Build Test Iterate Repeat
Constructing Low-Tech, Low-Cost Thermal Testing Strategies in Building Facades
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Overview
Abstract
The global increase in atmospheric temperature rise combined with the rapid growth of previously underdeveloped climate zones presents a growing need for low cost solutions that serve those without access to modern technologies. However, when an emphasis on emerging issues in high performance building design exists in core architectural education, there is often a tendency towards expensive, high-tech strategies. In fact, students without a comprehensive understanding of basic building physics are exploring flashy, high-tech building facades as the primary means to reduce energy consumption. The integration of digital simulation and energy modeling tools often empowers innovation yet enables an already tech-savvy generation to lean on digital outputs without a solid understanding of the physical metrics.
In response, this study employs project-based learning to empower students to use tangible, physical experiments as part of the design process to make informed, climate-specific decisions about building systems and facades. It addresses methods to analyze, explore, and communicate underlying building science principles with low-cost, low-tech tools to enable the development of accessible technologies, materials and assemblies. Using the hand in tandem with digital tools, students use advanced methods to explore the most basic of building science principles. Students created devices, which are used to quickly and affordably communicate thermal and hygric phenomena, without specifically quantifying heat and mass transfer values. The author discovered that the design of the experimental setup was often more meaningful than the data itself. Student projects explored, among others, the thermal properties of air, latent heat, solar shading, and passive dehumidification strategies.
Authors
Elizabeth L McCormick, RA, CPHC, LEED AP
Assistant Professor
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
lizmccormick@uncc.edu
Keywords
Introduction
The global increase in atmospheric temperature rise combined with the rapid growth of previously underdeveloped climate zones presents a growing need for low-cost solutions that serve those without access to
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Background
The integration of digital simulation and energy modeling instruments can empower innovation, yet these increasingly user-friendly tools can enable an already tech-savvy generation to lean on digital outputs without a
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Method
The course was open to upper-level undergraduate or graduate students of all disciplines with a basic understanding of thermodynamic principles in buildings & materials. Architecture students were expected to have
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Data
Student projects not addressed in this paper explored thermal properties of air, latent heat, solar shading and sound transfer, among others. This section explores the experimental procedures and performance implications
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Explanation
The projects presented in this paper are significant not because of the specific findings, but because of the experience gathered while generating these results. The data from the first project
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Conclusion
An interdisciplinary group of students created small-scale apparatuses, which were used to quickly and affordably communicate thermal and hygric phenomena in building materials without specifically quantifying heat and mass transfer
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Rights and Permissions
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