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So you want to be an Architect

Architect

Architect-Famous Architects ALIVE

Architect-Famous Architects ALIVE

 Duties of Architects

An Architect is a professional who designs building plans. These plans are called schematic or conceptual drawings
 He will further go to seek the approval from the local authorities. By doing this, he will seek to comply with the Local By-laws
or the Building Codes. He will then produce tender drawings for the building.

Production of Drawing by Architects

The tender drawings are drawing which the tenderer  (contractors) are called in to bid for the project. The successful
bidder is awarded the construction of the building. The successful bidders or tenderer is called the contractor.

Architects produce the construction drawings. which may differ from the tender drawing. The construction
drawings are used by the contractor to construct the buildings.

Supervision of Construction by Architects

The Architects (architecht) supervises the construction of the building by the Contractor.He ensures the building
is built to the standard Codes of Practices in the country, In the US the AS(American Standards) are used. In the UK the
BS( British Standards) are used. In Japan , JAS(Japanese Standards) are used. These standards establish the quality
and workmanship standards the contractor is to abide in. These standards are specified by the Architect(archetec)
in the Tender document. The tender documents during the construction are called contract documents. He administers
the contract document during the construction. On completion of the construction. he issues certificates for completion of the
building. The accounts are settled called final accounts. The Final certificate and many other certificates are issued by the
Architect during the construction to the contractor.

During the construction. the Architect (architecs) instructs the Contractor to construct the building and administers
the contract.On completion. he seeks the consent of the Local authorities for issue of the Certificate of Fitness or
Certificate of Completion and compliance
.
The  Architect (archite) is bound by the jurisdictions of the contract.

Responsibility of Construction

The Architect’s responsibility for the building is until his death. If the building collapses or fails, he will be called upon,
is answerable for the collapse or failures.He uses consultants such as a Structural engineer, civil engineer, mechanical
engineer, electrical engineer, Quantity Surveyor, landscape architect,town planner or any specialist consultants to
help him complete the design and construction of the building. Other specialist consultants may be anEcologist
for biodiversity design, an Energy consultant for Net Zero Advice, an Acoustic consultant, a Geotechnical specialist,
Environmental Engineer, Traffic engineer,Surveyor, External lighting consultant, a Facade consultant , Interior designer etc.

Origin of the word “Architect”

 The word architect derives from the Latin architectus, a Greek  derivative for (arkhi-, chief +tekton, builder),
which means chief builder.
The builder and the designer were one and all which were some times referred to the Master
Builder or Master Architect.

Use of the word” Architect” by other professions

The terms architect  are used in other disciplines such as Landscape Architects, Naval architects and in
IT network architects  or software architects.The uses of the terms “architect”[3] and “landscape architect” are
legally protected for building purposes and  not for IT. However the concept of one who organizes the spaces
within the “IT world of spaces” is a derivative from Building Architect
.

Challenges of  Architects

When Architects says that he is practicing, he is providing the above services in a professional
capacity. He does not mean he is employed by another but rather that he is running his own company which is an
Architectural entity.Architecture or Architect has to be specially trained in many areas that he is usually more
useful only with time and not when he is out from the academic training from his university. A fresh engineer is
rather useful when he graduates, a medical doctor is able to prescribe medication to a patient when he is a fresh
graduate, but  not for an Architect. He is in his prime at a late age of his career.

Recent Trends of Architecture

The above duties are rather the rudiments of an Architect but a good architect is one who provides not merely
the design of buildings, but goes one step further to encompass the needs of the building owner and creates
an ambiance which is felt. The ambiance may be a feeling of emotions of the spaces. The feelings and emotions
are created by being in the space. Sounds of running water or falling water created. The natural lighting may be
reflected within the spaces to create a spiritual feeling of reverence. Textures of materials are used to denote
character of the spaces, or cultures. Eg the Rustic Balinese architecture uses materials in it most natural forms,
which is characteristic of the Balinese architecture. In recent years the Efficient use of Energy is a call for
the global weather changes to reduce the CO2 emission in the air. The loss of many hot spots biodiversity is called
for biodiversity in designs to save the heating planet.

  • Origin of Architects

Much have not been recorded in history about the original use of the word.It is Greek/Roman word for a builder.
But the design concept of building evolved with time.Initially building were built and often copied relentlessly
without much consideration to the environment or locality. But in more recent year much of the repetitive nature of
doing thing have been vigorously questioned . This was in line with the changes that took place in the West. In the
East, building was expensive and the construction was built for a purpose.Passive designs were incorporated in
Forts , water was used to cool and mitigate the  hot summers.The first Architects built the Pyramids, the temples
of India,the Great walls of China, ancient cities were planned in Grid lines in Mohen-Daro & Harrapa of the Indus
valley, the sunken Krishna City of India and the Incas of ancients Americas. Someone put together these buildings,
cities and structures .It would be inconceivable that it arose without some plans and designs.

  • Architecture

An Architect creates the Architecture,. The character of Architecture of the Roman, Indians,Chinese,Japanese,
Egyptian are different but they all use block work.This was the common materials that were used to create structures
for the purposes of its times. Most building were built as monuments to the deities of worship.The Chinese had during
the Sung Dynasty, volumes written about timber constructions and specifications.The Indus civilization came to an
abrupt end with remains tells the story of a great civilization that perished.
The Roman  world of Architecture derived from the Sumerian Architecture,which evolved from the Babylonian
architectures. The Babylonian Architecture influenced the Persian Architectures which influenced the Greek Architectures .
The Greeks civilization  influenced the Roman Architectures and Roman cultures.The Roman Architecture was called
the Classical Period.Roman architectural principles are adopted even in today’s world of Architecture. Read about the
Famous Architects Alive.

1)The Roman Classical Period

The first Architect of the Roman emperor was Vitruvius– he contribution was the design principles which influenced
the architectural principles we used today.The Romans discovered concrete and it was the technology of the times,
Much of the Roman building’s pillars and columns  were made of concrete.The re-bar was discovered by the American
merely 200 years ago. Therefore the limitation of concrete reduced the majesty of building built as of today.
Read History of Architectures,note the time line with a  comparison to other civilizations.

2)The Romanesque Period

3) Gothic Period

The Gothic Architecture bloomed soon after the Roman Classical Periods. The Father of the Gothic Architecture
was Abbot Suger was a principal person to lead the Architectural building of the times.The Gothic  structures were
used for church with aspired to the sky resembling worship to the God.

In a nutshell, the following were the Architectural movements that brought us, the Architecture today

4)  Baroque Period
5)  Classical Revival
6)  Gothic Revival
7)  Beaux-Arts
8)  Art Nouveau
9)  Modern Architecture
10)Art Deco
11) International Architecture
12)Deconstructionist Architecture

  • Practice of Architect

The Architect role is to design, provide estimates of the cost to construct the building, He may provide a Feasibility study,
showing the profitability of the building project. He may employ a QS to provide such information.He works with a team
of consultants to establish his design or specialism teams to complete the building.The client ( building owner)employs
the Architect to complete the task.His office is called the Architectural Patrice. Or he is said to be practicing architecture.

  • Design Role of Architect

The Architect designs the building from the Inception stage, to the Conceptual stage. These are the design stages that
proceed form here to the following Phases of Design:
1) Schematic Design Phase
2) Design Development Phase
3) Contract Documentation Phase
4) Contract Implementation and Management Phase 
At the Schematic Phase, the design and cost is produced and if the client is content with the design and the cost, he would
proceed to the Design Development Phase. Here he may submit the design to the local authorities for approval. On approval
he will week to the Contract Documentation Phases .During the Documentation Phase. all drawing are somewhat finalized
for the tender bidding. Lastly. the Contract Implementation Phase is when the contractor builds the design initially designed
by the Architect.

Architect may provide Supplementary Services in addition to the Basic Design Role. Such services may to in helping
the Client to select a suitable site.For instance. an Airport is large ndertaking and involves much cost. In this instance. the

options of selecting a suitable location shall be done by a team of Airport architects, Airport planners, Airport  engineers etc
to complete which location is the best option.

  • Means of Design

The means of design traditionally were to make a produce drawing in sketches or perspectives and sometimes a scaled model was
made, to produced to illustrate the concepts. The manual approach is replaced by computer-aided tools.The  Softwares used  to
design are Google Sketch up,Archicad, Revit,Rhinoceros,3-D Max, lumion etc.
The drafting boards, with T squares,Set squares and pens are have replaced with the drafting Softwares such as Autocad etc

  • Environmental role

Building are emit about 40% of the CO2 in the atmosphere . Architects now play an important role to reduce the CO2 emission in the air.
Building, cities and countries are called upon to reduce CO2 in the air by the UN. This will help to reduce the rapid deterioration of Global
warming.Green and Sustainable design or energy efficient buildings are now the call for Architects in this Environmental role. The
following are the environmental concerns for architects: Loss of Biodiversity,Zero Carbon Emissions,Green and Sustainability designs.

