INTEGRATED ARCHITECTURAL AND ENGINEERING DESIGN STRATEGIES FOR A ZERO-ENERGY BUILDING: ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY’S DESIGN ENTRY FOR THE 2018 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY RACE TO ZERO (SOLAR DECATHLON DESIGN CHALLENGE)

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-270
Author(s):  
Edoarda Corradi Dell’Acqua ◽  
Jaime Marin ◽  
Eric Wright
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Department Of Energy ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Illinois Institute ◽  
Performance Goal ◽  
Solar Decathlon ◽  
Design Challenge ◽  
Energy Use Intensity ◽  
Institute Of Technology

ABSTRACT This paper describes the design of InterTech, a zero-energy mixed-use student residence hall, developed in 2018 by an interdisciplinary team of Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech) students for the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon Design Challenge, formerly known as Race to Zero. The main focus is the team’s integrated and iterative approach, which blended architectural design and engineering concepts and led to achieving the high-performance goal. InterTech aims to provide an innovative housing solution to Illinois Institute of Technology’s graduate students and their families. Located along State Street in between Illinois Tech’s main campus and downtown Chicago, it offers a mix of living options providing both independence and access to the campus and to the city. In addition to the residential program, the project includes a small grocery/cafe connected to an outdoor public plaza, and an underground garage. Energy modeling was introduced in the early design stages. The potential of on-site renewable energy generation defined the project’s target Energy Use Intensity (EUI) of 37 kBtu/sqft. Several passive and active strategies were implemented to reduce the building’s total energy needs and meet the target EUI. The implementation of energy conservation measures led to a 25% reduction of the building’s cooling load and a 33% reduction of the heating load. A design EUI of 28 kBtu/sqft was calculated, validating that this design met and exceeded the zero-energy goal.

scholarly journals LEVERAGING THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY SOLAR DECATHLON DESIGN CHALLENGE AS A FRAMEWORK FOR STUDENT-LED ADAPTIVE REUSE PROJECTS TO ADDRESS CONTEXT-SPECIFIC SUSTAINABLE DESIGN, HOUSING AFFORDABILITY, AND COMMUNITY RESILIENCE

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 201-234
Author(s):  
Tom Collins ◽  
Daniel Overbey
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Adaptive Reuse ◽  
Housing Affordability ◽  
Department Of Energy ◽  
Design Development ◽  
Solar Decathlon ◽  
Residential Design ◽  
Design Challenge ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
High Performance Buildings

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the context, pedagogical approach, and design outcomes of two net-zero energy residential design projects completed by graduate architecture students as part of a comprehensive design studio course and submitted to the 2018 and 2020 USDOE Race to Zero/Solar Decathlon Design Challenge competition. The competition aims to give students real-word experience designing high-performance buildings by encouraging collaboration, involving community partners, and requiring a high degree of technical design development. Working within the competition parameters, two teams at Ball State University worked with outside partners to identify vacant/abandoned homes as a significant problem for rust-belt Indiana communities, and then focused their design efforts on high-performance retrofits of two blighted homes in Muncie and Indianapolis. Each project will be described in detail and the implications of the 2018 project on the 2020 project will be addressed. This paper will demonstrate that adaptive reuse projects can be used to engage students in context-specific challenges and to meet stringent high-performance design targets and thresholds. (162)

The Analysis of Passive Design in Zero-Energy Buildings: A Case Study of Solar Decathlon

2013 ◽  
Vol 689 ◽  
pp. 119-124
Author(s):  
Cheng Chen ◽  
Rong Wen Du ◽  
Hao Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Department Of Energy ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Solar Decathlon ◽  
Living Space ◽  
Design Build ◽  
Passive Design ◽  
Ecological Landscape ◽  
Solar House ◽  
Zero Energy Buildings

In order to promote the development of the zero-energy buildings, the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon is held biennially, in which every team is required to design, build and operate an energy-efficient house powered by the sun. This paper is focused on the innovative passive design in the Solar Decathlon 2011 in following five categories: the indoor and outdoor space, the envelop, the ecological system as well as the shading structure. Based on the case studies, it is suggested that the solar house is emphasizing more flexible living space, the multifunctional envelop and the ecological landscape.

