SDN603 Sustainable Systems Projects

It seems appropriate that the first time I've had time to post about my projects for this class are a few hours after I completed my final project. That's just an idea of how demanding the coursework has been. Anyhow, my SDN603 Sustainable Systems Class, taught by two engineers, Shannon and Rob and from In-Posse, has been very intense. The course load has been an in-depth review of mechanical, water, electrical, and HVAC systems - How they integrate into a well-designed building, and how to make efficient improvements. It's a deluge of information, but I love the class. It's definitely the most valuable one thus far in the MSSD program. Here's a rundown of the things we've covered:

1. Case Studies
2. Daylighting
3. eQuest Energy Modeling (HVAC Analysis)
   
4. Sizing A Photovoltaic System
5. Water Budgets and Rainwater Harvesting
6. Final Design Project

Read on to learn about each of these in depth.

1. Case Studies
We kicked off the semester by doing individual case studies from past AIA top ten green projects list. I was assigned the Chartwell School in Seaside, CA. From AIA: "The shared vision for the new Chartwell School campus was to create an exceptional, high-performance learning environment for children with learning differences, including dyslexia."
Read my case study here

2. Daylighting

Working with a partner in class, we used shoeboxes to demonstrate successful daylighting strategies. The goal was to design a quality daylight strategy for a room that will allow the space to used all day light with minimal electric lighting. You can find the min and max sun angles over the course of the year via Ecotect's Solar tool. We modeled different options in Sketchup, ran scenarios, and then converted these into a physical shoebox model. Then the class use the Heliodon in the studio to test the models.

3. eQuest Energy Modeling (HVAC Analysis)
Coming soon

4. Sizing A Photovoltaic System
From assignment: The Camden Friends Community is planning to build another new building. Inspired by the results of their most recent building, they would like to install a photovoltaic system in order to try to minimize their dependence on the electric grid. We were given parameters of the building and then had to determine the energy usage.

You can determine the number of panels needed with this calculation:

# of panels = Total kWh x 1000/ (Panel wattage x Daily Peak Sun Hours x 365 days per year x system losses)

5. Water Budgets and Rainwater Harvesting

Using the water use guidelines in the LEED-BD+C Reference Manual, the assignment asked us to calculate the LEED baseline water budget for a sample project, then calculate a design case
water budget and determine the percentage of water savings. Take a look at my water budget calculations

6. Final Design Project

For our final design project, we were paired into teams, then had to utilize our understanding of site, program and climatic issues and challenges to develop a new project on a new site. My partner and I were given a Continuing Care Retirement Home Facility in Buffalo, NY.

Our design had to address Climate of the building location, Site constraints, Architectural response, Passive HVAC, Active HVAC, Daylighting, Electric lighting, Water usage, and Occupant behavior. Additionally, we did calculations in eQuest on the design with EEM improvements, sizing a Grey-water system, and amount of renewable energy that is possible to generate. You can view my presentation here.