Morphologically Controlled Thermal Rate of Ultra High Performance Concrete
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Morphologically Controlled Thermal Rate of Ultra High Performance Concrete Dana Cupkova, Carnegie Mellon School of Architecture Shi-Chune Yao, Carnegie Mellon University, Mechanical Engineering Nicolas Azel, Cornell University ABSTRACT This research focuses on defining the design principles that integrate passive-system thinking into the built environment with the goal of mitigating building energy usage by selfregulating the heat gain/loss at level of building envelopes. In collaboration with TAKTL, a company that developed and uses advanced Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) integrated with mold design and manufacturing of architectural elements, our research targets how specific manipulation of UHPC surface area in combination with self-regulating thermochromic response can improve building’s energy performance. By coupling the adaptive color response with surface geometry we can suggest new passive sustainable solutions that would mitigate the energy usage with no additional energy input; purely through designing the form and color adaptation for UHPC concrete Trombe wall components integrated within building façade systems. This paper outlines the first part - the thermal behavior in response to surface geometry. Such comprehensive knowledge not only enhances the possibilities within architectural design, but becomes an effective strategy in self-regulating the heat gain/loss at the building surface level, while reducing the need for mechanical building systems. CONTEXT About 60% of accumulative US energy consumption comes from buildings’ energy usage. The primary source of such high energy loads stems from overuse of mechanical systems for heating and cooling. Our project focuses on mitigating this overuse by suggesting a new way of thinking about passive systems, and expanding the possibilities of thermal mass and Trombe wall principles in building design. Thermal mass systems work on the basic principle of short wave radiation conversion to sensible heat. In the winter, significant energy savings can be achieved using well-calibrated direct storage of solar radiative energy during the day and its timely release in the evening. In the summer, the mass storage can even out temperature peaks and delay the re-radiation of heat. However, the basic guidelines for thermal mass dictate its configuration: adjacent to the southfacing façade coupled with glazing, while sealing off the hot air. This typically results in unappealing designs, completely blocking the sunlight and views from the rest of the space, and thus renders it to be generally not a well-accepted application. PRECEDENT This research builds on a previously validated body of work that operates under the premise that complex geometries can be used to improve both the aesthetic and thermodynamic performance of passive heating and cooling systems. Epiphyte Lab, a design collaborative directed by the first author, designed, prototyped, and built a functioning mass wall as part of a new home in a northeastern climate. We employed a basic understanding th
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