Optimization of Photovoltaic/Thermal Collectors

Solar Energy ◽  
2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph McCabe
Keyword(s):  
Photovoltaic Module ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
National Renewable Energy Laboratory ◽  
Massachusetts Institute Of Technology ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Solar Decathlon ◽  
History Of ◽  
Fluid Transfer ◽  
Institute Of Technology ◽  
And Performance

Recent designs in the Solar Decathlon have incorporated solar electric modules with heat capture. Zero Energy Buildings (ZEB) solicitations through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have recently awarded photovoltaic / thermal (PV/T) projects incorporating air and fluid based heat transfer mediums. This paper introduces the PV/T collector with a quick history of four different research and development projects starting with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1978. Suggestions for engineering design and performance guidelines are provided. A demonstration of a zero glazed thin film amorphous silicon photovoltaic module with air as the fluid transfer medium, captured off the backside, is presented. The paper provides suggestions on applications and appropriate environments for various PV/T collector types.

The Simulation of a Zero-Energy Residential Building for the Solar Decathlon Competition

Solar Energy ◽  
2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael R. Wassmer ◽  
Michael J. Brandemuehl ◽  
Adam Jackaway
Keyword(s):  
Residential Building ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Design Tool ◽  
Department Of Energy ◽  
Solar Thermal ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Solar Decathlon ◽  
Simulation Tools ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Impact

In 2002, the Department of Energy (DOE) sponsored the world’s first university competition to design and build a completely solar powered house. One requirement of the competition was to perform simulations of the house’s photovoltaic, solar thermal, and space conditioning systems. By instituting this requirement, DOE is encouraging the building industry to apply the “whole-building design” approach to residences as a method of reducing financial and environmental operation costs of the building over its lifetime. This paper describes the simulation approach taken by the University of Colorado Solar Decathlon Team. In addition to describing the process of simulating a zero-energy residential building, the specific results of the simulations and related parametric studies are also presented. The design and analysis process provides a case study in the application of six different simulation tools for zero-energy building design. Energy-10 provided an environment for parametric analysis of building design options during the critical early design phase. However, it lacks the flexibility to model solar electric, solar thermal, and specialized HVAC systems. FChart gave valuable guidance early in the project on the impact of solar system sizing and performance. TRNSYS is extremely flexible in that it can simulate various solar systems and the interactions of virtually any thermal system commonly found in buildings. This flexibility is accompanied by the burden of complexity and a generic user interface that limits its use as a routine building design tool. Radiance, AGI32, and ECOTECT provided specialized simulation tools for the integration of the daylight delivery system, external shading devices, and the electric lighting system. Additional development is required to better integrate these design needs into general building energy analysis tools.

Process and Lessons-Learned From an Interdisciplinary Collaboration in the Design and Construction of a Net-Zero Energy Solar House

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mona Azarbayjani ◽  
Valentina Cecchi ◽  
Brett Tempest
Keyword(s):  
Development Process ◽  
Interdisciplinary Collaboration ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Department Of Energy ◽  
Design Development ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Solar Decathlon ◽  
Net Zero Energy ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Solar House

This paper reviews the development process of a net-zero-energy modular house, called UrbanEden, which was the UNC-Charlotte entry to the 2013 US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon competition. It reports the collaboration of students and faculty from various colleges and schools at UNC-Charlotte working towards delivering a net-zero energy house for the competition held in October in Irvine California. The study presents the participation of students involved in various phases of schematic design, design development and construction. It also identifies the composition and organization of students through the two-year progress and how it evolved throughout the process. The paper also reviews the curriculum integration in school of Architecture with Engineering. The lessons learned from the process will be discussed.

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