Design of an energy efficient school in Nombre de Dios (Panama)

GROUP

17

Design of an energy efficient school in Nombre de Dios (Panama)

1‐6‐2015

INTERDISCIPLINARY PROJECT

AUTHORS

JAIME MARTÍN MUÑOZ

219632

JORGE BARBERO HERRANZ

219633

ETIENNE LESAGE

231343

JOSE MANUEL TOCINO BAIZAN

232072

CONSULTANCY CLAUS NØRGAARD POULSEN ARNALDO LANDIVAR

CNPO@VIA.DK Landivar.a@GMAIL.COM

INTERDISCIPLINARY PROJECT

01/06/2015

INDEX 1

Introduction........................................................................................................... ‐ 3 ‐ 1.1

Background .................................................................................................... ‐ 3 ‐

1.2

Abstract ......................................................................................................... ‐ 3 ‐

1.3

Purpose.......................................................................................................... ‐ 3 ‐

1.4

Research questions ....................................................................................... ‐ 3 ‐

2

Panama’s current situation. .................................................................................. ‐ 4 ‐ 2.1

Geographical context .................................................................................... ‐ 4 ‐

2.2

Demographical context ................................................................................. ‐ 5 ‐

2.3

Social context ................................................................................................ ‐ 5 ‐

2.4

Economic context .......................................................................................... ‐ 6 ‐

2.5

Climatic context ............................................................................................. ‐ 7 ‐

2.6

Sustainability context .................................................................................... ‐ 7 ‐

2.7

Energy context ............................................................................................... ‐ 7 ‐

2.8

Project location ............................................................................................. ‐ 8 ‐

3

Previous system analysis ....................................................................................... ‐ 8 ‐ 3.1

Sewer system ................................................................................................ ‐ 8 ‐

3.1.1

Rain water collection and storage ........................................................... ‐ 9 ‐

3.1.2

Cooling system and disposal .................................................................... ‐ 9 ‐

3.1.3

Rain water .............................................................................................. ‐ 13 ‐

3.2

Cooling system ............................................................................................ ‐ 14 ‐

3.2.1

Natural ventilation. Passive ventilation. ................................................ ‐ 18 ‐

3.2.2

Ceiling fans. ............................................................................................ ‐ 19 ‐

3.2.3

Mechanical ventilation. HVAC ................................................................ ‐ 20 ‐

3.2.4

Ventilated façade. .................................................................................. ‐ 21 ‐

3.2.5

Desiccant wheel. .................................................................................... ‐ 22 ‐

3.2.6

Cooling + heating system. ...................................................................... ‐ 22 ‐

3.2.7

Mini split ................................................................................................. ‐ 23 ‐

3.3

Materials and ways of construction. ........................................................... ‐ 25 ‐

3.4

Electricity ..................................................................................................... ‐ 26 ‐

3.4.1

Wind Energy ........................................................................................... ‐ 26 ‐

3.4.2

Photovoltaic panels. ............................................................................... ‐ 32 ‐

3.4.3

Micro‐Hydro power generation ............................................................. ‐ 35 ‐

3.5

Drinking water systems ............................................................................... ‐ 38 ‐

3.5.1

Bucked System, JUST WATER LLC........................................................... ‐ 38 ‐

3.5.2

Water treatment plant ........................................................................... ‐ 41 ‐

Design of an energy efficient school in Nombre de Dios (Panama)

3.5.3 times.

4

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Earthships catch water from the sky (rain & snow melt) and uses it four ................................................................................................................ ‐ 43 ‐ School design ....................................................................................................... ‐ 45 ‐

4.1

Overview ..................................................................................................... ‐ 45 ‐

4.2

Site ............................................................................................................... ‐ 45 ‐

4.3

Sustainable design ....................................................................................... ‐ 46 ‐

4.4

Life and adaptability .................................................................................... ‐ 46 ‐

4.5

Healthy design. Systems .............................................................................. ‐ 46 ‐

4.6

Calculation systems ..................................................................................... ‐ 46 ‐

4.6.1

Cooling system calculation. Mini split .................................................... ‐ 46 ‐

4.6.2

Sewer system calculation. Settle tank + drain field ............................... ‐ 47 ‐

4.7 5

Materials and construction ......................................................................... ‐ 50 ‐ Leed ..................................................................................................................... ‐ 51 ‐

5.1

1st Leed estimation. ..................................................................................... ‐ 52 ‐

5.2

Final Leed calculation. ................................................................................. ‐ 52 ‐

6

Table of contents ................................................................................................. ‐ 52 ‐

7

References ........................................................................................................... ‐ 53 ‐

8

Annexes. .............................................................................................................. ‐ 54 ‐

Design of an energy efficient school in Nombre de Dios (Panama)

1 1.1

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Introduction Background

This report is written as a part of the 5th semester in civil engineering bachelor at VIA University College.

Here, the authors must solve a situation chosen by themselves with the help of highly qualified supervisors in that field.

As an energy design and civil works students, the authors must have the necessary knowledge about the project chose, in order to finish it within an acceptable quality range.

1.2

Abstract

Climate conditions could be a huge sticking point when designing a building, especially in extreme climates such as the Tropical.

This project deals with the design of an energy efficient school in a Tropical climate and gives examples of possible solutions to the main problems, such as high temperature and humidity levels in that climate, and concludes with the most cost‐energy efficient solution.

Using mainly European regulations and local regulation when it was possible, the authors have tried to design a primary school that will not only fulfil the demands, but also reach a higher level compared with the building in the surroundings, trying to give the children the best possible environment.

Local resources will take into account, as well as construction methods.

Keywords: Tropical climate, design, primary school, Panama, energy‐efficient, developing country, sustainability, eco‐friendly.

1.3

Purpose

Knowing that nowadays people is leaving the rural area in order to go to cities, by constructing this efficient school, the project wants to get a place where children who live in that environment can get the best conditions possible.

Education in developing countries is a big issue and through the construction of this building, the most important demands in that area could be solved.

The school must be a place where parents want to leave their children instead of forcing them to work in a precarious conditions, which is one situation of undeveloped countries. It is possible due to the excellent features the building has.

In addition, the school has a double social function. Apart of education, which is the main purpose, the project wants that the building becomes into a local community centre. All the neighbours of the surroundings will be able to access to the buildings installations by using the rooms and the new technologies the building will be equipped with.

The school design is totally efficient and eco‐friendly by using zero emissions energies and respecting the environment due to the fact that the building is setting up with local materials and typical building techniques of that area.

1.4

Research questions

Q.1. How to deal with LEED certification constructing a school in Nombre de Dios (Panamá)?

Q. 1.1. Which materials on this area can be used for constructing the building?

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Q. 1.2. Will the demands be fulfil by only using local resources?

Q. 1.3. How to get the better energy efficiency?

Q. 1.4. What is the best design (orientation of the building…)?

Q.2. Which sustainable systems should be used in the school?

Q. 3. Is this project an utopic idea regarding to the cost, the time we use to create it…

Q. 3.1. How that project will affect the local community?

2

Panama’s current situation.

South American countries are involved in an ongoing growth situation, developing their economies and systems as fast as possible. Although in general they have improve evenly all the different aspects, they have forgotten something very important, education.

Panama has in average high level of education, brand‐new schools and well design system.

However, the current situation in rural areas is something completely out of average rate.

Because of that, Panama was the final decision for the project. The exact location is Nombre de Dios, a small village in the north‐east of Panama, just in the Atlantic coast not far from big cities, such as Colón, the second biggest city in the country, but far enough to have a poor quality regarding educational standards.

2.1

Geographical context

The country of Panama is placed in the south‐east corner of Central America in the centre of the western hemisphere, overlooking the Caribbean Sea on the north coast and the Pacific Ocean on the south. It has a border with Costa Rica in the west and Colombia in the east.

Located in the Central American isthmus, it is a bridge between North America and South America. The narrower part is only 80km width and is there where the Panama Canal is placed.

With an area of 75.990 km² and 2.210 km² of territorial waters around the coast, is the 20th biggest country in America. The country is mainly flat, where around the 70% of the lands are below 700m, called lowland or warm land. Then there are the medium lands, placed between 700m and 1500, at the end, there are the highlands, which have an elevation higher than 1500m and involves the remaining 30%.

Panama is divide into 10 provinces, 3 comarcas and 2 sub‐provinces. The area of this divisions is widely different between the biggest one 11,892.5 km2 and the smallest 755 km2.

Figure 1 Panama's political division

Design of an energy efficient school in Nombre de Dios (Panama)

2.2

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Demographical context

Regarding demography and according to the 2013 revision of the World Population Prospects the total population was 3,678,000 people. 29% of this number correspond to the number of children below the age of 15 , 64.5% is between 15 and 65 years of age, while 6.6% is 65 years or older.

Around half of the population, 1,796,674, lives in the Panama city‐Colón corridor, which connects the two biggest cities in Panama. The other half is more or less evenly distributed between the other divisions.

Life expectancy in Panama is high compared to other Central American countries, being in general 76 years in males and 81 in females.

Panama’s population could be divided into 2 main groups.  

2.3

Non‐natives represents more than 85% of the population, being around 3 million.

Amerindians represents only 15% of the population, being less than half a million.

Social context

In social terms, Panama is one of the countries in Central America where the differences between social classes is smaller. Nevertheless, those who are living in the rural areas have a lower quality of live comparing with those who are living in the main cities.

Besides that, as the following graphic is showing, the different between non‐natives and Amerindians within some basic aspect is still huge.

ACCESS TO DRINKING WATER

PROPER SEWER SYSTEM

LITERACY RATE

62,4

97,3

52,5

72,77

79,7

71,7

Amerindians 92,47

96,8

Non natives

PRIMARY SCHOOL ENROLMENT

Graphic 1 Non‐natives & Amerindians differences

Primary school enrolment is a big issue between the natives living in rural areas, the difficulties with the main services such as drinking water or sewer system ends in a deficient live quality and the children will begin to work at an early age.

