Working links to all three models in Forma Data Management and your Forma Board
Architectural Model Link:
Mechanical Model Link:
Structural Model Link:
PDF sheet set at E1 size, 30 by 42 inches
Please paste your PDF sheet set here…
Load summary table: floor total and by zone
Please paste your load summary table here…
Alternatives comparison: your representative unit and your alternative unit, compared by numbers, with your conclusion
Please paste your two alternatives comparison here, what differs between them, and which you choose and why…
Design memo of 300 to 500 words: your strategy and why, what the loads told you about your envelope, where your structure got in the way, and what you left unresolved
HVAC Strategy (11/9/26 4pm PST):
My site in Daly City, CA, near San Francisco, has a mild climate with temperatures between 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit for the majority of the year. Only 200 hours of cooling per year are needed to maintain comfort indoors due to the lack of extremely hot days. Internal Heat Gain (50.2% of hours), Heating, add humidification if needed (30.1%), Passive solar direct gain high mass (19.8%) were the best design strategies, according to Climate Consultant. A hybrid approach for regulating indoor temperature and air quality will be employed.
My passive design strategy involves a 49% Window-to-Wall Ratio (WWR) to maximize passive solar heat gain during cold hours and heavily-insulated exterior walls and double-pane high-performance glazing on the windows to trap solar radiation and minimize heat loss. Overhangs are designed to shield units from the sunlight during the hot summer days. Additionally, high mass interior surfaces (high floors, slab mass walls, and stone fireplaces) can help to passively store solar radiation as heat. These passive strategies ensure that 70% of the hours of the year are comfortable for building occupants.
The ventilation strategy is hybrid, as fresh air comes from open windows and doors, which satisfy cross-ventilation and single-sided ventilation requirements. For the days of the year in which windows and doors cannot be opened due to poor air quality or excessively low temperatures, balanced in-unit ERV is used and that fresh ventilation air is carried by short duct runs in interior drop-ceilings and corridor soffits, flowing into units through wall grilles and ceiling diffusers.
To provide comfort in the remaining 30% of the year, mechanical heating comes from decentralized, in-unit radiant heat delivered through the floor slabs (floor tubing cast into exposed concrete slabs) and in-unit local ducted heat pumps for rapid temperature adjustments and occasional cooling (only 200 hours out of the year). Condensers are located on the roof so each tenant is metered separately. Zoning is divided by unit so that tenants can have individual comfort settings. Some larger, corner units that have windows in more than one orientation are divided into two zones to account for different solar exposure; this impacts our passive heating strategy and thus different zones within the unit might have different heating needs.
My typical floor will be the first floor because that is the one I developed for my architectural model, complete with a furnished unit. Thus, I will be using the furnished unit - 2 bedroom Room 119 - as one of my units to develop for this Module. It will have in-unit heating and ventilation. I will also be using the 2 bedroom Room 110 as the unit with the alternative model, because it is a twin of Room 119. This will have the alternative system, the floor level distribution of the system, with corridor ventilation and heating that covers the entire floor. For my third representative unit, I will use the 2 bedroom Room 109. This unit will have two zones because of its size and having windows on multiple sides of the unit.
Remainder of Design Memo: