Last week we talked about sharing our journey of educating ourselves on the topic of how to make meaningful decisions regarding climate change.
We continue to talk about the big picture, but this week we have set up a way of discussing live projects and recording possible design considerations in checklist format that can easily be added to or amended week by week. This should save us time and add more structure to our discussion.
A next point might be to formalise the topics by category so that each project would have a section on energy, material, etc… More to be seen as we go.
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Korea:
-The core at the heart of the building didn’t work because of the size of the building. We are still looking at the daylight in the core.
-Now it is a big effort for the quality of the ground floor and making a building that works for the city and the public realm. Having that overhang on the ground floor has a strong environmental story–balancing the need for a lot of transparency and glass at the interface with the city and still shading it from the worst of the summer heat and gaining the light in the winter.
-Looking at the radiation analysis that we’ve done, the southwest side will need solar shading measures on the upper levels.
-Let’s remember to reuse the solar panels that she has, or even add to them.
-We should do daylighting studies for the interiors as well.
-What is the material story for sustainability? We need to start thinking about this more. Stone vs. brick for the facade would be an important question. What should be the design life of this building? To be discussed further – but we need to understand this issue.
-Insulation specification of the windows and the facade is important.
For the confidential project:
-We are moving away from the idea of the enormous wooden cantilever and towards a lighter, more delicate structure that is more efficient in terms of material and size.
-Solar gain is an important part of the design and we should be calculating this and avoiding too much glass where we have high heat loads. Also, heat loss from the glass is an important consideration.
-Are we going to heat and cool it, and if so how will we do that in a sustainable way?
-What is the design life for this building? Could the glass be replaced easily every 20/25 years while the rest of the building lasts for 100?
-Could we consider maintenance for this? It will be important for the long-term viability and design life of the building. This also affects the aesthetics.
-Could it be designed as a modular design that could create simplified fabrication and also the possibility for dismounting or moving when needed? Design for dismounting would help us with our story for Historic England.
-Passive design principles–would it be possible to have some principles that would help with that? Passive heating in thermal mass in the floor in the winter? Cooled radiant floor in the summer? Maybe a way of drawing the air past the interior plants or exterior plants as part of the ventilation concept? And possibility water features?
-Natural ventilation and opening panels being a feature?
-Thickness of the roof and insulation of the roof is an important consideration.
Barking:
-We did the shadow studies and didn’t see a big difference in terms of daylight hours between the smaller and larger versions.
-We didn’t do the radiation but we can do that.
-Design for disassembly is still an idea for us. However, we are now considering more design for flexibility and adaptive reuse. For now, flexibility is more of a priority for us than disassembly.
-We may not be able to pursue the idea of a fully wooden structure building due to a variety of factors. This is still being evaluated. If we cannot even use glu-lam structure for columns and beams alone, then another option could be recycled steel modular system.
-Modular design for mechanical services: we should just talk about sustainable mechanical design with our engineer briefly even at this stage.
-Maintaining cross-ventilation for the building would be an important criteria for design. Natural vs mechanical ventilation is very important.
-Could this be a fully passive building? If not, could it achieve fully carbon neutral? Zero net energy?
-For this, daylighting becomes really important.
-Green roof and rainwater collection for the building. Also PV’s on the roof as an important model.
-In the master plan design, what are the durability and also the fire implications for designing and building these exterior structures out of mass timber? Also, what are the maintenance costs? We need to speak with an engineer about this.
-If we want the beacons to be there for a long time and to last, we should consider not just materials and design approach but also questions like accessibility.
-More trees and vegetation in the master plan for air quality and avoiding heat island effect.
-Encouraging limiting of car traffic in the centre.
-Managing construction and demolition of the site could be discussed at later stages.
The villa:
-Wood for feature walls: can it be FSC certified?
-Low VOC finishing oils for the wood.
-Paints that absorb pollution and CO2?
-We are using LED lighting, that will save energy.
-Greywater reuse?
-Water: low-flow fittings that still have really strong pressure?
-Rainwater harvesting for outdoor irrigation?
-Stone for facade was sourced regionally (Syria). Stone for floor was sourced (in Spain?)
-For future projects there, can we do more with local labour, local materials, local products?
Peak residence:
-Let’s create a briefing that shows the site so that people can comment on this next time.
Paulyne:
-For the office, organising relevant CPD’s related to climate change. An actual climate change expert.
-We could go to events.
-We can make a wish list of people we might like to come
-Ellen MacArthur foundation (Circular economy UK)
-Patrick Bellew
-David Richards
-Jonathan Smales
-Arabella and Monika on materials?
-Cindy Harris and Pat Borer (The whole house book)?
-Wood for Good people?
-Blanche Cameron (Josef’s tutor from UCL)?
-Possibly organise group CPD with others.
-Also a more clear recycling strategy.
