Construction Ecology Module 11

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Construction EcologyModule 11

• Natural metabolism as the basis for intelligent
  architecture
• Jurgen Bisch

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Outline

• Introduction
• Basic principles of the intelligence of natural
  metabolism
• Streamlining and material minimization
• Energy Efficiency
• The design process applying the principles the
  achieve efficiency
• Conclusions

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Introduction
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• Jurgen Bisch presents a very technical, nuts and
  bolts approach to green architecture in this
  module. His philosophy is oriented towards
  practical application.

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Reflections on progress

• Recent millennium Opportunities for explosive
  growth were realized through the use of fossil
  fuels and accelerated extraction of materials.
• Last 50 years Scientist began warning about the
  limits of natural resources and space.
• Authors reaction Exposure to the cause
  created a new sense of self awareness and
  responsibility to act through architecture.

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Traditional architectural inspiration

• Fundamentally, architecture is an applied art.
• Emerges from a mix of disciplines history,
  philosophy, social science, physics, chemistry,
  psychology, urbanism, and ecology.
• It evolved from (Greek antiquity) a nature
  philosophy to a split between science and
  philosophy during the Age of Rationalism.

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The rise of science and industry

• The post-metaphysical split (Habermas 1988)
• Material thinking ascended
• Natural Resources were extracted at an
  accelerated pace
• Industry developed
• Architecture focus shifted from the beauty
  oriented European style to the generic glass and
  steel international style

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Changes in public attitude Trust in Progress
Trust in Production

• The assembly line made expensive items available
  to middle class families
• Clever marketing and overproduction spurred the
  replacement of goods in the name of fashion
  before the end of their useful lifespan.
• Workers became subordinate to the machinery
  design and maintenance to fill the constant demand

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Social and Intellectual Growth
Production
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Mechanization and society

• The social/ecological dilemma we are currently
  consuming resources at an unsustainable rate.
• Friedman (1975)
• Current societies act as if material and energy
  limits are problems for future generations to
  manage.
• What we need is an operations manual for the
  spaceship earth.
• Jungk (1986)
• Populations need to think as individuals instead
  of as groups of consumers and voters to act
  responsibly

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Confronting philosophical responsibility Dont
reinvent the wheel!

• Natures process have been evolving for millions
  of years, we should not ignore the success of
  proven processes.
• Architects and engineers in Europe have already
  refined and redefined their aims to more closely
  mimic nature.
• Aim for more natural metabolic cycles recycle
  and minimize energy use.

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Confronting Responsibility And Steering
Development

• On a large scale, the Dow Jones Sustainability
  Index is showing how well environmentally and
  socially responsible companies can perform
• Dow Jones Sustainability Index

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Basic principles of the intelligence of natural
metabolism
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Applying natural metabolism to architecture in
Europe

• Applicable ideas
• Streamlining designing only the necessary
  requirements and reducing the buildings material
  impacts.
• Materials cycling following more natural
  metabolic cycles has led to the use of recycled
  items or items that can be reused or recycled.
• Minimizing use of raw materials and energy adapt
  construction and design to the regional climate
  to minimize energy use during the operational
  phase.

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Natural metabolism and society

• Using the intelligence of natural metabolism in
  architecture results in lower pricing and higher
  living quality standards
• This demonstration is a introduction into broader
  applications of ideas about efficiency and
  quality of life
• Intelligent and innovative architecture and
  engineering can create the physical examples that
  will house us more efficiently but also will feed
  our imagination and help us find the red thread
  (the enduring theme) that leads to a higher
  quality, more ecological future. (Bisch, p. 251)

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Metabolism - streamlining the design

• Use as little materials as possible through
  intelligent design of long-lasting construction
• Create simple, elegant designs that endure
  changing fashions
• Design buildings with flexible uses to make the
  building adaptable to other functions.
• The resulting buildings will be useful for
  several decades, eliminating the need for
  reconstruction

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Examples of streamlining in the design process
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Types of materials

• A materials (long-life)
• Load bearing structures, façade, electrical and
  plumbing systems, network system
• B materials (medium-life)
• Walls, carpet, suspended ceiling, etc.
• The most benefit from reduction of material use
  will come from the B materials since they will
  cycle several times during the building life.

