Energy, Climate Change and Designing for Quality of Life. Peter Papesch, AIA

Transcription

1 Energy, Climate Change and Designing for Quality of Life Peter Papesch, AIA

2 Architecture as Outcome-driven Design has 3 principal components: efficiency first, then smart design, then effects on quality of life

3 Tools, Skills and Methods For the architect as designer of buildings For the architect as urban designer For the architect as regional planner For the architect as planetary citizen

4

5

6

7

8

9 Climate change is largely driven by the amount of greenhouse gases that human activities emit into the thin layer of our atmosphere.

10

11

12 Why should we care?

13

14 NASA spaceshot of Earth - Our HOME!

15

16 Ecology is the scientific study of the interaction of organisms with each other and with their environments

17

18

19

20 System thinking is a most important component of an architect s skillset To understand where you and I fit into the detailed as well as the bigger picture, we cannot hope to link dots; we need to think in terms of systems as designers of buildings, as urban designers or campus planners, as regional planners, and as planetary citizens.

21

22

23 Systems within systems within systems means EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED TO EVERYTHING ELSE

24 The amazing power of design brings with it a huge responsibility

25 The Energy Sector

26 Available energy sources today Delivery format Renewables & waste burning Biofuels Nuclear Hydro Fossil fuels Fracked gas Oil Coal & peat Electricity AC DC Oil, kerosene, gasoline Fracked Gas

27 The 2015 energy flow chart released by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory details the sources of energy production, how Americans are using energy and how much waste exists.

28

29 100 Energy units Compounding Losses -70 % -9 % -12 % -55 % -20 % Power Plant Power Grid Motor/Drivetrain Pump/Throttle Pipe 10 % Delivered flow

30 Energy units Compounding Savings -70 % -9 % -12 % -55 % -20 % Power Plant Power Grid Motor/Drivetrain Pump/Throttle Pipe 5 % Delivered flow

31 Richard Box

32

33

34 Architecture as Outcome-driven Design has 3 principal components: efficiency first, then smart design, which includes becoming part of an ever-expanding smart grid then effects on quality of life

35

36

37

38 Ball State University Climate Action Plan Scope 1 : Direct On-Site Emissions: These are GHG emissions that occur from sources owned or controlled by the university, such as boilers, vehicles, furnaces, etc. Scope 2 : Indirect Upstream Emissions: These are GHG emissions that result largely from Electricity Production and its distribution, as well as the manufacture and distribution of consumable products in the supply chain (procurement). Scope 3 : Other Indirect Downstream Emissions: These are GHG emissions that result from the activities of the organization but are not owned or controlled by the organization. This includes production of materials for purchase, transportation of fuels purchased, transportation and disposal of material waste, and employee travel.

39 This is known as life cycle accounting

40 If you re starting a new development, campus or government project today, and you re not making it as green as possible, it will be functionally obsolete the day it opens for business and economically disadvantaged for its entire lifetime. Jerry Yudelson The same is true for any renovation project undertaken, whether large or small (like our houses)

41 If undertaking any renovation in our urban neighborhood, energy conservation has the best investment returns of all renovation costs.

42 An inconvenient truth Half-hearted or expedient measures of energy conservation become sunk costs/stranded investments which we all hate to give up, plus we re unlikely to spend extra to complete the job. A 30% job will predictably remain 30% complete. SO: It makes sense to practice outcome-driven design, and to complete every energy-conservation effort to its maximum.

43 CEILING GRID DC LIGHTING DISTRIBUTION 43

44 You, I and energy: how we already use electricity energy in our daily lives Heating-Cooling-Cooking-Washing & drying-lighting- Tools-Communication-Transportation

45 Typical energy conservation measures for houses and 1-4 family buildings Not shown, but critically important, are maximum possible insulation and air-tightness

46

47

48 The current AC-DC dilemma

49 So why isn t everybody switching to DC micro-grids in buildings today? Several interlocking obstacles: Most HVAC equipment is powered by AC; product manufacturers would need to be persuaded to produce DC equipment Renewables (wind, solar, hydro, others) are insufficient to meet electricity demands today Lack of storage solutions to solve intermittency of solar and wind power supplies

50 So why isn t everybody switching to DC micro-grids in buildings today? Several externalities to the existing energy supply system: Established energy supply systems are fossil-fuel-based and highly complex: sunk costs plus established infrastructure are not easily replaced because everybody hates to strand their investments 90% of electricity produced is lost between power station and the plug in our home or office What s worse, there are some 6,000 petroleum products which permeate our daily lives

51 More than half of every 42-gallon barrel of oil goes to make petroleum based products - some Some of the most common are: Fertilizer Insecticides Cleaning Products Synthetic Fabrics Plastics Cosmetics Soap Lubricants Medical Products Paints

52

53

54

55

56

57

58 NASA spaceshot of Earth - Our HOME!

59

60

61

62 In other words, there are multiple results from burning fossil fuels; the worst, greenhouse gas emissions and their effects on the health and well-being of all inhabitants of planet Earth, can and will be replaced via renewable energy production and distribution; that leaves petroleum products, which have become an indispensable part of our daily lives.

63 More than half of every 42-gallon barrel of oil goes to make petroleum based products - some Some of the most common are: Fertilizer Insecticides Cleaning Products Synthetic Fabrics Plastics Cosmetics Soap Lubricants Medical Products Paints

64

65

66

67

68 Investments in the electricity sector represent only about half of total investment across the global energy sector. The other half goes to fossil fuel extraction and refining! RENEWABLES ARE FREE - Duuuh! Keep in mind FE, not FF Free Energy, not Fossil Fuels!

69

70 Jeremy Rifkin s 5 pillars of the Third Industrial Revolution 1. Renewables as principal electricity generators 2. Buildings which have co-generation capabilities 3. Hydrogen Storage 4. The transition of electric utilities from generation-anddistribution to sole distribution coordinator 5. A distribution network akin to the internet which calls for and draws electricity from a variety of nodes: renewable generating sources, storage sources, co-generation sources

71

72

73 It helps if we View a building as a functioning stage set for the theater of human activities View a building and it s operation as a human organism View a building as an energy consumer View a building as an energy producer - not only in electrical energy but in human energy View a building as microgrid energy producer as well as human productivity cauldron Human productivity is tied directly to human health and outlook Outlook is a mindset, and mindset cannot help but be affected by a person s health Health partners with Safety in setting the stage for a person s quality of life

74 Quality of Life Prerequisites Safety Health A sense of purpose A sense of community A sense of being inspired

75 The QUALIA of SAFETY rests on the ABSENCE OF FEAR. Fear is corrosive and debilitating: - physical fear, economic fear, political fear, & fear of the unknown

76 As architects and as planetary citizens, any vague fear of climate change will be reduced by our understanding how we fit into and how we are inextricably tied to the planetary ecology, inviting us to feel empowered to mitigate rather than aggravate climate change through our professional as well as private activities.

77

78

79

80

81 Source: Living Building Challenge 3.0

82

83 Architecture as Outcome-driven Design has 3 principal components: efficiency first in every building designed, i.e. reach for NET ZERO then smart design by tying it to a smart grid, i.e. design buildings as MINI-GRIDS then aim the effects of our designs on QUALITY OF LIFE

84 Tools, Skills & Methods Resources Living Building Challenge - The Living Future Institute Thinking in Systems - Donella Meadows Sun, Wind & Light - Mark DeKay and G.Z. Brown