I wanted to look into one of the sites that David van Vliet introduced in todays lecture, and i chose the Hannover Expo 2000 located in Kronsberg Germany. One aspect of this design that i find very successful is how the new residents are adapting their lifestyles for this space. In the studio input presentation on monday Branda brought up the point that, yes design can suggest a shift to what is desirable, but people must want that lifestyle to make the design successful. This location uses sustainable design practices and many environmentally friendly practices, but also goes beyond the design to educate the residents in order for the facilities to run to their full potential.
“All people moving into Kronsberg received a “Kronsberg-Binder” which is a collection of information relevant to the energy and water saving propgrams, as well as other aspects of local sustainability.”
“All people moving into Kronsberg received money and advice to help them acquire the most energy-efficient lighting and other appliances possible, such as washing machines and refrigerators. To receive the financing, or the energy and water saving devices, residents had to attend a workshop or otherwise become informed.”
Quotes and foundational information taken from http://www.eaue.de/winuwd/191.htm.
Carmine Militano is a great speaker. His lecture was engaging and memorable. A lot of times it is hard to stay attentive during lectures, but his presentation was deffinitly geared towards us. The terms he used were not above and beyond out knowledge, i could understand all the points that he made. He seams very down to earth and aware of the things that are happeneing here and now in design. He introduced a lot of information to us, and he noted during his presentation that a lot of things will be discussed and his hope was that a few things stuck out to us.
The part that most stands out to me is the simple solutions for retaining storm water. I feel that in a lot of lectures we are presented with new innovations, technologies, and practices that should be implimented into design, but my knowledge about what is all required in the basic designing process of a building is so limited that i have nothing to compare with the new sustainable practices. The basic “everyday” solutions presented today are things that i feel i am able to relate to design practices because they are a small step. Bioswales, bioretention, green roof, and storm water planters were some of the ideas introduced, and this is the information that i will remember.
The presentation given by David van Vliet was also very interesting in regards to the different projects he intorduced. I do enjoy seeing the final outcomes of a challenging design, but this was also hard to follow because there were so many things that impacted the design that were vaguely mentioned. Again this is an example of so much knowledge being somewhat introduced but never explained. Maybe it is the intent of these lectures to merely be an introduction that we need to further research. I simply can not research all of these areas, and do not have the access to the design information. I feel i would have been able to learn a lot better if one of
One of my reflections at the end of the Body Metabolism Journal assignment was that i waste too much water! Thinking about ways that i can reduce my water usage simple actions came to mind such as going to the washroom less times in one day, taking shorter showers, using less water in my baths, only starting the dish washer when it is full, and other simple mindful actions. I searched the web a bit to find other simple ways of conserving water at home.
Follow the link for more details and water conservation suggestions: http://www.monolake.org/waterconservation/#topten
Stantec has posted an eye opening presentation regarding efficient buildings. I found it to be a comprehensive introduction to the some of the issues involved in creating a ecologically friendly building. It explains what carbon neutrality means and what it looks like, GHG emissions, wastes, alternative energies, biomass, and several projects that are paving the way for a new way of design.
Carmine Militano brought up an interesting point regarding the life cycle of water. Every city water system incorporates a water resource, transmission and treatment, distribution, consumption, and waste management. This seems quite straightforward at a glance, but at the same time, this system is often looked over in everyday life. When we leave the tap running while we brush our teeth, we are not concerned about all the time and energy put into that water. We take if for granted. Furthermore, it is all too easy to ignore the water cycle while planning a city. Just as our society has not considered energy use, chemical use, or waste management, we have pushed the water cycle to the side as well. As we are now realizing the mistakes of our past, we have more factors than ever to consider as we design cities, buildings, rooms, and even furniture.
