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Evaluating Direct Energy Savings and Market Transformation Effects: A Decade of Technical Design Assistance in the Northwestern USA

Van Den Wymelenberg, Kevin; Brown, G. Z.; Burpee, Heather; Djunaedy, Ery; Gladics, Gunnar; Kline, Jeff; Loveland, Joel; Meek, Christopher; Thimmanna, Harshana. (2013). Evaluating Direct Energy Savings and Market Transformation Effects: A Decade of Technical Design Assistance in the Northwestern USA. Energy Policy, 52, 342 – 353.

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Abstract

This paper documents the direct energy savings and energy efficiency market transformation impacts of a multi-state design assistance program in the northwestern US. The paper addresses four specific aims. (1) It provides a conservative and justified estimate of the direct energy savings associated with design assistance activities of a market transformation program from 2001 to 2010. (2) It provides a rigorous methodology to evaluate direct energy savings associated with design assistance market transformation programs. (3) It provides a low-cost replicable method to predict energy savings in new buildings by evaluating the integrated design process. (4) It provides quantitative indicators useful for estimating indirect energy savings from market transformation. Applying the recommended analysis method and assuming a 12-year measure life, the direct energy savings of the population (626 buildings; 51,262,000 ft(2)) is estimated as 453 aMW (average megawatts) (electric), and 265,738.089 therms (non-electric). If the entire program budget were divided into the electric savings only, the Lab Network cost per kWh saved ranged from $0.0016 to $0.003 using the recommended method and $0.0092/kWh using the most conservative method. These figures do not isolate contextual influences or represent total resource cost. Statistically significant correlations (r(2)=0.1-0.3) between integrated design scores and energy savings are reported. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Programs; Sweden; Energy Efficiency; Market Transformation; Evaluation

Syncing with the Sky: Daylight-Driven Circadian Lighting Design

Altenberg Vaz, Nathan; Inanici, Mehlika. (2021). Syncing with the Sky: Daylight-Driven Circadian Lighting Design. Leukos, 17(3), 291 – 309.

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Abstract

The use of daylight in the built environment is often preferred to artificial light sources as its successful application can provide visual comfort and satisfaction along with the potential for significant energy savings. Exposure to daylight is also the primary source for stimulus that establishes a healthy day/night cycle in all living organisms. This is known as circadian rhythm. Newly discovered photoreceptors (intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells - ipRGC) within the mammalian eye, including humans, are specifically linked to the portion of the brain responsible for maintaining a healthy circadian rhythm. This discovery has led to a new subject area in the field of lighting design focused on controlling the spectrum of light that these photoreceptors are sensitive to. Currently, work in the field of circadian lighting design is concentrated on the use of artificial light sources for circadian stimulus. This is largely due to the advent of the widespread use of LED technology, which has proven that it can be a significant source of light that can delay or advance the circadian clock. The use of daylight to provide circadian stimulus has been a given in this field of design, however, there has not been very much research into how the built environment affects our ability to effectively receive this stimulus from daylight. In this research, the groundwork is established to start to create a set of guidelines to help architects and designers maximize the potential for daylight to provide circadian stimulus at the earliest stages of a project. This is accomplished through a series of lighting simulations that explore and test various architectural parameters that affect daylight-driven circadian lighting, with simultaneous consideration given to photopic lighting availability and visual comfort. The architectural parameters tested in this study included window head height, building orientation, shading devices, visual obstructions to the sky, and room depth. The results show that informed design decisions could maximize circadian potential in a given space, while achieving visually satisfactory luminous environments.

Keywords

Action Spectrum; Melanopsin; Environments; Sensitivity; Framework; Stimulus; Rod; Circadian Lighting; Daylight; Lighting Simulation; Alfa

Comparative Analysis of Hospital Energy Use: Pacific Northwest and Scandinavia

Burpee, Heather; McDade, Erin. (2014). Comparative Analysis of Hospital Energy Use: Pacific Northwest and Scandinavia. Health Environments Research & Design Journal (HERD) (Vendome Group LLC), 8(1), 20 – 44.