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Regarding the employment, the unemployment rate in Panama has been decreasing since 2006 reaching the 4.1% in 2015 and it is expected to reach 2.1% in 2016.

Figure 2 Panama unemployment rate (Panamá, 2015)

2.4

Economic context

Economically speaking, Panama has one of the most stable economies in America.

Mainly sustained by tourism, logistics and financial services which suppose more than the 70% of the GBP of the country.

Some other secondary activities are agriculture, farming and manufacturing, since they produce a huge amount of jobs within the rural inhabitants.

Panama Canal has also a big impact in the economy, due to it is right now the only way to cross from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean without going down to Argentina. So all the cargo ships going to Asia must use that crossing, which means, money for the government as well as jobs not only for the Canal workers but for the people living nearby.

Figure 3 Economic activity

Design of an energy efficient school in Nombre de Dios (Panama)

2.5

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Climatic context

Panama is located close to the equator which means that the climate is mainly warm and wet, as a tropical climate. It does not experience different seasons marked by changes in temperature. Instead, panama’s seasons are divided into wet and dry.

With an humidity rate of 90% in average during the whole year, and a rainwater quantity of 70mm during the dry season and 400mm during the wet season. The temperature does not experience any high change along the year, varying from 24ºC to 26ºC.

Figure 4 Average monthly temperature and rainfall 1900‐2009

2.6

Sustainability context

Panama already has 63 projects registered in the US Green Building Council, which puts it in first place in Central America and the Caribbean; as well as 12 LEED certified projects.

The growth of construction in Panama has taken positive steps in sustainability; still much to be done and this requires greater awareness and application of the principles of sustainable construction of large buildings and housing projects.

2.7

Energy context

According to the energy balance performed by the Secretaría Nacional de Energía (SNE), at the end of the year, the final power consumption and production in 2014 was divided up as is shown in the following graphics.

OIL PRODUCTS

HYDRO

BIOFUEL

RENEWABLE

PRODUCTION

58%

33%

2%

7%

CONSUMPTION

35%

61%

0%

4%

Table 1 Panama's energy balance 2014

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The power production is divided between two main different resources, Oil products and Hydro power.

With a total of 95 hydro‐electric projects of varying scale, Panama is producing one third of its energy necessities with water power.

7% 11% 7%

Hydro, solar and wind power are the main renewables energies used in Panama. However, these two last systems, are barely developed compared with hydro because they have just started to receive government support.

On the other hand, Panama is still being under oil products dependency in terms of production, which means that exportations are an important entry for the money.

31%

43% Residential

Comercial

Goverment

others

Industrial

Graphic 2 Panama’s energy sectors

As it is shown in the graphic 2, the commercial sector is the one demanding the biggest amount of energy, followed by residential and government needs.

2.8

Project location

As a result of what has been described before, the final location of the project is Nombre de Dios, a small village place in the north‐east Atlantic coastline, 75km far from Colón, the second biggest city in Panama.

With around 1100 inhabitants and an extension of 143.5km2, it is included within the group of rural villages, together with other rural villages also located in the Atlantic coastline. The village is practically isolated having the nearest village at 15km and it is mainly surrounded for woods with the Chagres National Park in the south.

In general, the constructions there are single houses made of concrete blocks or wood as well as some public building such as an old school or a common house.

3

Previous system analysis

In order to provide the building with the best and most efficient systems, in the following part, all the systems are going to be analysed, comparing different options and concluding with the best balance solution.

3.1

Sewer system

At that point the main issue is to find the best solution in order to provide de school with the most sustainable sewer system possible.

Panama has quite big differences between the more important cities such as Panama City or Colón and the small towns regarding sewer system and water supply. The WHO and UNICEF institutions performed a study about sewer system and drinking water supply within Panama, and the results said that in urban areas 97% of the people have access to drinking water whereas in rural areas this number was around 78%. Regarding the sewer system, in urban areas the number was still 97% while in rural it decrease to 54%, which means that around half of the people living in rural areas do not have access to a proper sewer system.

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As an example, Panama City, has a proper sewage system, sanitary sewer, waste water treatment plans, besides that, nowadays there are some projects in progress improving the existing services and providing the city with one of the better sewer system in Central America.

On the other hand, it is more difficult to find rural areas with a developed sewer system. Even though the government is now working hard in order to improve the lack of that system, there are still a lot of small cities or towns that do not have pipes running along the streets making that problem a bit bigger.

Therefore, in this project, the school will have an individual sewer system in order to get rid of all the waste water in the most sustainable way possible, and make it completely independent from the town.

As it was shown before in the introduction, Panama has a highly average of rainwater per year, especially during the rainy season which involves from May to October. 6 months when the rainwater quantity increase from around 70mm to a maximum of 220mm during the month of June.

In fact, the design of the individual sewer system will be focused in the reutilization on rain water, providing the system with an underground water tank that can store the rainwater in order to use it for the toilet flushing when necessary, cleaning and also as a drinking water after a cleaning process if possible.

The sewer system chosen for the project is composed of 2 main parts: 3.1.1

Rain water collection and storage

Consisting of the rainwater collectors, gutters, an underground water tank and a water pump. This part will be the same in all the following options.  Rain water collectors and gutters. (1) There will be placed n the roof of the building. They will collect as much rainwater as possible in order to send it to the rainwater tank placed below the building.

There will be a system in the down pipes controlling the water flow. Once the tank is full of rainwater, the down pipe will change automatically and the water will go directly to the next tank called settling tank. 

Water tank. (2)

It will be placed below the building so that the water can easily go from the gutters to the tank, without a lot of turns along the pipes. It has a security valve that change the rainwater flow when it is full so the pressure inside do not exceed the maximum required for the manufacturer. 

Water pump. (3)

It has the function of providing the toilets with rain water from the rainwater tank. It will be placed on the surface, either outside or inside, it will depend on the final design of the building.

3.1.2

Cooling system and disposal

This second part will depend on the option chosen. In all of them, the water will be cleaned before throwing it out to the ground, sometimes underground and some others at the ground level.

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Settling tank + wetland + drip irrigation For this first method, the waste water will flow along 9 different phases, each of them are designed in order to eliminate the solids first and then the smaller particles using a lot of different techniques. 

Settling tank. (4)

The settling tank is where all the waste water will go when the toilets flush. In the tank the waste water will be separated into liquid and solid materials.

Typically made of concrete, fiberglass or polyethylene. It holds the wastewater long enough to allow solids to settle, and oil and grease to float to the surface.

The solid materials will be at the bottom (ministerio de asuntos exteriores, Gobierno de España, 2008) (agency, 2010)m of the tank, where microorganism and bacteria will decompose them, while the liquid material will stay at the top from where it will flow to the next step. 

Flow equalization tank. (5)

This tank has the function of evenly release the water to the next step in the process, balancing out the surges from periodic overuse of the facilities. 

Wetland cell. (6)

Is this next step, the water is pumped in to the wetland cell, where plants and microorganisms fed on it, reducing pollutants and removing odorous gases, with only partial volume loss through evaporation and transpiration.

This cell will be placed somewhere in the landscape, it does not need to be very big since the amount of water will not be extremely high. 

Level adjust basin. (7)

This basin contains a cell that will controlled the level of the water in the wetland cell. It also provides a staging zone which determines if the water should flow through the trickling filter for re‐circulation through the wetland cell or if it should be processed through to the drip irrigation field. 

Trickling filter. (8)

In the trickling filter, microbial organisms fed on the waste water stream, removing ammonia, nitrogen and many other substances from the water. 

Drip irrigation tank. (9)

After re‐circulation, clean water from the level adjust basin will flow into the drip irrigation tank and will be sent to a drip irrigation system that waters the landscape around the building.

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Figure 5 Settling tank + wetland + drip irrigation sketch

Regarding the maintenance, the whole installation does not need any special work.

Tanks are made of resistant material that can last for 30 years, the same with pipes and the pump.

Settle tank will need to be cleaned, not very often, thanks to the microorganism and bacteria.

For this reason, the cleaning period will be every five years whereas the pump will need to be inspected every 3 years.

All the installation, not including the water tank, gutters and pump, is expensive due to the big amount of different steps needed. However, the effluent quality after the last phase is high compared to other systems.

Settling tank + drain field In this second option, the waste water will flow along less steps and at the end it will be filter by the ground, so practically only a settle tank will be needed. Then it flows along some perforated pipes running underground, and from there, the ground will naturally filter it finishing in the groundwater. 

Settling tank. (4)

The settling tank is where all the waste water will go when the toilets flush. In the tank the waste water will be separated in to liquid and solid materials.

Typically made of concrete, fiberglass or polyethylene. It holds the wastewater long enough to allow solids to settle and oil and grease to float to the surface.

The solid materials will be at the bottom of the tank, where microorganism and bacteria will decompose them, while the liquid material will stay at the top from where it will flow to the next step. 

Distribution box. (5)

A box placed between the settle tank and the drain field. It will evenly distribute the amount of water that flows to the drain pipes in the next step, in order to avoid problem with the soil. 

Drain field. (6)

It consists of an arrangement of trenches containing perforated pipes and porous material (often gravel) covered by a layer of soil to prevent animals, and surface runoff from reaching the wastewater distributed within those trenches.

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All these pipes are installed along the plot at a constant depth and elevation from the ground surface trying to maximizing the area.

Figure 7 Settling tank + drain field sketch

This method has some benefits compared to others. First, it is cheap because there are not many materials needed. Then, the space needed in the plot for that is not very big.

Therefore, although it does not need a lot of maintenance and is easy to do it, whether a pipe breaks it is complicated to fix without digging.

