Regenerative Design
Hawaii Preparatory Academy Energy Laboratory Case Study
Since the advent of sustainable development and the creation of green building systems, many ideas of what a green building truly is have become common knowledge. It is agreed upon notion that green buildings perform at a higher inefficiency compared to standard buildings in regards to energy and water use, create healthier interior environments, and responsibly use materials and resources. How well the building performs in all these categories is typically left to the judgement of the owner and their specifications or a green building rating system. These systems reward buildings for reducing their resource consumption by a specified percentage, which is certainly a step in the right direction.
Regenerative buildings proposes a higher standard for green buildings. These buildings go beyond by not only accounting for their own energy and resource use, but by having a net-positive effect on the surrounding site. This net-positive effect can manifest in several different ways. Restoring lost habitats and a site's natural hydrology are often the most obvious ecology effects regenerative buildings have on the surrounding environment. In urban areas the benefits of a regenerative building can include urban agricultural systems, an excess production of energy to share with surrounding buildings, restoring and recharging ground water systems, or creating niche habitats for locally displaced animals and plants. The distincition for regenerative buildings compared to traditional green buildings is to reverse damage done to a site through all systems involved, both biotic and abiotic, requiring a different engagement by the design team and all other involved parties.
The Hawaii Preparatory Academy (HPA) Energy Laboratory by Flansburgh Architects is an excellent example of a regenerative building. Completed in 2010, the project was awarded LEED Platinum and was certified under the rigorous Living Building Challenge in 2011. The 5900 square foot high school laboratory is capable of generating 38,994 kWh from photovoltaic and windmill sources while only consumes 19,090 kWh, leaving 52% of all energy generated to be feed back into the grid.
To help reduce the possible energy loads, the entire building is naturally ventilated and uses an experimental radiant cooling system instead of a conventional air conditioning system. This radiant cooling system functions by circulating water through thermal roof panels at night which is cooled by the low night temperatures and is then stored below-grade. Automated louvers and wood screens help regulate direct light into the building and exhaust fans can be activated via sensors if greater airflow is needed.
The building is also capable of harvesting 6,953 gallons of rainwater per year, with an estimated use of 4,932 gallons annually. The harvested water is filtered and used for drinking and low flow fixtures throughout the building. Waste water is disposed over a larger field after being treated on-site, and is allowed to percolate through deeper soils before entering the ground water.
The site chosen for the lab allows for prevailing winds to aid in naturally ventilating the project and provides views towards the nearby Mauna Kea volcano. The site was restored during construction as it was previously used as the bio waste dumping area for the HPA campus. The building takes advantage of the favorable climate and views by featuring open courtyards for students and classes and the use of operable glass doors to further open the building.
More information and specifications regarding the HPA Energy Laboratory can be found here.
Regenerative buildings present new initiatives to the ideas of 'green' and 'sustainable' construction. By providing design components that address the site's conditions and location, like photovoltaic and wind power to generate the power used, one could easily agree that the HPA Energy Laboratory is a prime example of a self-sufficient building. By not only integrating itself within the landscape, it also provides a connection, mimicking nature, that holistically composes systems to work symbiotically.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to read case studies like these because rainwater harvesting has been around for years but has just begun to take off if the green industry. After reading your blog I performed a google search to try and find the complexity of the rainwater filtration system used in their application but came up with nothing. Until recently, many people believed that using rainwater for potable water leads to illness and is unsanitary. Recent research has shown that with proper filtration, potable water produced from rainwater had no influence on an individuals health. However, these same researchers admit that individuals should not consume large quantities of rainwater, but never stated why.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting post Andrew. It sounds like they really went to extreme measures with the building in Hawaii to make it have as small of an impact on the environment as possible. It is impressive to see that green buildings are not just producing there own power anymore, but are actually capable of sending additional power back into the grid. This may be difficult to achieve for many new buildings due to a lack of space for solar panels or windmills, but other options such as the rainwater collection system can be applied to almost any structure. These are great ideas that many building owners should consider adopting.
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