones to reduce heat absortion in cities (most likely place to find large areas of asphalt roads/pavements). Lower temperatures means that we do not need as much cooling and therefore less energy is needed. In short, smart passive design can reduce energy consumption.
SUSD0003 Week 9: TED Talk: Designing for microbes
http://www.ted.com/talks/jessica_green_good_germs_make_healthy_buildings
This interesting TED talk discusses a topic that we never really talk about in architecture: microbes. Even if we do talk about these organism its usually the negative aspects that are highlighted.
It seems that in a given building, every room type are akin to a distinct ecosystem for specific microbes. In a same room however some areas or mechanical systems can have significantly different from each other suggesting that design strategies can indeed manipulate microbial composition. When these room are operated differently the microbes are also heavily affected; such as if a classroom remains closed for a whole week the bacteria carried into these rooms by the people who used them earlier cannot be flushed out and remained there. In fact, that colony might have grown well enough in that non-ventilated area that when the classroom were opened they produce an uncomfortable odour.
Now that we know microbes can affect our living spaces and conditions (therefore our quality of life) we should give some thought into them. What's more, we know we can manipulate them in some way. Although more research is needed on exactly how and why (also considering that the experiment was only on one building) it seems like designing to make microbes work for us or at least prevent them from degrading our health is a relevant cause to take for the future.
This interesting TED talk discusses a topic that we never really talk about in architecture: microbes. Even if we do talk about these organism its usually the negative aspects that are highlighted.
It seems that in a given building, every room type are akin to a distinct ecosystem for specific microbes. In a same room however some areas or mechanical systems can have significantly different from each other suggesting that design strategies can indeed manipulate microbial composition. When these room are operated differently the microbes are also heavily affected; such as if a classroom remains closed for a whole week the bacteria carried into these rooms by the people who used them earlier cannot be flushed out and remained there. In fact, that colony might have grown well enough in that non-ventilated area that when the classroom were opened they produce an uncomfortable odour.
Now that we know microbes can affect our living spaces and conditions (therefore our quality of life) we should give some thought into them. What's more, we know we can manipulate them in some way. Although more research is needed on exactly how and why (also considering that the experiment was only on one building) it seems like designing to make microbes work for us or at least prevent them from degrading our health is a relevant cause to take for the future.
SUSD0003 Week 8: Group Report submission
Similarly with the presentation earlier this week I reckon we finished the assignment well. For the final report we built up and revised our tool to something that we think can work and is relevant in Australia. Some aspects we still cannot think through well enough such as how to input and/or measure reverberation time into an online questionnaire like the one we intended to have. That said, our entire rating tool being online based and free might cause discrepancies amongst the rental units and might have a high tendency to manipulate data for financial gains. It is difficult to say the least to rely on the tenants to spot any lie or any other wrongdoings done by the proprietors. Yet we were very close to the word limit already and we agreed that those problems were for another day.
For my own contribution it is also similar to the presentation last week: compilation, formatting, spellchecking, etc. I spent quite some time reading through everyone's part and told members if they need major reworking of their respective sections. I did the minor adjustments myself including change of words, removing unnecessary words and sentences, additions to unify all the sections, and inserting some sections about the website. I reckon it was a fair amount of work and also just compared to everyone else in the team.
For my own contribution it is also similar to the presentation last week: compilation, formatting, spellchecking, etc. I spent quite some time reading through everyone's part and told members if they need major reworking of their respective sections. I did the minor adjustments myself including change of words, removing unnecessary words and sentences, additions to unify all the sections, and inserting some sections about the website. I reckon it was a fair amount of work and also just compared to everyone else in the team.
SUSD0003 Week 8: Reflection on Assignment 1 presentation
All-in-all I think my team did well. We were well prepared in our concept of an accessible sustainability rating for housing (we call it HEART). The audience seemed to agree at least with our major points, but of course we need to revise some details such as how our rating tool works with power/water/waste companies to provide a truthful and accurate data for each household. A large hindsight would be how such data can be adapted or translated in regards to how many persons actually live in a given unit; yet I do not think that is something we need to worry about for this assignment as it is a complicated measurement.
As for my personal involvement/contribution, my role was to synchronise and compile everyone's work as well as creating a mock website to show how our rating tool can work. The template I chose for the PPT presentation was a common one and one of the other teams used the same one so next time I should spend more time looking for a less generic template. The compilation job was done decently well; we even had time to practice our presentation. The website was simple and rather hastily done but it was enough to wow the crowds:
I have forgotten many lesson I had years ago and it took longer than expected because of that. Yet it was well worth the effort.