Settling tank + wetland This third possible solution has the first step in common with the previous one, but the drain field is replaced for a wet land cell. The effluent will be used for water plants around the building. 

Settling tank. (4)

The settling tank is where all the waste water will go when the toilets flush. In the tank the waste water will be separated in to liquid and solid materials.

Typically made of concrete, fiberglass or polyethylene. It holds the wastewater long enough to allow solids to settle and oil and grease to float to the surface.

The solid materials will be at the bottom of the tank, where microorganism and bacteria will decompose them, while the liquid material will stay at the top from where it will flow to the next step. 

Wetland cell. (5)

The water is pumped in to the wetland cell, where plants and microorganisms fed on it, reducing pollutants and removing odorous gases, with only partial volume loss through evaporation and transpiration.

Then, it will be filtered by the soil reaching a pipe place underground that will let the water flows to the next step, a control shaft. 

Control shaft. (6)

At the end, the control shaft is controlling the amount of effluent that will be used for water the plants or thrown out.

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Figure 8 Settling tank + wetland sketch

Comparing this system with others, it is very cheap and the effluents quality is high.

Therefore, the spaced needed for the wetland cell is quite big. Besides, the maintenance during the first years is very important.

However, having a wetland cell, will help the biodiversity in the area and the price is not high if they are local plant species.

In the table below, each system is rated in 5 different categories, being 0 the worst and 10 the best. The one with the biggest mark will be the one selected for the project.

SYSTEMS

Price

SETTLE TANK + WETLAND + DRIP 5 IRRIGATION SETTLE TANK + 8 DRAIN FIELD SETTLE TANK + 9 WETLAND Table 2 Sewer systems comparison

Space needed

Effluent quality

Settle tank dimension

Maintenance

TOTAL

4

9

4

6

30

8

5

4

8

33

6

6

4

6

31

Finally, after looking at that table, system chosen is the second one, SETTLE TANK + DRAIN FIELD, even though the effluent quality is the poorest, that water will be naturally filtered by the underground soil, returning to the ground water.

3.1.3

Rain water

During the rainy season, it is common to have heavy rainfalls, therefore the plot should be well drained in order to avoid waterlogging, besides that, the building will be built 1 meter over the ground level so the water can easily run below it and go faster to the gutters.

There are many different possibilities to get rid of the rain water, however, the main purpose is try to lead the water to the sea or a nearby river. The figure 8 shows the distances from the plot the two points.

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Figure 9 different distance from the plot

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Both options have practically the same benefits and drawbacks. Although the beach is closer which means less material, there would be some problems since the end of the pipe must be out of the water and that might cause problems in the overall system operation.

On the other hand, between the river and the plot there is a wood that will make the performance of the works harder. Therefore, there is not any problems with the effluents and the difference in the distance is only 70 metres.

As a result of what has been shown before, the chosen solution is to install gutters on plot’s surface and then lead the water directly to the river.

3.2

Cooling system

First step to afford as much energy as the building consumes is lowering the amount of energy it takes to keep the building comfortable.

Maintaining the right indoor temperature, humidity and air quality often accounts for 30% percent or more of a building´s energy use. But it can do it passively without demanding purchased at all.

Designing passively means working with external weather conditions, instead of fighting against them. For example, building orientation, overhangs, and other features can be design in order to capture the sun´s heat in cold times and avoid it in hot ones.

There are no size fits all passive design strategies, but knowing some fundamentals, and working together as a cross disciplinary design team goes a long way.

3.2.1

Ventilation

To start, it is needed to understand the site´s climate and how heat energy is transferred through conduction, convection and radiation. When heat passes through the building materials, this is conduction. It is possible to reduce it by using good insulation with high R‐values and windows with low U‐values.

One the issues of that, even a well‐insulated building can be undone are steel beams or a bad window frame because they can create a thermal bridge across the insulation, to leak heat outside. Convection is not always a bad thing. It can make a work for the building. For instance, the grounds stays a relatively constant temperature, so conducting excess into it in the summer or pull heat from it during the winter in a sustainable idea.

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Radiation, in the form of sunlight, is another major source of energy gains. The sun heats buildings, especially on dark roofs and pavement. Unwanted heat gains can be minimize by choosing more reflective surfaces or vegetation at the top.

Energy also radiates in and out of buildings through windows. Windows can make work for the building by optimizing them to wall ratio on each of the building, and choosing windows that optimize how much energy passes through as infrared, visible light and higher frequency radiation. Then there is convention, when heat energy is transferred by moving fluids, like air.

Air is constantly circulating inside the building due the temperature and pressure differences.

Anyone who has been in a draft building knows how powerful convention can be in moving heat.

Air leaks cause up to 40 percent of building heat loss. But it is possible to stop this by ceiling the building well.

Convection happens inside building elements too. Installing argon filled windows and triple pane windows reduce the convection of heat between panes.

Of course convection can be used to the building advantage by transferring energy when necessary and bringing people fresh air. The wind also can bring fresh air into the building, and reduces the energy it might need for fans. That can be controlled with the size of the windows openings, and place the openings to take wind direction into account.

Another principal of natural ventilation is call stack effect. Wind and heat make air pressure lower further from the ground. Higher pressure air then wants to move there, so having windows at the top and the bottom, air naturally flow upwards with no fans needed.

Consulting a wind rose diagram for your location is a good idea to find out how often the wind blows from different direction and what speeds and even its temperatures.

Ventilation is needed to remove pollutants such as moisture, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and carbon dioxide (CO2) from the building’s internal environment. These pollutants arise from household activities such as cooking, cleaning and heating, as well as human activities such as smoking.

Ventilation is also useful for passive cooling, where it should be considered along with other passive design features such as location, orientation and layout, window size and placement, and thermal mass.

Passive (naturally occurring) ventilation is when air is exchanged in a building through openings in the building envelope using the stack and wind pressures. It is made up from two sources:  

Controlled through openings such as windows and doors or purpose‐built small vents (such as trickle vents on some windows).

Uncontrolled by infiltration through unintentional openings such as gaps around windows and doors and between building components.

Passive ventilation is an essential component of passive design and is a free and environmentally friendly method of ventilation.

Throughout the year and even throughout the day, environmental conditions change, so the building needs to adapt. Sensor and electronic controls can be used to turn light off, open shades even change windows from clear to tinted.

That working with natural forces can cut the heating and cooling energy demands in half, even drive them to zero. It is a critical step on the path to get energy sustainable buildings.

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The design has to considerer different aspects related with the cooling and ventilation conditions.

In summer most winds are from the south, therefore home with south‐north facing windows have more benefit for an effective ventilation. Air usually flows from the south window across the house and leaves through the north window. Having two sides windows open is more effective than one.

If there is no wind on a sunny day, usually air temperature in the southern side of the building is higher than the north side because the solar heating pressure and the temperature differences between the north and the south part drives air movement.

Therefore the goal of the project in this point is to low the interior temperature of the building due to the high humidity that Panama has. According with all of this conditions the design must have big windows in both sides of the building in order to get an efficient natural ventilation.

Also, installing fans is a clear option to get air flow and a comfortable indoor climate.

Location will be other point the design will have taking in account in order to take benefit of the wind, cool temperatures and shades.

In addition, having a green roof is an excellent idea which regulate the indoor temperature and it can deal with the rain off water as well.

A green roof, or rooftop garden, is a vegetative layer grown on a rooftop. Green roofs provide shade and remove heat from the air through evapotranspiration, reducing temperatures of the roof surface and the surrounding air. When green roofs are wet, they absorb and store large amounts of heat, which reduces temperature fluctuations. When they are dry, green roof layers act as an insulator, decreasing the flow of heat through the roof, thereby reducing the cooling energy needed to reduce building interior temperatures.

Green roofs, by reducing heat transfer through the building roof, can improve indoor comfort and lower heat stress associated with heat waves.

Enhanced storm water management and water quality is other function of green roofs. They can reduce and slow storm water runoff which is an important issue to deal with in Panama, especially in June. The plants and growing medium of a green roof, in the same manner as other natural surfaces and vegetation, absorb water that would otherwise become runoff. The amount of rainfall retained by a green roof will depend primarily on the depth of the growing medium and may also be affected by the roof slope. Even when a green roof does not retain all the water from a storm, it can detain runoff for later release and reduce the runoff rate.

3.2.2

Humidity

Feeling warm is not always depend on the temperature. The humidity is a big important issue as well in order to feel comfortable inside of a building. Our bodies are pretty sensitive and we can recognize a comfortable zone relating with temperature, humidity and air velocity. The ideal comfortable zone falls within 22 to 60 percent relativity humidity. If the conditions change outside, our bodies respond to that. Even when the air is calm and the temperature is cool, but the humidity is high, we will still feel warm because high humidity slows down the evaporation of our sweat.

As the introduction has shown previously, humidity in Panama is very high at about 80 percent, but in some regions it can reach 90 percent, especially on the Atlantic coast, where the project

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has been placed. So relative humidity is one of a cooling issue to deal with in order to design the building.

Air usually contains water vapour, the amount depending primarily on the temperature of the air. Warm air can hold more moisture than cold air, so as the air temperature falls, the maximum amount of water the air can hold also falls.

The ratio of water vapour in the air to the maximum amount of water vapour the air can hold at a particular temperature is expressed as relative humidity (RH). For example, a RH of 30% means that the air contains 30% of the moisture it can possibly hold at that particular temperature.

3.2.3

Building design conditions



When designing a natural ventilation system, the long façade of the building should be facing the prevailing wind direction, with doors and opening windows providing the ventilation openings.



Ensure that openings (inlet and outlet) are: o o o o o



not obstructed the same size able to control the flow Located in opposing pressure zones to increase the potential air flow.

Awning windows have a relatively small opening area and are therefore less effective as ventilators.

