Applications of Engineering Science in Sustainable Design - Coursework Example

Your name: Course name: Professors’ name: Date Executive summary Sustainable design entails the design of conceptual and physical objects that fulfil principles of social, ecological and economic sustainability. Nowadays sustainable designs are common to address the alarming rise in environmental issues such as global warming and greenhouse effect. This report will analyse the application of engineering in sustainable design. It will highlight the need for architectures to integrate their design with engineering concepts. It will also highlight the engineering principles needed when selecting the appropriate glazing and construction materials for a house design. Finally, the report will discuss solar geometry and how it can be used in creative ways to design houses that use minimum amounts of energy. Introduction Sustainable architecture is essential in creating designs. However, architects and engineers are faced with numerous challenges in designing and implementing designs that are environmental conscious and also energy-saving. Therefore, there is need to incorporate architects and engineers to come up with the sustainable designs. In doing this, some of the challenges faced when implementing the designs will be minimized. Applications of engineering science in sustainable building design Designing and building infrastructures that offer high performance is a challenge to both the architectures and the engineers. The architectures are faced with engineering challenges when designing their systems. To offer optimum performance and maximum efficiency, architectures need to integrate their architectural designs with engineering aspects. Structural/civil engineering forms an important part in architectural design. The architectures have to consult their designs with electrical and mechanical engineers to ensure their design allows for proper integration with both electrical and mechanical features of the design. This integration is an important factor in the success of architectural designs. It also plays a vital role in ensuring efficiency of the systems in sustainable design (Anastas & Zimmerman 2003, p.97). Integration of engineering and architectural professionals will consider all the aspects and features of the design so as to produce a sustainable design of a particular building or system. There are various factors that need to be considered when integrating architectural designs with engineering so as to produce a sustainable design. They include building orientation, day-lighting design, interior/exterior finishes, building height, lighting systems, provision of services, heating systems, ventilation systems, acoustic design, computer applications, aerodynamics, vibration, roof design ( green roof, water harvesting etc.), insulation and foundation systems. However, the architecture does not have to do all the differential equations done by engineers to effectively integrate architectural design with engineering. There are many software used in architectural designs, commonly referred to as computer aided drawing (CAD). Architectures need to have a sound knowledge of engineering so as to effectively design their integrated designs. However, the software is easy to use and solve most of the challenges faced by the architectures in sustainable designs. Continuum mechanics provides architects with tools and techniques that enable them effectively design their systems. Architectures have to bear in mind the effect of other engineering features in their design. For instance, electric power systems, HVAC systems, Alarm systems and energy performance among others. The computer designs combine all these aspects together to form a more comprehensive sustainable design. The science of glazing for energy efficiency Glazing plays a vital role in the design of buildings. It enables natural lighting, and under appropriate conditions it can supplement the heating of buildings by solar energy. Nonetheless, glazing can also lead to excessive heat losses and gains under certain weather conditions. Therefore, architectures and engineers must design the building effectively to ensure these conditions are avoided. Architectures need to be familiar with the following engineering principles to ensure effective glazing is implemented in their building designs (Morrissey, Moore & Horne 2011, p.571). Thermal performance. Architectures should be familiar with solar radiation, conduction and thermal break to ensure comfort in their designs. Thermal performance requirements are very important and should be integrated with the design to ensure proper cooling and heating systems. Architectures must ensure their design allows room for expansion and contraction of the glazing material as a result of solar heating. They must be familiar with the thermal breakdown index of the various materials to be incorporated in the design. Thermal performance of the insulating glazing mainly depends on solar energy transmittance via the glazing and also the reflectance index of the glazing. Moisture protection (condensation resistance, water penetration). The design must ensure that there will be no water penetration. Architectures must be familiar with glazing waterproofing performance. This feature is important in determining the glazing method to be employed (dry glazing versus wet glazing). Condensation takes place when the temperature of the glazing surfaces fall below the dew point. To prevent this, the glazing material may be provided with a low U-value or by providing supplemental heat so as to increase the surface temperatures. Acoustics. Sound performance of the glazing material is very important. Most applications require good sound insulation. An integrated strategy to ensure the glazing materials are sound proof requires testing and review of the entire systems. There are various acoustics test done on the glazing material to measure the sound transmission loss. Durability and life expectancy. The field of reliability engineering is extensively employed to determine the durability of the glazing material. The mean time to failure (MTTF) tests are conducted on the material to measure their time to failure. The geometry and orientation of buildings Solar geometry is used to creatively design houses that minimize energy loss. Heating and cooling of buildings are affected by the orientation of surfaces, shading, and colour of surfaces. Solar geometry design integrates a combination of the building features so as to effectively eliminate or reduce the need for supplemental mechanical heating and cooling in the interior of buildings (Wang, Chen & Ren 2010, p.1671). Designers must pay particular attention to the orientation of the sun with respect to the roof to effectively minimize cooling and heating needs. The architectural design does not have to be complex or sophisticated to realize energy savings. However, the designers must have knowledge of local climate, window technology and most importantly solar geometry to effectively manage the energy losses. They do this by integrating their design with passive solar design. In cold