  • Construction Role

The Architect ensure the building he designed is built as per his plans.He is responsible until the building is built and handed over and
his responsibility remains with him until he dies.

  • Alternative Practice and Specializations

An architect has many options to work as a Project Manger for the client or contractor, He has options to be an Arbitrator ,adviser for buildings to a council, editor for magazines, write articles for newspaper on architectural matters, be a lecturer as an Architect.He may be employed by banks, City councils,Contractors, Developers or PWD ( Public Works Departments).

He may specialize in areas such as Architect Planner, Architect with Legal experience,Net Zero Energy Architect, Green Architect and  Architect cum Interior Designer.

  • Professional Requirements

An Architect professional requirement varying from country to country. Generally. a degree in Architecture may not be sufficient,
He may have to complete a post graduate studies till he is proficient in the business of Architecture.The accepted universities are listed by the Board of Architects in the country. He registers as a graduate Architect with the Board and he would be required to sit for an examination after 2-3 years as a graduate architect. On passing the examinations he then would be eligible to practice architecture in that country.With the TPPA is in place soon, a profession architect from one country is allowed to practice in the TPPA nations without inhibitions. For now most nations protect the architect from practicing in another nation.In the US, the architects register with AIA,American Institute of Architects to practice . In Australia they register with the AIA, Australian Institute of Architects and in Malaysia architects register with LAM, Lembaga Arkitek Malaysia to practice as Architects.

Prepared by Architect Perumal Nagapushnam

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Green Architecture,Green city,Low carbon economy,net zero cities, net zero country,,Green Architect,Architect, Net Zero building, net  zero, Zero Net, Net Zero Energy Buildings,NZEB

Green vertical walls

Green Architecture

Green Architecture-a misunderstood word

Green Architecture is probably misunderstood and misrepresented ie the Green certification program make a building Green.Neither is it that  merely planting of green plants in building does not represent Green Architecture. Existing Green Certification programs exists but the focus is skirting the topic and issues at large.

But rather ,the planting of Green plants must have a purpose, which ought to be, to provide benefits of eco biodiversity, reap the benefits of health as  type of home affects your health and improves the Biodiversity of the surrounding environment.
And it ought to saves the eco system and our future depends on it. Our future and sustainability depends on it on how we teat the Climate system, which we all share..Global temperatures are rising and it is said that the most conservative calculation indicates a temperature increase by 2-6 degrees C by the year 2100. The climate systems are being aquandered.Our Eco Biodiversity is being lost rapidly. The Loss of biodiversity ought to be the primary reason for Green Architecture. Buildings and Infrastructures are to design the strcutures with a restoration of biodiversity –Restorative Biodiversity design Biodiversity design,otherwise our future sustainability will be affected to the brink of disaster of out civilisation.

Vertical green architecture

green vertical wall

Loss of biodiversity

What is biodiversity? Read on biodiversity.
The design of the  The loss of biodiversity is to be the primary focus  in designing our buildings and it comes with many names-some call it:
1.Hyper Green designs
2.Green Architectural design
3.State of Art Green design
4.Ecological green
 design
5.Eco green design
6.Restorative environmental designs
7.Bio-diversity designs

Green Architecture Designs
It is planting of a vierty of plants( fauna) to encourage the viriety of animals( fauna) and the ground should be rich( habitats) for these growth.The planting of trees should be a combined effort of Landscape Architect and a Ecologist to produce diversity of plants , animals and habitats for its survival. Biodiversity should be further enhanced by incorporating EM-Effective Microbes. Effective Microbes which kills the bad bacteria and help the flaura and fauna to live in a healthier environment.

Benefits of Loss of well being factor etc

Improving the biodiversity of the environment helps to improves healthier people, cleaner water,cleaner air and well being of people. It reduces energy consumption, reduces water footprint, energy footprint and ecological footprint.

Prepared by Architect Perumal Nagapushnam

Carbon Trading

The Kyoto Protocol,1992 in the UN Framework Conventions on Climate Change but adopted in 1997 established the basis of Carbon Trading, Carbon offsets.
192 nation agreed to reduce Carbon emissions, which Identifies the 6 GHG gasses as 1) CO2 2) methane, 3) N2O 4) hydrofluorocarbon  5) perfluorocarbon and 6) sulphur hex-fluorocarbon. All these gases are referred to as Carbon emission, Carbon dioxide is the weaker global warming effect but the amount of it is the largest amount. Before the Kyoto Convention 2 Convention were held to establish the basis of Carbon emission, what is was considered as Carbon emission etc.

Carbon Trading Price Fluctuations

carbon-trading graph

carbon-trading in Asia

Protocols

The Carbon Trading has been defined in 3 conventions as follows:
a) Earth Summit-Conference on Environment and Development –UNCED, Rio 1992
b) United Nation Framework Conference on Climate Change UNFCCC( not binding due to no time limit was set by the UN
c) Kyoto Protocol, 1997
Carbon Trading is under the purview of the UN, Article 26 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969 and therefore the Kyoto Protocol is a treaty
In Malaysia, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Trade is in charge of CDM. In Malaysia, 100 tonnes were traded in 2008, at RM4.8 Billion. I ton of carbon was  sold at RM48. The price of carbon rallied from US 25 – US 12 over these years.

Ways to earn Carbon Credits for Carbon Trading

There are a few established legitimate ways of Carbon trading , which are:
a) using PV solar panels as Carbon Offsets are made
b) using wind turbines as Carbon Offsets are made
c) designing Net Zero Carbon Emission buildings or Net Zero Energy Buildings
d) Managing a forest ( Tropical) or wetlands, as the soil and tree sequesters CO2 by using PV solar panels as Carbon Offsets is made
e) Investing in a Carbon reducing projects such as Renewable energy projects, Geo-Thermal, Biomass, PV solar panels, micro turbine and wind turbines.
How much can you gain by Carbon Trading?
A typical building as in a 100,000 sq ft of gross built commercial space up area can offset carbon 390 tons of carbon per year.
The financial amount you can trade is 390 ton per year xRM48/ton=RM18,720
Carbon Emission for Combustion Fuels
Coal…………………0,37kgCO2/kWh
Gasoline…………. 0.27kg CO2/kWh
Diesel………………0.24kgCO2/kWh
Light Oil…………. 0.26kgCO2/kWh
Natural Gas………0.23kgCO2/kWh
LPG…………………0.24kgCO2/kWh
Malaysian CO2 Emission Coefficient Rate is 0.631 kgCO2/kWh

Check out our Architect,Green Architect, House Plan relating to Net Zero Carbon designs

Carbon Trading

Green architect

Prepared by Ar Perumal Nagapushnam
Net Zero Emission Building Architect

Certifying Bodies for Net Zero Energy Buildings

The certifying bodies for Net Zero Energy Buildings in the US A are :
A) Department of Energy
, DOE, an equivalent to the Malaysian Ministry of Energy
B) Zero Energy Commercial Building consortium
C) New Building Institute. NBI
A nonprofit organization that provides research and improved energy performance in commercial buildings
D)International Living Future Institute

The Programs surrounding the Net Zero Energy Buildings are :
1)2030 Challenge
The top 80% of 10 Architectural firms and 70% of the top 20 Architectural firms use The Challenge 2030.whereby all developments, new buildings and major renovation shall be carbon neutral by 2030 in the US and thereby reducing the temperature by 2 degree below the pre-industrial times.Net Zero Energy Buildings are also refereed too as Zero Energy Buildings.

2)Ashrae Vision 2020
Ashrae is a strong supporter of NZEB, and where Ashrae Vision 2020 was developed to promote energy Efficiency. NZE is defined as uses as much energy as it produces as measured at the site.

The Industry Codes and Regulations  surrounding the Net Zero Energy Buildings  in the world are: 
1)Security Act of 2007
2)Energy Independence and Security Act( Malaysian Renewable Energy Act)
3)California Public Utilities Commission
4)Massachusetts Zero Energy Building Task Force

5)European Union
The parliament passed a directive to achieve NZE by 2019 but focused on residential buildings and not commercial buildings: UK-Zero Carbon Hub to be carbon neutral by 2016, Germany-Passivhaus, Netherlands-energy neutral by 2020, France to be Energy positive by 2020.

