Energy Efficient Buildings Issues Research Opportunities Leon Glicksman

Energy Efficient Buildings: Issues, Research Opportunities Leon Glicksman Building Technology Program January 27, 2005

US Energy Consumption U. S. Energy Use Transportation Buildings Industrial

U. S. Buildings • 38 % of total energy ( in UK 50 % ) • 67 % of electricity • 90% of time spent indoors • Major health problems: indoor climate

1 Quad = 10 15 BTU

Average Lifetime of Buildings

United States Commercial Buildings

Average Age of US Cars and Trucks US Dept of Transportation

New Building Construction in Developing Countries China • ~ 10 M new residence units/year! • Commercial building rate ~ ∑ Western countries

“Exudes Green” vs. Green Performance

Heritage 2000 Artist’s Rendering

Energy Efficient Copenhagen: Cooled only by Natural Ventilation

Energy Efficient

Not very energy efficient

Building Technology Program • Joint Architecture/ ME / Civil • 5 Faculty • ~ 20 graduate students

Energy Research Building Technology Group • Natural ventilation in commercial buildings – Air flow Prediction: scale models, numerical methods – Multiple Stable States • Integrated design: – design tools – Developing countries • Controls – Optimization – Remote monitoring • Advanced envelopes: double skin facades • Thermal insulation: fundamental mechanisms • Daylighting • Lifecycle evaluation: real options for flexible designs

Double Skin Building Facades • Goals include – Energy conservation & ecological benefits – High level of thermal and visual comfort – Architectural transparency – Noise Reduction – Security – Natural Ventilation

The German Towers Commerzbank, Frankfurt RWE Ag, Essen

Natural Ventilated Building, Aldwyck Housing-Luton England

Airflow pattern compared between simulation and visualization Visualized air flow direction

Luton Air Model-MIT 10 th Scale Model of Luton Building Airflow Measurements compare to building Airflow Visualization techniques

MIT Design Advisor • • • Simple Tool Use in the Conceptual Design Stage Compare Scenarios Real Time Calculations Real Time Optimization

Mechanical Pure natural Hybrid ventilation

Mechanical Pure natural Hybrid ventilation