Energy Certificates, also called Energy Passports, are documents that profile the energy performance of existing and new buildings within the European Union. The program was initiated as part of the EU Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings in January of 2006 and will be mandatory throughout the member countries. The goal is to provide greater transparency of energy efficiency to building renters, buyers, owners and policy makers and thereby encourage a market driven approach to energy efficiency.

“Every car-owner knows exactly how much gas their car uses… but the high energy costs of an apartment or house are mostly unknown.”

“We are hoping that this [energy certificate program] will finally help make rents [costs] a little more transparent.” - Ulrike Leidinger, energy consultant at the Consumer Center in Aachen Germany - Deutsche Welle Magazine

Certification is based on an assessment, an inspection, made by building energy performance experts. The assessment is not specific to the active building systems and includes boilers, heat pumps, heating elements, as well as windows, wall insulation, air infiltration and a myriad of elements that influence the energy efficiency of a building. Computer software is then used to analyze the measured data and assign a grade ranking based on a number of considerations. The EU Directive mandates that local and regional factors are considered to promote an ‘apples to apples’ comparison for consumers. Prices for an inspection currently range from $213 to $563 for a two family house in Aachen, Germany, but are expected to rise once the program is fully implemented.

All this is supported because the EU Directive ‘identifies energy efficiency in the building sector as a top priority.’ An introduction to the directive notes that European leaders believe there is a building energy savings potential of 28%, which would reduce EU final energy use by about 11%. Interestingly, researchers assert that Europe wastes up to 20% of its energy and the hope is that efforts such as the Energy Certificate program can help recapture some of that lost energy. It is of course being done in the name of ‘protecting the environment and guaranteeing a stable supply of energy for [our] children.’

A directive of this scope is of course very broad. The Energy Certificates portion is actually one of five ‘themes’ implemented by the EPBD Directive. These themes include: Certificates, Inspection, Experts, Calculations, and EP Requirements. Each is designed to affect the energy performance of buildings in significant ways and focus on everything from the design process to simulation techniques to measurement to maintenance to building a body of qualified experts who can work on these buildings. The directive also sets minimum energy performance requirements which encourage the use of renewable energy , combined heat and power (CHP), district heating and cooling, and heat pump systems depending on the application.

The Energy Certificate program is remarkable because it attempts to expose and connect the often obscure world of real estate, utility use, and building efficiency. I propose that it does for buildings what the Nutrition Facts label did for food in the United States. That is, it empowers consumers to educate themselves about the characteristics of the buildings they occupy. The Energy Certificate itself does not have any negative consequences for buildings beyond the small inspection fee. The benefit is that it allows for a fair comparison of similar buildings within a given region so that consumers have a more informed choice. The market can decide if people are willing to live and work in buildings that have a high energy footprint. Who wants to live in a building that has high monthly energy bills? Would a realtor not say to the building owner that the energy performance needed an upgrade in the same way they discuss ‘curb appeal’, ‘granite countertops’ and number of garage parking spaces. Information is power and in concept that is what this program requires.

It must be noted that the USGBC has begun putting ‘Building Facts’ on their recently completed project profiles. Also take a look at the German Passive House Building Standard for more on super efficient buildings.

For more information on Energy Certificates visit the EU EPBD Energy Certificates website. Deutsche Welle also has a great article on the program as it was applied and tested in Aachen, Germany.

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Blobwall is a material and form study by Greg Lynn (’Form’) which explores the definition of modular construction and space separation in the coming century. Design and construction of Blobwall are heavily influenced by Lynn’s work with advanced three dimensional modeling and manufacturing techniques and follow an evolutionary path from his earlier work with biomorphic architectural forms. The wall is composed of identical, preformed, three lobed, hollow pieces of low-density plastic polymer of varying color, similar to the material comprising plastic playground equipment. The system is self supporting and can be stacked in a number of ways to create walls, arches and domes. Results illustrate how a repeating element could be combined to create an extraordinary organic structure. The astounding variability does, however, come at a high price in terms of time, labor, and manufacturing capability and hides a requirement for complete customization to achieve the organic results shown in Blobwall.

It is important to point out that I am no stranger to this situation because I oftentimes succumb to the ‘Curse of Customization’ in both virtual and real-world design problem solving.

