Due to the nature of the location of the project (being located on the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, on the ridge facing the Searsville reservoir), there are not incredibly extreme weather elements or loads that need to be looked into. The climate is fairly moderate and is not known to stray extremely from normalcy, with solar loads affecting the main face of the lower level the most and the side with the curtain wall face of the upper level the next most. I think the largest issue that the space will have will be that of cooling, but, I think this could be done with a modification to the building system that allows for ventilation to flow through and use the proximity to the reservoir to the building's advantage.
Heating I plan to do with some sort of combination of fluid-based radiant floor heating systems in both building levels, along with trying hardest to allow passive heat to come solely from the natural light coming from the sun. Due to the nature of the sun's orientation in summer versus winter, a slight roof overhang will be necessary to shade the building from the sun in the more harsh, hot summer months, but will still allow it to come in and heat during the lower level times of the winter months. Cooling, as mentioned before, I plan to do passively via ventilation systems that allow airflow coming off of the body of water nearby (aka the reservoir directly next to the structure) to be utilized as often as possible. With a body of water so close acting as a natural temperature regulator, additional and unnatural cooling systems will be unnecessary additions to the buildings.
