Page 50 - Designing for Zero Carbon - Case Studies of All-Electric Buildings

CASE STUDY NO. 2
MAKERS QUARTER BLOCK D OFFICE BUILDING
(Below) Typical wall sections at the West, East and North sides of the building. (Courtesy of BNIM)
The natural ventilation features, as described in the previous section, are the principal compo- nents of the building façades. The overhead sectional garage doors have a series of enhance- ments to minimize air-infiltration and seal off the indoor office space when not open: (1) at the bottom, a U-shaped vinyl weather-seal; (2) at the sides, an EPDM rubber jamb seal that engages while closing; (3) at the top, a flexible vinyl flap header seal.2
The sun control elements consist of the manually-operated perforated-metal panels on the west and north sides, adjacent to the outdoor balcony spaces, and the automated exterior blinds located at the south end of the building. The perforated-metal panels provide shading and enclo- sure of the balcony spaces and can be arranged by the occupants to provide shading where it best suits them. Thus, they are also an essential part of the character of the tenant office suites.
The exterior blinds on the south end of the building (partial west and east sides) are automatical- ly operated in response to solar sensors so that full shade is provided on the extensive amount of glazing while maximizing the openness to daylight. Combined with electric lighting controls, this minimizes electrical energy use for lighting and cooling.
The typical wall sections of the building for three façades are shown below. In general, the R- value of the opaque part of the wall averages R = 13. The roof is R = 25 and all concrete slab floors are uninsulated. The West wall contains both the glass curtain wall3 and the roll-up garage doors leading to the balcony areas. The East wall is a bare concrete structural wall, left uninsu- lated as part of the core and shell construction; the tenant is expected to add a layer of insulation as part of space build-out, bringing it to the R-13 average value. The North wall is made up of metal panels that include 6” mineral wool insulation for an average R-value of R=23.
EAST NORTH
2 Raynor AlumaView AV175, https://raynor.com/commercial/commercial-sectional-garage- doors/alumaview-aluminum-rail-and-stile-doors/alumaview-av175/
3 U = 0.29, SHGC (typical) = 0.38, SHGC (East side) = 0.29.
Building Envelope
(Opposite page, top) Vertical metal panel sunshades on the west elevation are manu- ally operable by tenant prefer- ences.
(Opposite page, bottom) Inte- rior view at south end of the building—external blind sys- tem is automatically operated.
WEST
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Designing for Zero Carbon: Volume 1