For some perspective, inspiration for Blobwall emerged from Greg Lynn’s concept of creating a modular wall building product that could be easily assembled and would work like ‘bricks’ in traditional construction. I am inferring this, but it appears that he is challenging what we today consider the ‘unit’ of construction.

Units are a very important concept in construction. Their characteristics have defined building for thousands of years. Structural integrity, opacity, thermal properties, moisture resistance, durability, weight, availability, and size (among other factors) have been critical to the evolution and selection of building materials. Generally, materials easily handled by craftsmen and readily available were the most used. Minor inconveniences and flaws were overcome through small augmentations of the material such as painting or plastering. The small units are transportable and can be assembled by one laborer without need for mechanically powered equipment. The widespread use of masonry units bricks and stone is no surprise given their natural ingredients and usefulness. To reinterpret the ‘unit’ is a worthwhile exploration especially given the huge developments in digital design and manufacturing technology.

Possibly the most important characteristic of these units, in the context of Blobwall, is their ability to be stacked against each other in repeating patterns. It only takes a quick survey of an architectural history book, Google images, or the Brick in Architecture Awards to see the astounding number of possibilities for shape, form and texture using a repeating unit. All of these variations are created from bricks roughly the same size and shape, using friction, gravity or mortar to hold them together. Minimal cutting and sawing of the material is needed except for unique situation such as decorative elements or structural conditions.

The development of Blobwall, and the blob unit, is really important to understand for its implications on the future of the design and construction industry. FORM followed a process only possible in the age of digitized design and manufacture. (Let me note that the process did however begin as most projects do, with a hard working post-graduate student sanding and sculpting away at a large foam object, protective mask and all.) Through many iterations, using both digital and physical models, the now familiar three lobed blob unit was developed. To enable mass production, this proto-unit was cast and used to make a negative metal mold from which the subsequent ‘copies’ could be created.

Crucial to the project, was a material which could be modified to be the ‘unit’ of the 21st century. For this, Lynn found a plastic polymer that can take on any shape and is easily modified, cut, once formed into blobs. The polymer also has the unique characteristics of being translucent, light, and durable as well as available in a variety of colors. Interestingly, the material is made from recycled content and is fully recyclable into new products.

The process works like this. The metal negative mold of the original blob unit is filled with small plastic polymer pellets and heated. While the mold is heated it is also being rotated. The plastic pellets melt and adhere to the mold, the rotation ensures that the entire surface is covered in plastic. The mold is cooled and then removed leaving a hollow plastic blob unit! Repeat until you have the desired number of blob units.

The system is self supporting and can be stacked in a number of ways to create walls with S, L, and C shapes as well as many other possible configurations. Even self supported arches and domes can be built.

But therein lies the hidden portion of the process. The wall is really not constructed out of similar pre-manufactured units, stacked and ready to use. Instead, the blob units are a starting point. Designers actually use 3D software, like MAX or Maya, to design the full Blobwall. Once each individual blob unit is located within the structure a designer uses boolean functions to subtract any overlapping material between two blob units. Designers must choose which blob unit takes precedence and leave it whole.

The resulting shapes are sent to a 5-axis routing machine where software guides the machine in making precise cuts to the blob units. Each blob unit and sub blob unit part are labeled to indicate its location within the Blobwall. This part of the process was handled by Machineous which specializes in using 5 and 6 axis machining equipment in architectural applications. I suspect there were quite a few aborted attempts but the end product is brilliantly assembled.

My compliments to the design and construction teams. The final Blobwalls are beautiful, really. The observation I have about Blobwall is that there is an immense amount of customization built in to the process. In an age of mass customization this may be an entirely appropriate strategy and part of me wants to believe that this is the future of manufacturing. But the premise that the Blobwall can be assembled out of pre-manufactured parts is not true. Moreover the shape of the units themselves have no impact on the overall design of the wall. The same design could be done with squares, triangles, spheres. As long as the designers followed the same processes using booleaning, software design and 5-axis machining the results would largely be the same. Blobwall to me represents a production method, but one not based in the considerations of geometry or their resolution. The true promise of computational analysis to me is that a single shape could be generated for each job, mass produced and installed in the same way bricks are. That the blob unit becomes dominant and the final construct subservient to the means of production and erection. One unit, depending on its orientation and angle, could create any organic shape. One unit becomes the constant, the use becomes the variable.

For more information please visit Greg Lynn at the FORM website. Blobwall is available exclusively through Panelite.

