Integrating systems within building and opportunities to involve local actors.

CASE STUDIES Commerze Bank Hearst Tower Conde Nast Building NGW Building Menara Mensina OTHERS MENTIONED The ABN AMRO Plaza Intelligent Workplace NEATT Tower

STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS
Most tall buildings use s tube in tube structure which is efficient in resisting lateral as well as vertical loads. These are alternatives that may provide a more appropriate expression in some cases.

BEARING WALL WITH CORES Combination makes outter walls lighter

SELF SUPPORTING BOXES -Prefab style- difficult for mech cores

FLAT PLATE Thicker slab around column moderately sized structures

BEARING WALL SYSTEMS -Height limited by strength of material -weight resists lateral load

CORE WITH CANTILEVERS +Interior floor space free of columns -Additional thickness as canteliver increases is very inefficient

PREFABRICATED BOXES -Difficult to integrate mechanicalcores.

STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS

STAGGARD TRUSS -System of crossbraced trusses not efficient floor depths.

RGID FRAME WITH CORE +Core added to reduce lateral sway

TRUSS FRAME +Efficiency of truss and stiffness of rigid frame +frame does vertical load +truss does lateral load

SUSPENSION -Hangars suspend floors

RIGID FRAME +No Bearing walls -Every element must transfer load through rigid connection

BELT TRUSS FRAME Trusses tie facade columns to core

STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS
By the end of 1990s, at more than 30 stories, net to gross floor area ratios of 70-75% were common in office buildings (Table 2) (Davis Langdon and Everest, 1997). However, Yeang (1995) stated in his book The Skyscraper: Bioclimatically Considered that net-to-gross floor area should not be less than 75%, while 80% to 85% is considered appropriate Structural system and core configuration are the most important factors affecting the space efficiency of high-rise office buildings, as they are closely related with the shape of the floor slab, leasing depth, floor height and vertical transportation. Cores in high-rise office buildings are much more complex than in conventional buildings, and their design is fundamental to the development and the operational effectiveness of a tower. Key elements of the core are the structural elements and elevators while the lifting design is the major determinant of the core size and the space efficiency, and it determines the occupant travel and maximum waiting times. By the input of a specialist, dividing a building into a number of zones, each served by an appropriate sized group of lifts to decrease the core size, will increase the space efficiency. The use of sophisticated controls for elevators is also an effective way of minimizing the number of elevators and waiting periods. The two common structural systems for the tallest office buildings of the world are composite mega-columns and central core with outriggers, and reinforced concrete tube-in-tube without outriggers system. Either steel or concrete structures are used; however, high-strength concrete is more common due to its lower cost, compared with steel.

Optamized steel and concrete structural analysis. Various systems become most efficient at a certain height.

STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS

Base considerations diagrams.

STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS
DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES -While the previous pages outlined the macro concept and gestures/ structural systems, there is much to be considered at the community scale. There is no reason the high rise should be homogenous if it is to be an expression and enhancement of the uses within. buildings initial construction costs represent only 20-30 percent of the buildings entire costs over its 30 to 40 year life (2030 Challenge, 2006), emphasis should be placed on the life cycle costs of a public builing rather than on solely its initial capital costs.

STRUCTURE AND FLEXIBILITY The ABN AMRO Plaza is the first high rise technology center. The understanding of flexibility and integration led to the development of a complex strucutral system which included tree columns, bolted shear connections and poin columns to allow reconfiguration and modification of floor beams.

Using a system like the NEATT Tower (suspended truss structure, zones of flexibility may be incorporated into the overall scheme withouth creating problems for overall structure. Sketch of substructure within suspended main structure:

Transition to the Diagrid- Foster and Partners Hearst Tower, the Gherkin, and a few other buildings are showing the potential of diagrid. Hearst tower showed a 20% reduction in steel as each strucutral column may be reduced to a truss that accepts lateral as well as vertical loads. Diagrid also frees the service core from load bearing, and allows them to be more flexibly distributed through the building.

STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS
RANDOM HOUSE TOWER - Structures notes

SERVICE CORE Basics location and climactic responses Placement - basic locations of service core typologies according to climate developed by Ken Yeang.

The Random House Tower offers a few unique perspectives on structure and service. The tower combines a recycled steel structure at the bottom 25 floors where office space needs to be flexible and more open. The top floors are supported by fly ash concrete where greater control of partition walls is desirable for residential functions.

Additional innovative system that is now common practice is a damper tank at the top of the building which also serves as the chilled water source as well as reserves for fire measures.

CORES

Precedents and notes on core treatements.

