Electrical - While the building will use predominately public electricity, there are some features which will significantly lower its usage.- There are presently over 1,000 square feet of Photovoltaic panels on the roof which could potentially generate 10 kilowatts of electricity per year. At the current energy costs, this could translate into around $3,000 of savings per year for electricity.
- Because of the significant amount of southern exposure due to the "sawtooth" plan layout, and the fact that the building is so strongly oriented on the east-west axis, the design lends itself well to maximizing natural daylight. Couple this with the use of CO2 and Lighting sensors, and the building has the potential to be extremely efficient in terms of lighting needs.
- The use of sun visors/light shelves in so many of the spaces will maximize the use of natural daylighting.
Cooling/Ventilation
- The south facing air space that is created between the roof of one container, and the floor of the next, is an excellent opportunity to funnel natural ventilation into the building. There is a chimney space located at the core building between each of the containers which can provide an excellent way for the incoming breezes to escape.
- The hydronic heating system could also double as a cooling system.
Heating
- The heating system will be hydronic, located within the concrete slab of each floor.
- A natural gas fired condensing boiler, vented thru the north wall, will be located in a mechanical space below Level One (at the parking level) and serve to heat the building.
Systems at the Containers
- Each container will be completely finished with the necessary utility hookups and will be "docked" to the core building when installed. These are intended to become integral with the core building services once in place.
1 comment:
Peter, your systems ideas are in line with your overall idea.
I would like you to elaborate a bit on the containers: how are they hooked up (especially sewer)? Where is this infrastructure located?
A comment to day lighting: You are using the containers to show your day lighting concept. As I recall, most of the time the sun was out (=day light) you were in studio. How does day lighting work there? The organization of the desks does not allow all the day lighting to come from the exterior walls, as you are orienting desks up against the exterior (glare!). The center desks will be lit by overhead lights (!?). Could you develop a skylight in the green roof that would allow the class room to be day lit without creating a lot of glare again?
Radiant floor heating systems work with lower temperatures than hydronic baseboards or radiators. This makes them prime candidates for low temperature heat sources, such as solar collectors or geo thermal. Just a thought.
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