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Immanuel Kant, in 1790, described beauty as ’sensory, emotional, and intellectual,’ a synthesis of data which we as humans process when evaluating objects. More recently Abraham Moles, Frieder Nake and Jurgen Schmidhuber, leaders in the field of aesthetics and information theory, described beauty as ‘the option with the shortest description, given the observer’s previous knowledge and method for encoding data.’ We as humans often find forms in nature which we find pleasing and wish to share. Whether it is a vista or microscopic, the structures nature has built are often times inherently beautiful to our eyes for probably very complex reasons alluded to by philosophers and scientists throughout the ages.

Ferrofluids are one of my favorite examples of beauty and aesthetics occurring spontaneously as a simple reaction between elements and forces of nature. A fluid, formless and simple, turns instantly into a sculpture, structural and complex with little more than the application of a magnetic field. The phenomena is used in many industrial applications including the seal on the hard drive spinning in your computer and has recently been used to create abstract art.

Ferrofluids are liquid mixtures of surfactant coated magnetic nanoparticles in a carrier fluid which are easily susceptible to magnetic fields. The compounds themselves contain some iron (hence ferrous, ferrum, meaning iron in latin) but the liquid mixture is not magnetic. Brownian motion applies between particles and means that the mixture does not settle under typical conditions.

The fluids react in predictable but astounding ways in the presence of even the smallest magnetic field. The only criteria is that the field be strong enough to overcome surface and gravitational forces on the fluid. This effect is called the ‘normal-field instability’ and results in a regular pattern of corrugations on the surface of the fluid. Amplitude and frequency depend on the strength of the magnetic field and it is important to note that the fluid returns to a completely liquid state upon the removal of the magnetic field.

Below is an example of artwork created by carefully and selectively applying a magnetic field to a ferrofluid by artists Sachiko Kodama and Yasushi Miyajima.

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Energy in = energy out. Only the format changes. Now that is sustainable.

greenPIX, ‘the Zero Energy Media Wall,’ uses architecture and technology to absorb, store, amplify, translate, and display data, both natural and manmade, in an organic system that responds dynamically to the local environment. Creative programming adds even more layers to the already rich stream of data being presented and allows passersby to experience the site in terms of space and time through both their own eyes or the minds of the selected artists. Media is displayed on a gigantic screen which uses 2,292 pixels of LED lights and translucent glass. The entire presentation comes with a zero net consuming energy footprint thanks to a glazing-integrated system of perforated photovoltaic cells and a battery storage system. The result is a public art installation that creates awareness of the local environment in both appearance and functionality; sustainability is more than facade deep for greenPIX.

The greenPIX project was designed by Brooklyn based Simone Giostra & Partners Architects in collaboration with ARUP for the Xicui Entertainment Complex in Beijing and is the largest LED display in the world. The project is also the first building facade integrated PV system in China. The building is located in western Beijing close to a number of 2008 Olympic venues. The singular design brief given to Giostra was to ‘enliven the building’s opaque, boxlike presence and connect it to its environs’ all using only one facade.

Media displayed on the large format low-res screen can be presented in both film and still image formats, with the consideration that artists must consider and plan for the implications of jumbo size and low resolution. To account for this, the designers developed a special software package (windows) to allow potential artists to test their creations on a virtual facade before loading it into the media wall. The software shows the facade presentation in a rudimentary 3D cityscape mockup and makes it possible to view the wall from many angles and distances to test the resolution.

In one example of potential media presentations, artists created an infrared heat map generated solely by locating all the occupants of the building and showing their position in relation to one another. The resulting animation is a dynamic representation of real-time events and begins to address the designer’s vision of the wall as a way of linking the building and its occupants to the environs.

The entire facade display is roughly 24,000 squaure feet. Each of the 2,292 glass panels comprising the facade has a color changing LED fixture mounted behind it and is a ‘pixel’ in the large format low-res display. Integrated photovoltaic cells mean that the panels both emit and absorb energy in the form of LED and sun light, thus reinforcing Giostra’s vision of ‘technological self sufficiency.’

‘Seascape’, the concept of dynamically changing scene based on both time and vantage point, also played a large role in the design of the facade. Media is the active dynamic element at night. During the daytime however, when sun obscures the LED light, Giostra had to make the passive elements of the facade appear dynamic. He accomplished this by varying opacity and mounting angle (5°) of the glass panels as well as by carefully arranging the integrated PV cells to form a dynamic pattern. The result is a facade that appears to undulate with the rhythm of the environment day and night.

