2014-2020. The Neat selection: 7 Buildings from the past 7 years.
I started the Neat blog in November 2014 motivated by a perception that so few of those involved in shaping the built environment had any interest in the evolving role of distributed generation in the transition to a zero carbon electricity grid.
Here in Western Australia the contribution of home rooftop solar and small (less than 100kW) solar generators already exceeds 60% of the total South West Interconnected System (SWIS) grid at times. This is phenomenal when compared to large-scale solar currently supplying a maximum of 4% of demand at any given time. The role of this democratised, two-way electricity renewable ecosystem has belatedly been acknowledged by the state owned grid operator Western Power, and Synergy, the states largest energy retailer and generator. A 100MW big battery to be commissioned late in 2022 will be the first of many strategies to buy, store and on sell peak PV and wind power. In the short term, various battery storage strategies will have an impact, and in the longer term low cost solar power produced hydrogen combined with grid scale fuel cells will provide long term storage.
So as policy catches up, it simply makes good economic and social sense for building owners and designers to be part of the distributed power evolution.
Seven projects of varying scale and purpose, selected from the past seven years demonstrate this re-thinking of building design. These buildings, three from the US, one from Denmark, one from Germany and two designed by Austrian architects bring a new aesthetic to incorporating mostly, off the shelf PV panels in PV façades and PV canopies. The Danish school uses a unique blue/green PV cladding.
Designed with clean, cheap power generation as a starting point, the zero-plus, net-zero, powerhouse architecture might shape the way we build in the 21st Century.
2014
Koning Eizenberg, 28th Street Apartments, Los Angeles, California.
In the 28th Street Apartments, Koning Eizenberg have cleverly attached standard, off the shelf PV panels onto the apartment building façade adding to its overall aesthetic quality and turning what might have been an ugly intrusion into a stylish, black on white, framed feature. As well as contributing cheaper power to the residents, the PV panels shading the south wall would substantially reduce summer heat load on the building
2015
Miller Hull Partnership, Bullitt Centre, Seattle, Washington.
Designed for the Bullitt Foundation in Seattle it was hoped that this ambitious building would be the forerunner of a new generation of buildings that would progress the ideas and engineering of net-zero/zero-plus buildings to the point of standardisation. They also hoped to show potential developers a way forward in navigating the financing and regulatory requirements and then demonstrate what could be achieved with architects, engineers and builders working as a collaborative team.
The 1300m2 PV array protruding well beyond the walls is the most visible feature of the building. In 2019 the grid optimised system generated 249,014 kWh and the building consumed 225,990kWh allowing for export to the grid of 23,024 kWh. The canopy design responds to Seattle’s low average annual sunlight of 2170 hours (compared to say, Melbourne with 2200 hours or Perth with a whopping 3200 annual sunlight hours. As well as maximising power generation, the extended PV canopy has since found a place in both tropical and desert climates providing both shade and rain shelter. See Emergency Children's Hospital, Uganda
“The era of harm reduction, half steps and lesser evils is behind us. As a society, we need to be bold in ways that were once unimaginable. Luckily in the building sector, we now can imagine where we need to go. In fact, we don’t need to just imagine it. We can touch, experience, learn from, and replicate it.”
— Denis Hayes, Bullitt Foundation President.
More recently, Miller Hull Partnership in collaboration with Lord Aeck and Sargent Planning and Design Inc. have expanded on the PV canopy concept with the Kendeda Building, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia. Average annual sunlight in Georgia 2986 hours giving the PV array the capacity to meet the building’s energy demands, with a safety factor of 10 percent, plus the 5 percent net positive factor that is required for LIVING BUILDING CHALLENGE certification.
2016
Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects, Jacob Institute for Design Innovation, UC Berkeley, California.
The Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation at UC Berkeley, is devoted to introducing sustainable design innovation at the center of engineering education and university life. The project was conceived by the College of Engineering as an interdisciplinary hub for students and teachers from across the university who work at the intersection of design and technology. It is designed as both a collaborative, project-based educational space and a symbol to the region of the University’s commitment to sustainable innovation.
The 80 kW PV system is both graceful, yet practical. It cleverly utilises two different types of solar panels: high performance polycrystalline panels at the centre of the installation combined with double glass frameless, bifacial panels on the more visible edges.
2017
CF Møller Architects, Copenhagen International School, Copenhagen.
Despite a yearly average of 1780 sunlight hours, the Copenhagen International School building, will generate more than half the schools annual energy needs. The 12,000 blue/green PV panel cladding uses a process of light interference developed by Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne, Switzerland applied to glass with a filter that determines which wavelengths of light to be reflected as visible colour. The rest of the sunlight is absorbed by the solar panel and converted into energy, producing 300MWh of electricity for the school per year.
2018
Ingenhoven Architects, Town Hall, Freiburg, Germany
This building sets a new visual and practical standard with a PV façade system that could also be utilised in hotter, sunnier climates. The module layout ensures that windows are shaded from direct sun, providing even, ambient light year round. The building achieves Net-Surplus-Energy standard, generating more energy than it uses. With the 880 full height 350cm x 60cm façade metal framed, seamless double-glass modules combined with a roof-top array generating 220kW.
2019
Holodeck Architects, Austrian Embassy, Bangkok
The Austrian Embassy in Bangkok is a wonderful example of an understated, subtle blending of Austrian culture within the Thai context. Consisting of a group of delightfully scaled individual buildings grouped around a shaded courtyard space. The entire complex is shaded by a single PV canopy that reduces heat load, provides shelter from rain, brings the compound together as a single building and generates power. The 590m2 canopy generates 75kWp and was installed by Aero Solar and Automation Company utilising standard modules combined with custom components.
2020
Fügenschuh Hrdlovics Architekten, House for Psychosocial Care and Living, Innsbruck, Austria.
With a fine eye for detail, Fügenschuh Hrdlovics Architekten have elegantly combined a coloured pre-cast concrete wall panel cladding with a south wall PV layer. The detailing of the building throughout is a delight, but elevating the “off the shelf” frameless PV panels to an refined facade is masterful. The House for Psychosocial Care and Living is a beautifully scaled four floor facility with a kitchen and common area on the ground floor, 14 small apartments for patients and a multifunctional space on top floor. It is set on a small municipal plot in a green area between the Inn River and the densely populated Innsbruck city district.
The Australia Institute Webinar Series:
ELECTRIFY EVERYTHING, POWERING ECONOMICS ON CLEAN ENERGY with SAUL GRIFFITH + DANNY KENNEDY Take the time to watch this terrifically uplifting discussion. It covers the necessity of distributed power, the essential role of the built environment and the wider role of cheap, clean electricity.
“But recent advances of ingenuity based on solar power’s brilliance have unleashed the creativity of entrepreneurs and capital. These advances are supported by serious social movements—committed activists who seek to break the corporate power of Big Oil and Big Coal and to reduce pollution and corruption.”