SUN | SOLAR PATH

The site is in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with cold winters and hot summers. Therefore, there is a potential for overheating in summer. According to the sun shading charts and sun path study, the most heat will always be on the eastern and southern elevations. In this design, I incorporate angled windows to the north to allow diffused lighting in with very little solar heat.
The primary strategy is adopting a building form efficient to avoid heating and trying to use the maximum of the northern light instead of other directions. The building has shaped based on the sun's movement path from the east side to the west side, and during this movement, three main factors will be changed: the number, size, and angles of windows.

DAYLIGHTING VISUALIZATION

Try to run the final model in the Sefira plugin to see how the specific form of the building will meet the goals and provide the appropriate light during different seasons and block the direct sun’s heat to save more energy.

WIND | WIND WHEEL

According to the wind wheel, natural ventilation could cool the building from June to September, and the long side of the office building needs to be placed along North-West and South-East to let the building get better ventilation. In winter, the prevailing wind needs to be blocked. We can say that the site's wind conditions determined the building's orientation.

NATURAL VENTILATION

Cross ventilation as much as possible in the summer months based on the wind diagrams to reduce heat and promote interior air quality. The wind must be blocked during the winter to keep the internal environment warm.

Air Pressure

Different heights between the inlets and outlets will be caused the air pressure inside the building. The impact of the gap in the middle of the building will be caused the airflow to come inside faster from the inlets, and it also helps to move out the hot air from the outlets.

1-INCREASE WALL INSULATION

Increasing the R-value of the exterior and interior walls significantly impacts the overall EUI of the office. A higher R-value in a warm climate can significantly reduce the heating and cooling loads. R-44 is an appropriate compromise between cost and performance.

2-INCREASE ROOF INSULATION

Similarly, increasing the roof insulation also impacts the overall EUI, but not to the same extent as wall insulation. Roof insulation is important because it can reduce the cost of artificially moderating the interior temperature and, in the summer, can keep the cool in. It can also reduce the loss of heat in the winter. R-40 struck a relatively lovely balance between energy savings and cost.

3- INCREASE GLAZING INSULATION

Appropriate high-performance glazing, comprised of triple pane glazing, low-coating, and gas-filled, will help reduce heat loss to the exterior. High-performance triple-pane windows can achieve U-factors as low as 0.15.

REDUCE OUTSIDE AIR INFILTRATION

Creating a tight building envelope is essential for the success of increased building insulation. Having an airtight building is critical to reducing energy costs significantly. An extremely tight building could have a leakage of 0.15 cfm/ft2.

Wall Section

The primary material of the footlong wall is precast concrete. It is 6 inches thick on the interior, 3 inches of foam insulation, and 3 inches of precast concrete on the exterior, besides being durable, economical, and fire-resistant. Insulated sandwich wall panels (the type of wall we have) provide high energy efficiency. Precast concrete’s high thermal mass minimizes energy consumption naturally. It also is a vapor and air barrier.

Envelope Design

I decided that precast concrete would be my primary envelope material due to its high energy efficiency by using the sandwich wall panel strategy, where precast concrete “sandwiches” 3 inches of foam insulation; we are taking advantage of concrete’s air and vapor properties, high thermal mass, as well as durability. The floor is also not insulated to allow heat to escape since heat is kept in the ground throughout the year.

Reservoir Design and Storage Volume

Based on what we want to plant (Tomato) in growing areas, we can calculate how much water we need per year for irrigation, and then with the calculation of the roof surfaces, we will find out how much water we could gain and store. Design the storage volume will be considered between amounts of demands and what we already have, like an average of yearly precipitation in the site plan. So we can take advantage of the existing roof slope in our design and collect the water.