Anthony Overview
Replace this text with your reflections on your design journey through class from a higher level and share your insights about the entire experience. What were:
Acknowledgements
Exterior Rendering
Atrium Space
South-west Facade
Atrium Space
Southeast Facade
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my faculty, Professor Glenn Katz, Teaching Assistants: Mr. Daniel Traver and Ms. Carrie Tam, colleagues in the civil and structural engineering department at my place of work for their continuous support of my progress in building information modelling in the Built Environment, and their patience, motivation, and immense knowledge. Their guidance has helped me throughout my research and final design brief.
Introduction
"People really think designing is super-sacred and is like something apart from technology. It’s all a little silly. We should not look design and technology as separate. And we must never forget what design and architecture is about. It is about creating functional, livable, affordable, safe, sustainable design. It is not about using the most fancy tools or doing high efficiency productive design. But these two sum up and have cumulative benefits.”
Randy Deutsch FAIA, Clinical Associate Professor (2021)
Key/Essential/Unique Design Features
System Design: Build Envelop Systems
In this module, I learned how the building envelope systems act as a structure's outer layer, or skin, dividing the inside from the outside - providing a variety of benefits, including as acoustic performance, moisture control, weather protection, and thermal insulation.
These are three main aspects of my build envelop: the curtain wall, the cavity wall and the rainscreen.
Cavity Walls
Considering around 9% of heat lost in a building is through the fabric of the walls. Improving insulation here is particularly cost-effective in cavity walls, thus its use on the Northside, allowing water to follow without going into the building. Some of the other benefits were Moisture Management to control of moisture and avoid moisture buildup and possible structural damage.
Thermal Insulation: As a thermal break, the air space inside the hollow insulates against heat transfer. By lowering heating and cooling expenses and increasing energy efficiency, this helps control the temperature within the structure, resulting in an increased R value.
Structural Stability: Compared to solid walls, cavity walls provide more structural stability and resistance to problems caused by moisture. Wythe separation minimizes the possibility of breaking and damage from expansion, contraction, or settling by allowing for distinct movement between the inner and outer layers.
Sound Insulation: Acoustic insulation is another benefit of the air gap inside the hollow; it lessens sound waves entering the building from the outside and returning the other way, this enhanced occupant privacy and comfort.
Fire Resistance: Cavity walls can provide better fire protection than solid walls. In the event of a fire, the air gap in the cavity helps stop heat and flames from spreading from one side of the wall to the other, giving residents more time to flee and firemen more time to arrive.
I further learned for cavity walls to be effective and long-lasting, proper design and construction techniques must be followed, including the placement of weep holes, insulation, and cavity barriers.
Eastside and Westside: Curtain walls
Used curtain walls because of its lightweight, prefabricated panels ideal for non-structural building facade to cover the southside of the building's including its outside. My curtain walls are fixed to the building's frame, transferring its weight and wind loads to the structure, in contrast to conventional load-bearing walls, which sustain the weight of the structure.
Triple pane glass was used for windows, storefront. For cladding materials, we had insulated metal panels. My goal was to let natural light into the building and gives occupants vistas of their surroundings. To regulate solar heat gain, glare, and energy efficiency, glass panels I used are clear, tinted, reflective, and low-emissivity (low-e) coatings.
Thermal Breaks: Insulating materials are put between the inner and outer layers of aluminum frames to create thermal breaks, which can enhance energy efficiency and curtain wall performance. By minimizing heat transfer through the curtain wall system, thermal breaks help lower heating and cooling loads and enhance occupant comfort.
Building integrated PV– or BIPV - The PV modules can be integrated in place of façade material on the southside of the building. PV materials was effectively integrated into building components such as windows and walls, shingles. The concept of operation is straightforward. If there is insufficient power from the array to meet the loads, additional power is imported from the grid and if there is an excess of power from the array, that excess is exported.
System Design: Structural Systems
Considering I needed enough spacing, Girdles were utilized and spanned more distance to allow for more open spaces. My design strategy was to have columns connected by girdles and beams connecting the girdles. My goal was to utilize Low VOC materials and low embodies material and this was achieved with Low carbon concrete and utilization recycled steel.