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to establish the potential for significant energy reduction in hospitals in the United States by providing evidence of Scandinavian operational precedents with high Interior Environmental Quality (IEQ) and substantially lower energy profiles than comparable U.S. facilities. These facilities set important precedents for design teams seeking operational examples for achieving aggressive energy and interior environmental quality goals. This examination of operational hospitals is intended to offer hospital owners, designers, and building managers a strong case and concrete framework for strategies to achieve exceptionally high performing buildings. BACKGROUND: Energy efficient hospitals have the potential to significantly impact the U.S.'s overall energy profile, and key stakeholders in the hospital industry need specific, operationally grounded precedents in order to successfully implement informed energy reduction strategies. This study is an outgrowth of previous research evaluating high quality, low energy hospitals that serve as examples for new high performance hospital design, construction, and operation. Through extensive interviews, numerous site visits, the development of case studies, and data collection, this team has established thorough qualitative and quantitative analyses of several contemporary hospitals in Scandinavia and the Pacific Northwest. Many Scandinavian hospitals demonstrate a low energy profile, and when analyzed in comparison with U.S. hospitals, such Scandinavian precedents help define the framework required to make significant changes in the U.S. hospital building industry. METHODS: Eight hospitals, four Scandinavian and four Pacific Northwest, were quantitatively compared using the Environmental Protection Agency's Portfolio Manager, allowing researchers to answer specific questions about the impact of energy source and architectural and mechanical strategies on energy efficiency in operational hospitals. RESULTS: Specific architectural, mechanical, and plant systems make these Scandinavian hospitals more energy efficient than their Pacific Northwest counterparts. More importantly, synergistic systems integration allows for their significant reductions in energy consumption. CONCLUSIONS: This quantitative comparison of operational Scandinavian and Pacific Northwest hospitals resulted in compelling evidence of the potential for deep energy savings in the U.S., and allowed researchers to outline specific strategies for achieving such reductions.

Keywords

Environmental Quality; Energy Consumption; Health Facility Design & Construction; Comparative Studies; Energy Consumption In Hospitals; Pacific Northwest; Scandinavia; Built Environment; Case Study; Design Process; Healthcare Facility Design; Hospital; Post Occupancy

Embodied Carbon as a Proxy for the Environmental Impact of Earthquake Damage Repair

Simonen, K.; Huang, M.; Aicher, C.; Morris, P. (2018). Embodied Carbon as a Proxy for the Environmental Impact of Earthquake Damage Repair. Energy And Buildings, 164, 131 – 139.

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Abstract

In evaluating the life cycle environmental impacts of buildings, the contributions of seismic damage are rarely considered. In order to enable a more comprehensive assessment of a building's environmental impact by accounting for seismic events, this project developed an environmental impact database of building component seismic damage - the largest of its kind known to date - by combining data from Carnegie Mellon University's Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) database with cost estimates of repair previously developed for FEMA's Performance Assessment Calculation Tool (PACT), a software that models probabilistic seismic damage in buildings. Fifteen indicators of environmental impacts were calculated for the repair of approximately 800 building components for up to five levels of seismic damage, capturing 'embodied' impacts related to cradle-to-gate manufacturing of building materials, products, and equipment. Analysis of the data revealed that non-structural and architectural finishes often dominated the environmental impacts of seismic damage per dollar spent in repair. A statistical analysis was performed on the data using Principal Component Analysis, confirming that embodied carbon, a popular metric for evaluating environmental impacts in building LCAs, is a suitable proxy for other relevant environmental impact metrics when assessing the impact of repairing earthquake damage of buildings. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Life-cycle Assessment; Input-output; Buildings; Life Cycle Assessment; Seismic Analysis; Performance-based Design; Economic Input-output; Principal Component Analysis; Energy And Climate Change; Architectural Engineering; Carbon; Carbon Cycle; Earthquake Damage; Earthquakes; Environmental Impact; Environmental Management; Databases; Finishes; Environmental Assessment; Building Components; Construction Materials; Life Cycle Engineering; Life Cycle Analysis; Data Bases; Damage Assessment; Aseismic Buildings; Statistical Analysis; Equipment Costs; Cost Estimates; Data Processing; Data Analysis; Seismic Activity; Cost Analysis; Principal Components Analysis; Performance Assessment; Life Cycles; Repair; Impact Damage; Building Materials; Economic Analysis; Software

Architecture During Wartime: The Mostra d’Oltremare and Esposizione Universale di Roma

McLaren, Brian L. (2014). Architecture During Wartime: The Mostra d’Oltremare and Esposizione Universale di Roma. Architectural Theory Review, 19(3), 299 – 318.

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Abstract

This paper examines the architecture and planning of the Mostra d'Oltremare in Naplesa national display of colonial expansion that opened in May 1940and the Esposizione Universale di Romaan Olympics of Civilization that was proposed for 1942. These two major exhibitions will be studied in relation to Italy's violent and racially motivated Imperial politics. In the first case, it will closely examine the Villaggi indigeni (Indigenous village) of Italian East Africa, a scientific re-enactment of native constructions that became a space of violence and political confinement. In the second, it will study the Villaggio operaio (Workers' village), which, just like the larger exhibition grounds, was transformed into a site of military conflict during the war period.