Other ventilating features include: o o o o o

Maintaining a vertical distance between two openings to create a stack effect, i.e. hot air rising and thereby enhancing air flow Shafts to promote air flow maximising air flow by designing open plan spaces maximising air flow by having openings at different levels or near the ceiling on opposite sides of the space Using architectural and landscape features to direct and control air flow ‐ for example, using casement sashes on the windward façade as these can be more efficient than other types of sashes, and including opening windows on the leeward face.



In this climate air conditioning will always be needed, but can be greatly reduced if building design minimizes overheating.



Climate responsive buildings in warm humid climates used high ceilings and tall operable windows protected by deep overhangs and verandas.



Windows overhangs (designed for this latitude) or operable sunshades (awnings that extended in summer) can reduce or eliminate air conditioning.



Minimize or eliminate west facing glazing to reduce summer and fall afternoon heat gain.



Use plants materials (bushes, trees, ivy‐covered walls) especially on the west to minimize heat gain (in summer rains support native plant growth).



Good natural ventilation can reduce or eliminate air conditioning in warm weather, if windows are well shaded and oriented to prevailing breezes.



Long narrow building floorplan can help to maximize cross ventilation in temperature and hot humid climates.

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

Screened occupancy areas and patios can provide passive comfort cooling by ventilation in warm weather and can prevent insect problems.



Orienting most of the glass to the north, shaded by vertical fins, in very hot climates, because there are essentially no passive solar needs.



On hot days ceiling fans or indoor air motion can make it seem cooler by 2.8 C or more, thus less air conditioning is needed.



Use light coloured building materials and cool roofs to minimize conducted heat gain.



If soil is moist, raise the building high above ground to minimize dampness and maximize natural ventilation underneath the building.



In wet climates well ventilated pitched roofs work well to shed ran and can be extended to protect entries, outdoor porches, and outdoor work areas.



To capture natural ventilation, wind direction can be changed up to 45 degrees toward the building by exterior wing walls and planting.

3.2.4

Possible systems o o o o o o o

NATURAL VENTILATION. PASSIVE VENTILATION CEILING FANS MECHANICAL VENTILATION VENTILATED FAÇADE DESSICANT WHEEL HEATING+COOLING THE AIR MINI SPLIT Natural ventilation. Passive ventilation.

Natural ventilation is the process of supplying and removing air through an indoor space by natural means, meaning without the use of a fan or other mechanical system. It uses outdoor air flow caused by pressure differences between the building and its surrounding to provide ventilation and space cooling.

Passive ventilation can be got it through stack ventilation and Bernoulli's principle which use air pressure differences due to height to pull air through the building. Lower pressures higher in the building help pull air upward. The difference between stack ventilation and Bernoulli's principle is where the pressure difference comes from. (Anon., 2015) Stack ventilation uses temperature differences to move air. Hot air rises because it is lower pressure.

Bernoulli's principle uses wind speed differences to move air. It is a general principle of fluid dynamics, saying that the faster air moves, the lower its pressure. Architecturally speaking, outdoor air farther from the ground is less obstructed, so it moves faster than lower air, and thus has lower pressure. This lower pressure can help suck fresh air through the building. A building's surroundings can greatly affect this strategy, by causing more or less obstruction.

The advantage of Bernoulli’s principle over the stack effect is that it multiplies the effectiveness of wind ventilation. The advantage of stack ventilation over Bernoulli's principle is that it does not need wind: it works just as well on still, breezeless days when it may be most needed. In many cases, designing for one effectively designs for both, but some strategies can be employed to emphasize one or the other. For instance, a simple chimney optimizes for the stack effect, while wind scoops optimize for Bernoulli’s principle.

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After wind ventilation, stack ventilation is the most commonly used form of passive ventilation.

It and Bernoulli's principle can be extremely effective and inexpensive to implement. Typically, at night, wind speeds are slower, so ventilation strategies driven by wind is less effective.

Therefore, stack ventilation is an important strategy.

Successful passive ventilation using these strategies is measured by having high thermal comfort and adequate fresh air for the ventilated spaces, while having little or no energy use for active HVAC cooling and ventilation. (Anon., 2015) Designing for stack ventilation and Bernoulli's principle are similar, and a structure built for one will generally have both phenomena at work. In both strategies, cool air is sucked in through low inlet openings and hotter exhaust air escapes through high outlet openings. The ventilation rate is proportional to the area of the openings. Placing openings at the bottom and top of an open space will encourage natural ventilation through stack effect. The warm air will exhaust through the top openings, resulting in cooler air being pulled into the building from the outside through the openings at the bottom. Openings at the top and bottom should be roughly the same size to encourage even air flow through the vertical space.

To design for these effects, the most important consideration is to have a large difference in height between air inlets and outlets. The bigger the difference, the better. (Anon., 2015) Benefits and drawbacks Natural ventilation is completely an advantage regarding the cost and environmental impact of energy use. Not only does natural ventilation provide ventilation to ensure safe healthy and comfortable conditions for building occupants without the use of fans, it also provides free cooling without the use of mechanical systems.

The building will be designed according to get natural ventilation even if the choice of the ventilation system is other. Otherwise, natural ventilation cannot deal with the humidity, therefore this kind of system will not be chosen as the main ventilation system which the building will have.

Ceiling fans.

Ceiling fans circulate air inside a room for the purpose of reducing the perceived temperature because of the human warmth. Since hot air rises, ceiling fans may be used to keep a room warmer in the winter by circulating the warm stratified air from the ceiling to the floor.

Ceiling fans do not provide ventilation as defined as the introduction of outside air.

A ceiling fan is a mechanical fan, usually electrically powered, suspended from the ceiling of a room, which uses rotating paddles to circulate air.

A ceiling fan rotates much more slowly than an electric desk fan; it cools people effectively by introducing slow movement into the otherwise still, hot air of a room, inducing evaporative cooling. Fans never actually cool air, unlike air‐conditioning equipment, but use significantly less power (cooling air is thermodynamically expensive). Conversely, a ceiling fan can also be used to reduce the stratification of warm air in a room by forcing it down to affect both occupants' sensations and thermostat readings, thereby improving climate control energy efficiency.

Unlike air conditioners, fans only move air—they do not directly change its temperature.

Therefore ceiling fans that have a mechanism for reversing the direction in which the blades

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rotate (most commonly an electrical switch on the side of the unit) can help in both heating and cooling.

Figure 10 Ceiling fan system

By using ceiling fans the amount of energy saved compared with air conditioning, HVAC or whatever system would be enough in order to choose fans as the main ventilation system, but as the previous point, humidity cannot low by fans.

Mechanical ventilation. HVAC Where mechanical ventilation includes heating, cooling and humidity control, this van be referred to as Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC).

Extracting internal air and replacing it with outside air can increase the need for heating and cooling. This can be reduced by re‐circulating a proportion of internal air with the fresh outside air, or by heat recovery ventilation (HRV) that recovers heat from extract air to pre‐heat incoming fresh air using counter‐flow heat exchangers.

HVAC is in common use in the heating and cooling industry. It stands for "heating, ventilation and air conditioning," three functions often combined into one system in today's modern homes and buildings. Warmed or cooled or dehumidified air flows through a series of tubes ‐ called ducts ‐ to be distributed to all the rooms of your house. A central HVAC system is the most quiet and convenient way to cool an entire home.

Unless you live in an amazingly temperate climate, the HVAC system in your home uses more energy and drains more energy dollars than any other system in your home. Typically, 44 % of your utility bill goes for heating and cooling.

Like many other appliances, HVAC systems have improved in energy efficiency over the years.

As a result, you can save money and increase your comfort by properly maintaining and upgrading your HVAC equipment.

Another development is the whole house approach to heating and cooling. Coupled with an energy efficient furnace, heat pump or air‐conditioner, the whole house approach can have a great impact on your energy bills. By combining proper equipment maintenance and upgrades with appropriate insulation, weatherization and thermostat settings ‐ properly regulated with a programmable thermostat, of course ‐ you may be able to cut your energy bills in half.

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Figure 11 HVAC system diagram

Possibly mechanical ventilation can be the best system in order to fresh the building and to eliminated the humidity of the air. However, this is the most expensive installation and the less energy efficiency system. In addition, innovation is one of the requirements in this project and mechanical ventilation doesn’t have this condition.

Ventilated façade.

A ventilated façade can help to refresh the building. Creating a small corridor between the different layers of the exterior wall, the air would flow and the interior temperature could decrease.

In addition, the sunrises heat the first façade therefore the second one does not change its temperature.

In the case of the project, the exterior façade would made of canes which will ventilate the building even more.

Figure 12 Cane ventilated façade

A double façade can refresh the interior of the building easily making shades. Also, it avoids the rays of sunshine to be in contact with the second skin. It cannot avoid the humidity which is the main problem, but using this system with other solution is a good choice for the building design.

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Desiccant wheel.

A desiccant is a chemical (usually a solid or liquid) that absorbs moisture out of the air.

Outdoor air is simply passed through a porous wheel of solid desiccant, or through a shower of liquid desiccant, and its humidity is lowered.

However, the chemical eventually saturates, and in order to be used again it must be "recharged" by heating it up until the absorbed water evaporates. Water driven off the recharging desiccant goes right back into the air. Systems are designed so that this air is separated from the incoming air stream and is exhausted to the outside.

Solid desiccants are usually on a wheel which slowly rotates between the incoming air stream and a small exhaust duct with a heater. Roughly ¾ of the time the desiccant will be absorbing moisture out of incoming air, and the remaining ¼ of the time it will recharge.‐ See more at: (Anon., 2015) http://sustainabilityworkshop.autodesk.com/buildings/humidity‐ control#sthash.nnOHVYYa.dpuf

Figure 13 Desiccant wheel diagram

Desiccant wheel is the most energy efficiency method and it is the best choice because it decrease the humidity quickly.

