Design Journal Entry - Module 4

Journal Entry For
Module 4 - Conceptual Design - Building Context & Passive Design

Site Selection:

Site will be at Moscone Park in the Marina District of San Francisco. This neighborhood is home to many young professionals and only has bus transit. Outside the scope of this project a tunnel will need to be built connecting 4th/King (CalTrain Depot) to the Powell BART/MUNI station (4th/Market) then continue to Chestnut/Laguna in the Marina district.

image

The site is in California Climate Zone 3 and has a moderate temperature range:

image

There are a mix of surrounding buildings at the site. When facing north on Chestnut/Laguna there is Marina Middle school to the west, apartment complex to the north, south, and east. On the northeast corner on the site there is an assisted living facility.

image

For 2 or 3 units

  • Psychometric chart with best design strategies:
image

Design Option A: 36,744 sq-ft

  • Explain your reasoning and the tradeoffs that influenced your decision about which design option to move forward with
    • image
image

Design Option B: 33,344 sq-ft

image
image

Energy Performance Insights:

Modeled energy performance as a transportation- therefore a higher EUI than modeling as an office building.

Baseline scenario:

  • Option A: 97.2 kBtu/sq-ft
  • Option B: 106kBtu/sq-ft
image

Solar Insolation Analysis:

image
image

PV Analysis:

image
image

Option A has a much higher solar insolation than Option B. While the PV performance is nearly equivalent option A out performances Option B.

For both options building orientation has minimal impact on energy use.

image
image

While Option B is more visually striking Option A is the clear winner in terms of efficiency (likely due to shading from the inverse pyramid design) and will be the design option selected moving forward.

For 4 units

  • Operating Schedule is the most important factor, however our model will need 24/7 operations for our goal as a transit hub. 24/7 Operation brings the EUI to a whopping 135 kBtu/sq-ft
  • When accounting that a transit hub may not be used consistently throughout the day we are able to model a range of operational schedules between 24/7 - 12/7. This with other key measures (0.6 W/sq-ft plug efficiency, an ASHRAE package heat pump, 0.3 lighting efficiency) we can achieve an EUI range between 19.7 - 44.5 kBtu/sq-ft. This does not meet the architecture 2030 goal. However, we can meet this goal if the building is modeled as an office and not as transportation. Therefore, we accept this result and feel confident that we can build a building as best performing as possible within the limits of design type.