Interestingly, the entire system is a total of seven feet thick including glass panels, structure, power and data infrastructure, LED lighting fixtures and a maintenance access space.

Below is a video interview of designer Simone Giostra discussing the greenPIX project.

For more information please visit the greenPIX website or read ID Magazine’s article on Simone Giostra titled “A Gleam in the Eye.”

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Above is an aerial photo of Baltimore showing some official green space and some potential alley green space - in green - quite a web if coordinated to work together!

‘Community Greens‘ is an organization which supports the ‘development of shared green spaces inside residential blocks in cities across the United States’ by taking the stand that ‘best opportunity to add usable green space to our cities [is] by converting underutilized backyards and dysfunctional alleys into functional and beautiful shared green spaces.’ Through the organization, a community can get assistance or help seeking out community organizers, legal advice, and design services relating to any work they wish to do ‘greening’ their space. Also available are a number of case studies which chronicle the past and current efforts of communities organizing themselves to create shared green space. The results of these green makeovers are amazing.

Above is a ‘before’ photo of Baltimore’s Glover Alley…

One amazing alley conversion is located on Glover Alley in Baltimore. The pictures above illustrate the evolution from rat infested alley to shared green space. It is important to note that this project is one of the first to be carried out using the resources of ‘Mayor Sheila Dixon’s’ Alley Gating & Greening Program which allows gating and greening to ‘promote public health, safety or welfare. The benefits also include extra play area for children and a place for neighbors to congregate. The potential environmental benefits are many and include a better tree canopy, less storm water runoff due to impervious surfaces, reduction of the urban heat island effect, and increased biological diversity. Residents in the Glover Alley projects herald it as a way to escape and soften the paved city outside.

Above is an ‘after’ photo showing new low fences, a gate, plantings and community seating

Did you know that Baltimore has over 600 miles of alleys!

On a personal note, I see this as a way to maximize the potential of cities, rather than an effort to suburbanize them. Look at Copenhagen and Amsterdam, centuries old urban centers with well established populations, for examples of what cities can look and feel like here in America. Even more modern developments like the redevelopment of Hammarby Sjostad in Stockholm show the character of well planned shared green space. Greening unused space should be a priority in our cities. The alternative, allowing land to sit vacant and fallow, is wasteful and does not exploit the potential of our urban centers.

For more information please visit the Community Greens website or the City of Baltimore’s Alley Gating and Greening Program website. Alley greening has also been featured in great articles by Metropolis, The Atlantic Monthly, and Baltimore’s Urbanite.

Community Greens is an initiative by ASHOKA.

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Litracon is a light-transmitting concrete product able to move light through concrete up to 20 meters thick. The product is composed of roughly 4% optical glass fibers placed parallel within a fine concrete mix. The result in a homogeneous material from exterior surface to center which retains the compressive strength qualities of concrete. The material can be used for interior and exterior walls, pavements, art projects, signage, lighting fixtures and anywhere else a designer’s imagination can apply this marvelous material.

Light, or shadow, activates the material. The parallel optical glass fibers are like tiny pixels on one side of the concrete, conducting any light that strike their ends to the other side of the material. This means that any light source or shadow on the receiving side of the wall is transmitted accurately to the opposite side. People walking, objects, images, text, animations and film are all legible on the opposite side of the wall dematerializing the concrete into lighter more interactive material. Interestingly, the material is true to the color temperature on the light absorbing side.

Litracon is a wonderful advancement added to the already large catalogue of options available for concrete design. What makes Litracon so unique among the options is that the aesthetic results directly contradict the physical properties of the material. Concrete is strong in compression, weak in tension. Steel is added to aid it in tension, but the material, and designers working in the medium, must adhere to its basic physical properties. Notable designers like Santiago Calatrava, Nervi, and Cecil Balmond are able to stretch the boundaries of what concrete can do, and do many times make it appear free from its constraints, but the material is always bound to its characteristics. What Litracon has done is upend the fundamental property of concrete. Litracon turns a heavy, solid material into a light one and that means a world of new opportunities for designers to create striking architecture.

For more information please visit the Litracon website.

