Design Journal Entry - Module 7

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Aigbekaen, Jovan

Journal Entry For

Module 7 - Building Envelope Systems

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Created

Jan 6, 2025 12:34 AM

Last Edited

Jan 6, 2025 12:34 AM

Created by

Glenn Katz

Overview of Envelope Design Decisions and Intended Features:

• The following goals guided my approach for envelope design and the implementation of distinct shading and sun control features:
• minimize material and fabrication costs:
• explore low-cost, lightweight, and sustainable materials
• maximize overall envelope prefabrication potential through creating regular and consistent dimensioning of elements
• energy efficiency:
• maintain an overall WWR below 40% to reduce heating and cooling loads

Envelope Modeling Process

• during the envelope modeling process, I created a space that I dubbed my “prefabrication corner.” In this space, I created various iterations of wall and glazing elements to test out different material layers, dimensions, and configurations. Through this experimentation, I was able to produce a kit/package of prefabricated elements, that I repeatedly copied and pasted throughout my envelope.

prefabrication modeling corner

standard dimensions of window panels and GFRP panel inserts

Wall and Roof Surfaces:

• Wall:
• I chose glass-fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) as my wall material. In particularly, my ambition is for the design to incorporate prefabricated GFRP panels. GFRP panels are a composite unit composed of a wooden core surrounded by layers of a glass-fiber and resin mixture, with a gypsum layer on the interior side. I created a new wall type in Revit and added the individual material layers directly.

GFRP panel material properties and layering

• Roof:

for the roof, I chose the roofing type of wood rafter with asphalt shingles and insulation. This roof type has high thermal resistance and is lightweight due to the use of minimal wood framing. I wanted to give my roof a sense of physical lightness to make the upper floors and the broader building structure feel airy, but without compromising interior thermal stability.

roof material properties

Openings and Glazed Surfaces:

Window-to-Wall (WWR):

North:

East:

South:

West:

Shading and Sun Control Features:

• Wood Louvers:
• all glazing elements contain wood louvers. On the north (sun-facing), east, and west facades, these louver elements facilitate the limiting of direct sun light penetration into the interior spaces of those respective facades, particularly during moments of high exposure to direct sunlight (sunrise, solar noon, sunset)
• The wooden louvers on the south (non-sun-facing) facade are mostly decorative, as this facade only receives diffuse light throughout the year. I included the louvers here to maintain on all facades the continuous material narrative of accentuating the design forms through the use of natural materials, particularly wood. I drew inspiration from the skeletal nature of the classic 2x4 and 2x6 wooden frame construction used in most modern homes in the US. The framing state is when the under construction home is its lightest, and through incorporating regularly spaced wooden louvers into my design, I wanted to emulate this sense of structural lightness, at least visually.

wood louvers

• Daylighting with skylights
• to increase daylight penetration into interior spaces while still minimizing exposure to direct sunlight, I incorporated diffusive glazing elements into all the atrium skylights.

atrium skylight with diffusive glazing

• Overhangs:
• The north (sun-facing) facade receives the most direct sunlight during the summer months. To respond to this challenge, I created overhangs on the north facade to cast the vertical exterior walls in total shade during the peak sun hours (specifically the Summer Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere). This helps to reduce the thermal gain through solar radiation on this facade, keeping the occupants along this facade comfortable.

overhangs on southern facade (shading during noon on Summer Solstice [Dec 22])

• Tinted Spandrel glass:
• All my glazing elements are grade-to-grade, with two panels, a grade-to-ceiling and ceiling-to-upper grade (spandrel). The ceiling space behind these spandrel panels will eventually house HVAC and plumping ducts and piping, which we want to avoid bringing unwanted heat and light to. As such, I made the spandrel glazing panels tinted and modeled to have lowE and low thermal conductivity. The summation of these properties greatly reduces daylight and thermal radiation penetration, without sacrificing the aesthetic appearance of the glazing curtain walls on the exterior facades.

tinted spandrel glass (low emissivity, low thermal conductivity, reduced daylight penetration) (maybe a backpan*)

Other Envelope Features:

• I specially designed the glazing element panels and the base size wall element to be identical in size to allow for swapping of these materials to accommodate changes in building programming and user needs throughout the life cycle of the building

Revit Daylight Analysis: Illuminance Maps

L1, L2, L3

• Results:
• Illuminance levels in certain areas on the lower floor are suboptimal (although the % passing results are skewed by the MEP room and bathrooms, spaces which were intentionally designed to use only artificial lighting. As for the food prep area, it is currently walled off from the cafe as I did not change the wall type to glazing before the analysis, so this has also skewed the % passing value.
• The atrium skylights are effectively bringing daylighting into interior corridor and circulation spaces
• Cafe may be receiving excessive light exposure due to its large eastern-facing glazing wall
• Upper floor (L3) has the most evenly distributed daylighting, which is likely due to proximity to roof skylight elements and high ceilings with clerestories

Insight Energy Modeling

• Note: do to experiencing difficulties with Revit generating a functioning analytical model that could be compiled and run properly with Energy Plus, I had to resort to the method of creating conceptual masses as approximations of my building forms

• Using these conceptual masses, and selecting the building type of Convention Center for the Energy Settings, I generated the following initial estimate building EUI in Insight:

1. While this was below the ASHRAE standards (136.9), this EUI value was well above the Architecture 2030 target (16.1). As such, I targeted system modulation in Insight for the high impact areas of scheduling, HVAC system, facade WWR, envelope and roof insulation, lighting and plug load efficiency, infiltration, and solar PV efficiency to reduce my overall building EUI value. A summary of the selected systems and values as well as the final minimal EUI value that I achieved is below:

1730c21dc4a781d2b6bcf5437fc5582e

Floor Plan Updates:

• Bathrooms
• moved to be strategically accessible to key areas in the program
• clustered to be adjacent to one another or an MEP room/shaft to allow for the implementation of a shared wet wall. Using a shared wet wall reduces the construction, operation, and maintenance costs for plumbing fixtures
• increased in size to abide by accessibility standards
• Circulation:
• two elevators positioned in the central building to be more visible upon entry through the main atrium/lobby
• Egress:
• modified egress to make them dedicated spaces with walls to act as barriers of separation to the main buildings. This abides by fire code standards and allows for direct evacuation from each building without having to reenter the main functional spaces
• stairs made wider (between 5’-6’) to permit more comfortable, simultaneous bi-directional ascent and descent
• MEP shafts modeled

Annotated floor plans highlighting key changes

Eastern Egress