- Aim- To design an elegant and functional building/hub that exemplifies sustainable building practices and outstanding building performance, thus the name “SustainaHub Attache”.
Big Successes
Project Brief Objective
Aim- To design an elegant and functional building/hub that exemplifies sustainable building practices and outstanding building performance, thus the name “SustainaHub Attaché” Exhibition Center.
This objective also encompasses an elegant and commercial building that exemplifies sustainable building practices and provides a focal point for green building enthusiasts in and around New York city to explore and learn about sustainability in the built environment. The building also features, art gallery, conference exhibition space, education classroom, open roof top relaxation area, private offices, collaboration areas, resources for sustainability practitioners to students to explore various possibilities and features in the green building ecosystem. The building is used as an interface to integrate other systems that was covered throughout the quarter. Evidently my schematic conceptual design started off as an exploratory design and evolved as the course progressed. The building model tools such as Autodesk, Revit, Insight, Forma offered numerous benefits beyond just the technical aspects of building design. We were provided with a sample building template that was preloaded with the terrain and location with the total floor area budget. This helped enhance my collaboration by improving communication, coordination, and decision-making through the project lifecycle.
Other successes included meeting my Performance-Based Design Strategies to Meet Project Goals, & Targets
Goals [Sustainable, Constructable, Operable, Useable] ● [ Operable]: Improve the performance and energy efficiency of building; reduce energy consumption. ● [Useable] Improve Visual Impact ensuring compatibility to other buildings. ● [Buildable & Sustainable] - Use of sustainable materials, via creative use of Green Building Materials. Target Goals ● Optimize building energy performance by 35%. ● Sizes of PV appropriately aligned by 40% with building materials of adjacent buildings such as limestone, ensuring that selected material elements complements other building structure. ● 50% environmentally preferable materials.
Furthermore, I utilized Performance-Based Design Strategies approaches in meeting Project Goals, & Targets. For instance in keeping with my goals, measure, targets, strategies including frameworks and guidelines from LEED v4, Architecture 2030, (ASHRAE) Standards 55.1 (Thermal Comfort Envelop), 90.1 (Energy efficient design for buildings), 189 (Ventilations for indoor Air Quality and 62.1 (Building Envelope) to mention a few: The following were crucial campaigns and system integrations I had to think about: Energy Efficiency (High-Performance HVAC Systems, Sun hours and Daylighting etcetera).
From a Sustainability context, I had to consider climate, solar exposure, prevailing winds, and microclimate considerations utilizing Forma and insight while assessing the site's environmental context – with the attempts to utilize passive design techniques, and other ways to maximize building performance while reducing environmental effect. Analysis of sun hours provided details on how long and how much solar radiation is received by various areas of my proposed structures throughout the course of the day with the study showing sun hours data as color-coded maps or diagrams, where regions that receive more sun exposure are shown as warmer hues (like red or orange) and regions that receive less sun exposure are shown as cooler hues (like blue or green). While analysis of daylight potential evaluated how natural light is distributed and available in a building's interior areas. Analyzing daylight potential help in assessing how well certain building design techniques—like window placement, glazing characteristics, and shading devices—perform in terms of increasing daylight penetration, limiting glare, and lowering the demand for artificial lighting.
System Design: Structural Systems
Considering I needed enough spacing, Girdles were utilized and spanned more distance to allow for more open spaces. My design strategy was to have columns connected by girdles and beams connecting the girdles. My goal was to utilize Low VOC materials and low embodies material and this was achieved with Low carbon concrete and utilization recycled steel.
System Design: HVAC Systems
I learned how to develop an effective HVAC system design strategy which involved careful planning, design, and implementation to ensure optimal indoor comfort, energy efficiency, and environmental sustainability per my design goals. Here are key components of an HVAC system strategy:
Deployed one air handling unit (AHU) per floor and each floor has 3 zones. This system design that I developed was also scaled suitably to satisfy the unique requirements of various building areas or zones. Optimized the building's ducting arrangement, airflow patterns, and air distribution to guarantee consistent comfort levels and thermal balance. For optimal HVAC operation, performance monitoring, and setting adjustments depending on occupancy, temperature, humidity, and other parameters, integrate modern controls and automation systems.