The Building Codes surrounding the Net Zero Energy Buildings  in the USA are:  
1)IgCC– International Green Construction Code
This code is developed in conjunction with AIA,USGBC (MGBC-a Malaysian equivalent body –Malaysian Green Building Council) , 2)ASHRAE,ASTM,IES
3)CalGreen, California Green Building
4)Standard 189.1

The Building rating and Energy Labelling Systems surrounding the Net Zero Energy Buildings  in the USA are:

1) Energy Star
Is an energy labelling program of EPA( Environmental Protection Agency) and DOE( Department of Energy) It labels energy efficient products, homes, and commercial buildings. It scores on a table of 1 to 100.100 is a top performer. Energy Star does not recognize NZEBs. But the NZEB would score 90 in this program.
2) Leed/Green Building Index
The energy efficiency is the first and primary focus of the certification, one cannot obtain a platinum certification without designing for a high performance building. Incidentally the Net Zero building would easily obtain the Platinum with a marginal additional cost
3) Living Building Challenge by International Living Future Institute
Defines Imperatives for Net Zero Energy:

  • Net Zero Energy-if this imperative is not achieved it will not be qualified for the Living Building Challenge. The definition of NZEB are on: renewable energy, photo voltaic, wind turbines, water powered micro turbines, direct geo thermal. Biomass or combustion of any kind is not allowed. Hydrogen cell is allowed if energy is fueled by Hydrogen. Off grid connection is a must.
  • Site Imperatives-Site is restricted for gray fields and brownfields
  • Equity Imperatives-fresh air, sunlight and natural waterways
  • Beauty Imperatives-Beauty, spirit, inspiration and education

 

Hyper Green architect

Green architect Net Zero Energy Buildings Architect

 

 

 

check out our Green and Sustainable House Floor Plans, click here
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heck out our Architect, Green Architect, House Plan

 

Prepared by Ar. Perumal Nagapushnam

Net Zero Carbon Seminar and Net Zero Energy Seminar

Book NOW click here- Net Zero Carbon Seminar

Net Zero Energy Seminar

Net Zero Energy and Carbon Seminar

This is a  synopsis of the all the 14 talks In our  Net Zero Carbon Seminar .

Book NOW click here- Net Zero Carbon Seminar

 

We have organized this Net Zero Carbon Seminar with the intention to promote the idea in simplicity for all to understand. This will spear head the designs of buildings as Energy Efficient . Design of building will be a response to the call of global weather changes. This seminar is also some time refereed to as Architect Seminar,Architect training,Architect workshop,Engineering workshop,Engineering seminar, Engineering Training,Architect Conference, Engineering Conference, International Architect Conference or International Engineering Conference.

Talk 1. Targeting for  Net Zero Carbon Emission in Process and Product Design …Net Zero Energy Buildings
Synopsis of the Talk  Dr YewAi Tan

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At the UN Climate Summit in New York on 23 September 2014, the Prime Minister of Malaysia reiterated Malaysia's commitment towards reducing its carbon emissions, in terms of emissions intensity of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), by 40% by 2020. This will be implemented by reducing carbon emissions through new policies on climate change and green technology. Under the 11 th Malaysian Plan, RM 2.3 billion has been set aside for green technology based projects. This pledge, originally made at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCC) 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark, was conditional to receiving technological and financial assistance from developed countries. This year, Malaysia looks on track to hit the targeted carbon reduction emissions having achieved 33% reduction carbon intensity of its GDP. As GDP is the monetary value of finished goods and services, Malaysia will therefore have to grow its GDP without a parallel increase in emissions in order to achieve the 40% reduction.

The Climate Change problem will never go away on its own and ignorance on its seriousness is no longer an excuse for inaction. For effective mitigation

Net Zero Carbon and Net Zero Energy Cost

Net Zero Energy Cost Seminar

against climate change, there must first be acknowledgement that the burden must be borne by all. The next step will be how each and every one of us, the residents of planet earth, can help in reducing carbon emissions with a target towards achieving zero net carbon emissions. Before embarking on efforts to achieve zero carbon emission in process and product design, it is essential to be clear and familiar with the many terms and terminologies commonly associated with carbon emissions such as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, carbon footprint (CFP) , carbon capture, carbon sink, carbon neutral and energy neutral, etc. For example, CFP is defined as a measure of GHG emissions over the full life cycle of a process or product including the design stage, if applicable. It is the overall amount of not only carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions but also emissions of other GHG such as methane (CH 4 ), nitrous oxide (N 2 O),chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydro fluorocatbons (HCFs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF 6 ) that are directly and indirectly associated with a product along its supply chain. GHG emission is an integral part of all systems of production and consumption, In the case of a process or product design, each activity within a supply chain process step which is involved in the production or design of the product must be analyzed to determine CFP measured in mass units (kg, t) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO 2 eq) emitted. Through a carbon audit, any sector of an industry (e.g. palm oil or building industry) can systematically address environment-sensitive practices along the whole chain in the design and process of a product. One of the most important move that can be taken is to ensure that all products and services made and provided involve minimal carbon emissions. To arrive at net zero carbon emissions, emissions must be offset or subtracted and ways to achieve carbon neutrality will be highlighted in the paper. Suggestions on the formulation of possible mitigation strategies to curb GHG emissions and ways to target for zero net carbon emission by balancing emissions with simple negative emissions solutions such as tree- planting and the use of other more advanced technologies including the use of renewable energy generated from waste products, the sun or wind will also be discussed. The goal is to provide required information on the importance of our shared responsibility to reduce carbon emissions in the hope of ending the high emitting and energy-hungry practices of the modern world.

Talk 2. ACMV system design for Net Zero Energy Buildings in the tropics in the  Net Zero Carbon Seminar

by Dr Stellios Plainiotis

Net-zero energy buildings (Net-ZEBs) are a quantifiable design concept and an absolute solution to minimize the operational environmental impact of buildings. However designing such advanced buildings presents a challenge because there is no established design strategy to methodically reach the goal and many of the available calculation tools have limited applicability for Net-ZEBs. Appropriate modelling of building-integrated energy systems (passive and active) is essential for the design of ACMV systems and the study of optimal control strategies. These systems will play a major role in achieving the net-zero energy goal and need to be carefully selected, modelled, and sized for an optimum design. This talk focuses on optimizing active ACMV systems with emphasis on building simulation and parametric analysis. This presentation will review current design practice and tools for designing ACMV systems and presents methods employed by NEAPOLI to design ACMV systems in the tropics. It also discusses modelling issues and outlines the procedure used in several optimization case studies by NEAPOLI.

Talk 3: Achieving Net Zero Energy Status: the case of the Hospitality Sector in SE Asia

Synopsis of the Talk  in the  Net Zero Carbon Seminar by Dr Stellios Plainiotis
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Although the hospitality industry is responsible for only 2% of the world’s CO2 emissions, it makes an excellent sector for achieving Net-Zero Energy status  because energy  consumption  is  higher  than  in typical residential and non-residential buildings, so  there  is  a  larger potential for energy saving measures. Hospitality projects in Asia can benefit from reaching net-zero status through:

  • Energy savings and reduction of operational costs
  • Unique positioning in a highly competitive market
  • Improved image and service for guests
  • Access to a new “sustainability” market segment, both individuals and companies
  • Increased comfort as an added-value for hotels’ guests
  • Corporate Social Responsibility targets met; Environmental, social and economic sustainability.

There are however great challenges related to financing the additional initial capital expenditure and to  business model that includes a number of energy intensive operations associated to their customers’ comfort and expectations, therefore closely linked with their competitiveness and viability.  After presenting the fundamental concepts, design strategies, and technologies required to achieve net-zero energy in hospitality buildings, this presentation will discuss a case study of a Net-ZEB Hotel in Malaysia by NEAPOLI.

Talk 4: Generative and parametric design optimization techniques towards Net Zero Energy Buildings, Synopsis of the Talk  Net Zero Carbon Seminar by Mr Theodre G

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Net Zero Energy Buildings (Net-ZEBs) represent a new paradigm that radically changes the way we view and construct buildings. Our current practices, tools, and culture involved in the design and development of contemporary buildings are not entirely compatible with this new perspective. We are in dire need of new design paradigms that will allow the re-conception of the design process itself. NEAPOLI’s Research & Development efforts are focusing on two of the most important innovative design methodologies available today: generative and parametric design.

Generative design can be defined as an evolutionary process that charts the development of an original idea, searching quickly through all its possible permutations, testing different design configurations, learning and improving at each step. New design tools employed at NEAPOLI now allow cycling through thousands of design alternatives in small amounts of time, making generative design a very powerful approach especially for the early stage of design.

Parametric design can be defined as the varying of one (or more) building parameter(s) and performing a simulation to quantify that parameter’s impact. NEAPOLI employs parametric analyses to provide at least three valuable pieces of information:

  1. The optimal/near-optimal value of a design parameter, always in relation to other often competing parameters. If the performance metric for a particular parameter indicates that there is an optimum value, the design team may wish to use this value in the design, assuming it is practical, economical, and compatible with other design aspects.
  2. The relative sensitivity of a parameter. This is particularly useful when multiple parameters are compared.
  3.  The relative importance of accurately modelling a building system. The most care in accurate modelling should be given to the aspects that are most sensitive. Sensitivity analysis is a very important confidence building tool for NEAPOLI consultants.