Precepts on use of cores as common programs and values that subtely define evelotions within the building. Cores in most buildings are treated almost homogenously- only difference being bathrooms vs lobbies around a core (commerzbank)

Hearst Tower - Standard central core. Height is not limited but

CommerzeBank - Triple Twin Core. slight differentiation. Program unrelated. The green and the programmatic systems are seperate.

CORES

ENVELOPE OVERVIEW

Menara Tower, Tube structure frees up floor plates for flexible use as well as spiraling sky gardens. This approach will become inefficient at a certain height. The Tube in Tube structure of the NGW tower allows greater height, but more limitation with internal core.

The attempt of this overview is to do a massive overview of literature and case studies in a short period of time and extrapolate precepts that directly relate to actors in the Prague project design scope. Sustainable recomendations will try to enhance established patterns or create new ones.

ENVELOPE
It should be noted that the stack effect causes an uneven pressure on the envelope system, as does change in air pressure relative inside to outside. More pressure and stack at the higher floors should lead to a different envelope system. The ASHRAE Handbook states that air leakage in a high-rise commercial building typically represents 15 to 30% of the buildings thermal load, or roughly 4 to 8% of the total energy requirement. Recommendations from are to seal air gaps in existing buildings, and add facade updgrades, baseboards, re-weatherstripping.

Facade systems should be responsive to changes in height, with variation in treatment from top to bottom: Also relates to the dialogue with the city. Perceptions from different areas and distances.

Case Study - Ken Yeangs Menara Tower Partially respopnds to height with various facade treatments as the height increases. Though this is based more on internal program and the image of the green tower, there is possibility of combining the concepts and creating a repsonsively changing sking system.

Does Your Building Suck? By Tony Woods, President, CanAm Building Envelope Specialists Inc.

ENVELOPE
DTI research on commercial buildings has shown that double skin buildings are able to reduce energy consumption by 65%, running costs by 65% and cut CO2 emissions by 50%, in the cold temperate climatic prevalent when compared to advanced single skin building. Cost exercises have shown that buildings employing a double skin may cost as little as 2.5% based on gross internal floor area. Types of double skin 1) Buffer system 2)Extract Air System 3) Twin System (4) Hybrids

Degrees of seperation. With the double skin there are three zones interior, exterioir and inbetween. The difference between the skin systems is the ability of air to move between the zones as hot air rises. Commerzbank and most other recent tall buildings use the double skin, withi the inbetween zone happening at every other floor.

Seperate issue is lighting. Community control of double-skin zones may result in atriums allowing greater floor depth.

ENVELOPE
NGW Tower fish mouth detail User controls levels of airflow.

A diagrammatic view of the seperation. Exchange can be seen as between zones directionally and non-direcetionally. This clarifies the sections for me, and I will be apply to apply the ideas using such a diagrammatic language.

Grimshaw breathing building concept Systems that trap air in the winter creating a bubble of hot air in addition to radiant heating. (heating) Systems that allow air to pass into and circulate through the room during summer. (cooling) Systems that allow air to pass only out of room during summer (cooling) System allows control on al levels as well as gives directionality to airflow.

ENVELOPE

COMMERZEBANK - Integration. all fans, pumps and motors of the HVAC system are installed with variable speed motors and are digitally monitored which allows for more efficient and healthier circulation. Essentially a textbook example on how to integrate every system with passive strategies.

SYSTEMS - FEUL CELLS Feul cell stack convert chemical energy of a feul and an oxidant directly into electrical energy and heat using elechtromechanical process vs combustion. +quieter. +potential for development. Conde Naste Building pioneered feul cells in high rise. Currently the high installation cost does not offset energy savings, but as a local system this can be installed and tested by those that are developing it in a nearby area.

HVAC - Air vs Water system + integration

AIR HVAC systems typically ranges from 40 to 60 percent of the overall energyconsumption in a building. HVAC systems also affect the health and comfort of building occupants CENTRAL SYSTEM Systems located in one or a few large mechanical spaces. +Quieter +uses less energy +more convinient to service LOCAL SYSTEM Smaller mechanical rooms on each floor +occupy less space +do not require central ducts and piping. +individual temperate control.

HORIZANTAL DISTRIBUTION Methods and issues Defines heirarchy of spaces. Common core concept at a smaller scale. -Could be used to define plots for small development.

Most Common. vvv

-Heating closer to people Common in warehouseswhere control only needed human certain level.

Standard detail for a VAV distribution duct plenum. Also incorporated sprinklers and lighting fixtures.

Heating closer to people. -best for access in quickly changing buildings. Telecommunications and light services access.

HVAC
DIAGRAM WITH POSSIBLE HVAC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM BASED ON USE/NEED OF SPACE. Water Heating and Radiant Heating such as used in Commerzebank have opportunity in connecting with local enviornment. Intake water for cooling may be taken from river, with pump for entire complex. recurculated and returned on the other side of site.