The problem is that this kind of system is not too common and its installation can be more expensive due to this reason.

Cooling + heating system.

Typical dehumidification is performed by systems that use the same basic mechanics as air conditioners, and often air conditioners alone dehumidify the space. They are electrical heat pumps that dehumidify air by cooling it. Mechanical dehumidification is not the most energy‐ effective means of dehumidifying, but it is the most common because it uses standard ubiquitous technology.

Mechanical dehumidifiers over cool incoming air below the dew point (the point where it can no longer hold all the water vapour that was in solution). As a result, the water condenses on the cooling coils. Afterwards, the cold dry air is heated back up again to the desired temperature and/or mixed with untreated air to provide air at the desired temperature and humidity to occupied spaces.

The water, now in droplets, drips off the condenser coils so that more water vapour can condense there. It may fall into a catch basin that drains to a waste‐water stream, or is periodically emptied by building occupants or staff. In exterior window‐mounted units, it often simply drips on whatever or whoever is below.

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After cooling the air to remove the humidity, it has to be heated in order to reach a comfortable temperature.

This is possible by using the solar panels. The air can be controlled and put it underneath them, and as the solar panels are warm because of the sun, the air will heat.

Benefits and drawbacks This system fulfils all the requirements needed that the project demands, such as budget, innovation, cost effective and humidity issue.

One drawback could be that the heat pump chosen must be eco‐friendly and cost effective regarding the demands, but the main handicap is the weather. This system basically depends on the weather in order to heat the air. During the rainy season it might not works due to the lack of sun.

Mini split The mini split is the most efficient and complete process regarding the air treatment in habitable rooms. It regulates the indoor climate such as temperature, humidity, and air cleaning and air movement.

It is one of the best system which removes the humidity of the air considerably. This humidity is removed by condensation.

The power consumption is a possible disadvantage of this system, which might be worse than the others. The final choice should be low energy emissions.

Figure 14 Mini Split

3.2.5

Conclusion

In the table below each system is compared with the other in order to find out the most efficient solution. They are rated in 5 different categories, being 0 the worst and 10 the best. The one with the biggest mark will be the one selected for the project.

SYSTEM

SYSTEM

Eco‐friendly Solve humidity Less expensive Innovator

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PASSIVE VENTILATION

10

0

8

7

25

CEILING FANS

8

0

8

5

21

MECHANICAL VENTILATION

5

9

2

5

21

VENTILATED FAÇADE

9

0

7

5

21

DESSICANT WHEEL

6

10

5

5

26

COOLING+HEATING SYSTEM

7

7

6

10

30

MINI SPLIT

6

10

10

5

31

Table 3 Ventilation system comparison

Regarding the study case of the building, ventilation is not really a problem for the project because Panama normally has the same temperature 24 C during the whole year which is comfortable for humans.

Therefore cooling the interior of the building is not an issue. It is possible through whatever ventilation system, and the energy used would not be a big amount because the comfort temperature zone is around 22 C. But according with the Panama climate, there is an important aspect to deal with, the humidity.

The high relative humidity that Panama has is the main issue the project has to solve.

It has to realize that it is not the same to cool the air without humidity than if the air has this condition. The more humidity, the more thermal comfort will have inside the building because it increase the temperature exponentially.

Thereby this part of the project has to be focus on the solution over the humidity. Most of the systems researched show solutions about how to deal with the cooling, such as natural ventilation, ceiling fans and ventilated façade but they don’t clarify the humidity aspect.

In spite of the fact that all of these systems are totally environmentally due to they save more energy than the other ones, humidity is still a problem for them because the only function they have is to ventilate and to cool the inside of the building.

The other systems do have answers for the humidity solutions even though they are less energy effective. Mechanical ventilation, desiccant wheel, the cooling and heating system and mini split take in account this aspect, consequently they will be the adequate installation in order to control the humidity.

Desiccant wheel system is the best system possible of all of these regarding the most environmental technology while mechanical ventilation is the less energy effective and the installation which cost more money. Due to this reason, mechanical ventilation is excluded of the final result.

Finally, the cooling and heating system might be the solution chosen over the desiccant wheel, because it is the most innovator method which helps, solves and fits with the all project requirements but as its operation basically is based on the climate conditions, the cooling and heating system is not good enough for the project expectations.

Therefore, the remaining systems are the desiccant wheel and the mini split. Both of them are not as much innovator than the others, but they offer the best solution possible related with the high humidity.

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Between them and taking in account others conditions, such as price and eco‐friendly (showed in the table above), the mini split system is the final choice of the project.

On the other hand, the building will be designed according to the passive ventilation for different reasons.

The main reason is that the school has to have another way to ventilate its inside if the mini split system fails due to whatever cause. The building cannot be without any type of ventilation installation for a period of time.

Moreover the natural ventilation design is better for the solar panels because the building has a good orientation to take the maximum hours of sun, as well as for the green roof because of the roof slope.

In addition to having two different ventilation types, the building will be able to choose the appropriate system according the climates demands per season. It will switch off the cooling and heating system if the winds are unusual higher in order to take benefit of the passive ventilation design.

Besides, the system will switch off every night in order to save energy because the temperatures down.

Figure 16 Average Daytime and nigh time temperatures

3.3

Materials and ways of construction.

The new building will be made of concrete columns and bahareque walls in order to cover the space between the columns.

Bahareque is a typical building technique in South America natives’ towns which is set up using bamboo canes or any other kind of cane tied together and the walls are plastered with a mixture similar to mud (soil, water and twigs).

Every side and partitions will be built in this typical building technique. Between the columns there will be wooden frames modules with canes in the inside as the structure to cover that space, and mud or adobe in order to create the wall.

Additionally, there will be another common reed grass structure going around the whole perimeter making a small corridor in order to protect the building against hard winds, against sunrise making shades and lowing the indoor temperatures protecting the indoor wall of the heat as well.

The north and the south side will change a bit the construction type. They will have windows at bottom as well as at the top of the roof. Due to this fact, there will be a wooden truss structure due to the necessary slope of the roof to get the natural ventilation and natural daylight through to the windows which are placed on it.

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All of these materials are environmental friendly, so the building doesn´t have a big impact on the ecosystem of the area. In addition, using a typical construction technique is a nice way to respect the history and tradition of the country.

A green roof will be placed on the top of the building and there will also be some solar panels to get energy in order to use as much energy as the building consume.

Figure 17 Bahareque façade

Figure 18 Double skin cane façade

3.4

Electricity

3.4.1

Wind Energy

Usual wind turbines are mounted on a big tube with 3 pales, but the problem with this kind of wind turbine is that it needs a minimum of velocity to turn on, and on the other side it stops if the velocity of the wind is too high. As a consequence it was a good idea to look for another kind of wind turbine which is able to turn almost all the time.

The vertical axis wind turbine is one kind of these different wind turbines which is able to do that and that can be easily mounted on the roof or even put on the ground.

This kind of wind turbine has been invented by a group of researcher that found a new principle (patents on it) which use the law of Betz as the maximum they can. So it is like the

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pales trap the air and make the air flow quicker than usual and so the turbine turn quicker than usual. And this can work even with a slow wind velocity (2 m/s).

On this picture above catch from a video the wind turbine appearance is shown (it has been hard to find the design of the wind turbine as there are patents on it, but the important thing to know is that is composed of 2 circles one outside one inside, so the target of the first circle is too catch the maximum amount of air thanks to the pales and make it flow to the second circle quicker to turn the axis quicker. Also the pales are able to be large open or narrow open considering the velocity of the wind in order that the wind turbine can deal with the wind velocity.

On the video the vertical axis wind turbine on the right of the first picture is turning whereas the usual horizontal wind turbine do not even move, and the wind velocity was about 4.3 m/s.1 After found this system even before thinking of the wind velocity in the school area. It was necessary to know if this kind of wind‐turbine is suitable around the school area.

1 http://www.greenenergy.li/english%20who%20are%20we.htm Design of an energy efficient school in Nombre de Dios (Panama)

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Figure 19: Location of Nombre de Dios, colon Panama

This website which gives a lot of information about the wind velocity just next to Nombre de Dios has been used:2

Figure 20: Wind sensors location in Panama at 2m High

2

http://www.hidromet.com.pa/clima_historicos.php?sensor=7

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Figure 21: Wind sensors location in Panama at 10 m high.

As it is shown on the picture above there are not any sensors for the wind in Nombre de Dios, as a consequence it has been taken the one located in Bocas del Toro on the left hand corner which is located on the north cost of Panama and next to the sea just like Nombre de Dios, (to compare it has also been taken in consideration others sensors). And here are the results:

Figure 22: Wind velocity study by year in Bocas del Toro between (1993 and 2002) at 2m high

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Figure 23 : Figure 24: Wind velocity study by year in Bocas del Toro between (1993 and 2002) at 10 m high

On these picture above it is possible to notice that the winds is practically the same all year. ‐ ‐

At 2 m between 0.25 m/s and 1.25 m/s At 10 m between 1 m/s and 3.5 m/s

Is it worth it to install a wind turbine in this area?

Using some data and experiments from the same team of researcher:

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Figure 25: Charts showing the utility or not of installing a wind turbine according to the wind velocity and also the amount of energy we can produced.

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It is easy to notice on the charts above that in all cases of different sizes of wind turbine if the wind velocity is about 1, 2 and 3 m/s it’s better to “forget it”.

So finally looking at the estimate wind velocity it might not be a good idea to use any kind of wind turbine in this area.

3.4.2

Photovoltaic panels.

The possible output electricity depends a lot on the annual radiation of sun in the chosen location.

Figure 26 : Annual horizontal irradiation of the sun in Denmark

Figure 27: Annual horizontal irradiation of the sun in Panama

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Just to make a quick comparison between Denmark and Panama annual irradiation is possible to notice that it is worth it to have photovoltaic solar panels in the school area as the amount of sun irradiation are between 1600 and 1800 kWh/m² in Nombre de Dios and for Horsens in Denmark is around 950 and 1000 kWh/m².