This presentation will provide an exploration of these innovative design approaches, it will show how they can provide competitive advantages over contemporary processes, and finally share ideas and examples of their implementation in the design of Net-ZEBs.

 Talk 5: Net Zero Energy Design in practice: design optimization methodologies and tools Synopsis of the Talk  in  Net Zero Carbon Seminar  by Mr Theodre G

Traditional construction practice created buildings to meet current needs, without addressing how well they fit with the natural environment. Because they were lacking adaptive capabilities, they would usually require remodeling or replacement when use-patterns or external conditions changed, an approach that is costly both financially and environmentally. Net-ZEB buildings can provide solutions to this because not only are designed and built to produce all of their own energy, capture and treat all water, but they can also designed and operated to have a net-positive impact on the environment, including repairing surrounding ecosystems.

However new and innovative tools are required to achieve and realise that vision. While generative and parametric methodologies are gaining ground in both architecture and design practices, their practical use remains limited due to the lack of design tools equipped with generative and parametric capabilities.

This presentation will describe the current status of generative and parametric tools for the building design industry and how these are being used to improve building design. In a workshop-like manner, the audience will be taken, step-by-step, through real-life design examples showcasing NEAPOLI’s ‘box of tools’ paradigm which allows the development of highly complex and integrated models able to assess in parallel a wide variety of building performance and design issues.

Talk 6 : Net Zero Energy Design in Building Passive Design, Design Overall Integrated Design Approach in Net Zero Energy Design –Synopsis of the Talk in  Net Zero Carbon Seminar
by Ar Perumal Nagapushnam

  1. What is Net Zero Energy?
  2. Definitions of Net Zero Energy as per NREL

Net Zero Energy-The NREL has defined four ways of measuring the Net Zero Energy in buildings: –Net Zero Site Energy, Net Zero Source Energy, Net Zero Energy Emissions  , Net Zero Energy Cost

  • Principles of Net Zero Energy in establishing Net Zero Energy buildings
  • The overall integrated design approach with the Energy affecting considerations from the outset to create High Energy Performance building or Energy Efficient buildings.
  • Building Design Principles are:
    1) Optimum Orientation,
    2) Super Insulation of buildings by good thermal resistance materials,
    3) Shading, smart landscaping, living roof etc
    4) Good BAS system to manage energy consumption
    5) LED high performance systems
    6) Good active Mechanical and Electrical system
    7) Renewable Energy ( 4 Net Zero Energy categories)
    8) Energy Management in place-Sub metering, energy audit and Maintenance team crew
  • Calculations for NZEBs.
  • Conclusion with some real life project case studies of buildings designed in Malaysia
  • Terms used in NZEB
    NREL ,National Renewable Energy Laboratory of the USA, renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. Energy Neutral Zero Carbon Hub Renewable Energy, Low Energy Building, High Performance Building ,ENERGY STAR ,Energy Protection Agency ,Building Code

Talk 7: Net Zero Emission Definitions and terms Calculations

Synopsis of the Talk in  Net Zero Carbon Seminar By Ar Perumal
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  1. What is Net Zero Carbon Emission?
  2. Terms used in of Net Zero Emission such as Carbon Neutral, Carbon footprint, ecological footprint, Water footprint, Biofuel- Primary energy Global warming, Acidification, Eutrophication, Carbon footprint, Ecological footprint, Accounting ,Carbon credit, Carbon offset , Carbon Emission, Transportation Carbon ,Operational Carbon-,Embodied Carbon emissions, Carbon neutrality, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) , Life Cycle Cost (LCC),Water footprint, Water neutrality, ‘Water neutral’ ,Bluewater ,Green water, Grey waterEnergy audit, Fossil fuel,Green energy
  3. Accounting Principles of Net Zero Emission
  4. Comparison of Net Zero Emission as defined by Challenge 2030, NREL and Zero Carbon Hub.
  5. Benefits of Net Zero Emission in design with Biodiversity in designs.
  6. Conclusions with the importance of Net Zero Emission

Talk 8:Renewable Energy – and the case for Zero Carbon

Synopsis of the Talk in  Net Zero Carbon Seminar
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By: Gregers Reimann

In a Low Carbon World, we will have to deploy on the dual strategy of energy efficiency and renewable energy. In this presentation, the focus will be on renewable energy and its stronger and stronger case as opposed to fossil fuels. Interestingly, renewable energy costs are starting to achieve grid parity. Moreover, once the true cost of fossil fuels is factored in, namely the external costs like (carbon) pollution, the business case for renewable energy becomes even better.

For Malaysia, biomass and solar energy are the most applicable conventional renewable energy sources, but once implemented on a big scale, they both take up significant land area. Therefore, apart from re-stating the importance of energy efficiency, this presentation will also examine how renewable energy can be integrated in our built environment without taking up ‘extra space’.
Highlights of this presentation include:

Referencing the recent IMF study on the true cost of fossil fuels and its astounding conclusions. For Malaysia, for example, if we were to pay the real cost of fossil fuels, the petrol should cost RM4.50 per liter, which is more than double of the current cost.

Calculations example of how much solar photo-voltaic panels are needed to cover the entire Malaysian annual electric consumption. The result may surprise you in a positive way.

Examples of BIPV (building integrated photovoltaic) and other innovative to integrate renewable energy in the built environment

Talk 9 : “Zero Energy / Carbon and Innovative Tropical Building Case Studies

Synopsis of the Talk in  Net Zero Carbon Seminar By: Gregers Reimann
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The biggest and cheapest carbon emission savings are found in the building sector. Therefore, the building sector will play a key role in achieving the low carbon sustainable society that experts are urgently calling for. This presentation will focus on Malaysian case studies of low energy buildings both for commercial and residential sector. The focus will be on the design strategies employed in the case studies, both with respect to innovative passive building design by working with the climate and with respect to innovative active design solutions for ventilation, cooling, lighting and controls.  The low carbon aspect of the presentation will focus on the operational energy, which constitutes the bulk of the life-time carbon emissions for most buildings. The case studies presented have achieved measured energy savings of 50% or more and often with an attractive short payback time from reduced monthly energy bills.
The presentation will also re-examine how to approach thermal comfort for people in an energy efficient way and with the added benefit of providing improved air quality.

Some of the case study highlights include:

Case study no. 1: Zero energy bungalow (2016) in Kuala Lumpur with innovative natural cooling system that lowers the indoor temperature by 2-3°C, hence, eliminating the need to use air-conditioning. In fact, the bungalow does not have any air-conditioning installed.

Case study no. 2: Innovative high rise day-lighting system (2015) in Kuala Lumpur. Even though the occupants engage the manual facade window blinds, the daylight system maintains 7-meter perimeter zone of the office fully day-light.

Case study no. 3: Energy efficient building retrofit project (ongoing) saving 50% of the energy consumption in part by a new approach to providing thermal comfort to the building occupants

Case study no. 4: Innovative energy efficient and low energy slab cooling as exemplified in two Malaysian offices buildings, the GEO Building (2007) and the ST Diamond building (2010).

Talk 10: Targeting for Zero Net Carbon Emission in Process and Product Design

Synopsis of the Talk in  Net Zero Carbon Seminar
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  by YewAi Tan

At the UN Climate Summit in New York on 23 September 2014, the Prime Minister of Malaysia reiterated Malaysia’s commitment towards reducing its carbon emissions, in terms of emissions intensity of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), by 40% by 2020. This will be implemented by reducing carbon emissions through new policies on climate change and green technology. Under the 11th Malaysian Plan, RM 2.3 billion has been set aside for green technology based projects.  This pledge, originally made at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCC) 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark, was conditional to receiving technological and financial assistance from developed countries. This year, Malaysia looks on track to hit the targeted carbon reduction emissions having achieved 33% reduction carbon intensity of its GDP.  As GDP is the monetary value of finished goods and services, Malaysia will therefore have to grow its GDP without a parallel increase in emissions in order to achieve the 40% reduction.

The Climate Change problem will never go away on its own and ignorance on its seriousness is no longer an excuse for inaction.   For effective mitigations against climate change, there must first be acknowledgement that the burden must be borne by all.  The next step will be how each and every one of us, the residents of planet earth, can help in reducing carbon emissions with a target towards achieving zero net carbon emissions.

Before embarking on efforts to achieve zero carbon emission in process and product design, it is essential to be clear and familiar with the many terms and terminologies commonly associated with carbon emissions such as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, carbon footprint (CFP) , carbon capture, carbon sink, carbon neutral and energy neutral, etc. For example, CFP is defined as a measure of GHG emissions over the full life cycle of a process or product including the design stage, if applicable. It is the overall amount of not only carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions but also emissions of other GHG  such as methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), chlorofluorcatbons (CFCs), hydrofluorocatbons (HCFs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) that are directly and indirectly associated with a product along its supply chain.

