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USA - GEORGIA - Giant Photovoltaic Canopy Tops Net-Positive Kendeda Building In Atlanta
US firms Miller Hull Partnership and Lord Aeck Sargent have designed a highly sustainable building at Georgia Tech university that generates more electricity and recycles more water than it uses.
US firms Miller Hull Partnership and Lord Aeck Sargent have designed a highly sustainable building at Georgia Tech university that generates more electricity and recycles more water than it uses.
The project – officially called The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design – is located at the Georgia Institute of Technology, a public research university in central Atlanta.
The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design is in Georgia
The educational building was designed by Seattle's Miller Hull Partnership in collaboration with local firm Lord Aeck Sargent, which was purchased by tech startup Katerra in 2018.
The project was backed by the Kendeda Fund, a private family foundation that supports a range of social and environmental initiatives. Skanska served as the general contractor.
The project is a highly sustainable building
The facility recently earned certification from the Seattle-based International Living Future Institute under its Living Building Challenge – one of the most rigorous green-building certification programmes in the world. The facility is considered to be a "regenerative building."
"Regenerative buildings create more resources than they use, including energy and water," the team said.
Classrooms and a design studio are included in the design
"The project's goal is to support the educational mission of Georgia Tech while transforming the architecture, engineering and construction industry in the Southeast US by advancing regenerative building and innovation."
The facility – which totals 47,000 square feet (4,366 square metres) – holds a range of spaces for students and faculty.
These include a design studio, two large classrooms, several laboratories, a seminar room, an auditorium and office space. There also is a rooftop garden with an apiary and pollinator garden.
The building's rooftop garden
Certain areas of the building are open to the public for special events.
While designing the facility, the team took inspiration from vernacular architecture – in particular, large porches that are commonly found on Southern homes.
"The project reimagines this regionally ubiquitous architectural device for the civic scale of the campus," said Miller Hull.
Rectangular in plan, the building is topped with a giant white canopy supported by steel columns. On the west elevation, the roof extends 40 feet (12 metres) to form a large, shaded area below with steps and seating.
A white canopy tops the building
In addition to providing shade, the canopy generates electricity. Its 900-plus solar panels form a 330-kilowatt array that produces enough power to exceed the building's energy needs.
For the exterior cladding, the team incorporated a mix of accoya wood, metal, glass and recycled masonry. The foundation walls are made of concrete.
Materials such as metal form the exterior cladding
Mass timber was used for the structural system due to it having a smaller embodied carbon footprint compared to concrete and steel, the team said.
In large-span areas of the building, the team used glue-laminated trusses with steel bottom chords.
Details on the building's exterior
"This hybrid approach reduces the quantity of wood required while making routing of building services more efficient," the team said.
For the structural decking, nail-laminated timber panels were made off-site and craned into place. A local nonprofit organisation, Lifecycle Building Center, sourced the lumber from discarded movie sets in Georgia.
Large windows flood spaces with natural light
Structural elements, along with mechanical systems, were left exposed so they could serve as a teaching tool.
Salvaged and recycled materials are found throughout the facility. For instance, stairs in the building's atrium are made of lumber off-cuts, and countertops and benches are made of storm-felled trees.
Mechanical systems were left exposed
Water recycling is also part of the building's sustainable design. Rainwater is captured, treated and used in sinks, showers and drinking fountains. In turn, that greywater is channelled to a constructed wetland, where it is treated and used to support vegetation.
The facility is also fitted with composting toilets, which nearly eliminate the use of potable water. The human waste is turned into fertilizer that is used off-site.
The rooftop has a pollinator garden
The building recently earned its Living Building Challenge (LBC) certification following a year-long assessment, in which it needed to prove it is net-positive for energy and water usage.
"It generates more energy from onsite renewable sources than it uses," the team said. "The building also collects and treats more rainwater onsite than it uses for all purposes, including for drinking."
The LBC programme evaluates buildings in seven categories – place, water, energy, health and happiness, materials, equity and beauty.
The Kendeda Building is the 28th building in the world to achieve LBC certification and the first in Georgia. The state's warm and humid climate poses a particular challenge when it comes to energy efficiency, the team said.
A large classroom
A communal workspace
"In spite of this, over the performance period the building generated 225 per cent of the energy needed to power all of its electrical systems from solar panels on its roof," the team said.
"It also collected, treated, and infiltrated 15 times the amount of water needed for building functions."
Students gather under the canopy outside
Other American projects that are designed to meet the LBC standards include the wood-clad Frick Environmental Center in Pittsburgh, designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson. It achieved certification in 2018.
Photography is by Jonathan Hillyer and Gregg Willett.
Project credits:
Design architect: The Miller Hull Partnership, LLP
Collaborating and prime architect: Lord Aeck Sargent, a Katerra Company
Contractor: Skanska USA
Landscape architect: Andropogon
Civil engineer: Long Engineering
Mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineer: PAE and Newcomb & Boyd
Structural engineer: Uzun & Case
Greywater systems: Biohabitatssolar panels
JAPAN: Producing Electricity While Producing Wine Thanks To A Greenhouse
Fujisan Winery is building the new greenhouse as part of a sustainability model on how they operate as a company and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals as adopted by the Fujinomiya Administrative County where the winery is located
The ASX-listed ClearVue Technologies has landed its first order in relation to a greenhouse project.
