Building Better
Reduce, Replace, Recalculate: Analyzing Sustainability Differences between Polymer, Aluminum and Steel Injection Molds and the Parts They Produce View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Kiersten Muenchinger
Recent innovations support the production of molds for injection molding through additive manufacturing. Print resolutions are high enough for smooth mold surfaces. Printable resins can withstand the temperature and pressure extremes encountered in the injection molding process. Printing molds can replace cutting molds from solid blocks of steel or aluminum, reducing waste material and the embodied energy of the molds. This study quantifies the environmental impacts of a 3D printed polymer mold, an aluminum mold and a steel mold, and analyzes the aesthetic differences between parts produced. The hypothesis is that a polymer mold has a lower impact than the steel and aluminum molds, and for a short production run, will produce parts that are equally aesthetically appealing.
Adaptive Facade for High-performance Tall Building Design View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Mohammad Mehdi Ghiai
The substantial surface area of façades in high-rise buildings presents a unique opportunity for significant energy savings. Studies indicate that employing innovative building envelope systems, particularly Adaptive Façades (AF), can result in substantial reductions ranging from 20% to 50% in total energy consumption. This statistic underscores the immense potential these systems hold in transforming the energy efficiency landscape of high-rise structures. However, despite the growing interest and recognition of Adaptive Façades as a promising solution, evaluating their precise impact on energy performance remains a challenge. The complexity of these systems, which dynamically respond to varying environmental conditions, adds layers of intricacy to the assessment process. Traditional evaluation methods often fall short in capturing the nuanced dynamics of AF, leaving a gap in our understanding of their true energy-saving capabilities. In this pursuit, the research meticulously examines different AF technologies, such as electrochromic windows, thermochromic materials, and kinetic shading systems. By analyzing these variants, the paper seeks to elucidate how each type uniquely influences the building's energy consumption patterns and, concurrently, enhances the comfort levels of its occupants. Understanding the interplay between these technologies and their effects on both energy efficiency and user satisfaction is crucial for devising effective strategies in sustainable architectural design. Ultimately, this endeavor not only advances the understanding of AF systems but also paves the way for their optimal integration, ensuring buildings are not only energy-efficient but also conducive to the well-being of their inhabitants.
Design Thinking for Energy Infrastructures View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Amy Trick
As the world faces climate change and its repercussions, it is becoming increasingly important to consider not only the design of environmental sensitive architectures and places but also the sustainability of the systems that facilitate them. Energy infrastructures, integral to the functioning and operations of most architectural projects, are systems whose ramifications profoundly shape their surrounding contexts in terms of landscape, ecology, and architecture; however, despite the substantial ripple effects of differing energy systems, traditionally the design and implementation of energy infrastructures has fallen squarely within the domain of engineering. As society confronts a future that will necessitate increased power production, due to population growths and increasingly frequent severe weather events, there is an opportunity to rethink the way infrastructural systems are selected and designed for places in a manner that engages with designers or architects. In Fall 2022, a design studio at Clemson University sought to reconsider the power generation strategies of Upstate South Carolina. Students used design thinking to experiment with infrastructural development as a tool for placemaking, programmatic reimagining, or restructuring of policy and considered the impact of infrastructure on culture. This speculation on the future of energy infrastructure subsequently inspired master planning and architectural works that speak to the inescapable relation between energy and place. The varied projects developed in the studio showcase how the engagement of creative professions beyond engineering, such as architects or environmental designers, can serve to generate methodologies and ideas for dealing with energy needs of the future in novel ways.
The Transformational Technique of Fragments: The Design Language of Renovations beyond Eclecticism View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Wonseok Chae, Holger Hoffmann
In this paper, a design technique of fragmentation is discussed in relation to the current phenomenon of architectural renovations. There are growing numbers of building renovation projects by merging diverse formal languages in urban areas. This paper specifically questions the transformed qualities of form and meaning by representing a formal language next to one another. The narrative is based on a series of design research projects focused on the recomposition or reconfiguration of forms and meanings in the premise of creating a new. Looking closely, today’s renovation projects often seem to carry on the previous forms and meanings under the outward expression of transforming old buildings. The synthesizing technique of fragments increases the capacities of architectural design by continuing and transforming the legacy of architectural form and meaning at the same time. This paper situates the main argument of fragmentation technique in a couple of postmodern design theories from the 1960s to the 80s. Today’s transformations in the building renovation projects often show unusual qualities in form and meaning similar to the postmodern architectures. However, today’s renovation languages are much more subtle than their predecessors' languages which are neither direct collages nor simple eclecticisms. Although complex and difficult to grasp at a glance, today’s transformations from fragments look more rational or reasonable than the conventional formal languages.
