The Sustainable Renovation of Solin Hall

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The Sustainable Renovation of Solin Hall
Energy, Environment and Buildings 301-377B,
winter 2003 Instructor Carl Mulvey Group
members Paul Cobb, Ori Guy, Spencer Mann, Dixon
Wong
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The McGill Urban Community Sustainment
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• A SUSTAINABLE STRUCTURE
• A vision for a totally sustainable urban
  residence, community center, and learning space
  for McGill students and Montreal citizens.
• A SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY

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MUCS, THE CLIENT

• Ecologically sustainable design
• People-centered architecture
• Cooperative community lifestyle
• Renovation and addition
• Life-cycle analysis
• Urban green spaces

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Back in Time

• It is 1989, McGill University has just purchased
  the Solin factory in St. Henri.
• Originally constructed as a chocolate factory at
  the turn of the century, the building has since
  been used as a bottling plant, a ware house, a
  kite factory, etc

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Building Reuse

• Thick masonry walls
• Milldeck floors
• High floor to ceiling heights
• Old oil boiler and steam heat
• Natural aquifer

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The Communal Renovation

• Concepts
• Promoting a collective lifestyle by introducing
  the idea of living pods
• Elimination of circulation within the masonry
  structure, thereby introduce common areas in the
  living pods without compromising the size of
  the rooms.
• Communal dining hall- fosters sense of community.

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Overall Layout
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Living Pods

• Concepts
• Grouping of rooms around a common living/ service
  area
• Accessibility from solar corridor to individual
  pods in the entire building
• Elimination of individual kitchens, which are
  replaced by a communal dinning hall

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Construction
1.Double Skin The original longitudinal brick
wall (brown) is covered with a glass skin, thus
creates a double wall system with a solar
corridor in between The left wing, since it
cannot be offset, the brick layer is pushed back
by 3 feet. The brick façade is then replaced by a
glass façade, creating a solar corridor.
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Double-skin The Solar Corridor
Living room in one of the pods -ambient light
enters the room through the double skin
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Double-skinVentilation Mechanism

• Technical options
• Mechanical or manual
• Closed or Open
• Exhaust intake
• Advantages
• Thermal buffer
• Weather and wind protection
• Additional usable space
• Disadvantages
• Dependent on wind speed (suction)
• Fan system consumes electricity

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Precedent25kV Building
Architect Robert Winkel Architecten -Converting
a 25kV substation into a building for new media
enterprises
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Precedent25kV Building
-Keeping original steel structure and concrete
floor -Replacing the original façade by a 3.5m
deep double skin façade. -double skin contains
corridors, staircases, toilets and meeting spaces
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25kV Building
Interior view
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Double SkinSummer

• Outside air is pre-cooled in the basement before
  being drawn into the building.
• The cool air is then distributed to different
  floors
• Hot air rises between the double skin and escapes
  from the top, creating suction that sustains the
  cycle

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Double SkinVentilation Mechanism

• Daytime during Winter
• Cold air is drawn into a heat exchange unit in
  the basement
• Warm air rises between the double skin, where it
  is distributed on different floor levels (solar
  effect in double skin warms up the air further)
• Radiant floor heating
• -Hot air accumulated at the top is then pumped
  down along a ventilation duct to the heat
  exchanger

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Double-SkinVentilation Mechanism

• Nighttime during Winter
• All the vents are shut off in order to minimize
  heat loss.
• Floor radiant heating should provide sufficient
  heat for the entire building.

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Ventilation ShaftPrecedent

• DeMonfort University Campus
• Utilizing ventilation shafts
• Hot air from interior rises, generating suctional
  force
• Cold air from outside is drawn in, thus provide
  ventilation for interior

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Ventilation Shaft

• -Located at the current back entrance of Solin
  Hall
• Originally a lift, and therefore goes up all the
  way to the top of the building
• Provide ventilation for the left wing of the
  building
• Operates passively during summer

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Winter Simulations 800am
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Winter Simulations1100 am
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Winter Simulations1200 noon
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Winter Simulations200 pm
The amount of light received by the south facing
wall, where the double skin is placed, is fairly
constant throughout the whole day.
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Winter Simulations400 pm
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Winter Simulations1000 am
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Winter Simulations1200 noon
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Winter Simulations200 pm
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Winter Simulations400 pm
The Southwest façade also receives much sunlight
throughout the whole day. It is, therefore,
possible to install another double skin wall on
this façade.
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Summer Simulations1200 noon
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Summer Simulations200 pm
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Summer Simulations
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Summer Simulations
The shadow cast on the South side is dark enough
for cooling during Summer
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Green Roofs