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Alkemi is a recycled aluminum solid surfacing material made right here in Baltimore (Maryland). The product is composite of a polyester-based medium and post-industrial scrap waste soft-alloy aluminum flake fillers for texture. Recycled content is 35% by weight or 60% by volume as certified by Scientific Certification Systems (SCS). In addition, Alkemi’s manufacturer, Renewed Materials LLC, claims that the product has no hazardous environmental footprint and can be applied to a variety of LEED credits including Recycled Content (MR 4.1/4.2), Locally Extracted Materials (MR 5.1/5.2), and Low-VOC (EQ).

The material is available in Textured, Classic and Honed finishes as well as a select number of opaque finishes. Installation of the product is similar to most other solid surface materials meaning that it can be cut and shaped using ‘conventional woodworking machinery’ such as saws, routers and CNC machines. The manufacturer recommends that Classic and Honed finishes can be sanded and joined seamlessly, whereas Textured must be cut and glued which leaves a small joint visible.

Alkemi is the kind of material we as designers should search out in projects. It is strikingly beautiful. It is sustainable. And it is produced locally (for those in Maryland). I argue that a product like Alkemi has a beauty, a holistic beauty, that becomes more and more meaningful as the aesthetic, manufacture, delivery, installation and recycling aspects become exposed. Can a material be considered beautiful if it leaves a wreck of the environment and local economy? I say no. It means that designers have to set sustainability goals and help material manufacturers generate the next generation of holistically beautiful building products.

For more information please visit the Alkemi website.

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Baltimore has a vocal champion for urban environmental issues. His name is Glenn Ross and he has only recently embraced the label of ‘environmentalist.’

You see, Mr. Ross had spent the previous 20 years dealing with sanitation, public health and decent housing as a community activist on the behalf of his East Baltimore community (and other similarly distressed Baltimore neighborhoods). Working on the streets of Baltimore these ‘urban’ issues probably seemed distant from the ‘ecological’ topics being discussed by most prominent ‘environmental’ groups at the time. To quote Mr. Ross, “When I used to hear the word environment …. I used to think of mountains and bears.” That sentiment, an association between environmentalism and natural ecology, is easy to understand, especially when considering the absence of unspoiled ‘nature’ in the Baltimore urban environment. Consider the context and it is easy to see how ‘environmentalism’ falls way behind poverty, crime, and education on the list of priorities within a struggling community.

For Glenn however, the connection between ‘urban activism’ and ‘environmentalism’ was planted at a very young age. In a grim forecast of his work to come, he recalls a memory of the soil pollution present in one East Baltimore cemetery:

“They planted this area with African ferns and sunflowers to remediate it. Of course we didn’t know it back then, but the African ferns absorbed the arsenic in the ground, and the sunflowers were there to absorb the lead. We used to pick those sunflowers and take them home and eat them. There was no warning, no sign. Nothing. Then a couple years later the city sent in all these guys in hazmat suits to harvest the stuff.”

Certainly a reality check for anyone not aware of the pollution present within the confines of American cities or of the potential for ‘Environmental Racism’ (as described by Mr. Ross). These experiences with pollution in his neighborhood eventually led to Mr. Ross creating what is known as ‘Baltimore’s Toxic Tours’ whereby visitors are taken ’round the city to see how the environment affects the community, sometimes very disproportionately depending on your location.

For Mr. Ross the word ‘environmentalist’ entered the picture when he started working with the B’more Green and Environmental Justice Partnership projects. The connection in his mind is that everyone is concerned about their own health and that of their close family and friends, their community. Once he made the connection that toxic soil, lead, pests, trash, and air and water pollution were affecting the health of residents he became and environmentalist. The leap from community activist to environmentalist may seem obvious now, but connection was not that clear given the circumstances. Interestingly, it was probably a lifetime in the making for Mr. Ross.

I have to confess ignorance of ‘environmental racism’ just around the corner from my house. I heard Mr. Ross speak today, and I am grateful to him for bringing these issues to my attention and showing me that decisions I make as a designer and architect can and will have a significant impact on the lives of urban residents. Crucially, the debate forced me to broaden my definition of ‘environmentalism’ and ’sustainability’, always a good thing.

Below is a video documentary of the Toxic Tour Mr. Ross gives in Baltimore.

For more information please read Baltimore Urbanite magazine’s recent article titled “The Changing Face of Environmentalism,” which highlights the work of Mr. Ross. You can find out more about the Environmental Justice Partnership on their website.

