Understanding the Impact of Climate Zones for Occupancy Trends in Sustainable Housing Designs

Author(s):  
Sean Lin ◽  
Bahaa Albarhami ◽  
Salvador Mayoral ◽  
Joseph Piacenza

The purpose of the paper is to provide a model prediction to capture how energy usage in sustainable buildings on college campuses is affected by different climate zones. A case study focus is on the California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) Student Housing Phase III which received a Platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for the Building Design and Construction category. In a previous CSUF study, the energy usage and cost data for the 2014–2015 academic year was compared to the predicted data from the LEED NC 2.2. The comparison revealed there was a small discrepancy, 10%, between the values for predicted electrical consumption versus actual consumption; however, a greater difference, 135%, between the gas consumption exists. Using LEED approved simulation software, the ASHRAE 90.1 and LEED California Nonresidential Title 24 (NRT 24) compliant energy simulation models is compared; the results will provide input over which variables within student dormitory life affect the energy usage of the building. Some solutions may update the LEED project certification as well as reduce student energy usage.

Author(s):  
Sean Lin ◽  
Bahaa Albarhami ◽  
Salvador Mayoral ◽  
Joseph Piacenza

This paper presents a comparison of concept stage computational model predictions to capture how building energy consumption is affected by different climate zones. The California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) Student Housing Phase III, which received a Platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for the Building Design and Construction category, and its performance in a LEED California Nonresidential Title 24 (NRT24) and ASHRAE 90.1 climate zones is used as a case study to illustrate the method. Through LEED approved simulation software, the standard compliant energy simulation models are compared to the occupancy scheduled models along with the actual energy consumption in different climate zones. The results provide insight to how variables within student dormitory life affect total building energy usage. Total amount of energy consumed per area is one new factor providing understanding into occupancy trends. This new data set reveals more understanding regarding how and where the energy is consumed to maintain a comfortable learning environment.


Author(s):  
Joseph Piacenza ◽  
Salvador Mayoral ◽  
Sean Lin ◽  
Lauren Won ◽  
Xava Grooms

As sustainable building mandates become more prevalent in new commercial buildings, it is a challenge to create a broad, one-size-fits-all certification process. While designers can estimate energy usage with computation tools such as model based design, anticipating the post occupancy usage is more difficult. Understanding energy usage trends is especially complicated in university student housing buildings, where occupancy varies significantly as a function of enrollment and course scheduling. This research explores the effect of student occupancy on both predicted and actual energy usage in a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certified student housing complex. A case study is presented from the California State University Fullerton (CSUF) campus, and examines diversity factor, defined as a building’s instantaneous energy usage as a percentage of the maximum allowable usage during a period of time, trends throughout the academic year. The CSUF case diversity factor is compared to the diversity factor used in predictive models for obtaining LEED certification, and the mandates that govern the models (e.g., ASHRAE 90.1). The results of the analysis show the benefits of considering post occupancy usage in sustainable building designs, and recommendations are presented for creating unique and application based computational models, early in the design process. This research has broad applications, and can extend to sustainable building design in other organizations, whose operational schedule falls outside of current prediction methods for sustainability mandates.


2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Lin ◽  
Bahaa Albarhami ◽  
Salvador Mayoral ◽  
Joseph Piacenza

Abstract This paper presents a model prediction to capture specifically how energy usage in sustainable buildings on college campuses is affected by different variables of student life. The California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) Student Housing Phase III, which received a Platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for the Building Design and Construction category, with its performance in a LEED California Nonresidential Title 24 (NRT24) and ASHRAE 90.1 climate zones, is used as a case study to illustrate the method. Through LEED-approved software, the standard compliant energy models are compared with the occupancy-scheduled models along with the actual energy consumption in different climate zones. The results provide insight into how variables within student dormitory life affect the total building energy usage. The total amount of energy consumed per area is one new factor providing understanding into occupancy trends. This new data set reveals more understanding regarding how and where the energy is consumed to maintain a comfortable learning environment. The LEED certification program is one benchmark used to determine sustainable building design. Designers must adhere to set standards before being awarded a U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) certification such as LEED. The results from this paper will provide input over which variables within student dormitory life affect the energy usage of the building. With the model results, some solutions are presented to update the LEED project certification as well as to reduce student energy usage.


Author(s):  
Joseph Piacenza ◽  
Salvador Mayoral ◽  
Bahaa Albarhami ◽  
Sean Lin

As sustainable building mandates become more prevalent in new commercial and mixed use buildings, it is a challenge to create a broad, one-size-fits-all certification process. While designers can estimate energy usage with computational tools such as model based design, anticipating the post occupancy usage is more challenging. Understanding and predicting energy usage trends is especially complicated in unique mixed use building applications, such as university student housing buildings, where occupancy varies significantly as a function of enrollment, course scheduling, and student study habits. This research explores a computational modeling approach used to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification for a student housing complex design. A case study is presented from the California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) campus, and examines the impact of post occupancy building usage trends, and diversity factor, defined as a building’s instantaneous energy usage normalized by the maximum allowable usage, on energy use estimates. The CSUF case model, which was originally created using EnergySoft’s EnergyPro 5 software, is examined. An annual predictive energy use comparison is performed in EnergyPro 5 using general building design mandates (i.e., ASHRAE 90.1, California Title 24), and CSUF case specific building usage details (e.g., student scheduling, diversity factor). In addition, the energy usage estimates of these two predictive models are compared to the actual usage data collected during the 2014 academic year. The results of this comparison show the benefits of considering post occupancy usage, and recommendations are presented for creating unique and application based computational models, early in the design process. This research has broad applications, and can extend to sustainable building design in other organizations, whose operational schedule falls outside of current prediction methods for sustainability mandates.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ajla Aksamija