• Advantages
• Returning the building footprint to nature
• Efficient stormwater management, thus prevent
  sewer overflow
• Help restoring ecological balance
• Improve outdoor air quality by decreasing air
  temperature and reduce smog
• Increase vegetations and habitat on urban sites
• Help insulating and cooling the building.
• Aesthetic value
• Agricultural value
• Accessibility to residents

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PrecedentChicago City Hall

• Experimental campaign to promote green roofs
• Comparison between green and non-green areas on
  roof

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Greenroof Components
AMERGREEN Roof Garden System
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Major Initiatives

• Solar Heating and Passive Ventilation.
• Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) Closed loop.
  Coiled pipe submerged in underground water
  source.
• Heating Mode 30C water supplied to radiant
  floor heating.
• Cooling Mode Cool water used directly to through
  radiant floor cooling.
• Heat Recovery Ventilators pre-warm ventilation
  air during heating season.
• Bio-diesel combustion generates electricity
  waste heat recovered for hot water heating and
  supplemental heating during peak heating loads.

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Hot water for Radiant floor heat (winter)
Ground Source Heat Pump Schematic
Heat Exchange Coil submerged in water
Ground Source Heat Pump (multiple units)
Return water Removes heat In summer
Closed Loop
Mechanical Ventilation (make-up air)
Pre-warmed Make-up air
Heat Recovery Ventilators
Fresh air intake
Exhaust from Kitchen and Mechanical rooms
(including digester)
Exhaust air
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• Notes
• Radiant floor heating distributes heat from North
  to South in Building. This helps the efficiency
  of passive solar heating initiatives, since
  concrete flooring serves as thermal mass.
• GSHP single unit for heating and cooling. Design
  to meet heating load.
• Reduced size of duct work needed since only
  make-up air must be supplied.

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Heat pump location
Underground water source
Closed loop distribution to Heat Exchangers
Bio-diesel Combustion
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RETScreen (Renewable Energy Technology) Software
Introduction.
www.retscreen.net

• Uses accurate information, including global
  weather data and location of project (ie.
  latitude and longitude)
• Provides evaluation tool for renewable energy
  projects solar photovoltaics, passive solar,
  wind, geothermal, small hydro, biomass

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Notes on RETscreen analysis

• Did not take into account passive solar and
  passive ventilation aspects of design. This
  would significantly reduce the demands on the
  GSHP system.
• Assume high insulation levels upon retrofit.
• Design for heating load since most cooling is
  by passive ventilation via solar corridor.
• Payback period less than 10 years.

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WATER IS PRECIOUS WASTE IS FOOD

• Water conservation.
• Separation of greywater and blackwater.
• On-site greywater treatment.
• Humanure and compost digester.
• Closing the nutrient and energy loop.

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Rain water
Sprinkler System
Municipal Water Building Water
Green Roof
Human Excreta
Toilets
Agriculture
Sinks, showers, laundry
Anaerobic Digester
Fertilizer for Community Garden
Constructed Wetland System
Slurry Effluent
Biogas
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Sprinkler System
Municipal Water Building Water
Toilets
Agriculture
Low-flow toilets
Sinks, showers, laundry
Constructed Wetland System
Reedbed Treatment System
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Reedbed Treatment Systems
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Solin Constructed Wetland

• Total bed volume 300 square meters,
• 1.5 square meters per person.

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Human Excreta
Toilets
Anaerobic Digester
Fertilizer for Community Garden
Slurry Effluent
Biogas
Closing the loop. Digester technology
transforms human and organic wastes into a rich
slurry effluent and biogas (methane).
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Digesters and the nutrient loop.
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• Compatible with
• conventional plumbing
• Reduced water demand
• Rapid stabilization
• Process
• Relatively self-sufficient
• Production of
• combustible biogas
• Production of nutrient-
• rich fertilizer

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Architectural Aspects
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Rain water
Sprinkler System
Municipal Water Building Water
LOSS
Green Roof
LOSS
Human Excreta
Toilets
Agriculture

GAIN
Sinks, showers, laundry
Anaerobic Digester
Fertilizer for Community Garden
Constructed Wetland System

GAIN
Slurry Effluent
Biogas
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The Sustainable Renovation of Solin Hall