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

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

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

1Quad = 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, FrankfurtRWE 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