GHG emission is an integral part of all systems of production and consumption, In the case of a process or product design, each activity within a supply chain process step which is involved in the production or design of the product must be analysed to determine CFP measured in mass units (kg, t) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq) emitted. Through a carbon audit, any sector of an industry (e.g. palm oil or building industry) can systematically address environment-sensitive practices along the whole chain in the design and process of a product.   One of the most important move that can be taken is to ensure that all products and services made and provided involve minimal carbon emissions.  To arrive at net zero carbon emissions, emissions must be offset or subtracted and ways to achieve carbon neutrality will be highlighted in the paper.  Suggestions on the formulation of possible mitigation strategies to curb GHG emissions and ways to  target for zero net carbon emission by balancing emissions with simple negative emissions solutions such as tree-planting and the use of other more  advanced technologies including the use of renewable energy generated from waste products, the sun or wind will also be discussed. The goal is to provide required information on the importance of our shared responsibility to reduce carbon emissions in the hope of ending the high emitting and energy-hungry practices of the modern world.

Talk 11: LCA and LEED for Enhancing Energy and Environmental Performance of Buildings

Synopsis of the Talk in  Net Zero Carbon Seminar by YewAi Tan
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The orthodox goal of increasing housing for growing population needs is now slowly being replaced by a shift in focus to buildings that promote variety, access to healthy and clean air, and a healthy and ecological sustainability environment. This is driven by risks that climate change poses for human and natural systems.  Global warming, sea level rises and associated extreme weather events are now adversely affecting population health and will continue for centuries to come.

With over half the world’s population now living in urban areas, resilient urban housing plans will need to incorporate more extensive approaches to meet the challenges of a world imperiled by severe weather conditions resulting in floods and droughts.  Attention will be on enhancement of ecosystem health as well as the health and support of thriving urban environments.  The building and construction industry is known to be the one of largest contributors of environmental pollution.  According to the United Nations Environment Program Report, buildings account for a third of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, 25% of global water consumption and 40% of global energy consumption and resources.   The fact that this energy consumption in buildings can be reduced by 30% to 80% using proven and commercially available technologies accentuates the importance of greening buildings as one of the most effective ways to reduce the carbon footprint (CFP) of the building and construction industry.

The main objective of Green buildings is to reduce negative impacts and increase occupants’ health. Green buildings address issues concerning sustainable site planning, water and energy efficiency, conservation of resources and improved health, and the impact of buildings on health and indoor environmental quality.  The Malaysia Green Building Index (GBI), initiated in 2009, is based partly on USA’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) but adapted to fit the Malaysian climatic conditions.

The LEED rating system is a voluntary U.S. based  green building programme which aims to “evaluate environmental performance from a whole building perspective over a building’s life cycle, providing a definitive standard for what constitutes a green building’’. In essence, the LEED method rates the energy and environmental performance of buildings and is clearly an environmental assessment tool.

CFP is a computed number which an industry can use as a baseline reference for improvement.  At the same time, the methodological tracing through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the various sources of GHG emission in sustainable buildings will give a clearer indication on where mitigation steps can be implemented for GHG reduction.  LCA is also an essential component of building assessment as it is a step-by-step process for evaluating the environmental burdens associated with an activity, product or process.  The method, based on the life cycle of the activity, product or process identifies and quantifies energy and materials used and wastes released to the environment, thereby assesses the impact of those energy and material use and wastes to the environment. LCA is applicable to all system levels in the building sector. Each system has its own set of assumptions and limitations and each is designed to address certain aspects of environmental impacts.  An inventory of all inputs (e.g. energy, material, water used) into and outputs (final product, emissions, wastes)  out of the system will allow for calculation of impacts based on energy consumption, waste generation or other impact categories such as global warming or land use.   The approach can be used for the selection of building materials or for assessing the environmental impact associated with the physical building.  Therefore, in order to obtain useful information from environmental assessment of buildings, the rigor of an LCA approach can be used to support and complement the evaluation of LEED compliance.

Malaysia’s Green Diamond Building headquarters of the Energy Commission (Suruhanjaya Tenaga) of Malaysia in Putrajaya won Southeast Asia Energy Prize in 2012. The building, completed in 2009, earned Platinum ratings under Malaysia’s Green Building Index (GBI) and Singapore’s Green Mark program.

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Organized by System Design Architect
Ar Perumal Nagapushnam.

7 Tools for Net Zero Energy by Green Architect

Net Zero Energy Resort

Bentong Cultural Village, Malaysia designed as Net Zero Energy Village with a 680 bed room Hotels, chalets &Indian Villages

7 Tools for Net Zero Energy

We have discussed in other articles about definitions, terms and the broad and misconceptions of Net Zero Energy, in this article I am focusing on the Tool often used in designing the parametric for Net Zero Energy buildings or communities. The 7 Tools for Net Zero Energy are soft-wares, such as Dynamic Energy Modeling, Air Flow Analysis, Wind Driven Rain, Day lighting, Finite Element Modelling, Sun and Shadow Studies. Solar Thermal Systems Design, Photo voltaic System Design, Rainwater Harvesting System Design, Ecotect, Vasari Design Studio and  Therm

Soft-wares-7 Tools for Net Zero Energy Dynamic Energy Modelling

DesignBuilder, a software developed recently. It is a state of the art software tool for checking building energy, building carbon foot print, lighting and comfort levels. The software simulates real time situation and compares performance levels of each parametric. It interfaces with by EnergyPlus a software developed by  DOE, Department of Energy, USA.

DesignBuilder gives environmental performance data during all stages of the design process. It is a great contribution to the 7 Tools for Net Zero Energy.

TOOL 1) Air Flow Analysis

CFD, Computerized Fluid Dynamics is a tool to analyze the flow of air flow and heat transfer within the building and in the external sides of the building. This studies can be used for Mechanical Engineers for air conditioning studies, for ventilation purposes for architects and the wind load on external cladding and external microclimate where heat island are detected and it can be eliminated by designing the layouts. These are some of issues CFD will address:
a) temperature distribution along the atrium, b)the adequacy of the diffusers for air distribution, c) adequacy of air conditioning diffusers and outlets for comfort, d)the adequacy of natural ventilation, e)the effect of wind speed in the locality affected by the shape of the building f) stale air islands are discovered.

TOOL 2) Wind Driven Rain, WDR

The negative effect of humidity and hygrothermal situation are predicted early, that which affects the durability of buildings. The covered area for the pedestrians, protection during a storm is studied. by studying the intensity and spiral distribution of driving rain.

Tool 3) Finite Element Modelling

Soft-wares such as Therm 6.3 and Window 5 are state of the art computer soft-wares that analyses details of building, windows, walls, sills etc to discover sources of  losses of heat (during winters) or sources of heat is gain(during summers)

This software was developed by Lawerence Berkely National Laboratory

Tool 4) Sun and Shadow Studies

The soft-wares are google sketch up,Ecotect,Rhino/Grasshoper, and Honeybee/Ladybug

Understanding the building sun and shadow will help to discover sides of the building that needs to insulated from heat gain or heat loss.The shadow analysis will help to evaluate the effect of window and shading devices that keep the building comfortable.

Tool 5) Solar Thermal Systems Design

Softwares used are T*SOL, PRO.It is a program that simulates accurately the  heat gained over the year and calculates the amount of energy that is needed to maintain comfort

Tool 6) Day lighting Soft-wares

Daylight factors, dynamic  and climate based indices(Spatial daylight automation, useful daylight illumination, daylight availability) are studied . Standard report detailing eligibility for Energy and Environmental performance in Leed. are provided. And Photo realistic situation and daylight simulation are studied.

Tool 7) Photo-voltaic System Design

PV*SOL is a software that is used to study the optimum amount of solar panels that are needed .

Call us at +60172246901 or contact us via our email peru@sda-architect.com for further queries with respect to designing for Net Zero Energy Designing or pertaining to queries on the  above software 7 Tools for Net Zero Energy

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Prepared by Architect Perumal Nagapushnam

Green and Sustainability solutions for our Cities

All over the world the we generate much domestic waste from New York City to New Delhi, a call for reduction of waste should be in calculated by Architects. Buildings are the sources of waste and it should be reduced, reuse and recycled otherwise we will find ourselves living among the waste.

Waste designs failures

Failure of Disposal Waste designs by Green Architect

We can learn from nature how waste is processed. The spider eats up the waste webs , plants consume the Co2 we dump, and the bacteria consume our waste, the earth does not have a dump center. But our domestic waste is left to decompose and we are running our of land fills as the waste takes about 30 years to decompose and diapers takes 500 years to do like wise, to a stable conditions.

We generate much waste as the figures listed below reveal; Architects can do much to solve the problems.

