Climate and Urban Approach
Analysis of the climate and urban geography of the area pointed out that, summers are to a certain extent hot and gentle, with cooling night gentle winds. The regular temperatures in July are 93° F whereas winter has an average temperature of 44° F in January. This brings cool temperatures and 17 inches rains in January. The city is outlined in a grid where tree lined streets create a shady environment. The area takes landscape and the water table is comparatively high (Louw). Given the above climatic and physical characteristics, the building was designed in a way to cut the energy required for air conditioning and artificial heating. For the period of summer heat is taken up by the immense concrete. At night, the thermal energy is flashed out by use of fans (Ryn and Cowan). In his book ‘Ecological Design', Sin Van der Ryn describes how effective it is in making natural systems the foundation for design. He argues out that the subsequent products are more effectual, less toxic, healthier, and more sustainable. He refers to this form of expression like ‘any form of design that minimizes environmentally destructive impacts’ (Ryn and Cowan).
Design
The existing plot size for Bateson was 250,000sf. This was fairly large and the architect chose to occupy the entire site and create edges that are shielded on all four sides by ample street trees.
Sim Van der Ryn employed conventional building elements that carry out numerous tasks interactively. The buildings bare concrete lattice-frame structure delivers a thermal mass that has the capability to capture, store, and release heat internally when it is cold. When it is hot the structure is expelled off heat from the cooler night air and this permits it to eng...
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...ific Coast Architecture Database (PCAD). 24 April 2014 .
Mostafa, Amira M. Low Energy Cooling in Multistory Buildings for Hot, Arid Climates. Masters. Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1989.
Nagda, Niren Laxmichand and Jerome P Harper. Design and Protocol for Monitoring Indoor Air Quality. Baltimore: ASTM, 1989.
Rogers, D. Gregory Bateson State Office Building 1600 9th Street, Sacramento CA. Results of air sampling on May 6, 2002. California, 2002.
Ryn, Sim Van Der and Stuart Cowan. Ecological Design. Washington, DC: Island Press, 1996.
Ryn, Sim Van Der . Design for Life: The Architecture of Sim Van Der Ryn. Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith Publisher, 2005.
Vischer, Jacqueline C. "Science / Medicine: Bateson Building: Engineering a Better Workplace." Los Angeles Times 28 March 1988.
The minimization of the load occurs through the site orientation of the building and the R-values of the materials used. Although the site is constrained by the historic pattern of the street and houses that are currently there, the building is still able maintain interior temperatures in the ...
A discussion on the HVAC heat loss calculations and miscellaneous supports. It was explained that the drawings showed an estimated tonnage, but the bidders were to size their units per their own calculations. The dual HVAC units as shown on the drawings represent N+1 redundancy as large VFDs are part of the building
The quality of air we intake on a daily basis is essential to our health, therefore, the EPA’s Clean Air Act provides the groundwork to support the quality of the air which we breathe. One of the goals of the Act was to set and achieve NAAQS in every state by 1975 to address the public health and welfare risks posed by certain air pollutants. The setting of these pollutant standards was coupled with directing the states to develop state implementation plans (SIPs), applicable to appropriate industrial sources in the stat...
The concept behind the new buildings for the factory was to explore options of design that focused not only on the program of the factory, but to also consider the emotional and physical needs of the labor force. While J.A. Brinkman is considered one of the designers for the Van Nelle Factory, architect L. C. van der Vlugt and Chairman Kees van der Leeuw were a stronger inf...
Air Quality Meter . (2013, November 11). Retrieved from Baton Rouge Clean Air Coalition : http://www.brcleanair.com/localinfohealth/
“Houses are machines for living in,” as Le Corbusier once said. One could say that a building is one of the largest and most used machine in existence today. So why is it that this particular type of machine is so inefficient? A new precedent for design inspiration is needed to mitigate the impact that buildings have on the environment. A machine can be defined as a device that uses energy to perform an activity. Nature, which uses solar energy, can therefore be said to be the most sustainable machine. So why not use this as a model to base building design and construction off of? Biomimicry, or the study of nature’s models which are then imitated or used for inspiration, is a process to solve design problems.
Ice based technology also known as ice storage air conditioning is the process of using ice to store energy. This method is used in order to decrease the energy usage cost by transferring the energy consumption from high ...
...ts and roofs absorb sun’s energy, thus heating up the surface of an urban city, intensifying the UHI. The Berkeley Heat Island Team concluded that lighter asphalts, or ‘cool pavements’, reflected as much as 30 to 50 percent of sun light, which is significantly higher than 5 percent of new asphalt, and 10 to 20 percent of aged asphalt, and ‘cool roofs’ decrease temperature inside and outside the building. Such ‘Cool technologies’ also seem applicable to Seoul, in renewal and development of infrastructure continues. Government schemes to reduce energy consumption, initiate plans to raise efficiency of special areas, limit cars driving, encourage riding bicycles, create urban forests and gardens, rooftop greenery, and more. There are also methods of planning routes for wind, Blue Way, by planning infrastructures, to let wind swiftly flow in to decrease the heat.
Bioclimatic design is used to define potential building design strategies ad potentials, ad to utilize natural energy flow while minimizing conventional energy use. a bioclimatic chart indicates that whenever outdoor temperature, solar heat, wind and humidity conditions fell within the
However, modern architecture has its defect about coherence with the environment. Therefore, researchers think that there might be a way that we can learn from past experience. If we can combine some elements from past under the consideration of the need of the modern age, architecture might head towards a better direction for the future. Fernandes, Dabaieh, Mateus, & Bragança (2014) accentuates in their study that "vernacular climatic solutions set an approach for improving contemporary building energy performance". Even though more intensive research is needed to adapt passive design principles to modern day, principles should be used as a guideline for contemporary urban planning (p.
Hegeman, J. (2008). The Thinking Behind Design. Master Thesis submitted to the school of design, Carngie Mellon University. Retrieved from: http://jamin.org/portfolio/thesis-paper/thinking-behind-design.pdf.
In developing this contemporary and iconic building, the design focuses on practical attributes and optimises energy efficiency. The design strategy encapsulates four key aspects:
This Sustainable Architecture began long ago with scientists brainstorming and designing a new design for an eco-home that’s liable on decreasing massive numbers of en...
Life changed immensely in the 20th century as air conditioning and refrigeration systems became more efficient and controllable. Air Conditioning and Refrigeration play important roles in providing human comfort, food processing, storage, and many other industrial processes. We chose this topic because our life would be difficult without AC and Refrigeration. This paper will talk about the history of air conditioning and refrigeration, the role of engineers in designing and building it, people’s life before and after air conditioning and refrigeration, and finally Applications in the area of achievements and future developments.
In a world where over half of the human population calls a city their home, the need to restructure and revolutionize the way we design our urban environments has never been greater. Currently, the notion that these vast metropolises of metal, concrete, and sludge could one day be fully realized pillars of sustainability is certainly laughable. However, when these same cities are constantly growing and multiplying across the globe, all the while using a greater and greater chunk of our planet’s energy, this impossible task becomes a necessary focus. To strive towards the closed, continuous loop of “true” sustainability could greatly alter the image of the modern city. Any improvement over the current state of urban affairs could carry weight, and even if that goal is not entirely fulfilled, the gained benefits would be immense.