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Architectural Lighting
“In the beginning was light”
- light is a form of energy (electromagnetic energy)
- light behaves as a perticle and a wave (when talking about light and humans we usually consider it in the context of a wave)
- Where we evolve has an impact on how we see things
- Most evolution occurs in Africa (the place predominantly where humans evolved from)
- Biophilia
- Flame only appeared in the stone age (other light sources only appeared in the Baroque period)
- Way to get daylight inside was windows and doors
The vision process
- Humans are very cued into visual contrast
- eye can adjust to various levels of light (through adaptation between light and dark)
- going from bright to dark can take up to 3o minutes to adjust to
- transadaptation (levels of contrast) (hard to adapt to)
- Can adjust to near and far objects
- have depth perception
- people not only see with their eyes but also with their brains
- people like contrast with edges, silouettes (selective perception)
- babysight- no context or experience
- eyes are constantly searching and scanning (they are not static), we percieve an environment by scanning
- are ability to see things has a lot to do with how long we see them for
- colour is easier to see
clour vision
- happens under relativly bright conditions
- humans have binocular vision- this way we have depth perception, can see 3-D and the direction of light
- humans can see 180 degrees
- backlight gives 3-D perception
- problem with daylight is its variability
- we use light and shadow to provide depth and distance
- always light objects and sculptures from 30degrees- gives the best understanding and perception
Evolution of light and architecture (light and structure)
- up until 18th century only had daylight and flame
- must know where the sun is if using it in your design
- In Winnipeg in June sun rises NE, sets NW, in December sun rises SE, sets SW
- Stereopathic sun diagram- used for people who integrate sunlight in their design (ensures maximum daylight in space)
- ancient Greeks oriented theatres to maximize daylight on stage
- In older structures windows were very carefully oriented
- sunlight is direct from the sun, daylight is what we modify and control through architecture
- a vault can trap light and reflect it deeper into a space, it eliminates direct light
- wall-> vault-> arch-> dome
- a dome gives the maximum amount of light in a space, it can be designed as a clock
- claristory lighting- “heavenly lighting” – can only work with vaults, can’t actually see the light source, light is diffuse
- another influence upon architecture and lighting is geography and climate- vault is used for transition areas
- lots of light – ornamentation is flat
- diffuse light – ornamentation comes to life, can see deep carvings and decoration
- in modern times light was no longer a large factor
- Because of artificial lighting, daylighting is no longer greatly needed. But with the energy crisis palces are beginning to reintroduce the idea of daylighting
Sources of light (artificial)
- Flame- Candles, oil lamps(oldest form of portable light), gas lamps
- Electrical lighting (only been around for about 150 years)
- Incandesant lighting (platinum and carbon filament) – creates 10% visible light, 90% heat, can opperate in any position
- compace fluorescent (CFL)- high intenstiy discharge
- electronic balas- can dim fluorescent lights
- LED- produce no heat, extremely efficient
Cost of lighting
- In America lighting consumes 25% of all electrical energy used
- environmental cost: coal, Hoover Dam, nuclear power plant
- Light pollution- excess light aimed in unecessary places
- Light trespassing- light evading your space, can effect biology
Health impacts to electrical lighting:
- Circadian system- affects hormone levels, metabolic levels\
- Need melatonin to sleep
- will sleep better in complete dark
- Negative effects: skin, eyes, headaches, seasonal effective disorder
- Positive effects: exposure to UV stimulates absorption of vitamin D
- Chemo therapy
- Kills cancer cells
- treats SAD
“The aesthetics of sustainability” – Renzo Piano
Our visit to Jeld-Wen this past class, opened my eyes to a vast number of ways to recycle and reduce carbon footprinting that I had no idea were being used. Every door and window that Jeld-Wen produces uses recycled materials and/or recycles the waste after production. For example, their wood doors are 51% reclaimed wood, and from both the wood doors and PVC windows, all waste is recycled. Jeld-Wen even recycles the saw dust that is created during production! To reduce their carbon footprint, Jeld-Wen has implemented sustainable forestry practices when it comes to their wood doors and windows. In twenty years, the company has planted almost 3 million trees, never allowing their cutting down to exceed growth. To further reduce their footprint, Jeld-Wen uses the wood of the Ponderosa Pine, which is able to grow in a variety of different soils, allowing for the use of local suppliers to limit the amount of transportation needed.
I was particularly impressed with Jeld-Wen’s Auralast treatment on wood windows and doors. This treatment reduces Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) (carbon containing compounds found in certain solids, which evaporate easily, polluting the atmosphere) emissions up to 96%, by fighting off wood rot and fungi. This not only decreases their carbon footprint, but also benefits the consumer, as they will not need to replace their windows and doors as quickly due to wood rot and fungi prevention.
Jeld-Wen’s environmental stewardship greatly impressed me.