Now let’s estimate how much electricity it is possible to produce by putting solar panels on the roof school area: This website has been used to have a quick estimation: http://pvwatts.nrel.gov/pvwatts.php The school roof area might between 150 and 250 m² so it has been chosen to use an area of solar panels of 200m² as you can see on the picture below on our location of the school:

Figure 28: Location of our roof area of the school

40° is the slope of the roof area used as we might have a saw tooth roof facing south (180 °).

Also standard solar panels have been used and they are going to be fixed on the roof.

Figure 29: Details of our choose parameters for installing PV panels on the roof of the school.

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Figure 30: Chart of the annual production month per month of our pv system installed.

Finally it is possible to reach about 40.000 kWh/year with photovoltaic system. Knowing that a single family house using around 7.000 kWh/year in Europe. Certainly it is possible to be self‐sufficient according to electricity providing with only solar panels on the roof and it would be an option to share the extra production with the neighbourhood and maybe supply some houses which were not before. In addition as the school is mainly occupied during the day the electricity will be used directly so it is necessary to stock the electricity produced in batteries.

But as the house around might need electricity when it is the night we could use a battery in the school which could store the electricity produced in the day and deliver it in the night. There is a new system made by Tesla company (sportive electric car producer:3 )

3

http://www.teslamotors.com/powerwall

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Figure 31: Power wall battery specifications and layout of the installation

3.4.3 As a conclusion of using Pv panels on the school roof it is possible to say that it is worth it for electrical use of the school but also for the neighbourhood who could use this electrical energy also.Micro‐Hydro power generation On this google map screenshot above you can notice that there is a river next to the school area (about 150 m away) so maybe it could be a good idea also to use a hydropower system which will allow us to get electricity constantly during a day. The important advantage by using hydro power production is that it is constantly producing not such as solar panels or wind turbines which depends mostly on the weather.

Figure 32 Google earth map showing the river next to the school area

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Thanks to researcher page the same as the wind turbine system it is possible to have an overview of how much we could produce by using this system considering the flow of the water:

Figure 33: Chart showing the amount of electricity produced by using hydro power generation considering the flow

As it is impossible to get the flow of this particular river it has been used other location of river in Panama to estimate a certain amount of flow for this particular river.

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Using the data above it is hard to estimate the flow of the river located next to the school and so be able to estimate the amount of electricity it is possible to get thanks to a micro hydro power generation but if we take in consideration that the lowest is 6.9m3/s the maximum is 100 m3/s. A realistic number would be 10 m3/s for the river next to the school so

3.5

Drinking water systems

The objective of this work is to develop its own technology and appropriate to provide potable water to small rural communities.

3.5.1

Bucked System, JUST WATER LLC

This system is a portable way to bring water to pure, clean water to multiple people in a convenient, self‐contained and affordable way. The filtration efficiency is 0.2 micron with 99.999% bacteria removal.

Filter is silver impregnated and will not permit bacteria growth‐through (mitosis). It provides a hostile environment for all microbiological organisms and will not support their growth.

Maintenance of this filter is very simple. When the filter starts to slow down or clog, simply back wash it with clean water using the syringe provided in the kit. Since the filters can continuously be back‐washed and re‐used, they have an extremely long life expectancy. The ease of operating this system makes it self‐sustainable and dependable.

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 

Filter life: 3785412 liters 1 gallon = 3.7854 liters Advantages: Cheapest system 99.999% Bacteria Removal Virus Reduction Cleans with clean, damp cloth Unlimited shelf life Easy installation Good flow rate ‐ up to 114 liters per day with syphon tube Accepts water from floods, lake, rain, well, tap, river or stream Highest filtration rates available Extremely cost efficient Fast flow Long lasting Multiple applications

Disadvantages: Ceramic elements may be cleaned 100 or more times with a soft brush or damp cloth.

Once in use, filter will last 1 year. Annual/semi‐annual filter replacement.

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Filter and sock (pre‐filter)

1 inch = 25.4 mm



It needs at least 40 of this filters for the school to guarantee a good amount of water per day in the school.

Cost estimation

40 x 50 USD = 2.000 USD

Maintenance

20 USD/YEAR

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3.5.2

Water treatment plant

This system consists of a collector of rain and a water treatment plant. All operations are performed in this plant with clean energy, that is, through hydraulic loads, including the pumping equipment. This plant has the potential to operate continuously at a rate of 0.3 L / s in normal operation and to 0.7 L / s in extreme conditions.

A storage tank regulates the continuous operation of the plant and the timely demand for water by users. Chemical reagents used are chemical lime and aluminium sulphate, easily accessible on the market, which are prepared by hand and are dosed with a drip system, which prevents rural communities not recommended automatic systems.

It considers that this technology package in Latin America can provide a significant benefit at low cost.

The system of collecting rainwater chosen probably represents a stage of the most common in Latin America. Runoff water is stored in earth containers or tanks. This water is then used mainly for human and animal consumption.

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Evaluation of water treatment system pH

Colour

Turbidity

unit pt/co

NTU

Raw water Post-Prefilter Post-Sand filter Post- activated carbon filter

It is noteworthy that the initial investment required maintenance and not significant compared with the drilling and operation of a deep well. The cost of drinking water under the proposed design, is less than 0.04 USD / m3.

The accessory to optimize processes slow mixing, sedimentation and pumping water for backwashing proved very efficient technological innovations, easier to build, low maintenance and easy operation, with great potential for widespread application in plants of this type.

Advantages: Easy operation Great potential Disadvantages: Cost of the system Medium maintenance Transport

Cost estimation

19.000 USD

Maintenance

200 USD/YEAR

Design of an energy efficient school in Nombre de Dios (Panama)

3.5.3

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Earthships catch water from the sky (rain & snow melt) and uses it four times.

Water is heated from the sun, biodiesel and/or natural gas.

Earthships can have city water as backup. Earthships do not pollute underground water aquifers.

Catchwater: water is caught from a roof with a potable surface. From the roof, the water is channeled trought silt catches into cisterns. Cisterns are sized to the local climate and are best buried and completely protected from the sun. The water from the cistern is gravity-fed into a Water Organizing module with a pump and filter. The pump pushes the water into a pressure tank to supply code required water pressure. The filters clean the water for consumption and cleaning.

Use & re-use: Water is used in a conventional way such as bathing or washing dishes, except for the toilet. The water is used and cleaned a second time in interior botanical cells. The flush toilet is the third use of the water. After the toilet, the water is contained and treated, and used a fourth time in exterior botanical cells.

Hot water: Water is heated with the sun. The sun heats the water and the natural gas water-heater only turns on if the water is not hot enough.

Hot water recirculation panel: The hot water recirculation system is a water saving set-up designed so when you turn a timer switch at a fixture the water that has cooled in the hot water lines is returned to the cisterns while replacing it with hot water.

In order for the hot water system to work, the plumbing for it must be done during the rough-in as well as the electrical. This is shown on the construction drawings available from Earthship Biotecture. The kit includes the hot water recirculation panel and required number of timer switches for your home.

The path of water in an Earthship: 

Water is caught from roof catchment systems and channeled via silt catches into cisterns.



Cisterns gravity feed a DC pump and filter panels (WOM).



A Pump and filter panel (WOM) pushes water into a pressure tank and conventional household water pressure is the result.



The Toilet is separated from drainage system of all other household plumbing fixtures.



Water is used in a conventional way such as bathing or washing dishes.

Design of an energy efficient school in Nombre de Dios (Panama)



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Next, this water is then drained into linear biologically developed interior greywater treatment and containment systems.

The water organizing system: Water from the city, cistern, your well, etc. can all be hooked up to the WOM. Automated systems can manage your water levels.

Filters clean the water for human consumption and use.

Bottom Line: Your home has normal plumbing, your plumber sees what they are used to seeing.

Advantages: Easy operation Great potential Disadvantages: Cost of the system Medium maintenance Trasport

Cost estimation

17.000 USD

Maintenance

200 USD/YEAR

Design of an energy efficient school in Nombre de Dios (Panama)

4 4.1

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School design Overview

Designed by a student organization, this school is a manifestation of a sustainable and healthy approach to building that does not sacrifice design.

Sited facing the main road of the town in the outskirts and closer to a palm wood, this building nestled in a flat area of land which has 8702 m2. Extensive 5.10 m high offers an open space thanks to the climate and the natural environment. It is elevated 1 m over the ground due to the high rains and possible floods, accessing to it by a long corridor and a stair along all the building side. The building plan is a rectangle which has 29.40 m in the long side and 9.50 m in short one.

All the rooms are located on the north side, while the teacher´s room is situated in one of the opposite end of the rectangular plan and the toilets are placed in the heart of the building. Each room has a capacity to accommodate up to 28 children and the common room for teachers could have till 6 persons.

This energy and efficiency school is an eminently functional space which belie that a wealth of complex, green and environmental technology is beneath of the standard demands. According to the environmental spirit of the project, the walls are made with a typical building technique of the area by using local materials called bahareque, which requires no paint finish.

The structure and the elevated platform where the building rests are built with the same material. This structure is simple with concrete columns and a huge concrete slab which goes along all the built‐up area.

As a sustainable responsible design that the project has, achieving a healthy school for the village and environment meant an extensive research into a wide range of products and locally produced materials suited to the climate. A green roof, solar panels, solar shading, passive ventilation and daylighting, and a cooling and dehumidifier system are just some of the features of the LEED Gold‐targeted project.

The aim of the project is focused on facilitating the participation of remote communities, and extend the interaction of all the people in these surroundings. Using the school for education during the mornings, and equipped itself by installing a cutting‐edge green and informatics technologies for the neighbourhood’s entertainments.