Assessment Requirement: Determine the building's exact needs for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning by carefully analyzing its dimensions, occupancy, usage trends, temperature, and indoor air quality requirements and standards.
Energy Efficiency: Set energy efficiency as a top priority to save operational expenses and energy use while lessening impact on the environment. Ensure all AHU systems were ENERGY STAR rated. Heat Pumps were deployed to extract heat from outdoor air or the ground and transfer it indoors for heating.
Overall, I aim to create an exhibition center has a healthy, comfortable, and productive indoor environments while reducing their impact on the environment and operating costs by implementing a comprehensive HVAC system strategy that incorporates energy efficiency, indoor air quality, sustainability, and lifecycle management principles.
System Design: Plumbing Systems
Over design strategy to meet the low flow fixtures was to have Metered water-efficient plumbing fixtures and utilization of grey water as well as inclusion of rainwater harvesting system.
System Design: Power & Lighting Systems
Power system elements
Design Strategy: Locating receptacles 12 feet off center apart from each receptacle and connecting them to the panels by clustering them and had in a separate panel. For instance, loosely couple the art gallery zone connected to one panel and conference/exhibition space to another panel. With regards to, ceiling using a 2*2 for office space when they need connectivity.
Design Strategy for lighting: Recognizing balance and tradeoff of quantity (lume output, design (delivery of light), maintenance versus quality (light color, minimizing glare not least ability to distinguish colors). My strategy included electing linear due to the perimeter of the room such as the art gallery and recess lights whilst other programmed spaces on level 1 had 2*2 plain recess down lighting.
System Design: Space Planning & Building Layout
During the critical schematic design stage of the architectural design process, I learned in this module the basic concepts created in the conceptual design stage which helped determine the general spatial structure, functioning, and circulation patterns of the building. I better understood from courseware program space planning and building layout and how to keep the following important factors during schematic design:
With program analysis, though I have a few iterations on this from inception to my final space planning and building layout, I thoroughly examined the building's functional requirements and spatial requirements. Recognize the programmatic components, including the quantity and kinds of rooms, their sizes, the needs for adjacency, and the circulation patterns. I further examined the connections between various programmatic spaces and features to ascertain the best way to place them inside the building whilst factoring and considering elements like flow between spaces, privacy, proximity, connectivity, and access [egress]. The efficiency and functionality of the building made me create areas that were sensitive to the demands of building occupants and that are both efficient and functional. My goal from the onset was always to build a robust, yet flexibility building allowing for changes in the future. I achieved these by executing the following measures:
- Reduce circulation space and increase usable floor area by optimizing the layout.
- Adhering to best practices by clearly zoning and segregating places according uses and activities. Such as dividing public, semipublic, and private areas to improve building user’s comfort, security, and privacy.
- Designing circulation routes and patterns that promote effective mobility and accessibility throughout the building thereby adhering to circulation design.
- Create a hierarchy of areas according to their significance, functions, and connections to one another by establishing focal spots, collaboration rooms to provide the building’s plan visual appeal and hierarchy. In other to optimize site use and adapt to external influences, I had to consider site conditions, orientation, terrain, setbacks, and zoning rules when designing the building layout including arranging the internal spaces of the building in relation to one another and the building envelope.
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4 (Terrance)
System Design: Access, Egress, & Circulation Systems
When it came to system for access, egress, and circulation, I learned how to account for these elements of architectural design that provide secure and effective mobility inside and outside of structures. For instance, my access systems include amenities, pathways, and access points that let people come and go from a building. Important things I had to consider where the entrances for occupants, guests, and maintenance staff easy access to locations, designing lobby areas that serve as transactional regions such as seating sections, reception desk, nourishment areas between the outside and inside spaces.
I learned how to develop egress systems that provides the emergence function to ensure building occupants may leave safely and in a systematic manner. Important factors I would consider better in the future is establishing egress routes, such as ramps, stairways, corridors, and exits, from every part of the building to the outside that adhere to the code's specifications for journey distance, breadth, capacity, and signage. Additional I would consider fire protection, to reduce the spread of fire and smoke and save residents during evacuation, incorporate fire protection measures such as fire-rated doors, fire alarms, smoke detection systems, and sprinkler system – by designing evacuation routes, steer clear of high-risk fire zones and offer detours if necessary.
