Energy Efficient Housing
The driving question of this project is ¨How can we design a home that is comfortable in all conditions without the use of electricity? What is the most energy efficient way to heat and cool a home?¨ During this project, there were several smaller projects and labs leading up to the passive solar home design. All of these smaller projects helped us obtain certain skills needed to design a passive solar home, such as; blueprinting, budgeting, out of the box thinking, critical reasoning, public speaking, and presentation skills. My fellow group members were Archer Leida, Toby Guenthner, and Dalton Schiener.
Solar Water Heater-The purpose of the solar water heater was to see how quickly and efficiently we could heat up water. The materials we used were; a 1 liter plastic bottle, 2 cardboard boxes, copper tubing, plastic tubing, fiberglass batting, saran wrap, black spray paint, aluminum foil, and of course water. The assignment was to take these materials, and design a water heater with maximum solar heating capabilities. Our design was an elevated resevoir (1 Liter bottle) with a drainage system(plastic tubing) where the water is transfered into an aluminum foil wrapped box containing a series of copper tubes which eventually lead out into a cup. The objective was to cycle through the water for twenty minutes and record the differences in temperature. Our group rose about 6* C. This project was very important because it showed us the heat retaining abilities of different colors and materials.
Daylighting Design- The pupose of the Daylighting Design Activity was to learn about different daylighting features, how they work, and how well they work. These are the dalighting techniques we obbserved:
1. Light Shelves - used to bounce light from the overhang on the sill, back into the room's ceiling which then reflects/diffuses light throughout the room
2. Skylights - a glazed opening in a roof to admit light
3. Solar Tubes - opening lets in light, which bounces down reflective lining and into room
4. Clerestory Windows - windows situated up high, not for view, but to catch sun rays that come in at lower angles
We designed a 1000 sq foot building and used all of these daylighting techniques to test their usefulness
Solar Water Heater-The purpose of the solar water heater was to see how quickly and efficiently we could heat up water. The materials we used were; a 1 liter plastic bottle, 2 cardboard boxes, copper tubing, plastic tubing, fiberglass batting, saran wrap, black spray paint, aluminum foil, and of course water. The assignment was to take these materials, and design a water heater with maximum solar heating capabilities. Our design was an elevated resevoir (1 Liter bottle) with a drainage system(plastic tubing) where the water is transfered into an aluminum foil wrapped box containing a series of copper tubes which eventually lead out into a cup. The objective was to cycle through the water for twenty minutes and record the differences in temperature. Our group rose about 6* C. This project was very important because it showed us the heat retaining abilities of different colors and materials.
Daylighting Design- The pupose of the Daylighting Design Activity was to learn about different daylighting features, how they work, and how well they work. These are the dalighting techniques we obbserved:
1. Light Shelves - used to bounce light from the overhang on the sill, back into the room's ceiling which then reflects/diffuses light throughout the room
2. Skylights - a glazed opening in a roof to admit light
3. Solar Tubes - opening lets in light, which bounces down reflective lining and into room
4. Clerestory Windows - windows situated up high, not for view, but to catch sun rays that come in at lower angles
We designed a 1000 sq foot building and used all of these daylighting techniques to test their usefulness
Site Selection- Our group went through many different processes to determine the most suilable site to construct our home. We finally decided on a site located on the upper campus near the spanish wing and the auto shop. Here is a veiw from the north-
Materials Testing- Deciding on which materials were the best for our passive solar home demanded a very detailed, time consuming lab that required a serious amount of presicion. This experiments purpose was to test the specific heat capacity of many, many, many diffrerent materials. The purpose of this lab was to determine the most suitable materials for an energy efficient home.
HOUSE DESIGN-
This was what it all lead up to. This is what all our hard work was for. We put in all our previous knowledge of daylighting techniques, the best available materials, The most suitable construction site and more to design a 12o square foot passive solar home. We had to draw out complex blueprints and use our creative thinking to come up with the ideal home that got the most sunlight, most structurally sound, and more. We were to compete against all other groups to impress a group of judges, only one group was to be chosen. unfortunately in the end, that was not my group but the process was quite fun and informational.
This was what it all lead up to. This is what all our hard work was for. We put in all our previous knowledge of daylighting techniques, the best available materials, The most suitable construction site and more to design a 12o square foot passive solar home. We had to draw out complex blueprints and use our creative thinking to come up with the ideal home that got the most sunlight, most structurally sound, and more. We were to compete against all other groups to impress a group of judges, only one group was to be chosen. unfortunately in the end, that was not my group but the process was quite fun and informational.
Justification Here, we compared all of the major energy sources to eachother and did some research on the pros and cons of these energy sources.
Concepts;
radiation- a process in which electromagnetic waves (EMR) travel through a vacuum or through matter-containing media
convection- the concerted, collective movement of groups or aggregates of molecules within (e.g., liquids,gases) and , either through or through or as a combination of both of them. Convection of mass cannot take place in solids, since neither bulk current flows nor significant diffusion can take place in solids.
insulation -is a process that keeps heat in an object.
absorption- absorption of light or other electromagnetic radiation by a material
reflection- denying heat or light from entering
temperature vs. heat- temperature- a numerical measure of hot and cold heat- energy
specific heat- the measurable physical quantity of heat energy required to change the temperature of an object by a given amount.
thermodynamics- Thermodynamics is a branch of natural science concerned with heat and temperature and their relation to energy and work.
radiation- a process in which electromagnetic waves (EMR) travel through a vacuum or through matter-containing media
convection- the concerted, collective movement of groups or aggregates of molecules within (e.g., liquids,gases) and , either through or through or as a combination of both of them. Convection of mass cannot take place in solids, since neither bulk current flows nor significant diffusion can take place in solids.
insulation -is a process that keeps heat in an object.
absorption- absorption of light or other electromagnetic radiation by a material
reflection- denying heat or light from entering
temperature vs. heat- temperature- a numerical measure of hot and cold heat- energy
specific heat- the measurable physical quantity of heat energy required to change the temperature of an object by a given amount.
thermodynamics- Thermodynamics is a branch of natural science concerned with heat and temperature and their relation to energy and work.
- Zeroth law of thermodynamics: If two systems are in thermal equilibrium with a third system, they must be in thermal equilibrium with each other. This law helps define the notion of temperature.
- First law of thermodynamics: Because energy is conserved, the internal energy of a system changes as heat flows in or out of it. Equivalently, machines that violate the first law (perpetual motion machines) are impossible. Heat is the flow of thermal energy from one object to another.
- Second law of thermodynamics: The entropy of any isolated system not in thermal equilibrium almost always increases. Closed systems spontaneously evolve towards thermal equilibrium—the state of maximum entropy of the system—in a process known as "thermalization". Equivalently, machines that violate the second law (perpetual motion machines) are impossible.
- Third law of thermodynamics: The entropy of any pure substance in thermodynamic equilibrium approaches zero as the temperature approaches zero. The entropy of a system at absolute zero is typically zero, and in all cases is determined only by the number of different ground states it has.
REFLECTION
This project was very abundant with information and at the same time, fun. I have once again surprised by the leadership role I tend to take in these situations. There were plenty of things that went right and not many that went wrong which I am glad to say and I hope we do another project like this soon.
This project was very abundant with information and at the same time, fun. I have once again surprised by the leadership role I tend to take in these situations. There were plenty of things that went right and not many that went wrong which I am glad to say and I hope we do another project like this soon.