climates, sun-tempering is employed to effectively manage the energy losses. Most of the building glazing is oriented towards the south. This strategy works well for cold climates, and it is cost effective to ensure the interior temperatures are maintained. Shading. The overhead sun in summer is more than that in the winter. Appropriately sized window overhangs can be utilised to effectively optimize the southerly solar shading and heat gain. They are used to effectively shade the windows from the glowing summer sun and, permit sunlight through the window in the winter to warm the house. Heat storage. Thermal mass forms an integral part of passive solar design. They store heat when the sun is hot during the day and warm the interiors of the house during the night when the temperatures have fallen. Natural lighting. Knowledge of solar geometry allows the architectures to design houses that effectively allow natural lighting during daytime. The design enables the interior of the building to access natural lighting from the sun at all times of the day. It is commonly employed in the workplace where adequate lighting is vital. With such systems, the company employing such designs in their building conserve a lot of energy. Materials of construction Selection of building materials is very important step in building construction. This is because the materials used for construction have significant influence on the thermal performance of the design to be implemented. The courtyard style houses in the Middle East offer effective thermal performance, therefore, providing comfort in the interiors of the house. Concerning the thermal performance of the courtyard houses, ground-floor rooms are usually cooler than the upper-floor rooms independently of their orientation. However, in the entire building the factor of solar protection plays a vital role of keeping the temperature of the interior stable even if the outside temperature is very high. Cross-ventured rooms in the upper floors improve the thermal comfort of the rooms. Higher air speeds enhance thermal comfort in the houses. Materials used in construction have a significant effect on the thermal performance of buildings. Different materials have different insulation properties. That is; different construction materials have varying ability to resist the transfer of heat. This is often measured by the R-value that is a measure of the thermal resistance of the material. Materials with higher R-values have better insulation properties. Such materials with higher R-values assists to restrain the effect of outside temperature. On the other hand, materials ability to transfer heat affects the thermal performance of the building. Ability of a material to transfer the heat is measured by U-value. Materials with higher U-value have better conducting capabilities. When comparing different materials, lower U-value indicate materials with better insulation properties. To achieve a sustainable design, thermal efficiency must be paramount. Since materials affect thermal efficiency of the buildings, construction engineers and architectures must analyse the materials with respect to the climate of the region and offer the best solution to the challenge. They should aim to optimize on the thermal comfort of the building. Insulation of the material fundamentally affect the thermal efficiency of the buildings. The principles of shading Shading. Shading is an important factor to be considered in designing buildings. Architectures should design their plans in accordance with the climate of the area. Their design should allow proper shading where needed. For instance, the overhead sun in summer is more than that in the winter. Appropriately sized window overhangs can be utilised to effectively optimize the southerly solar shading and heat gain. There are many reasons to control the amount of sunlight entering the interior of the building. Solar geometry enables the designers to design shading devices to be implemented in their design. With solar geometry, the design can effectively reduce the building peak heat gain, cooling requirements, and the natural lighting of the interiors of the building. Depending on the location, reductions in the annual cooling energy consumption have been reported (Turrin, von Buelow & Stouffs 2011, p. 667). Melbourne. Melbourne experiences temperatures of less than 20 degrees most times of the year. The summer’s overhead sun has an average of 20 degrees. Autumn and winter an average of 15 degrees while winter an average of 10 degrees. Architectures should ensure that their designs reflect the temperatures of Melbourne. This is very important to effectively achieve thermal comfort. Solar geometry will help the architectures to design plans that effectively offer stability of temperatures in the interiors of the buildings. They should ensure appropriate shading to effectively conserve the temperatures in the rooms. Structural engineers should also select building materials that offer more insulation. Darwin. Darwin is a hot region. The region experiences an average temperature of 32 degrees. Architectures should ensure their design offer natural cooling of the interiors. The design should provide adequate shading to ensure that the temperatures in building interiors remain stable even when the outside temperatures are high. The designs should utilise cross-ventured rooms in the upper floors to improve the thermal comfort of the rooms. Higher air speeds enhance thermal comfort in the houses. Darwin and Melbourne are very distinct regions with different climates. Therefore, architectures should always incorporate designs that are convenient for building in both regions. The designs should address the climate in both regions. Conclusion Architectures today are faced with less challenges in their design. This is because they are many computer aided design programs that enable design their plans. The use of CAD is very essential as it addresses engineering problems in the design. It is vital for architectures to understand the science of glazing and shading in house designs. Engineers should select construction materials that are well suited with the design and that addresses issues such as thermal comfort in sustainable design. Solar geometry is a vital factor to consider when designing. Solar geometry affects the orientation of the house and it’s very useful in designing green houses. References Anastas, P. T., & Zimmerman, J. B 2003, Peer reviewed: design through the 12 principles of green engineering, Environmental science & technology, 37(5), 94-101. Morrissey, J., Moore, T., & Horne, R. E 2011, Affordable passive solar design in a temperate climate: An experiment in residential building orientation, Renewable Energy, 36(2), 568-577. Turrin, M., von Buelow, P., & Stouffs, R 2011, Design explorations of performance driven geometry in architectural design using parametric modeling and genetic algorithms, Advanced Engineering Informatics, 25(4), 656-675. Wang, X., Chen, D., & Ren, Z 2010, Assessment of climate change impact on residential building heating and cooling energy requirement in Australia, Building and Environment, 45(7), 1663-1682. Read More