Big Challenges and Lessons Learned
To be fair this was quite a journey from the inception because I had some very big goals and was struggling on how to carry them all out in a systematic way. I had a variety of discussion and watch loads of videos while reflecting what Prof Glenn remarked during the schematic design for space planning and building layout, and the system design for building cores circulation systems which was designer should adopt the idea of "Beginning with the End in Mind. This did not resonate with me till module 7: Building Envelop. Interesting enough Prof Glenn’s mantra was also captured in Randy Deutsch’s book: Superusers Design Technology Specialists and the Future of Practice (Deutsch, R., 2021).
System Design: Structural
Some challenges I encountered during the practice exercise was to improve on the final design by ensuring columns were not an obstruction considering this is an exhibition space which requires per one of my goals to have openings for unobstructed spaces.
Learning that the structural systems are the framework or skeleton of a building that gives the structure stability, support, and the ability to support weight. I further acquired the knowledge of how this system play a crucial role in moving loads from the building elements to the foundation and eventually to the ground, including gravitational, wind, and seismic forces. I used specific materials, intricacies subject to the size, purpose, location, and design specifications. For instance, my structural system's overall plan and features was determined by several variables, including the kind of building, the specifications for the design, the surrounding climate, and the materials utilized. Iron grid pattern considering egress and more open useable space. With regards to Structural Material Selection and framing system selected - My building's height, span, load-bearing capability all influence the choice of structural materials, which included steel, and other composite materials such as steel beam, columns, and girdles.
System Design: Space planning and building layout
I have gathered a lot of experience on how to arrange the structure to minimize solar heat gain, glare, and environmental effects while maximizing solar exposure, and natural ventilation. With regards to massing, I achieved the architectural expression and visual appeal, with the surrounding setting, evaluate several choices for massing and shape while balancing aesthetic considerations with practical requirements. Area I could improve is to consider is to perform a more comprehensive examination of the construction site, including landscape and terrain.
System Design: HVAC
Things I could improve on is to make sure I account for Operation and Maintenance to create a proactive maintenance schedule and maximize system longevity and performance, undertake routine sensor and control calibration, cleaning, filter changes, and inspections. Further the need to track energy consumption, key performance indicators (KPIs), and performance metrics to spot patterns, identify problems, and carry out continuous improvement projects.
System Design: Plumbing Systems
Designing plumbing systems, I encountered challenges for the practice exercise, and they are as follows:
- Systems Complexity: As you already know plumbing systems can be complex, involving various components such as pipes, fittings, fixtures, not least utilizing valves, and pumps. While modeling the pipes and fixture - the main riser (vertical) pipe and branch (horizontal) pipes in the mechanical space behind the south restroom on Level 0 for just the Sanitary system. I did not have the same issues with the domestic hot and cold-water systems.
- Coordination with Other Disciplines: Coordinating plumbing layouts with other architecture models resulting in the images above. It also helped when sanitary pipes were out of place to realign them.
- Slope and Drainage Requirements: The modeling of the sanitary pipe systems, was abit challenging at first but going from level 0 (grade) to level 1 (planned) and viewing the 3D plumbing views helped mitigate this challenge.
- Pipe Sizing and Flow Analysis: Proper sizing of pipes and conduits was considered but implementation with the caps of the Sanitary pipes had to be adjusted to cap pipe.
Upon speaking to Dan, he recommended that the error I received with the sanitary pipes from his experience typically occurred when there is a lack of necessary space to place the specified connecting fitting. He further advised that depending on how large your sanitary pipe is, there might not be either room in the riser for the diameter, or there is not room in the wall for any bend connection for the pipes. I gave it a go with his recommendation to make some more room in-wall as well sizing down the sanitary and all seem to work fine.
System Design: Power & Lighting Systems
My final design included programmable timers and occupancy/motion sensors to ensure that turning lights off saves 100% of the energy input and adhering to lighting standards & codes for lighting Power Densities
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