GOALI: Climate-Responsive Design and Control Strategies for Affordable Multi-Family Residences

University Of Oregon Eugene, Eugene OR

Investigators

Abstract

Nationally, mechanical air conditioning accounts for ~40% of energy use in all buildings, and over 50% in residential buildings. This project focuses on creating industrially-relevant, immediately applicable solutions for transforming non-mechanical, passive heating and cooling system design and delivery throughout the U.S. Effective passive heating and cooling strategies are virtually absent from U.S. buildings for several reasons, including existing passive design tools are unwieldy and time-consuming to use, and effective, responsive control strategies are unavailable. These problems are particularly acute in affordable housing, where extra designer time and typical green design measures (e.g. superinsulation, triple-pane windows, PV arrays) are too costly. To alleviate these problems, this project targets the following advances: (Task 1) A set of new, visual metrics to express a location's unique combination of useful climatic resources for passive heating and cooling, as well as their respective values, enabling rapid prioritization in early design stages; (Task 2) A set of customizable residential dwelling prototypes for simulation to allow designers to estimate energy benefits of passive system adoption in a climate of interest before investing in project-specific simulation, accompanied by cost implications, along with a rigorous estimate of the extent to which optimally-controlled passive heating and cooling systems can reduce mechanical conditioning needs and diminish GHG emissions in multi-family dwellings in the major climate zones of the U.S.; and (Task 3) A field-tested intelligent control system for operating combined passive systems optimally and responding continuously to weather, forecasts, and user input. As a GOALI project, a primary broader impact will be the exchange of expertise between industry (Mithun, Inc., a leading national sustainable design firm) and academia (the University of Oregon and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), connecting with industrial research, providing industrially-relevant results, and educating students through research fellowships and in-office internships. The work will advance national carbon-neutral building design by (a) the dissemination of climate metrics, customizable passive system prototype models, and control approaches through national channels, and (b) the construction of built products, to be realized as experimental elements within Mithun projects, that will then serve as precedents for others to study and further improve upon. An additional targeted impact is the enhancement of social inclusiveness in green design, which typically offers better air quality and lower utility bills to residents; this work will facilitate green building strategies for affordable buildings that rarely offer such advantages. The project will also support and expand the team's outreach work with the University of Oregon Sustainable City Year Program, in which city planners and community members work with students to realize effective environmental designs, increasing public engagement with science and technology. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.