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| Only 20 geothermal boreholes were drilled at the WestJet complex because a majority of the piping was embedded in the building’s structural piles. |
19. Hybrid Geothermal Technology
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20. Kinetic Road Plates Power Purchases
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| Graduate student Shawn Shields checks server performance while Dr. Yogendra Joshi looks on at Georgia Tech’s simulated data center. |
21. Cutting the Cooling Load of Data Centers by 15%
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, are using a 1,100-sf simulated data center to develop and evaluate new ways of controlling heat in commercial data centers, one of the fastest-growing building types in the country. The researchers, led by Professor Yogendra Joshi of the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, have found ways to cut energy center cooling costs 15% by rearranging servers and space for optimal airflow patterns. Their simulated data center uses several different cooling systems, partitions to change room air volumes, sophisticated thermometers attached directly to a server's motherboard, and both real and simulated airflow sensors to measure the output of fans and other systems. The research is sponsored by the U.S. Office of Naval Research and the Consortium for Energy Efficient Thermal Management.
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Prefab Trailblazer
The $137 million, 12-story, 500,000-sf Miami Valley Hospital cardiac center, Dayton, Ohio, is the first major hospital project in the U.S. to have made extensive use of prefabricated components in its design and construction.
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Community center under way in NYC seeks LEED Platinum
A curving, 550-foot-long glass arcade dubbed the “Wall of Light” is the standout architectural and sustainable feature of the Battery Park City Community Center, a 60,000-sf complex located in a two-tower residential Lower Manhattan complex. Hanrahan Meyers Architects designed the glass arcade to act as a passive energy system, bringing natural light into all interior spaces.
| Oct 12, 2010
Owen Hall, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Silver Award. Officials at Michigan State University’s East Lansing Campus were concerned that Owen Hall, a mid-20th-century residence facility, was no longer attracting much interest from its target audience, graduate and international students.
| Sep 30, 2010
Luxury hotels lead industry in green accommodations
Results from the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s 2010 Lodging Survey showed that luxury and upper-upscale hotels are most likely to feature green amenities and earn green certifications. Results were tallied from 8,800 respondents, for a very respectable 18% response rate. Questions focused on 14 green-related categories, including allergy-free rooms, water-saving programs, energy management systems, recycling programs, green certification, and green renovation.
| Aug 11, 2010
New air-conditioning design standard allows for increased air speed to cool building interiors
Building occupants, who may soon feel cooler from increased air movement, can thank a committee of building science specialists. The committee in charge of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55 - Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy—after months of study and discussion--has voted recently to allow increased air speed as an option for cooling building interiors. In lay terms, increased air speed is the equivalent of turning up the fan.
| Aug 11, 2010
29 Great Solutions for the AEC Industry
AEC firms are hotbeds of invention and innovation to meet client needs in today's highly competitive environment. The editors of Building Design+Construction are pleased to present 29 "Great Solutions" to some of the most complex problems and issues facing Building Teams today. Our solutions cover eight key areas: Design, BIM + IT, Collaboration, Healthcare, Products, Technology, Business Management, and Green Building.