Vernier suspender

Substructure

Systems use enforces the spatial framework of support-developproduction. Supports are offices which may become heirarchichaly defined into plots of Heating/cooling. Development will usualy require flexible spaces where underfloor access is important, and do not need large equipment loads. Production needs the large equipment and warehouse space, and heating/cooling floors affects the workers without wasting energy for overhead.

ceiling plate

Copper pipe

Meander support structure

Water has higher capacity for storing enery than air (3 times higher), so it changes temperature much less through the circulation process causing more effective cooling through the building

HVAC

Standard CAV system - hot or cooled air is circulated through ducts with a massive fan which also acts to return the air.

Water from boiler/chilled water are circulated along with air to induction units along with the air from a fan room. The primary air passes through over a chilled/heated coil that is supplied by the water pump. Used with exterior spaces that have a large variety of heating and cooling loads. In any induction unit can be turned on or off with water or air load. Problem is complexity and noise. Also inefficient with enery.

HVAC

Water source circulates within a closed loop. in winter goes through boiler, in summer through cooling tower. Bypass at room level allows water from constantly overheated areas to be circulated to areas needing heat. The interchange allows a certain efficiency in operation, but the installation and maintenance increase.

Water is heated and circulated through tubes to convectors. these can be split from normal large units into smaller strips for even room heating. Useful for heating only situations. Opportunity for zones with nearby a heating generator that will not require air circulation ducts, as well as no need for expensive interchanges as in closedloop system.

HVAC
Current trends point to water based heating and cooling systems with air from natural ventilation. Commerzbank, Conde Naste both claim energy savings with their water based systems. Intelligent workplace, and Dynamic integration guide also show water-based as promising results. Conde Naste Diagram with all systems including generator at top of building.

Water at top used as damper. Layout of major HVAC systems has all ducts in central core with mechanical equipment at the top. Menara and Commerzbank place the main systems at the bottom of the building for ease of access.

Typical HVAC air distribution systems not only use 50% of the total energy consumption, but its electrical energy, so an efficient HVAC system must reduce this by 75%. Water is three times more efficient at moving heating and cooling energy than air. Using a piped distribution system reduces the electrical use by 65%. Reducing the amount of air moved throughout the building by 70% reduces fan power by 90%. Dynamic integration study recommended hydronic converters and local control. Microzones look like they are the new trend in highrise with study showing massive savings, and all case studies presented here using microzone heating and cooling. The point is also made that control of envrionment increases satisfaction (study). only logical to give people control, as this is the entire concept of the project.

MISCELLANEOUS SYSTEMS Along the theme of choice and the micro-actor individually controled HVAC systems show promise in some research. Micro-controlled system studies with both underfloor and overhead show significant 4070% savings in enery... Intelligent workplace among other initiatives uses a variety of integrated systems for HVAC as well as energy: hydronic space and ventilation air cooling/heating, replacing air based cooling/heating distribution: chilled/heated water supply to radiant and/or convective units distributed in the building space. Hydronic cooling/heating eliminates the fan energy required to circulate air in an air based distribution system and reduces the air duct size in the building by a factor of 5 to 10. Motion sensor controls were installed in all conference rooms so that the HVAC system would only be "on" in these zones when it is actually needed. All motion sensors to turn off after five to seven minutes of no movement. On-site black water reuse system to supply the HVAC cooling tower; under floor air delivery and commissioning Filters, with fresh air supplied at a rate 50% higher than mandated by current code. CFC/HCFC-free natural gas-fired absorption chillers. Variable-speed drives on all fans and motors. Individual air-handling units on each floor, with local control to ensure minimum use of the system.

Even when the Commerzebank uses its cooling system, it is supported by crossventilation from its atrium. This is also divided into zones to prevent an extreme updraft.

Menara tower features spiraling systems that create an envioenment in the sky of common spaces for each floor that relate to other floors. These are planted and shaded accordingly with climate. Passive cooling happens through the vegetation and shading of the exterior facades.

ELECTRICAL
Basics on electrical needs and delivery: Transformer - reduces voltage to usable voltage (115/230). Bought at 13,800 primary transformer to 480/227. 480 common in industrial and commercial uses. Secondary transformers ramp down to 115. Transformers and meter rooms.

About 7% of the electricity generated by power plants is lost as it's transmitted to end users, so onsite generation is more efficient to begin with. At night, when demand drops,electricity will be used to make ice in tanks in the cellar. During the day, ice will bemelted to supplement the air conditioning system, saving energy and evening out daily demand. This will reduce tenants electricity bills and protect them from thehigher demand charge rate thats applied to an entire months bill if a usage threshold is exceeded for even a moment. LIGHTING Obviously natural lighting is desired and most efficient. Addtional means like motions sensor, turning off lights at night, and fluerescent lamps will also help.

