How Green is My Building? Resource systems in buildings

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How Green is My Building?Resource systems in
buildings
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Resources people move into buildings, do
things in there, and leave buildings
People animals Energy light Food
water Furniture stuff Clothing fabrics Air
moisture Pollutants Chemicals materials
People animals Waste heat Garbage
sewage Discarded stuff Emissions Toxic wastes
Cooking, eating, drinking, sleeping, washing,
watching, reading, talking, creating, destroying,
playing, singing
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In conducting a green audit of a building, the
following need to be considered

• Resources materials in the building structure
  and moving through the building
• Lifecycle costs of those materials (e.g., new,
  recycled, energy inputs) activities?
• Broader ecological impacts of acquiring those
  materials (e.g., types of wood, stone)?
• Broader ecological impacts of processing, using,
  disposing of materials (e.g., energ, emissions,
  wastes, etc.)

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And we need to pay attention to the wild card
in all of this
How people behave in and interact with buildings
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In next weeks lab, you will be asked to
conduct a resource audit of one of the PICA
buildingsa relatively simple case
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A building can be understood as organized around
an ecological system
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To determine its greeness, we need to
disaggregate its sub-systems measure flows into
and out of the building
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We also need to study how external inputs impinge
on its structure, its interior and its occupants
For example, does afternoon sunlight come through
the windows unobstructed, thereby making rooms
too warm for comfort? What do the occupants do in
response? Draw shades or blinds? Open windows?
Turn up the air conditioning?
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• We start with the building envelope
• Of what is it made? Wood? Stucco? Siding?
• What is the area of its external components?
  Roof? Windows? Doors? Walls?
• What kinds of driving potentials impact on the
  envelope? Sunlight? Wind? Shading? Toxins?
• Is there insulation in the walls and attic?
  What kind? How old?

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We need to measure or estimate resource flows
through the envelope
The first thing to do is to locate the three
meters-- electricity, gas, waterand to measure
usage over time. You may want to turn things on
and off. It is also useful to have a bucket and
watch to measure water flows from spigots and
faucets.
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Next, you need to estimate heat flows through the
building envelope
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A common way to assess conduction, in particular,
is to calculate the R-value of the buildings
envelope. R-value is a measure of resistivity.
R inside-outside temp diff. x area x time
heat loss
Wood 1 has R-value of 1.56 Stucco 0.20/inch
Brick 0.20/in. (Wood studs can act as conduits
for heat transfer metal is worse)
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It is also important to try to measure solar gain
and air flows through the envelope
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We are in Zone 5, which is fairly temperate
recommended R-values are relatively low. We can
calculate the annual heating need using the
concept of degree days. This is 65ºF minus the
outside temperature for heating degree days of
the outside temperature minus 65ºF for cooling
degree days
J F M A M J J A S O N D T
52 42 81 181 291 506 516 403 351 284 219 129 3056
0 0 0 0 7 13 34 24 25 10 0 0 113
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The next step is to measure energy use and heat
gains from various internal components
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Users sources need to be identified and usage
estimated or calculatedthis includes appliances
and secondary components
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Lighting can also be a major energy user there
are specific design lighting standards for
different spaces
Count the lightbulbs, determine their wattage,
estimate their daily usage
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For energy use, all of these inputs need to be
calculated and aggregated.
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• Next, we turn to water inputs and sewage
  outputsthese are roughly equal.
• Try to measure water use over a typical daytime
  hour, using the meter
• Measure water flows from spigots faucets, using
  a bucket and watch
• Observe occupant usage during a typical daytime
  hour

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Another important consideration is moisture in
the building, which can result in unwanted
condensation, mold and mildew. Other pollutants
include radon, chemicals, outgassing from
plastics and carpets, etc.
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Other inflows and outflows include

• Movement of foods and liquids into the building
  and garbage and wastes out of the building
• Office and other paper supplies
• Furniture and office equipment
• Clothing, fabrics, wall coverings, blinds
• Ideally, we would estimate their resource impacts
  and try to calculate life-cycle costs for the
  building, its components, and the various flows
  through the building

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LEED Leadership in Energy Environmental Design

• Green Building Rating System developed by the
  U.S. Green Building Council
• Allocates points for building design features
  (NOT operation
• Sustainable sites (14 points)
• Water efficiency (5 points)
• Energy atmosphere (17 points)
• Indoor environmental quality (15 points)
• Innovation and design process (5 points)
• Buildings are then certified according to total
  number of points
• Certified - 26-32 points
• Silver - 33-38 points
• Gold - 39-51 points
• Platinum - 52-69 points

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Improvements can be made to existing buildings

• Replace existing heating and cooling systems with
  more efficient units
• Replace appliances with lower-energy models
• Install flow restrictors on faucets spigots
  install a graywater system for outside watering
• Install insulation in attic (first) and walls
  (second), and new windows and frames (as
  appropriate)
• Install solar water heating or on-demand heater,
  as well as solar PVs to supply some level of
  electricity
• Add Trombe walls, clerestories and light pipes
• The question of cost and benefit remains, and the
  declining cost of oil raises major economic
  questions

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