Developments in information technology are providing methods to improve current design practices, where uncertainties about various design elements can be simulated and studied from the design inception. Energy and thermal simulations, improved design representations and enhanced collaboration using digital media are increasingly being used. With the expanding interest in energy-efficient building design, whole building energy simulation programs are increasingly employed in the design process to help architects and engineers determine which design strategies save energy and improve building performance. The purpose of this research was to investigate the potential of these programs to perform whole building energy analysis during the early stages of architectural design, and compare the results with the actual building energy performance. The research was conducted by simulating energy usage of a fully functional research laboratory building using two different simulation tools that are aimed for early schematic design. The results were compared with utility data of the building to identify the degree of closeness with which simulation results match the actual energy usage of the building. Results indicate that modeled energy data from one of the software programs was significantly higher than the measured, actual energy usage data, while the results from the second application were comparable, but did not correctly predict monthly energy loads for the building. This suggests that significant deviations may exist between modeled and actual energy consumption for buildings, and more importantly between different simulation software programs. Understanding the limitations and suitability of specific simulation programs is crucial for successful integration of performance simulations with the design process.


2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (30_suppl) ◽  
pp. 132-132
Author(s):  
Ranganath K. Iyer ◽  
Joseph Rodgers Steele ◽  
Habib Tannir ◽  
Steve Venable

132 Background: Patients scheduled to undergo computed tomography (CT) should be treated expeditiously and not delayed owing to a lack of either CT scanner capacity or available staff. Delayed scanning affects both patients and staff in several ways. First, patients are unhappy that they have to wait. Also, delayed scanning makes patient late for their next appointments or other events, which affects the downstream departments’ capability to operate effectively and efficiently. In addition, radiologists and their staff have to commit additional time and resources to processing patients on time. Finally, variability in the placement of patients reduces the scanner’s operating efficiency. The aim of this initiative is to optimize the appointment template using simulation software to reduce the rate of delayed CT procedures by 25% or more by the end of 2014. Methods: To further understand the CT queuing process, we hired 2 graduate students to create a simulation model using the data collected from the operations study. The simulation study modeled patients’ experience from their arrival to discharge and the steps were: (a) performed elemental analysis for each process; (b) cceated value stream map; (c) created high-level simulation model and “mini model” using operational data. The simulation models were presented to department leaders, who approved them. The models clearly showed that the time patients spent on the CT scanner was the bottleneck. Results: Changes in the CT area that have impacted on-time starts and average wait time include: (a) new fast-track for no interview patients and (b) changes in staffing hours. Progress and improvement include (a.) On-time delays decreased by 18% and (b.) a verage wait decreased by 8 minutes (19%). Conclusions: Discrete event simulation accounts for the probabilities and uncertainties associated with the processes and helps create a visual model of the work area. This adds confidence to decision makers’ ability to make decisions that have high impact. Also, the models can be used to test changes in the processes and study the impact on other processes without making true operational changes that could potentially waste resources and time.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 36
Author(s):  
Osama E. Mansour ◽  
Omar O. Elrawy

In this study, the authors explore the impact of the enhanced commissioning process required by LEED certification on the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) professionals through a case study of a (LEED) New Construction in New Cairo, Egypt. While research has consistently shown the positive impact of green-rated buildings on building occupants, little research discusses the impact of green building rating on AEC professionals. Observation, document analysis, and interview of AEC professionals were used throughout the course of design and construction to identify the impact of the enhanced commissioning process on the quality of Project delivery and experience of AEC professionals. All technical and managerial issues of the entire enhanced commissioning process were recorded and thoroughly analyzed. As a result, a comprehensive comparison between mainstream projects and the current LEED-certified building is established. The study introduces a novel insight on green building design and construction practice as a potential culture of quality for the building industry in developing countries.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 2690
Author(s):  
Bo Pan ◽  
Xuguang Wang ◽  
Zhenyang Xu ◽  
Lianjun Guo ◽  
Xuesong Wang

The Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) is an apparatus for testing the dynamic stress-strain response of the cement mortar specimen with pre-set joints at different angles to explore the influence of joint attitudes of underground rock engineering on the failure characteristics of rock mass structure. The nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has also been used to measure the pore distribution and internal cracks of the specimen before and after the testing. In combination with numerical analysis, the paper systematically discusses the influence of joint angles on the failure mode of rock-like materials from three aspects of energy dissipation, microscopic damage, and stress field characteristics. The result indicates that the impact energy structure of the SHPB is greatly affected by the pre-set joint angle of the specimen. With the joint angle increasing, the proportion of reflected energy moves in fluctuation, while the ratio of transmitted energy to dissipated energy varies from one to the other. NMR analysis reveals the structural variation of the pores in those cement specimens before and after the impact. Crack propagation direction is correlated with pre-set joint angles of the specimens. With the increase of the pre-set joint angles, the crack initiation angle decreases gradually. When the joint angles are around 30°–75°, the specimens develop obvious cracks. The crushing process of the specimens is simulated by LS-DYNA software. It is concluded that the stresses at the crack initiation time are concentrated between 20 and 40 MPa. The instantaneous stress curve first increases and then decreases with crack propagation, peaking at different times under various joint angles; but most of them occur when the crack penetration ratio reaches 80–90%. With the increment of joint angles in specimens through the simulation software, the changing trend of peak stress is consistent with the test results.


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