Jack Christiansen’s Cylindrical Concrete Shells

Sprague, Tyler S. (2018). Jack Christiansen’s Cylindrical Concrete Shells. Journal Of The International Association For Shell And Spatial Structures, 59(2), 131 – 140.

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Abstract

This article examines the early thin shell concrete designs of the structural engineer Jack Christiansen (1927-2017), a 2016 recipient of the Eduardo Torroja Medal. With no proper training in shell behavior, Christiansen started his career designing cylindrical concrete shells based on the 1952 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Manual 31. This manual, and its approach to solving indeterminate behavior, both directed Christiansen's early design and provided a framework for significant creative work outside its bounds. His designs of long, spanning shells and short, arching shells (between 1954 and 1958) were adapted to a variety of architectural spaces, utilizing emerging structural methods like prestressing. These designs constitute the first era of Christiansen's career, and set the stage for more varied shell geometries to come.

Keywords

Historic Structures; Concrete Shells; Cylindrical Shells; Modernism; Indeterminate Analysis Methods

Biophilic Photobiological Adaptive Envelopes for Sub-Arctic Buildings: Exploring Impacts of Window Sizes and Shading Panels’ Color, Reflectance, and Configuration

Parsaee, Mojtaba; Demers, Claude M. H.; Potvin, Andre; Lalonde, Jean-Francois; Inanici, Mehlika; Hebert, Marc. (2021). Biophilic Photobiological Adaptive Envelopes for Sub-Arctic Buildings: Exploring Impacts of Window Sizes and Shading Panels’ Color, Reflectance, and Configuration. Solar Energy, 220, 802 – 827.

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Abstract

Northern building envelopes must provide efficient indoor-outdoor connections based on photobiologicalpsychological needs of occupants for positive relationships with the sub-Arctic nature, particularly daylighting and day/night cycles. Envelope configurations of Northern Canada's buildings have not yet considered such requirements. Potentials of adaptive systems are also still limited. This research develops a fundamental model of adaptive multi-skin envelopes for sub-Arctic buildings based on main biophilic and photobiological indicators which characterize efficient indoor-outdoor connections. Biophilic indicators characterize the state of connections among occupants and outdoors which could stimulate biological-psychological responses. Photobiological indicators determine human-centric lighting adaptation scenarios for hourly lighting qualities and sufficient darkness in relation to local day/night cycles and daylighting. Biophilic performance of the proposed envelope was evaluated through 18 numerical models in terms of impacts of window and shading sizes on occupants' field of views. Photobiological lighting performance was evaluated by experimental methods using 23 physical models at 1:10 scale. Surface characteristics of dynamic shading panels, including color, reflectance, orientation, and inclination, were studied for potential photobiological impacts in terms of melanopic/photopic ratios and color temperatures. Results show that the proposed envelope could (i) offer acceptable direct visual connections with the outdoor nature through efficient window sizes for biophilia, and (ii) modify daylighting qualities to address hourly/seasonal photobiological needs of sub-Arctic occupants. Challenges of the proposed envelope to implement under sub-Arctic climatic conditions are underlined especially in terms of energy issues. The research outcomes help architects and decision-makers to improve occupants' wellbeing and healthy buildings in subArctic climates.

Keywords

Window Shades; Building Envelopes; Reflectance; Color Temperature; Daylighting; Building-integrated Photovoltaic Systems; Daylight; Outdoor Living Spaces; Canada; Adaptive Envelope; Arctic Climate; Biophilic Design; Healthy Building; Photobiological Lighting; Light; Exposure; Stress; Design; Architecture; Sensitivity; Illuminance; Environment; Melatonin; Recovery; Surface Properties; Performance Evaluation; Indicators; Polar Environments; Lighting; Shading; Darkness; Decision Making; Envelopes; Configurations; Buildings; Color; Adaptive Systems; Climatic Conditions; Numerical Models; Mathematical Models; Panels; Night; Climate; Orientation; Arctic Region

[Re]Evaluating Significance: The Environmental and Cultural Value in Older and Historic Buildings

Merlino, Kathryn Rogers. (2014). [Re]Evaluating Significance: The Environmental and Cultural Value in Older and Historic Buildings. Public Historian, 36(3), 70 – 85.

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Abstract

Traditionally the value of a building is measured through the historical, cultural, or architectural significance that has emerged from the established traditions of historic preservation policy in the United States. Although the designation of historic properties is a critical venue to save our most historically significant buildings, it does not account for those that fall outside of the established categories of significance. Accounting for the environmental value of buildings and understanding them as repositories of energy and materials repositions the way we value of the built environment for a more sustainable future.

Keywords

Adaptive Reuse; Historic Preservation; Sustainability; Cultural Preservation; Building Reuse