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The Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability (BEES 4.0) software is a free Life Cycle Assessment tool developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) with the aim of empowering designers with a ‘robust’, user-friendly tool for making informed material decisions. Analysis is broken into two general categories, economic and environmental, which can be weighted against one another in both present and projected figures. Twelve ‘impact categories’  further refine the LCA analysis by ‘weighting’ each criteria. The process helps establish a hierarchy for evaluating LCA and gives the user some flexibility when defining the importance of one criteria versus another. The resulting process allows a designer to capture and account for the breadth of environmental and economic considerations in one software package. BEES and software of the same genre will hopefully lead to buildings that fully manifest the ideas of stewardship and sustainability.

Version 4.0 of BEES is not a major overhaul from the three previous versions, adding only a few technical upgrades behind the scenes, a larger database of materials and a new weighting system for impact categories. Marginal interface improve ments were made, as illustrated by the same extremely cumbersome graphics and data reporting used since BEES version 1.0. The software is however a useful alternative to other more costly LCA tools, many of which do not have substantially better interfaces.

I would say that BEES 4.0 is not for the faint of heart, timid, or designers just trying to greenwash a project. BEES 4.0 software is extremely useful to designers interested in finding out the LCA impact of products they may select, but the learning curve is steep and a considerable amount of data collection and analysis is required for custom LCA analyses.

For more information please visit the BEES website or the original article (subscription/login required) from Environmental Building News.

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GCS Radiant Flooring is a modular, hydronic radiant floor system which is designed for easy installation, simplified maintenance and energy efficiency. Like most energy efficient radiant floor systems, GCS panels heat space using a network of plastic tubes circulating preheated water (or a glycol/water solution). Think of this system as a grid of pre-milled slots designed to hold the hot water tubes in place under the finished floor. What makes these panels unique is their manageable size, easy installation and energy efficiency.

GCS Radiant Inc. claims that installation can be done by as few as one person, with a recommendation of two. Each panel is a sandwich of concrete and a plastic substrate molded to receive the hydronic tubing. Units are small enough to be easily handled by installers and are fastened by only four screws. If there are any problems with the hydronic tubes the affected panels can easily be removed (unscrewed) to make repairs. This is not the case with hydronic systems poured into slabs, as the slabs must be cut to reach the tubing.

Panels are also designed to spread heat evenly within the substrate. The concrete mix in each unit is able to absorb and spread the heat effectively and creates more thermal lag in the space, leading to more even heating and reducing the number of cold areas on the floor where tubing does not occur. The accompanying images show thermal characteristics of the radiant floor units.

It is encouraging to see material manufacturers submit their products for this type of testing and evaluation. It appears as though GCS Radiant Inc. has allowed data about heat movement in concrete surfaces to affect the design of their units. The result is a modular radiant floor system with the benefits of both and accessible and a poured concrete slab radiant system.

For more information visit GCS Radiant Inc.

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A few machines are stunningly beautiful. Some because of their function. Some because of their scale. Some because of their materiality. Some because of their purity of design.

The physics-sun solar laser in Uzbekistan is one of those beautiful machines. The 40 meter tall machine uses 62 large individually controllable mirrors arrayed in a concave shape to collect radiant solar energy. Each mirror tracks the sun’s path through the sky to create a predictable and sustained level of energy. Temperatures at the center of the eight story collection tower reach approximately 3000°C and surpass 1 million watts of radiant energy. The high temperatures make possible a wide variety of scientific experiments, especially those related to material science.

The physics-sun is located at a very high altitude in the Tian-Shan mountains some 45 km outside of the city of Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The air at that altitude is clear and clear of many particulates that are present at lower altitudes. Photons also pass through a thinner layer of atmosphere to get to this point so are more plentiful. Development of the device was a collaboration between the Uzbek Academy of Science Institute of Materials Science and the Institute of Nuclear Physics.

Interestingly, designers of the physics-sun project predict that its development will help solve problems related to building earth orbiting solar power collector stations. Cost prohibitive at this point, orbiting solar stations could one day supply a limitless amount of energy and it is hoped that building this machine here on earth will inform design of future solar collectors elsewhere. It should be noted that, in space, solar radiant energy is between 1.5-2 times stronger than anywhere on earth.

Designers have always looked to machines for inspiration or at least allowed technology and material development to affect the expression of architectural vision. I don’t want to suggest that the Physics-Sun can be translated into an occupied space, but the clarity of purpose, the simple materiality, the dependence on and amplification of natural elements all describe philosophies I value in building design. Maybe there is something sustainable designers can learn from a high powered solar laser in a remote mountain village of Uzbekistan.

