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Net-zero features: active strategies

Picking up from where we left off on our last “Net-zero features” post, it’s time to explore the active strategies that the new building will utilize in order to achieve the department’s net-zero goal. We continue our interview with SmithGroupJJR’s architectural designer Coty Sandberg.

Two of the most effective active systems for energy savings are the chilled beams and the heat recovery chillers. Sandberg explains that chilled beams are “a high-efficiency system that utilizes chilled water to cool the spaces” throughout the building, which will function as the primary cooling strategy. This system will contribute 10% of the building’s energy savings utilizing a significant reduction in transport energy.

Another incredibly effective strategy for the building is the use of heat recovery chillers with net metering. The heat recover chiller “provides condenser water to heat and reheat throughout the building while simultaneously producing chilled water as a useable byproduct,” Sandberg says. Any excess chilled water produced will be fed back into the campus chilled water network for storage or use in other buildings. The heat recover chillers make up the single most energy-efficient system in the building, contributing 23% energy savings.

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Other important strategies involve lighting. All of the occupied spaces use occupancy sensors, which reduce lighting when spaces are not occupied and when daylighting is sufficient. Additionally, the building conserves energy through the use of LED lighting, especially fitting for the department considering ECE Professor Emeritus Nick Holonyak’s groundbreaking invention of the first practical visible-spectrum LED. These lighting innovations make up 5% of the building’s energy savings.

In addition to a few other key strategies like displacement ventilation, these active energy efficiency strategies are essential to achieve the building’s energy goals. In our next and final “Net-zero features” segment, we’ll explore the photovoltaic array that will harness solar energy, the final touch needed for the building to reach its net-zero goal.

Net-zero features: passive strategies

There are many different features that work into the building’s ambitious net-zero energy goal. An engineering building is bound to use a lot of energy, particularly in this case because of the building’s clean room lab. So what strategies are being used to achieve the net-zero goal? It starts with the passive solar strategies and the building’s enhanced envelope, as described by SmithGroupJJR’s architectural designer Coty Sandberg.

Naturally, light and heat from the sun both help and hinder energy conservation in different ways. The new ECE building is designed to maximize the positive energy aspects of sunlight and reduce the negative ones. “Approximately 80% of the windows are shaded by the south solar canopy or by the terracotta baguettes,” Sandberg said. These elements function to let in the sun during the winter, but protect from the harsh sun in the summer. Combined with the fact that most of the building’s windows are on the south side of the building, this results in optimal daylighting and reduced energy loads.

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The first application of the building’s terracotta exterior

The material used for the exterior of the building is key to energy conservation. 70% of the exterior is a terracotta rain screen system. Sandberg added that “The skin of this building is extremely high-performing. It has four inches of insulation to achieve this very high thermal value” – an R30 thermal value. This keeps the building safe from outside temperature fluctuations, reducing energy that would be used for heating and cooling.

Those are some of the building’s passive strategies for energy conservation, and together they provide 8% energy savings – meaning that they cause the building to consume 8% less energy than the ASHRAE 90.1 baseline building, which is used to compare energy savings. Future blog posts will cover other features of the building that will contribute to energy conservation and production, which together work toward the net-zero energy goal.

 

 

Faculty test new building office prototype

Office mock up

As mentioned in the previous post about the mock-ups, testing systems before implementation is an invaluable planning technique. That testing process goes beyond the architectural, big-picture aspects of the building: the future building office furniture is being tested by faculty to ensure lasting quality. Providing faculty with a positive work environment enhances focus and performance. In the faculty lounge of Everitt Laboratory, ECE faculty got the chance to test out a prototype of their future offices.

Jeannette Beck, assistant to the department head, explains the differences between this mock-up office and the final product. “Based on feedback from the faculty, we’ve made some changes. The desk will be an ‘L’ instead of a single surface and that eliminates the side table. Bookshelves will be 72” high, the white board wall will be relocated near the office entrance, and there will be a chalk board option as well.”

Office mock up

Because of the detailed feedback, there is one less thing to worry about when the building opens. “It was a good exercise to have the mock-up available to receive input making the office arrangement even better!” Beck said. Close and careful attention even to small-picture aspects like this helps ensure a smooth transition to the new building when it is complete.

Mock-ups: a window into the new building’s future

Mock-ups

You may have noticed the small structures to the east of the new ECE building in the pictures on display in the website’s photo gallery. These are the mock-ups for the building, structures built to test the building’s features to ensure smooth construction on ECE’s future home. On a complex, energy-efficient building like this one, mock-ups are invaluable.

“Mock-ups are becoming more common in big projects like these,” said Profesor Philip Krein, the chair of the ECE new building committee. “There’s two reasons for it. One is to just show that everything works together. They’ve got to put the right kind of sealants on the building, they’ve got to show that the water proofing system works right, that the air filtration system works right, that the window mounts are all leak-tight and that everything’s good.” All of these are tested on the mock-ups before being applied to the building itself.
Mock-ups
“Two is kind of a training component,” Professor Krein continued. “In the sense that the contractors are using a fairly complicated system based on the energy requirements, and they need to make sure that they can do it properly. And it gives the manufacturers of some of those systems the opportunity to come in, show them how it works, set it up, try it out, and they’re not doing that on the building. And it lets them test the kind of complete thing.”

The mock-ups also give people a better idea of what the new building will look like when complete. “You can see the north tower mock-up from the third-floor conference room that’s in CSL. And it’s pretty complete. So you see the stone work, you see the granite, you see the terracotta and the windows.” The terracotta and windows will help transform the look of the building from its current state to its projected one which can be seen in several places on this website, from the banner at the top of the page to the pictures in the Wallpapers section.

Students show support for new building with ECE Coin Wars

Dividing themselves between EE and CompE majors in a friendly fundraising competition called the Coin Wars, ECE students did their bit for the new building campaign this past semester. The Coin Wars were organized by the ECE Student Advancement Committee (SAC) to directly engage fellow ECE students in the building campaign. According to SAC co-chair Jeff Lale, they chose to divide themselves between EE and CompE to “leverage the existing rivalry between the majors to create a heated and competitive coin war.” The two teams competed to see which side could raise the most money from April 12 to May 1, playfully claiming their major’s superiority whenever the balance shifted in their favor.

The competition culminated with SAC’s May 1 social, where a close rivalry bred excitement and further donations. The competition’s “balance tilted either way quite a few times before finally settling down to the EEs,” said Nikita Parikh, SAC’s Student Advancement Lead. “I distinctly remember hearing a lot of oohs and aahs as the people at the social responded to the changing amount of money in the EE and CompE jars.” At the end of the campaign, the students had raised a total of $680.

 

Of course, the driving force for SAC’s competitive fundraiser was student support for the building campaign. When asked how ECE students feel about the new building, Parikh said, “We’re not just excited. We’re also proud. Our pride in the new building comes from knowing it’s going to be the largest zero net-energy building. The department’s commitment to making this happen reflects the importance that technological advancement and innovation hold within ECE.”

Nikita articulated that the alumni contributions are what will make the building possible, and part of SAC’s goal with the Coin Wars was to increase awareness of continued alumni support and donations. Lale noted that “a single student’s contribution can’t reach anywhere near the generosity of ECE alumni or corporate donors,” but he sees great importance in student involvement with the building campaign. “Incorporating students in the fundraising process through the coin wars helped make students more aware of the enormity of the building’s overall fundraising effort and the tremendous generosity of our alumni.” Alumni and corporate donations are what will provide the department, faculty, and students with the resources they need to persevere as leaders in the field.

View the Coin Wars photo gallery to share in the excitement of students, faculty, and staff for the new building!