As for my personal involvement/contribution, my role was to synchronise and compile everyone's work as well as creating a mock website to show how our rating tool can work. The template I chose for the PPT presentation was a common one and one of the other teams used the same one so next time I should spend more time looking for a less generic template. The compilation job was done decently well; we even had time to practice our presentation. The website was simple and rather hastily done but it was enough to wow the crowds:
SUSD0003 Week 7: China's huge greenhouse gas emission
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/business-spectator/how-much-of-chinas-emissions-is-the-rest-of-the-world-responsible-for-/news-story/f6459e6e7ba06bc67c4cfa6317d9c05c?utm_source=exact&utm_medium=email&utm_content=951481&utm_campaign=cs_daily&modapt=
Based on the numbers alone China does indeed have surpassed the US as the largest greenhouse gas producer in the world. This sounds worrying at first, but Hope has argued that this is because manufacturing of goods has moved from the countries originally started mass production in the industrial revolution to China and many other Asian countries. Another point of fact is that the emission per capita in China is still relatively lower than that of most of the developed countries. In fact China exports a significant amount of said manufactured goods to those developed countries.
Therefore one can say that many countries contribute to China's soaring greenhouse gas emission. Even though it is understandable that China has such a high emission considering how large it is and that it arguably manufactures quite a portion of the world's goods it is still worrying that its emission is climbing higher and higher. China's rising GDP per capita aka. prosperity amongst its people might also increase this trend as it always does in other countries.To reduce greenhouse emission globally everyone must work together to perhaps reduce consumption, switch to more environmentally-friendly fuels, and make products last longer or more efficient. We cannot point our fingers just at China. That would also be a bit hypocritical as Australia has the highest greenhouse emission rate per capita.
Based on the numbers alone China does indeed have surpassed the US as the largest greenhouse gas producer in the world. This sounds worrying at first, but Hope has argued that this is because manufacturing of goods has moved from the countries originally started mass production in the industrial revolution to China and many other Asian countries. Another point of fact is that the emission per capita in China is still relatively lower than that of most of the developed countries. In fact China exports a significant amount of said manufactured goods to those developed countries.
Therefore one can say that many countries contribute to China's soaring greenhouse gas emission. Even though it is understandable that China has such a high emission considering how large it is and that it arguably manufactures quite a portion of the world's goods it is still worrying that its emission is climbing higher and higher. China's rising GDP per capita aka. prosperity amongst its people might also increase this trend as it always does in other countries.To reduce greenhouse emission globally everyone must work together to perhaps reduce consumption, switch to more environmentally-friendly fuels, and make products last longer or more efficient. We cannot point our fingers just at China. That would also be a bit hypocritical as Australia has the highest greenhouse emission rate per capita.
SUSD0003 Week 7: Interesting ideas: Self-sustaining villages
http://www.archdaily.com/794167/innovative-self-sustaining-village-model-could-be-the-future-of-semi-urban-living
Here is an intersting concept about a fully self-sustaining community. It gives new meaning to the word "sustainability" when a whole group of people can effectively consume zero everything from the environment: zero carbon, zero energy, zero water, and so on not just the standard ones. After construction and as long as they can be managed effectively this village will take nothing from the planet.
Here is an intersting concept about a fully self-sustaining community. It gives new meaning to the word "sustainability" when a whole group of people can effectively consume zero everything from the environment: zero carbon, zero energy, zero water, and so on not just the standard ones. After construction and as long as they can be managed effectively this village will take nothing from the planet.
SUSD0003 Week 6: Ideas for rating system
As before we have agreed on a kind of tool (cheap and easily accessible) to rate housing units in Australia.
Based on the GreenStar Foundation Course we have revised our scope:
Acoustics
Community
Vibration?
Add a frame like NatHERS for thermal comfort
WELS for toilet and other water fixtures (relates to water efficiency?)
Add a rating for modular funiture?
These are additions/fixes from the discussion we had on week 5:
On another note, the Green Star Foundation course is absolutely useful for not only this course but for my High Performance Studio and maybe the Building Services as well. Knowing the reasons and details about a highly-developed rating tool is such an eye opener. It gave me many ideas to improve my projects as well. Regarding the Green Star registration and being a partner, I might consider being one as at the very least I can make my future clients trust me just a little bit more.
Based on the GreenStar Foundation Course we have revised our scope:
Acoustics
Community
Vibration?
Add a frame like NatHERS for thermal comfort
WELS for toilet and other water fixtures (relates to water efficiency?)
Add a rating for modular funiture?
These are additions/fixes from the discussion we had on week 5:
On another note, the Green Star Foundation course is absolutely useful for not only this course but for my High Performance Studio and maybe the Building Services as well. Knowing the reasons and details about a highly-developed rating tool is such an eye opener. It gave me many ideas to improve my projects as well. Regarding the Green Star registration and being a partner, I might consider being one as at the very least I can make my future clients trust me just a little bit more.
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