View Looking under Green Roof- Here is a conceptual sketch of what my building will look lime under the green roof area. The glass continues around the interior structure helping bring light into both corridors (interior and exterior). There will be a stair walkway around the edge of the green roof providing access to those that would like to view from the top of the structure. It also creates a barrier so bikes don't get to close to the edge.
View Looking back toward Main Entrance- The main entrance will expose the space frame structure hidden behind glass and allow for great views out of the building from both the first and second floors. You can also see the continuous walkway and railing on the second floor.
This type of system is extremely useful when it is either really hot outside (like its been that last few summers) or really cold outside (like we have had in the past). What this system does is uses the consistent temp. of the ground to either cool down (summer) or heat up (winter) the air before it enters the building. This make the building heating/cooling systems use less energy trying to condition the air for the building thus making it run more sustainable. The system uses zero energy it is just a series of tubes in the ground. The same fans and pumps pull the air out of the tube just like it would from outside. A building has to have a percentage of fresh air replaced hourly so that the building does not build up carbon monoxide from people breathing in and out.
This system can also be used to help naturally ventilate your building as well. Creating a "stack ventilation" system will draw hot air out of the building thus pulling cooler air into the building thru the tubes all without the need for electrical devices. In our area this system will only work during certain times of the year. But the time it is working a building this size will be saving thousands of dollars in energy bills.
When it is cold outside the "stack ventilation" vents can be closed to help keep the warmer air within the building and Heating systems are only needed to heat small degree changes in outside air coming in from the tubes.
Here is a photo of a series of earth tubes being installed. The size of the tubes as well as the number depend on the size building you are trying to heat/cool. At the far end you can see a tube sticking straight up, that is where the air comes in. This can be positioned anywhere in the system, Ideally it is far from the building are vehicular traffic so it is pulling in clean air.
Typical heating systems (right side image) heat air in the basement then blow that air all over the building. The location of these vent/grills are important when realizing how much heat/cool is needed in a volume of space. Most of the time ducts and vents are positioned up high and have to use force to blow air down to where the people occupying the space are. This type of system requires large amounts of energy to not only heat the air but to force it all over the building thru large ducts.
Radiant floor heating (left side image) is different in that it doesn't rely on moving the air into a space to heat that space. Radiant floor heating uses a fluid filled tube system and places it in the concrete under your feet and heating that fluid heats the surface under your feet thus radiating the heat upwards. This keeps more of the heat where the people are located. The amount of energy is greatly reduced only having to move small amounts of fluid thru the floor as compared to large amounts of air.
You can see the energy comparisons in this chart. The amount of energy consumed is 42.3% So for every $100 you spend on energy for a conventional System switching to this system alone would save you $42.30 almost cutting your bill in half. Pairing this up with a geothermal heating system will increase those savings even more.
This is a section of how the cooling system would work. Somewhere in the facility there is a holding tank (red tank) hooked up to a condensing unit (gray box with fan on it). The condensing unit is typically outdoors and the tank will be somewhat close to where you want to cool. The condensing unit cools the fluid in the tanks and that fluid is pumped into the blue tube and run along the ceiling across special metal panels. The tubes cool the metal panels which in return cool the room. Then the warm water is pumped back into the take to start the cycle over again. The size of the tank is determined by the size of building it is cooling. This is great in office setting since it doesn't rely on moving air thus blowing papers off desks and or giving employees chills every time the system turns on.
While searching for different types of cyclocross tracks I came across this series of images (below) of the cycling complex at Marian University in Indianapolis, Indiana. I originally thought I had a "new concept" trying to bring together all disciplines in one condensed area but the more I research the more instances I find of other places doing this as well. That is a good thing in that if other people are already doing it then it must work. Mine will just be the first in the area...
My name is Andrew Stevens and I am a Graduate Student at the University of Oklahoma School of Architecture. This blog is for me to share with you my thought process and design images for a Net-Zero Velodrome in the Oklahoma City, OK area.