USGBC’s Natural Building Competition - Abe Jayson & Levi Hyland Winning Design
Aug 20th, 2008 by contributor
As we continue to explore the designs from the USGBC’s Natural Green Building Competition, we introduce Abe Jayson & Levi Hyland. This team has created a highly energy efficient design for the Alliance Center.
Design Narrative
Connection is the focal point of the Alliance Center. Connection is present between the past and future, and between people and ideas. Connection facilitates communication, a necessity for collaboration of non-profit, government, and business entities that the Alliance Center works to facilitate to promote environmental responsibility. Situated in the lower downtown of Denver, a crystalline atrium joins the existing red stone Alliance to the new Center, breaking the street wall and inviting people in from the street. The drama and excitement of the building is created by the euphoric and transparent connection, which formally represents the values of the Alliance: progression, transparency, communication, and possibility. The central atrium functions both formally, representing connection, and functionally, providing energy efficiency and demonstrating sustainable principles. The atrium functions to promote passive cooling, daylighting, and energy production.
Energy Use
The Alliance Center not only conserves energy, it creates it. A 3500 square foot, 12.5kW array of BIPV solar glass is located on faces of the atrium exposed to direct sunlight. As calculated, The PV array provides a 1,497 kWh (5,109 kBTU) average monthly, offsets energy use by 30-40%, and could further reduce consumption with additional panels on the roof. Energy use for heating is primarily provided by the use of solar heated hot water in radiant slabs among other strategies. Passive cooling in combination with an evaporative cooling system reduces energy use from standard chillers, and operable windows allow occupants to control their thermal comfort without any energy use at all. Extensive daylight penetration prevents excessive energy use to light interior spaces during the day. The combination of these strategies combines to massively reduce energy consumption. Energy-10 was used to model energy consumption, as demonstrated in the two graphs on the competition boards. (see below)
For more details and energy information on this project, click on their team competition boards:
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