Brianna Kucharski
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
UROP Fellowship: University of Michigan Energy Institute
Research Mentor(s): Jong-Jin Kim, PhD
Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
Presentation Date: Thursday, July 30, 2020 | Session 2 | Presenter: 2
Authors: Brianna Kucharski, Jong-Jin Kim
Abstract
With increasing concern about the effects of energy inefficiency within the built environment, the architectural field and beyond are challenged to think more critically about the environmental impact of our designs. Within the city of Chicago, large scale buildings (i.e. greater than 50,000 square feet) make up less than 1% of the total number of buildings within the city yet account for about 20% of the total building energy consumption. Given this, it is important to address the unique energy challenges of high-rise buildings. The goal of this study is to survey the current energy consumptions of high-rise buildings in Chicago as well as to test the plausibility of creating a zero-energy large scale building in Chicago’s climate conditions.
The energy consumption of a test 30-story office building located in Chicago was simulated using energy modeling software eQUEST. The amount of solar energy that can be harnessed by installing PV panels on the roof and south facade of this test building was also estimated. By comparing the estimated energy demand of the test building and the amount of solar energy that could be generated, the overall energy self-sufficiency of the building was analyzed. From these analyses, it was estimated that the energy self-sufficiency of our test building with building integrated solar energy was less than 5%. With optimized conditions such as more efficient HVAC systems and window glazings, the overall self-sufficiency of the test building was still estimated to be less than 20%. From our survey of buildings in Chicago, it was found that many older buildings (i.e. buildings built between 1880 and 1930) were actually equally or even more energy efficient than new buildings. We hypothesize that this can be attributed to a few factors such as smaller window to wall ratios, lower lighting power densities, and a lower vertical energy transport requirement. As found by our study, given the limits of current on-site energy production options, reducing the energy demand is a major prerequisite for achieving a zero-energy skyscraper.
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Research Disciplines
Engineering