SOURCES Wind turbine, solar panel, water harvesting, and geothermal should be incorportaed as design drivers, as opposed to addons. On site water power as well as geothermal have high potential.

Conde Naste building integration of photovoltaic into skin iover plenum allows extra heating from glass layer and continuity of envelope.

ELECTRICAL
water

BOILER

LINE

Local opportunity to connect any of the mentioned systems. View of existing smoke stacks of energotrans powerstation. Local power provided. question of what the station needs (other than $) should be asked in accordance to actor theory.

What are the needs of the highrise and masterplan? If any kind of light industrial production is incorporated it is important to create opportunities for individual and larger generators. The Toronto water system as a case study for the water from river idea. Here the water circulation has opportunity for use of the syphon principle which will give the pump a zero energy sum. Use of turbines??? Important local actor identified who may not only provide energy, but boiler stacks may be directly integrated into the masterplan system.

ELECTRICAL
A few schemes that I have come across in researching sustainable HVAC systems. Still trying to understand this stuff, but essentially various energy sources can be interchanged with compressors and chillers to provide radiant heating and cooling:

The relevant issue is to understand the various parts of the sytem, and how they will work as a whole. This is important to understand which component will belong to which core.

The intelligent office building is feuled by a biodiesel feul reactor.

PLUMBING
Standard buildings will collect sewage in a sewage pit that is then pumped into sewer. Grey and Black water treatments need to become part of standard practice if all the green values are to be realized.

Personal interviews and research have shown no plans to incorporate living machine blackwater treatments into high rise on a large scale. The problem seams to be the perception of sewage in a nearby garden space The proposed sketch shows a seperate system of greenhouses distributed through the building that act as blackwater treatments. When the water reaches the bottom it can be recirculated throught the system. A suggestion that blackwater can be used for radiant cooling sounds skeptical. The real possibility is that the blackwater is an additional system which can be recombined at the end of the cycle as opposed to a fully integrated initial solution.

Returning from the conceptual to the realistic. According to study by Ron George, a plumbing engineer and high rise expert, pressure zones for the local water systems that are each served by an independent booster pump system through express risers are key. The standard pressure reducing valve is a huge problem. Water entering the valve from municipal mains is constricted within the valve body and directed through the inner chamber controlled by an adjustable spring loaded diaphragm and disc.

PLUMBING
The idea is in a 50 story building, the pressure to pump water up to top is ~ 360 psi. Standard pressure is 60 psi for most plumbing. A regular PRV reduces pressure by 80 PSI max. This calls for high pressure plumbing in high rises, which is costly and a maintenance problem. The reason for pressure reducing valves in regular houses is if there is more pressure more water is used during the flush, leading to water inefficiency. The engineer mentioned developers building high rises with one or two pumps that end up being massive and use too much energy to maintain the conastant water pressure. On top of that, the water pressure must be reduced by each individual bathroom. This is described as driving with your foot on the accelerator and the brake at the same time. Triple-plex and quadra-plex booster pump systems - the green solution divide the pressure load by zone. These pumps operate on essentially a same principle, except they will reduce the 360 psi pressure to a more managable 100 psi for a local area of 5 - 10 floors giving greater control to zones and providing appropriate equipment for that control.

CONSTRUCTION SYSTEMS
(section under construction)

The trend now is to use recycled materials whenever possible (though this is often even more expensive and energy consuming than new material). Climbing formwork or climbing cranes used. The techniques should be investigated more specifically in relation to local condition.

Conde Naste - A lot of good ideas. Closing the loop - an approach used to create a chain of multiple benefits from a network of otherwise disconnected parties. Just as building systems start to integrate light with movement, airflow with human control, integration happens on many more levels and ordering systems.

Image by Studio Marco Vermeulen

Start of map. Part of the approach is a rigorous approach of who benefits from what and how. the idea is to find links that were no evident before and create heirarchies in the concept.
DIESEL FEULS

ENVELOPE HEIRARCHY USE OF FEUL CELLS

USE OF LOCAL LABOR RESEARCH INPUT OPP Pollution reversal

CTU Mechanical engineering

DOUBLE SKIN

USER CONTROL

Building sys. company

Ecosystem HVAC CPU Water bypass

Geothermal

Cooling HVAC Software development CTU

High strength concrete

HEAT

night cooling Process green systems

Nanotechnology CTU
ELECTRIC ENERGY

Local transport Energeko

System

resulting colabs incre Hypothetical actor

Business Park

eased