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The activated ceiling system

• Change the traditional electronic infrastructure
  to an activated ceiling system
• Integrate ducts into the concrete ceiling
• Eliminate the need for a suspended ceiling
• Reduce the total building volume while preserving
  full occupancy space, thus, reducing the amount
  of type A material required for the structure and
  façade of the building

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Integrating additional volume into the concrete
ceiling
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Reducing the structural volume of the building by
eliminating the suspended ceiling
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Applying simple physics to create dynamic
ceilings functions

• Removal of the suspended ceilings allows the
  concrete ceiling to provide multiple functions
• The ceiling can hold conduits for plumbing,
  electronic, and fiber optic systems and ducts for
  air and water used for climate control.
• Air from the occupancy space comes in direct
  contact with the ceiling that is carrying (warm
  or cool) environmental media such as groundwater
• The thermal gradient is used to control the
  temperature of the building

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Construction of an activated ceiling
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Energy efficiency during operation
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Design using the efficiencies of past and future
centuries

• Eliminate the need to adjust indoor temperatures
  with fossil fuels or electricity
• Couple the interior air temperature to the
  buildings thermal mass through the activated
  ceiling
• Link the buildings thermal mass to the
  environmental media where the desired temperature
  naturally occurs. Examples,
• Cold groundwater during the summer
• Three-way mixer of the users heat energy and a
  warm water heating system or solar collector
  during the winter

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Controlled ventilation

• Dampening temperature variations and adding
  higher quality natural air to the interior
  without mechanical forcing.
• Temperature gradients draws air through a ground
  duct to the space between the two exterior
  facades
• This air provides a temperature buffer and can be
  drawn in to the building by opening a window

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The earth duct system coupled with the
activated ceiling
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Energy input reduction

• Proper design principles achieve interior climate
  control by using mass for support and energy
  storage, primarily with ceiling activation.
• Design for maximum efficiency by reducing
  exterior mass of building, where temperatures are
  dominated by climate. See sketch 11.1 in text.

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Selecting materials

• Aim to minimize energy and material waste by
  replacing quantity with quality and durability.
• Primarily accomplished in design phase, by
  specifying higher-quality materials and trimming
  material needs.

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Criteria for choosing sustainable materials

• Reduce material input.
• Reduce material diversity, lees chance to
  recycle.
• Choose materials that are well known, avoid
  high-tech materials.
• Maximize capacity for reconstruction with current
  materials.
• Find designs and materials that are traditional
  for the area.
• Use the Ecological Rucksack as a measure of a
  materials impact.

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Tools to measure efficiency

• Ecological Rucksack
• Measures the impact of resource use
• The factor 4 concept
• Linking quantity and quality
• Increasing efficiency by a factor of 2 will
  double wealth

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The design process applying the principles to
achieve efficiency
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Pre-design phase

• Site assessment
• Understand climate at site.
• Become familiar with environmental and aesthetic
  qualities surrounding site. Choose which should
  be preserved and/or enhanced
• Field crew should make extensive on-site
  measurements.
• Orient planning team with overall design aims.

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Table of data collected for site evaluation

• Temperature-At differing heights
• Wind-Direction and Speed
• Sun-Solar curve and constant
• Ground Water-Elevation
• Shade-Buildings and Trees
• Local Atmosphere-Air, noise pollution
• Soil Qualities

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Design phase

• Especially during the design phase, Bisch
  emphasizes the necessity of involvement by the
  stakeholders, the end users of the facility.
• Similar to Design-Build strategy.
• Design becomes a cyclical pulsing of creation
  followed by streamlining, with continuous input
  by stakeholders.
• Finally, the design phase concludes with a
  design quality check. Involves final approval
  by designers and final occupants of the proposed
  building.

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Lessons Learned

• Energy input to the building must be carefully
  controlled, usually by shading by trees and other
  foliage.
• Also, a buildings façade should shed energy, not
  store energy.
• Active shading involving blinds is also
  encouraged.

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Conclusions
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Limits and changes

• Bisch has discovered that often construction
  materials with low embodied energies are the
  traditional types of materials, and are easy to
  recycle, and whose biological influence on the
  buildings occupants is well known.
• Also, range of temperatures allowed by HVAC
  system can be expanded to reduce operating costs.

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Summary

• This design approach has very traditional basis,
  as Bisch acknowledges.
• Simpler is often better.
• Involvement of the end users or occupants
  throughout the design and construction process
  invariably results in a higher quality and more
  satisfactory end product.