After our class trip to Jeld-Wen, I started thinking about other countries and how the use of doors and windows, as well as heating and cooling affects how they design. A few years ago I spent a couple weeks in Singapore to visit a friend of a friend. It was an incredible experience but I find my self appreciating it more each day as I am continually learning more about sustainability. Singapore is not a very large country, it takes up very little space on the map, but it has an extremely large population density. One of the first things I noticed as I landed in Singapore was the vast amount of tall buildings. Since space is tight, instead of building out like we do in Canada, they build up. As of right now, Canadians aren’t worried about space. The amount of land located between our cities is so large that we do not have to consider running out of space as a possibility. In Singapore, they value their land and do not waste any of it. Great thought is put into the design and development of their city. Unlike Winnipeg where communities like Waverley West expand across our prairies in the span of only a few months. One thing a Singapore resident said to me that really stuck was “why do you waste so much space in Canada?” My answer to his question was “because we can.” If he were to ask me the same question now, I wouldn’t answer the same way. I would actually ask the same question myself. Yes, we do have a large amount of open land, but we aren’t thinking into the future. Sprawl is becoming more of an issue and we have to start taking it seriously. In Singapore, you very rarely see a single family home located on its own piece of land. People live in large apartment buildings. They reach stories into the sky and really tackle their space issues. This also makes transportation easier.
Another thing I noticed in Singapore, was there methods of heating and cooling. Although, since the country stays at a nearly constant temperature of 30 degrees celsius, heating is not really an issue. The apartment that we stayed in was located many stories above the ground and consisted of 3 floors. It felt more like a house than an apartment. On one of the floors there was actually a window cut into the wall. The neat thing about this was that there was no glass. It was literally just a whole in the wall linking directly to the outdoors. Because of Singapore weather conditions, such a thing is possible. At first I thought this would be a problem with the air conditioning. It would allow the cool air to escape and prevent the air conditioning from being as effective. But, SIngapore has a different method of cooling than we do here in Canada. Each room has its own individual air conditioning unit. As you enter a room, you can turn the air conditioning on to your desired temperature. As you leave the room, the unit can be turned off. This eliminates the use of unneeded energy. Since the units are so advanced, all of them can be turned off when you leave the apartment and can be turned on when you return for immediate air conditioning relief.
Singapore is so technologically advanced compared to almost all other countries. Why is it that such technologies have been developed, yet very few people actually take advantage of them? This is just one of the many questions concerning sustainability. Slowly, we will attempt to answer them.
Windows and doors are such an essential part of a structure. Although they may sometimes go unnoticed, they play a very large role. It was quite interesting to hear all about them at Jeld-Wen. Most of what was talked about I had not heard before, and I found it to be very education. It’s nice to know that environmental sustainability is considered in every aspect of design. One thing that really caught my attention, was the comparisons between wood and PVC. Wood doors and windows have more environmental advantages. They have a higher percentage of recyclability and create less pollution in the manufacturing process then PVC doors and windows. Although, with PVC, one gets better durability, less heat transfer, and they are more economical. Personally, I like the idea of a wood door or window compared to PVC. There look is more natural, and there environmental benefits outweigh those of PVC. It would be interesting to know if it would one day be possible for PVC and wood to be on the same level. Could Jeld-Wen find a way to increase the durability of their wood products? Could they find a way to recycle a greater portion of the PVC and reduce its environmental impact?
After visiting Red River College Princess campus i was interested in finding out more about the specifics of design and energy efficiency that went into the project.
Corbett Cibinel Architects is the group responsible for the design of RRC. Through a link from their site I found a floor by floor break down of the design and restoration of the site. This allowed me to better understand the buildings involved and see the functions of each space. Prior to reading this document i was not aware of the historic buildings that were preserved or the intigration of the new buildings. This information is found at: http://www.cibinel.com/uploads/rrcoverview.pdf.
All of us in ED2 are aware that RRC has acclaimed energy efficiency and is a state of the art green building, but i didn’t understand what elements directly contributed to this standard. I came accross a list of “GREEN FEATURES” which introduced me to the environmentally friendly design. This list consists of the following:
- Historic urban area rehabilitation with heritage facades, remodel of existing building plus new construction
- Strong energy conservation through envelope and equipment design.
- Materials salvage emphasis.
- 200m2 vegetated roof.
- 20 kW PV curtain wall under consideration.
- Emphasis on water conservation,
- integration with transit system.
- Daylight design, visual comfort for IT workplace and high air quality emphasis.
- Incorporation of 120 year old heritage facades and entire 4,646 m2 of early 20th century brick building pose energy design challenges.
- Building demonstrates excellent repeatability
Information found at http://www.iisbe.org/iisbe/gbc2k2/teams/canada/red_river/rrc-edu.htm.
GF Shymko & Associates Inc. were the energy consultants for this project. I located a brief summary of the project from their point of view at http://www.gfshymko.com/projects_redriver.html. This document introduced me to the C-2000 Program building standard, HVAC ventilation, and Photovoltaic system in place at RRC.
Though this is still the tip of the iceberg of information about energy efficiency that contributed to RRC, it has aroused my interest. I will be further investigating the systems in place and hopefully find a way to link them into our final assignment: Redesign the U of M campus.