Via Ecotecnologia. For more information please visit the original article.

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ECOTECT software is designed to aid in the simulation, analysis and optimization of high performance buildings and systems. It is especially useful in the design and delivery of sustainable ‘green’ projects because it allows architects and engineers to test, evaluate and respond to a variety of strategies. The design and performance analysis tools also take advantage of cutting edge 3D spatial models to help users visualize simulation output, smoothing the translation of simulation results into the project design. Using simulation software, design professionals are able to continuously study and predict how decisions will impact the performance of the building from the early phases of design through occupancy without significant investment in mockups or manual calculations. ECOTECT and other similar software have the potential to revolutionize the building industry by giving architects and engineers the power to use performance based criteria in the design of projects.

ECOTECT was originally created by Square One Research Ltd and Dr. Andrew J Marsh based on the Isle of Man, UK. The company, founded in 2000, “focus[ed] on promoting and supporting the development of leading-edge simulation and analysis software solutions [through] software development, on-line educational resources and research publications.” Just recently, highlighting growing importance of sustainable building design, ECOTECT was (28 June 2008) purchased by software giant Autodesk, presumably for integration into the BIM suite of building design products. (Interestingly, GreenBuildingStudio (GBS) was also purchased around the same time by Autodesk)

It is important to note that the program was ‘written and developed’ by architects and engineers for the purpose of aiding the design process. The interface and setup of tools as well as workflow within the software should be more intuitive to architects than other DOE2 etc building performance simulation software packages. The software can be categorized into modeling, visualization and analysis components and applied in combination to generate analytical data on building properties. Featured design analysis tools include: shadows and reflections, shading design, solar analysis, lighting design, right-to-light, acoustic analysis, thermal analysis, ventilation & air flow, building regulations, and resource management.

In my opinion, the biggest strength of the software is the way it helps users visualize very complex simulation data. As a user of EnergyPlus, Energy-10, eQuest and GBS I am fully cognizant of the output from DOE2 and other simulation packages. My old professor Khee Poh Lamm, professor at Carnegie-Mellon’s Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics, reminded me regularly that a data output file tells a designer nothing about the performance of a building. Lots of analysis still needs to be done to edit out the relevant information and produce a report. In ECOTECT, data is presented as gradient color or grayscale layers on top of 3D building geometry. Models can be rendered in a number of ways and from different vantage points. The advanced graphical interface culls extraneous information and shows the user the information that is needed to evaluate a particular condition. It is this ability, to easily relate complex performance data to a broad group of designers, which makes the ECOTECT software so unique.

Ease of use (and current users of DOE2 software will likely agree) is a major obstacle in the adoption of simulation software. I applaud the creation of software that accommodates the design process as well as the strengths of architects and engineers, creating a truly accessible resource for information from which to design buildings.

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Problem

Ivanhoe Reservoir (Los Angeles, California) has a problem. Bright sunlight, chlorine and natural bromides combined together to form the carcinogen bromate and now Ivanhoe Reservoir is contaminated. The only way to effectively remove the chemical is to drain the entire body of water and clean the bottom surface to remove all the bromate. In the meantime, the Department of Water Protection has mandated that all reservoirs be covered and have planned for the entire reservoir to be relocated underground near Forest Lawn Cemetery. That will solve the issue of sunlight aiding the generation of bromate, but what happens in the four to six years while the new reservoir is being built? There will always be natural bromides present in groundwater, chlorine is added and sunlight, well this is southern California, sunshine is a given. How can a reservoir be shaded?

Solution

The solution is amazing, ingenious and alarming. The Department of Water Protection calls for 3 million black ‘bird balls’ to be dumped in to the reservoir to shade the water! The black balls are non-toxic and UVA-stable meaning that they will not degrade in sunlight or release additional chemicals into the water supply. At a cost of around $2 million each ball works out to 34 cents each and is shipped all the way from Allentown, Pennsylvania. The order is so large in fact that the manufacturer, Orange Products, has dedicated itself to solely producing the required balls for Ivanhoe Reservoir.

