Building Systems
College of Design
Wellington Reiter, Dean
Dean Reiter is a national leader in the creation of unique buildings and structures that respond effectively to climate, site, program, and technical innovation. His experience has included the design of many buildings for private and institutional clients and he was a finalist in a national competition to outfit the Department of Energy Building in Washington, DC with articulated photovoltaic panels. He is presently coordinating the design of a 15,000 student campus for Arizona State University.
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The College of Design is expanding its expertise in digital technology, including three dimensional modeling and visualization. These tools have vast potential for informing and analyzing design decisions for all types of solar applications. Faculty members in the College are demonstrating the forecasting capacity of their highly detailed models in the ASU Decision Theater, a $7M facility equipped to allow for the presentation of technical and special information in a virtual 3D format and to allow for interactive engagement by the viewer.
Additional capabilities within the College of Design include a small solar lab on the roof of the north architecture building with calorimeters, radiometers, manometers, data loggers, and some related solar testing equipment. The interior solar testing laboratory (450 s.f.), the exterior deck (2800 s.f.), and sky platform (350 s.f.) have been used for testing and collecting data on climate, fenestration products, evaporative cooling, solar water heating, daylight measurements, architectural models, and building components. As well, the lighting simulation lab provides for teaching and research in daylight and artificial lighting. There are demonstration facilities for numerous light sources, model testing, and measurement facilities. A mirrored sky is used for simulating overcast sky conditions, while outdoor testing is performed at the rooftop solar lab. A variety of energy simulation software programs are utilized in the simulation lab for energy and building performance analysis.
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School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA)
Darren Petrucci Director
SALA research, design methodology, and practice take into account that the sun is a primary driver for design in desert cities. Faculty work includes climate responsive design solutions through research into new materials choice and application, energy systems integration, building performance analysis, and cutting edge design. Such important environmental considerations as building site, landscaping design alternatives, and topography – including increasing or decreasing the site grading are factored into design decisions that optimize the effect of the sun and allow the building to perform in harmony with its environment. Major research areas of SALA faculty members currently include:
- Building elevation and orientation
- Landscape design for cooling and sustainability
- Component cooling systems
- Daylighting and shading options
- Materials – new compositions and/or applications for building, paving and outdoor fixtures; coatings and thermal conduction; and effects of materials on urban heat island
- Building performance – heat creation, retention, and expulsion
- Building performance – testing of building systems’ performance or lack thereof
- Sun/shade design – calculation and simulation of sun and shade effects on a building at various times of day
- Shade structures and photovoltaic panels
- Fenestration – glass cladding systems to absorb or expel solar radiation
SALA faculty projects include simulation analysis and energy efficiency design for the Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) new headquarters in Santa Monica, CA, for the National Audubon Society headquarters in New York, and for the American Association for the Advancement of Science headquarters in Washington, DC. The NRDC facility was the first building in the United States to receive the US Green Building Council’s highest rating of LEED platinum.
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SCAPE (Systems Components Architectural Products + Environments), an interdisciplinary applied research lab located within the College of Design at Arizona State University, is presently working on a number of solar powered pavilions at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and across the city.