4.2

Site

The new building will be built on an extended area at the end of the village, which this will allow a better access in order to bring and transport all the materials needed.

Sited facing a riverside and a wood, taking full advantage of the area’s best natural features. The site is characterized by its unique climate, with slight temperatures and high humidity contributing to the abundant vegetation in the area. The long form of the house is nestled into a semi‐flat area; the natural wood and plants provide natural insulation along the top and rear of the building and offer beautiful sights.

Low‐maintenance local grasses and plantings were used throughout the landscaping in order to reduce watering, and to better integrate with the local ecosystem. Taking in account the possible floods in the rainy season, most of the build‐up area will be paved.

Design of an energy efficient school in Nombre de Dios (Panama)

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Sustainable design

Extensive about 50 m north‐facing, a long open corridor provide access to a full‐length deck along the whole complex, integrating all classroom spaces with the outdoors during the whole year in order to enjoy the moderate temperatures. At the end of the corridor, an open space covered with a pergola has one kitchen and a canteen which will be useful for children at lunch time. This is one of the community services the building offers to this area.

Skylights along with windows on north and south elevations provide passive ventilation (if it is necessary) and natural day lighting across 100% of the occupied floor area.

A narrow corridor made of common reed grass, next to the wall which is a sort of air gap, goes around the whole perimeter to protect the bahareque wall against the sun´s heat, consequently the energy savings will be significantly.

The shape of the roof allows to have a very long gutter along all the roof plan in order to collect the rain water in one tank. This rain water is harvested and used for watering the garden and surroundings, and used for the waste water, while the green roof which is at top of the roof, controls run‐off water.

An independent tank well located at one end provides potable water for the daily use of the occupants.

An independent tank well located at one end provides potable water for the daily use of the occupants.

4.4

Life and adaptability

The project is designed and built to be durable and of enduring value, its original material favours of increased construction quality. Designed with solar and wind orientation in mind, and built of lasting materials, the school will be comfortable and resilient for many years to come.

The adaptability and flexibility is one outstanding factor of the design. Built of modules of 6 m long, the building has the capacity to increase the number of modules avoiding discomforts and inconveniences to the occupants in order to add more classrooms, community rooms or whatever useful service for the surroundings.

4.5

Healthy design. Systems

This school integrates some innovators sustainable systems in four different fields such as sewer, cooling, energy and drink water.

Compared in the points above, the final calculations will be explained subsequently.  

Settle tank + drain field Mini split

4.6

Calculation systems

4.6.1

Cooling system calculation. Mini split

Regarding to the concept that persons in the work environments with sitting and relaxed activities contributes with 100 W per person, from which the 20 W is bound in the form of vapour by breathing.

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Each classroom in the school will accommodate up 28 children and one teacher, consequently there will be 2900 W. In order to make an estimation about how many mini split each classroom will have, the calculation will take in account 3000 W. The following table shows the number of BTUs the room has according with its features, such as dimensions, number of windows heated by the sun, amount of electrical equipment etc. It also shows the KW needed for cooling the room.

KWATT 20,18

WATT

KCAL / H

KCAL / S

C.V

BTU

20178,88 1.7350,78 1.041.046,59 68.853,44

ROOM DIMENSIONS M3: (length x width x height)

27,44

M3

44389,635

NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN THE ROOM

30

18000

WINDOWS EXPOSED TO THE SUN

2

1428

AMOUNT OF ELECTRYCAL EQUIPMENT INSTALLED IN THE ROOM

0

0

KITCHEN DIMENSIONS M2 (if it is a kitchen)

0

0

Yes

1942,8

170

IS THE ROOM FACING TO THE SUN? NECCESARY MINI SPLIT FOR THE ROOM (BTU)

68853,44

Table 4 Mini split room demands

Summarizing, the room cooling demands are: 

68853, 44 BTUs = 20, 18 Kw

The mini Split chosen has capacity of 18000 Btu/h, therefore by using 4 mini split in each room the demand would be fulfil.

One SANKEY ES‐18086PR mini split costs $359.95 USD, therefore the cost estimation will be $1440, which is an excellent price in order to low the humidity inside the classrooms.

In conclusion, 4

Mini split necessary per room Cost estimation

1 mini split

$359.95

4 mini splits

$1440

Table 5 Mini split final choice

4.6.2

Sewer system calculation. Settle tank + drain field

In the following part, the main components of the waste water system will be dimensioned, such as the gutters, settling tank, distribution box and drain pipes length.

In order to start the calculations, the most important values are the amount of rain water that is going to be collected for the gutters and the litters of waste water that the school produce per day.

Rain water, gutters and rainwater tank.

Design of an energy efficient school in Nombre de Dios (Panama)

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Even though the amount of rainwater is on average around 70mm/h, the gutters must be dimensioned for the most extreme situation. Panama has 2 different seasons, dry and rainy, because of that, during the rainy season it is easy to find some days with an amount of 250mm/hr of rain water. The roof’s area is 278.56 m2 and the slope has an angle of 10º.

Rain water flow: 21.05 L/s Number Req’d (Units) 11.55 8.85 3.18 1.14 0.55

Number used (Units) 12 9 4 2 1

Gutter width (mm2) 125 145 200 270 350

Gutter area (mm2) 8538 10755 20615 35951 62697

Gutter Depth (mm2) 70 75 105 135 180

Table 6 Gutter dimensions required

Finally, due to the design of the building, there is only 1 gutter in the middle, therefore the dimensions are:

Some of the rainwater will be used in the toilets flush, so the next step is to calculate the dimensions of the rain water tank placed underground.

It is said, that the water required per person per day for the toilets is 15L. The school have on average 100 users.

Amount of water needed per day 15 ∗ 100

1500 /

Rainwater collected per day.

The rainwater per day per m2 in Panama is 75mm or 7.5L on average.

7.5

∗ 278.56

2089.2L

The tank should have enough water in order to last at least for 10 days without rainwater.

Tank capacity 1500 /

∗ 10

15000

Settling tank The minimum time needed to let the sediment settle in the tank is around 5 days. This value is the one that has more importance when dimensioning the tank, because the more days the bigger the tank has to be.

The tank, has to be big enough to host the waste water for at least 5 days, the amount of water is: 15

&

∗ 100

1500

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7500

There are several restrictions for the settle tank location.

Place Water well Property boundaries Water course Embankment Swimming pool Water pipes Big trees Pedestrian ways

Minimum distance (m) 10.0 1.5 30.0 30.0 7.5 3.0 3.0 1.5

Table 7 Settle tank place restrictions

(S.A., 2015) (Dávila, 2015) Drain field.

In the drain field, there are several drain pipes spread on the plot.

The length of this pipes depend on the soil porosity and the amount of waste water that will flow along the pipes. The better porosity the shorter the length, and the smaller amount of waste water the shorter the pipes as well.

Due to the lack of information about the soil in the plot, the soil porosity will be assumed in 2 min filtration time. The type of soil is assumed as well as fine‐grain sand mixed with clay or soil.

Soil type CLEAN SAND OR COARSE GRAVEL FINE‐GRAIN SAND OR LOOSE SOIL FINE‐GRAIN SAND MIXED WITH CLAY OR SOIL CLAY MIXED WITH SOIL OR GRAVEL HARD CLAY

Length (m) 28 42 61 155 unsuitable

Table 8 Soil type

Infiltration time (minutes) 1 2 5 10 30 45 60 >60

Pipe length (meters) 20 28 44 61 108 122 167 unsuitable

Table 9 Infiltration time

The 1st table gives the length of 61 m and the 2nd one gives 28 m. The more restrictive value is 61 m, for that reason this value is the one used in order to scale the system.

The drain field will be divided into 3 trenches 20 meters long each one.

Design of an energy efficient school in Nombre de Dios (Panama)

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Materials and construction

The new building will be made of concrete columns and bahareque walls in order to cover the space between the columns.

Bahareque is a typical building technique in South America natives’ towns which is set up using bamboo canes or any other kind of cane tied together and the walls are plastered with a mixture similar to mud (soil, water and twigs).

Every side and partitions will be built in this typical building technique. Between the columns there will be wooden frames modules with canes in the inside as the structure to cover that space, and mud or adobe in order to create the wall.

Additionally, there will be another common reed grass structure going around the whole perimeter making a small corridor in order to protect the building against hard winds, against sunrise making shades and lowing the indoor temperatures protecting the indoor wall of the heat as well.

The north and the south side will change a bit the construction type. They will have windows at bottom as well as at the top of the roof. Due to this fact, there will be a wooden truss structure due to the necessary slope of the roof to get the natural ventilation and natural daylight through to the windows which are placed on it.

All of these materials are environmental friendly, so the building doesn´t have a big impact on the ecosystem of the area. In addition, using a typical construction technique is a nice way to respect the history and tradition of the country.

A green roof will be placed on the top of the building and there will also be some solar panels to get energy in order to use as much energy as the building consume.

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5

Leed

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1st Leed estimation.

5.1

LEED 2009 for Schools New Construction and Major Renovations

Project Name

Project Checklist

Date

Sustainable Sites Y

?

Possible Points:

24

N

Y Y Y Y Y

Y Prereq 1 Prereq 2 Credit 1 Credit 2 Credit 3

N Y

Credit 4.1 Credit 4.2

N Y Y Y Y Y

Credit 4.3 Credit 4.4 Credit 5.1 Credit 5.2 Credit 6.1 Credit 6.2

N N Y Y Y

Materials and Resources, Continued

Credit 7.1 Credit 7.2 Credit 8 Credit 9 Credit 10

Construction Activity Pollution Prevention Environmental Site Assessment 1 Site Selection 4 Development Density and Community Connectivity Brownfield Redevelopment 1 Alternative Transportation—Public Transportation Access 4 Alternative Transportation—Bicycle Storage and Changing Room1 Alternative Transportation—Low-Emitting and Fuel-Efficient Ve 2 Alternative Transportation—Parking Capacity 2 Site Development—Protect or Restore Habitat 1 Site Development—Maximize Open Space 1 Stormwater Design—Quantity Control 1 Stormwater Design—Quality Control 1 Heat Island Effect—Non-roof 1 1 Heat Island Effect—Roof Light Pollution Reduction 1 Site Master Plan 1 Joint Use of Facilities 1

Water Efficiency

Possible Points:

?