Bird Balls

‘Bird balls’ are in fact common in industrial settings. Leach ponds at manufacturing facilities, farms or refineries are required to prevent waterfowl fatalities. The most common solution is to use netting to keep the birds out, but that still allows them to be fooled into trying to land. Bird balls on the other hand cover the entire surface of the (fill in the blank - acid, pollution, industrial waste) so birds are not attracted and cannot land anyway. An added benefit is that the bird balls also prevent ‘liquid loss through evaporation.’ Bird balls do not blow away in mild winds and ‘water filled’ is an option in case of high wind situations

No sunlight. No bromate. No problem, right? The only ones not pleased appear to be nearby neighbors and of course any waterfowl looking for a nice place to rest.

Question?

I will completely avoid the issue of water resource depletion and diversion of the natural water cycle. Those issues are too large and complex to be presented in this post.

What I would like to point out is that the problems at the Ivanhoe Reservoir are artificial. The original builders created a lake where none existed before, a concrete basin built from the sludge hydraulically pumped from the bottom of the canyon (by coincidence, this technology was studied and adapted for use in the building of the Panama Canal). Nature had not put enough potable water in the city so we made our own. Then when this artificial lake failed to keep our water clean we introduced a chemical, chlorine, to help do the job natural ecosystems have perfected over millions of years. Unforeseen elements conspired against us an bromate was created. Now, we are designing our way out of another problem by placing 3 million black plastic balls on a lake.

It has to be said, the Ivanhoe Reservoir is no doubt a success overall. It has given Los Angelinos safe water for a hundred years. The few problems with the reservoir have been dealt with effectively. But isn’t there a message hidden somewhere in these fantastic photos of bird balls being dumped onto a lake. There must be a point where technology and ingenuity get evaluated not only on the basis of effectiveness at the present, but sustainability in the future. Shouldn’t our architectural manifestations exist benignly in both the present and the future?

The photos illustrate to me an arrogance, a disregard and lack of understanding for the subtleties of our environment. I for one hope that designers and problem solvers around the world start to see the world a little differently, connected, and find solutions that respect the environment, economy and society equally. Past. Present. And Future.

For more information read the original article in the LATimes or at LACurbed.

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The following film, produced by the Vulcan-Project, superimposes carbon dioxide emissions onto a map of the United States and animates them over time. It is fascinating to see the areas where carbon dioxide is produced and have a short description of their source. Watching the emissions over time, especially the implications shown for daytime vs nighttime production and emission are startling to see. I for one would love to see such an analysis done globally. Information is power and it empowers citizens to see truths obscured by misinformation. I will leave any judgement to you as to whether or not this is affecting our global climate.

Here is a description of the Vulcan Project from the official website:

“The Vulcan-Project is a NASA/DOE funded effort under the North American Carbon Program (NACP)to quantify North American fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions at space and time scales much finer than has been achieved in the past. The purpose is to aid in quantification of the North American carbon budget, to support inverse estimation of carbon sources and sinks, and to support the demands posed by the launch of the Orbital Carbon Observatory (OCO)scheduled for 2008/2009. The detail and scope of the Vulcan CO2 inventory has also made it a valuable tool for policymakers, demographers and social scientists.”

via the always informative Jordnara.

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Process

Absorption chillers use the process of evaporation, instead of Charles’ Law (as in the case of compressor driven systems), to generate coolth. The process uses a heat source, a tubing and container system, three substances (ammonia, hydrogen gas, and water) and goes something like this (described below is a ’small ammonia’ refrigeration cycle - for reference):

• First - In the Evaporator, liquefied anhydrous (containing no water) ammonia enters a chamber filled with gaseous hydrogen. Hydrogen takes up space so the rest of the system stays pressurized, but per Dalton’s Law the ammonia acts as though the pressure was decreased, and begins to boil. As the ammonia boils it absorbs heat and produces the coolth required by the chiller.
• Second - The Absorber mixes water and the hydrogen/ammonia gases and the ammonia condenses into the water (hydrogen and water do not mix). Once the mixture reaches the bottom of the cascade of tubes the ammonia and water are thoroughly mixed and the hydrogen is free to circulate back to the evaporator .
• Third - The Generator separates the water and ammonia by using the heat source to boil out the ammonia! Ammonia gas/water bubbles are generated and a Separator removes the water bubble from the gas it contains.
• Fourth - A Condenser, or heat sink, removes excess heat from the system and brings the ammonia back down to room temperature.

Above is a reference diagram to help explain the process:

For more information please visit the original Wikipedia article.

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