TEACHING

SUSTAINABLE AND RESILIENT DESIGN: THE SU+RE HOUSE

Regardless of your opinion of the USDOE Solar Decathlon, I posit two facts: it is (1) insane and (2) a great teaching/learning experience. The SU+RE HOUSE was Stevens Institute of Technology’s winning entry in the 2015 competition. The impetus was Stevens’ direct experience of Superstorm Sandy. The building that houses my office was flooded during the storm and many students on the project were from the Jersey Shore. The concept was that as we work to mitigate climate change (SU = sustainability), we need to accept and adapt to the fact that the climate is already changing (RE = resilience). The goal was the development of a sustainable and resilient prototype for coastal housing. The result was a low energy housing system design with a hyper-efficient envelope, integrated PV that produces around 3kW/yr more energy than it uses, is floodproof, and provides energy for inhabitants and neighbors in the event of a grid power outage.

The project is well-documented. To access detailed design narratives, the full construction plan set, and the complete project manual, visit the team page on the DOE Solar Decathlon website. A larger context of sustainable/resilient design systems in addition to detailed articles on many project aspects can be found in the Jan/Feb edition of Architectural Design magazine,“SU+RE: Sustainable + Resilient Design Systems”. The introduction I wrote for that issue is a good introduction to the project concept and design path. In addition to the project website, there is also a Popular Science blog that to some degree followed the process of design and construction.

The SU+RE HOUSE is now on permanent display at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, New Jersey

MERGING ARCHITECTURAL AND ENGINEERING DESIGN WORKFLOWS

Cross-Platform Modeling

In the realm of buildings, engineering and architectural design are intimately connected. My interest in project carbon reduction situates my work squarely in the zone of that overlap. Teaching at an engineering university has exposed me to a set of software applications that are not typical to the architect’s tool box. As a result, I am constantly developing, fine-tuning, and teaching interesting ways to merge engineering and architectural workflows. This video illustrates an example of a design/analysis/prototyping process in which a variety of software platforms, machinery, and people navigate the digital/physical interface in an iterative loop.

WHY?
I grew up in the intense heat of Central Texas where everything living is in a constant search for shade. Whether a cow under a tree or a dog under a porch, the rationale was consistent and obvious. This logic was carried through by us humans in the older neighborhoods where houses with large front and screened back sleeping porches were nestled under the spreading canopies of oak trees clearly older than the houses themselves. This changed. Maybe it was the arrival of air conditioning and the money to be made by replacing trees with more houses. Whatever the reason, newer neighborhoods were treeless and porchless and HOT. The contrast was stark and unequivocal. The newer neighborhoods (tellingly relabeled “developments”) locked in a dependence on fuel driven, breakable mechanical systems and set a hefty baseline energy usage. They also defined two completely distinct environments, with the inside becoming a sort of prison of comfort discouraging inhabitants from venturing outside as part of their daily home life.  The older neighborhoods, on the other hand, used passive strategies (trees, overhangs) to adjust the microclimate around the buildings toward the human comfort zone, lowering cooling loads and therefore baseline energy demand while creating a “third environment” around the house that encouraged a lifestyle that included being outside.. I didn’t realize it then, but this was my first lesson in passive design and it set the tone for my future work in sustainable design. Though I see mitigating climate change as a central macro-rationale for my work, I believe that the sensible path to efficiency leads to a better, healthier lifestyle. Over the years I’ve gotten deeper into science of building envelopes and increased the scale and scope of the projects and materials that interest me, however the throughline in my research has remained constant and can be described by the motto: passive first, then active.
WHAT?
I conduct research into materials, assemblies, and systems in the context of building envelopes. I am particularly interested in high performance assemblies and how to configure them so that they interact with site conditions to minimize heating and cooling loading while maximizing durability. My associated research life has comprised essentially three phases: (1) site harvested and waste materials modeled on traditional hygroscopic systems; (2) mass produced materials and assemblies that increase functionality within the existing construction industry while maintaining certain benefits of traditional systems; and (3) concrete technologies, specifically with the goal of improving concrete’s carbon footprint and maximizing its thermal performance potential in building envelopes.
HOW?
I generally try to connect all research I do to a design project and connected publication. Sometimes this cycle has been very personal. For example when I lived in a two room mountain log cabin for three years and took a self-directed course in homesteading. Most often it has been tied to residential design and publication projects. As my interests have moved toward the larger scale and industrial, I have moved into a traditional academic lab research and journal/conference publication paradigm.