The order for about 30 square meters of ClearVue’s insulated window or glass units, or “IGUs” incorporating solar photovoltaic cells came from the Japanese company Fujisan Winery, which is located at the base of tourist mecca Mount Fuji in Japan.
Fujisan Winery is building the new greenhouse as part of a sustainability model on how they operate as a company and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals as adopted by the Fujinomiya Administrative County where the winery is located. The greenhouse is to be located on the Asagiri Plateau at the southwest base of Mt Fuji with spectacular views across the plateau to the Mt Fuji volcano itself. The region is a key destination for tourists and visitors to Mt Fuji.
The greenhouse is to be used by the winery to grow produce and vine stock on-site and may be used for corporate events and promotion for the winery. In addition to the greenhouse, Fujisan Winery will build a new 40 seat fine dining restaurant adjacent to the greenhouse and other outbuildings as part of a larger winery expansion project.
The ClearVue IGU panels are currently being manufactured for expected delivery in Japan by the end of December 2020 with the installation of the glazing into the newly constructed sustainable greenhouse anticipated to commence by late January 2021. The greenhouse is expected to be opened with the winery restaurant in or around March 2021.
Commenting on the greenhouse, Architect for the project, Paul Ma has said: “We specialize in the master planning of sustainable resort projects. When we first met with ClearVue founder Victor Rosenberg we were simply blown away by the potential for deployment of the ClearVue technology and product into our sustainable architectural design projects. We have watched with interest the continued commercialization of the ClearVue product to this point and can now explore how we might deploy it in our client work.
The greenhouse project in Japan whilst small is a great project for us to use as an example for such future project work and represents a great showpiece for Fujisan Winery who have a deep commitment to sustainability in their wine production and business operations. The region in which they operate the winery also has a stated commitment to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals and seeks the same from its constituents. The winery expansion project will explore several different sustainable solutions in addition to the ClearVue technology and will itself become a destination and showcase for sustainable design worldwide.
Commenting on the Fujisan Winery greenhouse project, ClearVue CEO Ken Jagger has said: “We are very pleased to be working with the Paul Ma Design team on this leading-edge sustainable design project. The innovative and high-profile nature of the project and this use of the ClearVue product is an exciting development for the Company. We very much look forward to both updating the market on the Fujisan Winery greenhouse as it progresses and to a long working relationship with the Paul Ma Design team on future projects.”
For more information:
ClearVue PV
http://www.clearvuepv.com/
27 Nov 2020
France: Greenhouses Fitted With Photovoltaic Films
Using the sun to its foremost, that's what three French horticultural partners are trying to do. That's why they've installed ASCA photovoltaic films at a commercial greenhouse nearby France
Using the sun to its foremost, that's what three French horticultural partners are trying to do. That's why they've installed ASCA photovoltaic films at a commercial greenhouse nearby France. Partners in the project are horticultural Eiffage Energie Systèmes, the French growers with Les Maraichers Nantais and Groupe Olivier.
Covering 43m² and incorporated in three different ways, the project aims to demonstrate the merits of the ASCA organic photovoltaic film and its ability to meet the specific needs of producers.
Solarizing agricultural greenhouses with OPV films: what are the benefits?
The desire to install photovoltaic technology on agricultural greenhouses is not a new idea. The experiment was already carried out a number of years ago with 1st and 2nd generation solar panels. Initial results proved inconsistent as growing cycles appeared to be lengthy with later harvesting and lower yields.
Unlike a classic solar panel, however, and due to its current transparency of up to 30%, the ASCA organic photovoltaic film offers the advantage of letting a proportion of the sunlight pass through, thereby enabling photosynthesis to take place.
Another advantage of the OPV technology is its low weight. In contrast to a photovoltaic panel which, once installed, remains fixed and cannot be easily removed, the ASCA film can be easily incorporated in a deployable and retractable system, adapting to the season or the weather conditions.
Solar greenhouses: how and why is the film installed?
With this demonstration, the growers and Eiffage Energie Systèmes are seeking to measure the contribution of organic photovoltaic film as both a low-carbon energy solution and as a regulator of luminosity and thermal conditions.
To meet this need, the ASCA Solutions Lab, dedicated to designing specific integrated applications for OPV film, produced three different modes of installation at the greenhouses of the Olivier Group.
2 horizontal shade sails. Installed inside two different large and plastic-covered greenhouses and one glass greenhouse, they offer the special feature of being easily deployed and retracted.
1 vertical curtain. Installed inside a glass greenhouse, it is also easily deployed and retracted.
Finally, 9 modules have been placed on the vertical exterior side of a glass greenhouse in its upper section. These “ready-to-attach” modules also illustrate their ability to activate all types of surfaces of existing buildings. These ultra-light BAPV (Building Applied Photovoltaics) systems are also currently undergoing certification.
Self-consumption mode
The entire system has been implemented by ARMOR, Groupe Olivier and Eiffage Energie Systèmes. The latter company also made the electrical connections for self-consumption mode.
What can this green electricity be used for?
The 79 ASCA photovoltaic modules installed as part of this demonstration cover a total surface area of 43m². The green electricity produced will be monitored over a period of one year and fed back into the grid, covering a proportion of the greenhouses’ energy costs: lighting, dehumidification, automatic irrigation system, etc.
The objective of the pilot project is therefore to demonstrate the merits of OPV technology and especially of the ASCA photovoltaic film for this type of application. If the test proves to be a success it will be deployed on a larger scale.
For more information:
ASCA
en.asca.com
Publication date: 8/6/2019