  • New York City generates as much as 36,200 tones of garbage every day.
  • London city’s waste can generates 9,100 tones per day, equivalent power to power 2m homes
  • The amount of domestic waste( Municipal Solid Waste) generated is 2,400 tones per day in Kuala Lumpur
  • New Delhi generates about 7,000 tones of waste per day

In the absence of a comprehensive Integrated Strategic MSW Plan all over the world, Architect can forge a plan to reduce the waste at the source-the building, where 95% be recovered and recycling the aluminum and steel and the wet waste to be reprocessed composted for reuse. Or biomass waste power be generated and re-supplied into the grid.

Consideration by Green Architects  in Domestic waste( solid) disposal

As Green Architects our responsibility lies in designing for Waste Collections Centers (waste dumps) where rubbish is sorted out not dumped. Sorting should be done at every floor of the office tower so that it is not dumped at the waste dumps but easily sorted out early at the source.Sorting should be wet waste, paper, cans and bottles waste.Every waste dump at every residence, industrial buildings, resorts, hotels, commercial centers are
to be designed like wise for waste sorting.

Consideration by Green Architects  in Domestic Waste water disposal

As Green Architects we ensure the drains are built properly ,the collapsed drains can be a source of to breed mosquitoes. Bios vales may be considered to replace the external drains as the waste water can be recycled as portable water even for human consumption.

 

Consideration by Green Architects  in Wet Waste disposal

As Green Architects we should ensure the food waste ( wet waste)are not dumped into the drains which help to breed rats rampantly, liters in drains can encourage the rat population to breed.

Wet Waste mixed with the landscape waste, should be sent to the composting yard at every building which should be reused as compost manure which is a better manure for the landscaped areas as it stabilizes the acidity of the ground helping to maintain Eco balance in the ground, See the Edmonton waste center in Canada, an example where waste is recycled as manure. We can start small composting places at our every building sites . If it was a campus style development or a housing scheme where wet waste generated could be massive amount, a Net Zero Energy Architect would design for generating  biomass renewable energy from the wet wastes.

Consideration by Green Architects  in Construction waste disposal

Construction waste should be minimize by using construction systems that reduce wastes such as IBS system or waste is recycled within the site, ensure the contractor reduces waste in the first place. As architect it is our responsibility to design buildings as a waste sorting, reducing and recycling at the source than to shove the problem to city municipalities to solve green and sustainable issues before the waste sites swallows our living spaces.

Prepared by Net Zero Energy Architect Perumal Nagapushnam Read more!

The common misconceptions about Net Zero Energy Building as reported by Wikipedia: A zero-energy building is a building with zero net energy consumption, meaning the total amount of energy used by the building yearly equal to the amount of energy created on the site. This is only partly true in the early day when this principle was first conceived. And to this day this is the common misconception among many .

In fact the energy (the energy pie) consumption is reduced to about 80% of the conventional consumption and then the balance 20% of the balance of energy is made up by the renewable energy, the renewable energy may be sourced from solar Photo Voltaic panels, geothermal, wind turbines or biomass energy.

This article is about the case for Net Zero Energy Building and why we should perpetuate this goal: There has always been some anticipation of imminent disaster that we need to be cautious about, such as the ones illustrated below:

  • Recently Bill Gates asked the, If some cataclysm, all scientific knowledge was destroyed, what is the one line fact that next generation of humanity needs to know!
  • About 50 years ago the question schools debated on was the earth was depleting its resources and the end is near.
  • Recently with the major obvious undeniable weather changes and so called global warming in the Arctic glaciers!

There have been many calls for Green Sustainability movement called -Going Green, thinking this is the solution to the impending juggernaut disasters. In reality the solutions in Green are really superficial and will not help very much with self reliance and self sustainability.

  1. When Japan faced the Fukusima earthquake that destroyed the Daiichi nuclear plant they experienced a power crisis that awaken to the importance of energy conservation and lead to the need for Net Zero Energy Building A new standard for construction was implemented to this end of 2020. We need Net Zero Energy Building for our future survival.
  2. One would think that even this should not be the goal would not suffice unless there was a total independence for electrical consumption and not be dependent on the utility company for energy consumption should be the ultimate goal, with Net Zero Energy Buildings which is off the grid. Net Zero Energy Buildings tend toward self reliance.
  3. Net Zero Energy Buildings reduced the waste in as much as 80% purely on the basis of passive strategies and shading, smart landscaping and other active strategies. The buildings are more efficient and low energy consuming where not wasting is reduced and resources and minimized;
  4. By installing Net Zero Energy Building you have clear conscious that you are  morally doing the right thing, stopping the unwanted wastage.
  5. By installing Net Zero Energy Building, you indeed saving money , which could be used meaningfully elsewhere, imagine the regular monthly bills amounting to USD200 could be used meaningfully else where.
  6. By installing Net Zero Energy Building you are responding responsibility to the climate changes demands that us undergoing world wide by reducing the foot print and closer towards becoming self sustainability for our future survival..
  7. By installing Net Zero Energy Building you have Value for your rent able space or value for property, Developers will find the Net Zero Energy Buildings as a marketing tool to bargain for higher rental compared to Going Green for certification. Green building do not receive higher rentals as tenants do no see the need to pay higher rentals for Green sustainability certified building.
  8. By installing Net Zero Energy Building, you secure government grants and benefits from most governments of the world.
  9. By installing Net Zero Energy Building you may receive taxation incentives
  10. By installing Net Zero Energy Building you don’t have to pay the monthly electric bill
  11. By installing Net Zero Energy Building you are making the buildings, cities ,world economies more efficient and  enhances the productivity of the  individual and collectively at large.

 

 

Prepared by Net Zero Energy Architect  Perumal Nagapushnam, Green Sustainability Architect

Here are reasons persuading for the case of Greening our Cities and Green Ecological Biodiversity for all Architects to be informed.

Reason 1-Remove the Heat Island effect by Green Ecological Biodiversity
It is known from research that the heat island effect is reduced as there is more green vegetation in the surrounding, the ambient temperature is lowered. Building aprons around the building which tend to conduct the heat into the building, therefore it is best to use grass Crete or turfs at the building surrounds in lieu of aprons. Road pavements should be replaced with grasscrete.

Reason 2- Reduces your energy consumption by Green Ecological Biodiversity
Smart landscaping reduces the energy consumption in the building, where it is primarily used for shading and warding off the heat from the building and in redirecting the cold wind winters away from the building will help to reduce the energy consumption by 10 to 50 percent of the energy bills. Shading the air conditioning units will help to improve energy efficiency. Read on save energy by landscaping.

Reason 3- Reduces pest controls and Waste by Green Ecological Biodiversity

compost

compost by Green ecological biodiversity

  • Pest controls –Green Ecological biodiversity will certainly go a long way to reduce pest controls, such as reduction of mosquitoes, rats which is a prevalent problem from New York to Singapore. In NYC which is a concrete desert , which has little trees resulted in an ecological imbalance of rat population, which as large as the human population in NYC. The problem arising from this imbalance is rat related diseases, oriental mites, etc. The solutions may be to enhance the Greening the city with Green ecological Biodiversity.
  • In the recent Greening of Singapore City, which was to green the city but failed to keep ecological bio diversities in place is keep away the bird and bats from the city, which resulted in an increase of mosquitoes and rats. The bird and bats eat up mosquitoes and rats and help to keep the balance. And eventually the recourse was to increase pesticides to kill the mosquitoes which in turn affect the water ways. The solutions to these cities going Green Ecological biodiversity.
  • Humus compost Waste– the waste from the Green landscape can be converted to natural humus compost, natural manure which helps the soil acidity in balance, healthy soils and keeps the bio-tic cycles( worms and living organism) of the soil in balance. When petrol-chemical based fertilizers are introduced into the soil, it destroys the worms and destroys the balance of the acidity of the soil and harden the ground and destroy the productivity of the soil whereas the compost based manure created by plants builds and keeps the soil soft and moist with a Eco balance.
compost bin

compost bin in Green Ecological biodiversity

Reason 4- Increase oxygen content in the air by Green Ecological Biodiversity
Oxygen is necessary for our bodies in the following respects: a lack of it creates a tendency toward committing suicides, In Utah there is an suicidal epidemic due to the lack of Oxygen in the thin air, and an aggressive greening strategy of Utah city will certainly help to reduce the thin levels of Oxygen in the mountain tops air.The green ecological biodiversity will introduce more oxygen into the air.

Green ecological biodiversity

Green ecological biodiversity cycles

 

There are many hundreds of other reasons why Oxygen is needed – for brain developments, speedy human body recovery, reduce respiratory diseases, improves immune system , which are emphasized in the alternative medicine .

Reason 5- Improves air quality by Green Ecological Biodiversity
Green trees ionizes the dust and the dust from the air falls to the ground and thus helping to keep the air scrubbed, fresh for human use.

