May, 2010
29
High-Profile: Green Facilities Development News
Sustainable Energy Research in a Sustainable Facility
by Jerald D. Polly Stony Brook, N.Y. - Stony Brook University selected Flad Architects to design its Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center (AERTC), specifying that it align with the university’s commitment to campus sustainability. As research laboratories are notorious energy consumers, this challenge required the design team to use a “compounding” approach to achieve the necessary effect. With construction scheduled to be completed this summer, the design for this state-of-the-art renewable energy research facility is expected to enable it to reach Platinum certification, the highest certification possible under the US Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System. As a laboratory facility, LEED Platinum certification could not be achieved through any straightforward means. Each sustainability strategy had to serve multiple functions to reach the project targets. An example of these compounding effects in the design can be demonstrated in the building’s relationship to the sun. Quality daylighting and correct solar building orientation are considered a cornerstone of sustainable building architectural response because they enable many other energy conservation and performance improvements. By studying solar orientation, shading, and incidence, as well as
seasonal solar energy availability, the design team balanced multiple responses to generate greater results. The use of building information modeling systems and other energy modeling programs allowed the team to carefully craft a detailed plan for the facility’s solar management. For the AERTC, Flad Architects utilized a dominant east-west building orientation, minimizing low-angle light penetration in both the morning and late afternoon by facing mostly solid façades toward the
Solar study
Stony Brook University
sun on both the east and west sides of the building. During summer days, when the path of the sun is higher in the sky, the AERTC’s specially designed shading devices on the windows and south façade reduce unwanted heat gain, thereby diminishing the amount of energy used for cooling. These architectural “blinds” are precisely positioned based on the AERTC’s location and seasonal relationship to the sun. During winter months, the path of the sun is lower in the sky, allowing the sunshine to
bypass the shading devices and increasing light penetration into the building, thereby diminishing the amount of energy used for heating and lighting. Providing shading for windows is not a new concept. However, only recently has technology allowed us to have that shading actually capture that solar energy instead of merely deflecting it. All too often, building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) have been relegated to inconspicuous locations on the roofs of buildings. Their bulky encasements have been widely viewed as non-aesthetic elements to be masked from view. However, with recent advancement in the production of BIPVs and other solar cells, they can find usefulness in unexpected applications. Flad Architects designed the AERTC’s blinds to be multitiered shades, managing the sunlight penetration, as well as capturing that solar energy and utilizing it to drive the HVAC system for the facility. These BIPV sun shades were incorporated into the overall design of the south façade, moving beyond their obvious function to become part of the overall design aesthetic of the facility and also as an advertisement for the renewable science research being conducted within its walls. Working directly with the MEP engineers, Flad Architects estimates the solar shading effect of the feature will save Continued on page 31
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