N

Y

Credit 3

N Y Y

Credit 5 Credit 6

?

Credit 7

Prereq 1 Credit 1

Prereq 1 Prereq 2 Prereq 3 Credit 1 Credit 2

N N ?

Credit 2 Credit 3 Credit 3

Energy and Atmosphere

Possible Points:

Credit 3.2

Credit 5 Credit 6.1 Credit 6.2

11 2 to 4 2 2 to 4 1

Credit 3.1

Credit 4

N Y Y N

Credit 7.1 Credit 7.2

?

Water Use Reduction—20% Reduction Water Efficient Landscaping Innovative Wastewater Technologies Water Use Reduction Process Water Use Reduction

Credit 8.1

Y

Credit 8.2

N N

Credit 9 Credit 10

Prereq 1 Prereq 2 Prereq 3 Credit 1 Credit 2

N ?

Credit 3 Credit 4

Y Y

Credit 5 Credit 6

Fundamental Commissioning of Building Energy Systems Minimum Energy Performance Fundamental Refrigerant Management Optimize Energy Performance On-Site Renewable Energy Enhanced Commissioning Enhanced Refrigerant Management Measurement and Verification Green Power

Credit 1.2 Credit 1.3 Credit 1.4

1 to 19 1 to 7 2 1 2 2

N Y

Credit 2 Credit 3

Possible Points:

13

Credit 1.3 Credit 1.4

Y

Prereq 1

N N Y

5.2

6

Credit 1.1 Credit 1.2 Credit 2

Storage and Collection of Recyclables 1 to 2 Building Reuse—Maintain Existing Walls, Floors, and Roof Building Reuse—Maintain 50% of Interior Non-Structural Element 1 Construction Waste Management 1 to 2

Innovation in Design: Specific Innovation in Design: Specific Innovation in Design: Specific Innovation in Design: Specific LEED Accredited Professional The School as a Teaching Tool

Possible Points: Title Title Title Title

Regional Priority: Specific Regional Priority: Specific Regional Priority: Specific Regional Priority: Specific

1 1 1 1 1 to 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 to 3 1 1 1

6 1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1

Credit Credit Credit Credit

Total C er t i f i ed 4 0 t o 4 9 p o i nt s

19

Possible Points: 4

Regional Priority Credits Credit 1.1 Credit 1.2

Materials and Resources

Possible Points:

Minimum Indoor Air Quality Performance Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) Control Minimum Acoustical Performance Outdoor Air Delivery Monitoring Increased Ventilation Construction IAQ Management Plan—During Construction Construction IAQ Management Plan—Before Occupancy Low-Emitting Materials Indoor Chemical and Pollutant Source Control Controllability of Systems—Lighting Controllability of Systems—Thermal Comfort Thermal Comfort—Design Thermal Comfort—Verification Daylight and Views—Daylight Daylight and Views—Views Enhanced Acoustical Performance Mold Prevention

Innovation and Design Process

33

Credit 1.1

Y Y Y Y Y

1 to 2 1 to 2 1 to 2 1 1

Materials Reuse Recycled Content Regional Materials Rapidly Renewable Materials Certified Wood

Indoor Environmental Quality Y Y Y Y Y

Y Y Y Y Y Y

Credit 4

Possible Points: 110 Si l ver 50 t o 59 p o i nt s

Go l d 6 0 t o 79 p o i nt s

Pl at i num 8 0 t o 110

Final Leed calculation.

Table of contents

Figure 1 Panama's political division .......................................................................................... ‐ 4 ‐ Figure 2 Economic activity ........................................................................................................ ‐ 6 ‐ Figure 3 Average monthly temperature and rainfall 1900‐2009 .............................................. ‐ 7 ‐ Figure 4 Settling tank + wetland + drip irrigation sketch ........................................................ ‐ 11 ‐ Figure 5 Settling tank + drain field sketch ............................................................................... ‐ 12 ‐ Figure 6 Settling tank + drain field sketch ............................................................................... ‐ 12 ‐ Figure 7 Settling tank + wetland sketch .................................................................................. ‐ 13 ‐ Figure 8 different distance from the plot ................................................................................ ‐ 14 ‐ Figure 9 Ceiling fan system...................................................................................................... ‐ 20 ‐ Figure 10 HVAC system diagram ............................................................................................. ‐ 21 ‐ Figure 11 Cane ventilated façade ............................................................................................ ‐ 21 ‐ Figure 12 Desiccant wheel diagram ........................................................................................ ‐ 22 ‐ Figure 13 Average Daytime and nigh time temperatures ....................................................... ‐ 25 ‐ Figure 14 Average Daytime and nigh time temperatures ....................................................... ‐ 25 ‐ Figure 15 Bahareque façade ................................................................................................... ‐ 26 ‐ Figure 16 Double skin cane façade .......................................................................................... ‐ 26 ‐ Figure 17: Location of Nombre de Dios, colon Panama .......................................................... ‐ 28 ‐ Figure 18: Wind sensors location in Panama at 2m High ........................................................ ‐ 28 ‐ Figure 19: Wind sensors location in Panama at 10 m high. .................................................... ‐ 29 ‐

Design of an energy efficient school in Nombre de Dios (Panama)

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Figure 20: Wind velocity study by year in Bocas del Toro between (1993 and 2002) at 2m high . ‐ 29 ‐ Figure 21 : Figure 22: Wind velocity study by year in Bocas del Toro between (1993 and 2002) at 10 m high ............................................................................................................................. ‐ 30 ‐ Figure 23: Charts showing the utility or not of installing a wind turbine according to the wind velocity and also the amount of energy we can produced. .................................................... ‐ 31 ‐ Figure 24 : Annual horizontal irradiation of the sun in Denmark ........................................... ‐ 32 ‐ Figure 25: Annual horizontal irradiation of the sun in Panama ............................................. ‐ 32 ‐ Figure 26: Location of our roof area of the school ................................................................. ‐ 33 ‐ Figure 27: Details of our choose parameters for installing PV panels on the roof of the school. . ‐ 33 ‐ Figure 28: Chart of the annual production month per month of our pv system installed. .... ‐ 34 ‐ Figure 29: Power wall battery specifications and layout of the installation ........................... ‐ 35 ‐ Figure 30: Google earth map showing the river next to the school area ...... ¡Error! Marcador no definido.

Figure 31: Chart showing the amount of electricity produced by using hydro power generation considering the flow ................................................................................................................ ‐ 36 ‐ Figure 32 Gutter dimensions .......................................................... ¡Error! Marcador no definido.

Figure 33 Water tank dimensions .................................................. ¡Error! Marcador no definido.

Figure 34 Settle tank dimensions ................................................... ¡Error! Marcador no definido.

Table 1 Panama's energy balance 2014 .................................................................................... ‐ 7 ‐ Table 2 Sewer systems comparison ........................................................................................ ‐ 13 ‐ Table 3 Ventilation system comparison .................................................................................. ‐ 24 ‐ Table 4 Mini split room demands ........................................................................................... ‐ 47 ‐ Table 5 Mini split final choice .................................................................................................. ‐ 47 ‐ Table 6 Gutter dimensions required ....................................................................................... ‐ 48 ‐ Table 7 Settle tank place restrictions ...................................................................................... ‐ 49 ‐ Table 8 Soil type ...................................................................................................................... ‐ 49 ‐ Table 9 Infiltration time .......................................................................................................... ‐ 49 ‐

7

References agency, U. s. e. p., 2010. A homeowner's guide to septic systems, Washington, DC: s.n.

Anon., 2015. sustainability workshop AUTODESK. [Online] Available at: http://sustainabilityworkshop.autodesk.com/buildings/stack‐ventilation‐and‐ bernoullis‐principle#sthash.jY9gI7qa.dpuf Anon., 2015. sustainability workshop AUTODESK. [Online] Available at: http://sustainabilityworkshop.autodesk.com/buildings/stack‐ventilation‐and‐ bernoullis‐principle#sthash.jY9gI7qa.dpuf Anon., 2015. Sustainability workshop AUTODESK. [Online] Available at: http://sustainabilityworkshop.autodesk.com/buildings/stack‐ventilation‐and‐ bernoullis‐principle#sthash.p7vyvO51.dpuf Anon., 2015. Sustainability workshop AUTODESK. [Online] Available at: http://sustainabilityworkshop.autodesk.com/buildings/humidity‐ control#sthash.nnOHVYYa.dpuf

Design of an energy efficient school in Nombre de Dios (Panama)

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Dávila, D. R. F., 2015. Academia uprc education. [Online] Available at: http://academic.uprm.edu/ ministerio de asuntos exteriores, Gobierno de España, 2008. CRITERIOS GENERALES DE CONSTRUCCION PARA HOSPITALES, ESCUELAS, VIVIENDA DE INTERES SOCIAL, CARRETERAS, AGUA POTABLE Y SANEAMIENTO ANTE LOS SISMOS, LAS INUNDACIONES Y LOS VIENTOS FUERTES, Madrid: s.n.

Panamá, I. n. d. e. y. c. d., 2015. Trading economics. [Online] Available at: www.tradingeconomics.com S.A., E. C., 2015. tanque séptico. s.l.:s.n.

8

Annexes.

Design of an energy efficient school in Nombre de Dios (Panama)