Reason 6- Reduces the air pollution by Green Ecological Biodiversity
Further more the pollutants such as SO2, NO2 and Carbon Monoxide is removed by the trees and helps to keep the air refreshed

Reason 7- Reduce stress and helps recovery and sick leave by Green Ecological Biodiversity

  • It was discovered from researches that if beautiful scenes placed in hospitals bedrooms helps patient recover 30% faster and uses 30% less medication for recovery. This goes to say the same for homes and offices; we are resilient from the mental and physical stresses that we are inflicted at work by having green scenes in our building s and cities.
  • Research also reveals that the no of occupants taking sick leave is dropped with green ecological biodiversity. This will help to enhance the productivity of the staff and people.

Reason 8- Increases the value of property by Green Ecological Biodiversity
The investment on Green ecological biodiversity comes with an increase in the value of property . This based on the Green of Singapore resulted in overall increase in value of the city.. I refer to landscaping with Green ecological biodiversity and and not the “Go Green Certification movement” ( such as LEEDs, or Mark, GBI certification). A developer complaint that he does not get higher rental by having invested on Platinum certification by Green bodies.

Reason 9- Improves the presenteeism, decreases absenteeism and sick leave by Green Ecological Biodiversity
Research reveals that greening with landscape within the building and in the surrounding will tremendously improves the quality of life and decreases the absenteeism of the workers and tenants working in the building and this helps to increase the productivity of the occupants.

Reason 10-Improves the water quality by Green Ecological Biodiversity
As rain water is treated in the blue infrastructures that work in complement with the green infrastructures, water is stored and recycled for our consumption by water hydrology, which in turn reduces waste water and polluting the rivers. Bios vales are used to clean up the water, reprocessed and recycled for consumption even as portable water.

Reason 11Self Reliance and self sustaining by Green Ecological Biodiversity
The forest does not need human care such as watering the forest; neither does it need insecticide and pesticides to survive. We can learn from the natures bio-metric to be independent self sustaining and self reliant. If we can establish the green ecological biodiversity of plants and landscapes, biodiversity of the animals that inhabit the landscape and biodiversity of the Eco cycles that help symbiotically one cycle to another for survival can we be self sustaining and self reliant. The fish in a water tank, with enzymes, bacteria, fungi, green weed and the snails is self reliant. The weeds produces O2 for the fish to live on, which in turn produces C02 for the weed to live on, the enzymes and bacteria eats up the waste of the fish and keep the water clean. The symbiotic relationship exist and so should we as Architect do likewise for our future survival and self reliant sustainability.

 

Prepared by Net Zero Energy Architect Perumal Nagapushnam, Green architect

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Haze in Singapore

Can Green and Sustainability strategies solve the Haze in Singapore and Indonesia

 8 valid reasons to go Green and Sustainability and the 8 valid weaknesses in the Green movement principles

Here we discuss the flaws in the Green and Sustainability movement that is catching on so rapidly world wide.

Reason 1- Sustainable planning
The cities and buildings are planned well for reduction and recycling of waste , energy efficiency, cleaner air within the office, and clean water for consumption, The green architecture is sustainable-sustaining the existing the environment for high quality of life well planned for the sustaining of life

Weakness of this
It is a weak attempt to solve the larger problem such as domestic waste, improve the life in urban living, improve the air quality or improve the poor water quality as they portend to improve. It should be aggressively attend to the issues rather to tend to it superficially, for instance” Can the Green and Sustainability stop the haze into our homes”

Reason 2- Waste
It will reduce outlandish waste in our environment, which is a serious problem as the land fills are full and the waterways are polluted by the landfills which return into our consumable systems dangerously affecting our health.

Weakness of this Green and Sustainability principle:
Waste should be removed all together and not reduce, but reused and recycled completely. In nature what waste we produce as CO2 in the air from our breaths is converted to O2 by the green landscapes. All waste from domestic and industrial waste should be like wise treated completely obliterated or reprocessed to useful matter.

Reason 3- Energy Efficiency
The buildings are energy efficient and installed with higher performing systems to reduce the energy consumption.

Weakness of this Green and Sustainability principle:
The Energy consumption should be Net Zero Energy Building and not a weak attempt to reduce energy consumption. And more importantly removed the dependence on the Grid. Wind turbines should complement with solar PV panel and combined with geo thermal energy. When there is no energy from the sun at night the wind will compensate for supply and when both fails to supply in case the eventuality of a disaster, geo thermal could be the alternative supply of energy.

Reason 4- Air quality
It helps to keep high air quality, which controlled and regulated which is improves healthy living environment but does not improve the haze or reduce the dust in the air.

Weakness of this Green and Sustainability principle:
No air quality is really improved; it is a real attempt to temper with air quality. The air is polluted with CO, NO2, SO2 or dioxin should be cleansed for consumption. There are no real attempts to even address this problem.

In the event of a Haze,( as in South East Asia by the recent burning of trees in Indonesia, or volcanic dust in the air etc) Does the Green building cleaned the air that we breathe in! No! It is not. One should reprocess air to remove the dusts, the pollutants, the hazes and bacteria and Viruses, in the air for use.

Reason 5- Water quality
It helps to reduce the wastage of portable water but not improve water quality, As much as high air quality the water quality will have a direct effect on the health of the residents.It focuses on the rain water harvesting.

Weakness of this Green and Sustainability principle:
Portable water is reduced, rain water is harvested but water in the pipe is contaminated, the water should be harvested for consumption, water from the underground for consumption should be considered as an alternative sources as supply in an eventuality of a drought of off seasonal weather changes affecting the water supply.

Reason 6- Reduces Energy consumption, Saves Resource, Reduces Waste
Every person is conscious of reducing consumption, waste and a new life style of economy. Material made from recycled Waste material is favored .Domestic waste is reduced, paper is not throw away, but either reused or avoided from being used.

Weakness of this Green and Sustainability principle:
Waste is reduced but not totally eliminated. It is said that the spider eats up the web waste and in nature there is no waste. Organic matter is recycled into inorganic matter,which is consumed again into the system.

Reason 7-Innovation
Creativity to think out of the box is granted some point for qualifying for the green certification.

Reason 8-Reduces long term cost of living
It does not cost much for now and it will eventually reduce the cost in the future and some propose that cost should not be factor; the cost of human life should be saved at all cost, as future of human life depends on sustainability.

Weakness of this Green and Sustainability principle:
In reality there is no reduction of cost in the future as the cost of sustainability is always higher and this is a cost already into the future and therefore the cost does not reduce in the long term. The argument that sustainability saves life to justify the high cost now is a fallacy.
In reality there survival of the human race does not depend on rainwater harvesting, pv solar panels etc but by eco biodiversity, net energy building off the grid and total self reliance as in the biometric of nature.

Reason 9-Sustains Environment for the future
In reality all the above principles as and the argument has been flawed

Weakness of this Green and Sustainability principle:
Green and landscaping not an essential feature of Green and Sustainability Architecture

  • Issues not considered in Green and Sustainability Architecture
    The ecological balance is not considered as we live in a eco system and the environment has taken a bitten and if it fails our survival will be at stake,
  • Sewer waste is not at all in design consideration. Sewerage and domestic waste is processed and recycled into the environment as in The Edmonton Composting Facility – Canadian recycling plant where human waste is recycled into manure for the city use.
  • Waste waster should be recycled as it is done in Singapore for human consumption.
  • The Net Zero Energy calls for total reduction of energy consumption which is not merely touching on sustainability, but attaining higher levels of Green and Sustainability. If we are able to be off the grid our sustainability will be even better still as self reliance is attained.
  • How can the Green and Sustainability help in the smog that polluted south East Asia with the recent spate of burning in Indonesia. In the light of the haze that is not considered, haze is a serous issues in China ( pollution from the industrial waste, in Singapore, Malaysia a result of burning in Indonesia)
  • If a disaster like a Tsunami where the power grid was destroyed, or a volcanic exploding dust in the air cutting of the suns rays for months, a blizzard of rays from the sun hit the world how can we survive this independently and be self reliant in the midst of catastrophic disaster.
  • The forest is sustainable and self reliant where no human care for treatment with pesticide or insecticide or regular watering is needed but it is self reliant surviving on the natural rain water unlike our farms where pesticide, manure, insecticide and regular watering is needed for its sustainability. We can learn from the nature’s Green and Sustainability as it is because of its biodiversity where one depends on the other and so should we live together with nature’s ecosystem. Read further on why green landscaping can help our sustainability.

 

Prepared by Net Zero Energy Architect Perumal Nagapushnam

The different Types of Architects and what they do?

key words: Project Architects,Resident Architects,Design Architects,Bungalow Architects,Shopping center specialist Architects,Interior designing,Hotels Architects Architects,Hospital Architects, Architect Arbitrator ,Commercial Office Architects,Architect Planners,Landscape Architects,Timber building Architects,Resident Architects. arkitek

There are many Types of Architects  listed below are some of them and what they do:
Many types of Architects are covered in these website such as Green Architect,Net Zero Energy Architect, Eco Green Architect.

