Your Design Journal entries for this module should highlight:
- the design alternatives that you modeled and tested
- the results of the analyses and how they influenced your thinking about how to move forward
Use text , images, web links, movies... Whatever media works best to express your ideas!
For 2 or 3 units
- Create and share a Psychometric chart for your project location.
- Test 2 different alternative conceptual building forms using:
- Insight analysis to predict the energy performance each of the forms
- Solar insolation analysis to predict the solar radiation on the surfaces of the forms
- Post images of the design alternatives that you modeled and the results of the analyses
- Explain your reasoning and the tradeoffs that influenced your decision about which design option to move forward with
Site Analysis
I chose Oracle, Arizona as the site for my project because of its proximity to the Biosphere 2, a large earth systems research and education facility. As an Arizona native, I’ve been to the biosphere, and think that it is a very unique space for learning about the earth, and I though that having a sustainability focused center nearby would be an excellent complement.
Oracle, AZ is in the middle of the desert, making it a slightly remote location, the nearest city being Tucson, over 30 miles away. But I think that the desert landscaping offers many advantages in terms of solar potential, reduced heating loads, and lots of open space to work with.
The site is located at the base of mount Lemmon, but the topography is still fairly flat, so it should present minimal challenges.
Psychometric Chart
Model Alternatives
My two building designs are definitely not the final product, nd I will be designing further alternatives, but they do have some of the elements I would like to include in my final design. I think that there should be curved surfaces with lots of windows for visitors to look out of and get panoramic type views of the desert landscaping. I also want there to be plenty of roof space to increase the solar potential, or to potentially install green roofs. The first model does incorporate more of the outdoors into the project, but that may not be desirable due to the hot desert conditons, and constant opening and closing of doors on many small buildings may increase the cooling loads. For this reason, I will likely move forward with something that more resembles the second model, but it definitely needs some iterating, as I am not sure that I like the shape.