Principal Architect

He is runs the Architectural company, he may be the founder, owner of the company

Project Architects

What does a Project Architects do?
The Project Architect  manages a team of Architectural office staff consisting of Resident Architects , Design Architects and a team of draftsman .He ensure the project is managed contractually ( contract administration. A Project Architect is  used for a large project  or he would be required to deal with many smaller projects.

He reports firstky to the Pricipal Architect of the comapny and he may report to the Owners of the building ( or a Project Management Team). He rports on the overall progress of works,manages changes that occurs which may arise from time to time ,manages the Program or any issues that may arrise at the site. He also manages a consultant teams of Civil & Structural Engineers, Mechanical and Electrical Engineers, Urban Town Planner, the Cost consultants( called the QS), and Landscape Architect, Interior Designers, Specialist Consultants such as –Acoustic consultants, Lighting consultants, Façade consultants and Green Sustainability, Net Zero Energy Consultants and Ecologist. The contractor or the builder reports to him on the progress regularly

Design Architects

What does a Design Architects do?
A Design Architect designs the building, by complying with the client’s design brief and local building code and  bye law requirements. He report to the Project Architect or to the Pricipal Architect. 

He submits the plans to the local authorities for approval and coordinating the approvals of the engineer’s plans to the local authorities as well. The design architect during the construction will ensure the design aspects of the building are attained and reviews the approvals of materials submitted by the Contractor and ensure it is compliant with the specifications of the contract.

Bungalow Architects

What does a Bungalow Architects do?
An Architect that specializes in designing of Bungalows as the design and construction of Bungalow is a rather confine to a very specialized area of work. The difficulty of putting up a Bungalow cannot be underestimated. He  meets the needs of the owner of homes both at a macro level and at a micro level of details. Every nook and corner of the bungalow is subjected to review by the house owner . This Architect ought to be rather knowledgeable about the details of material, construction and aesthetics of the buildings. He should be familiar with the different types of house plans,history of house architecture, the types of houses, large homes and small homes, timber materials , log houses, cottage houses, beach houses, 2 bed room houses, 3 bed room houses, duplex houses, southern living homes, Asian homes and Green Homes, modern house plans, Open house floor plans, Japanese house floor plans etc, It is varied form place to place and region to region. He  designs homes according to the need of the owner and it meeting with the local market value systems to maintain value of the homes.

Shopping CenterSpecialist Architects

What does a Shopping center specialist Architects do?
The shopping specialist architect , deasl with large shopping centers, hyper markets and supermarket. It might seem like a simple thing , which is not true otherwise; in fact a mistake  undertaken in the design of a shopping centers, may result in a gargantuan tragedy. It may resulting in a white elephant or a ghost shopping center. Therefore in selecting an Architect to design a shopping center one should evaluate his background of experiences in shopping centers designs. The strategies to capture the flow of traffic, direct the flow,captivating their interest,lighting levels and the latest trends in shopping is rather important for the success of the shopping center and creating a thriving shopping center.
The Architect will study the types of shops and how it will be laid out to create demand and reduce dead ends of circulation of traffic and is aware of the magic of working public traffic using anchor tenants.

Interior designing Architects

What does, a Interior designing Architects do?
An architect who is specialized in the interiors of the building and creates and transforms the interior spaces to a functional space or a space of beauty. The interior design should begin at the outset of design process making the spaces as an integral part of the building and not as a make over of the design as an after thought. There is a difference between an Interior designer and a interior decorator. A Interior decorator merely provides the make up of the building .

Hospital Architects

What does, a Hospital Architects do?
A Hospital architect deals with an area of specialization  with the internal planning of hospitals. These are medical and health requirements, which shall be complied. All aspects of the spaces are designed with the health of the patients in mind .For instances the lifts are specially  much slower that the conventional lifts it takes into consideration of patients with weak heart or high blood pressure who are susceptible to heart attacks. The rooms are designed for clean room conditions and the air will be designed for clean air to minimize the spread of air borne diseases.Room are subjected to view for quick recover.Planning of the services are necessary for Energy efficiency as Hospitals guzzles energy.

Hotel Architects

What does a Hotels Architects do?
Hotel Architects are specialist in designing the bed rooms, the commercial kitchen, ballrooms, restaurants, lounges, connectivity of service corridors to service lifts, loading, unloading area and the maintenance areas. There are many types of hotels. Some hotels that are  centered around golfing circuits, some are based on beaches fronts, some on ball rooms and seminars services and others dependent on visitors from the Air port or local retail centers etc .Operators of Hotels, such as Hilton  have their own manuals for designing hotels in keeping with their brands.Architect  design according Hotels Operator’s  guidelines stipulated in Operator’s manuals. This will  ensure the operations are efficient and profitable. All 5-6 star hotels will be designed with the Operators requirements at the outset. This will avoid design tragedies and mega failures in Hotels. If you need to know if Design matters, look around at Hotels that have failed in business other than  that “location matters”.

Commercial Office Architects

What does a Commercial Office Architects do?
The design of high rise office towers shall be designed with low maintenance free designs, efficient layout floor plans, high energy performance building, shaded well from the heating sun and conservation of heat during summer and cautiously with the safety of the end users during maintenance of building, design for easy management of the building. New concepts such as Net Zero Energy Building, which is our area of special focus.  Green and Sustainability concepts are introduced by certification bodies such as Living Challenge, LEEDS, Green Building Index,Green Marks etc.

Architect Arbitrator

What does a Architect Arbitrator do?
An architect that is familiar with the contractual relationship between the parties in the building industry and how the function and further more he is most familiar with the designing and the design process and the work that all parties are bound in the industry. And this makes him as a suitable candidate to arbiter the arguments that arise among the parties in the industry. In some countries where there is no Construction court, many lawyers and even Judges are not familiar with the terms of the contract, duties of the parties of the contract and the relationship between them and make the proceeding and the judgments to be miscarried. Therefore it is best to have architects who are legal based who are the best arbiter to conduct and make the best judgment in arbitration case.

Architect Planners

What does a Architect Planners do?
An Architect who is trained academically as an Architect and  as an Urban Town Planner.An architect is aware of what is happening within a building . Town Planner designs a collection of buildings in a Town or country settings. An Urban Planner designs the interrelationships between the buildings. He interconnects the buildings with open spaces, parks and garden etc. Building are designed by architect without any consideration to the buildings in the neighborhoods. It is said that building have to talk to each other and the design of park in relationship with the footpaths leading to one another is necessary to create an wonderful urban environment. Urban Town Planning fills in  these gaps and is a go in between Planning and Architects in urban areas.

Landscape Architects

What do Landscape Architects do?
A landscape architect, at a micro level, is one who designs the soft landscape (plants, lawns, shrubs etc) and the landscape (pavements, benches, footpaths, street lights bollard etc) .
At a macro level he may be a designer as a Town Planner. He may also design the country sides and be involved as Town and Country Planner does in Town and Country Planning.

Timber Building Architects

What does a Timber building Architects do?
An architect who is familiar with the architecture of  timber, the different type of timbers ,how to preserve timber, the art and crafting and beauty of timber . He has an appreciation of the fine timber quality, how to design rustically in some situation ,making a beauty out of the ruggedness of the house.He is a master of timber homes.

Resident Architects

What does a Resident Architects do?
Resident Architects are those who oversea the quality of materials used and overseas the workmanship,during the construction of the building. He will ensure where  standing supervision is required especially where concrete works are carried out.He is partly responsible for the works carried out by the contractor. He ensures the contractor uses materials , specified by the designer (Architects), He is engaged only during the construct of the works until the building is successfully handed over to the Owner of the building. The Owners of the building, may extend his engagement as A Residential Architect until the Building is certified fit for occupation (in some regions this is called the Certificate of Fitness in others it is called Certificate of Completion and Compliance.)
a) He should be able to study all drawings such as Architectural and Engineering . He identifies errors in drawings and missing details .He checks and conduct test on the material that is used by the contractor.There are times although the approved samples submitted are never used on the building during the construction by the contractor. The materials are short changed during the construction . This leaving the building with a massive maintenance problem ,during the life span of the building.
b) He may send the materials to the laboratory for testing to ensure compliance with the specifications.
c) He submits progress report to the building owner and the Principal Architect of the project. He reports the works is in progress and the no of workers at the site. He also report  the equipment used at the site.He reporst the weather conditions at the site.
d) He monitors the Health and Safety Manuals and enforces it at the site such as ensure the use of  Hard Hats, Safety boots, Safe erection of scaffolding , Safety cables, safety nets , safety platforms are in place, ensure no water-ponds are found at site to minimize the breeding of mosquitoes, healthy the living quarters for workers, the Electricity cables are elevated above the ground with proper switch outlets etc.
e) The Resident Architect endorses the correctness of the Contractor’s Progress report.

Prepared by Architect Perumal Nagapushnam, contact us