Site
Quick Facts 
Rockville, Maryland,USA
Latitude: 39.08 N, Longitude: 77.15 W
Our site is in the City of Rockville, located in the center of one of the most affluent counties in the United States, Montgomery County.
There are many ways for Maryland residents to travel within Montgomery County. MetroRail is accessible to various places in Maryland with a total of 86 stations and reaching other counties in Washington D.C. and Virginia. In addition to MetroRail, there are 80 RideOn Bus routes in Montgomery County. Using Bike trial is another option for Rockville residents as well.
Many of Maryland residents have government jobs and therefore have above country average incomes as this chart demonstrates with median incomes obtained by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics
To design an appropriate unit for each family, we analyzed these square footage facts to ensure the spaces provided for each family was comfortable to fit their commodities yet functionally effective.
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Income Info
Source:www.bls.gov
Climate Climate
Rockville, Maryland,USA
Latitude: 39.08 N, Longitude: 77.15 W
Due to the local variances in elevation, and proximity to water Maryland has a variety of climates. The city of Rockville lies in the region where the transition between the humid subtropical climate zone and the subtropical highland zone occurs. Rockville endures hot, humid summers with extremely high temperatures and cool winters where average annual snowfall exceeds 20 inches and temperatures can fall below 10°F. All four seasons are very distinct and it was a challenge to satisfy energy needs in the extreme conditions Maryland is subject to.
Solar
- On average, July is the warmest month (Summer solstice:75.1) and January is the coolest month (Winter solstice:28.2)
Given the climatic conditions, we decided to pitch our roof at a 30 degree angle to maximize our solar gain
Wind
- Prevailing winds are from west to northwest but a little more southerly in summer. Our incorporation of solar chimneys was intended to capture breezes and create passive ventilation for heating and cooling
Precipitation
- Yearly precipitation reaches 43.1 inches, mostly occurring in May, and snowfall reaches 23 inches
We implemented a rainwater collection system to take advantage of the consistent precipitation
Context
Building Usage Building Usage
It was essential to analyze the surrounding buildings to give an appropriate response to our facade design, our building scale and remain energy efficient. We decided to maintain the street edge and took into account the buildings directly adjacent our site to see what shadows they would cast on our building during summer and winter.
Video of Solar Path Study
Aside from using our massing models, our rendered model helped us achieve a more accurate idea of the shadows casted by the surrounding buildings
Green: Building Site
Blue: Commercial
Yellow: Residential
Strategies RETURN TO HOME
Solar How solar works
How a PV cell makes electricity:
Under the sun, a photovoltaic cell acts as a photosensitive diode that instantaneously converts light but not heat into electricity.
Cell Layers a top, phosphorus-diffused silicon layer carries free electrons un-anchored particles with negative charges. A thicker, boron doped bottom layer contains holes, or absences of electrons, that also can move freely.
Sun Activation
1. Photons bombard and penetrate the cell.
2. They activate electrons, knocking them loose in both silicon layers.
3. Some electrons in the bottom layer sling-shot to the top of the cell.
4. These electrons flow into metal contacts as electricity, moving into a circuit throughout a 60-cell module.
5. Electrons flow back into the cell via a solid contact layer at the bottom, creating a closed loop or circuit.
Geothermal Geothermal
The loop field is a system of piping underground that connects to the house through a geothermal heat pump. The pipes are surrounded by grout to improve heat transfer with the Earth. The system circulates a water mixture through the entire loop.
We chose to use geothermal because it is:
- Quieter and lasts longer compared to air-source systems, needs little maintenance and independant of outside air temperature
-Available with two-speed compressors and variable fans for more comfort and energy savings.
- Cost effective when the additional installationg costs are returned to you in energy savings in 5-10 years. System life is estimated at 25 years for the inside components and 50+ years for the ground loop. There are approximately 50,000 geothermal heat pumps installed in the United States each year.
How it affects our building:
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Roof Standing Seam Aluminium Roof
Durability
The life span of a low end metal roof is still double that of an asphalt roof and the higher end roofs can last 50 to 100 plus years. Some manufacturers offer warranties from 25 to 50 years. It is also wind, hail, fire and spark resistant. Some metal roofs have been proved to withstand hurricane force winds of up to 120mph and have a class A fire rating, the highest rating given.
Recyclable
Some metal roofs are available with up to 95% recycled material and at the end of its life cycle it can be recycled again. Using a metal roof will reduce the amount of waste going into the landfill.
Energy efficient
metal roofs are available with highly reflective coatings and can save 20-30% on air conditioning costs in the summer by reflecting away the suns energy and reducing the amount of heat transmitted into the building. In the winter it can save in heating costs by reflecting the heat from the inside off the bottom of the roof and back into the building. A metal roofs good thermal reflectivity can cut both heating and cooling costs.
Light weight
A metal roof is relatively light weight and weighs only 1/7 of what an asphalt shingle roof weighs. asphalt shingles weigh around 750 pounds per 100 square feet where a metal roof weighs 50 to 100 pounds per 100 square feet. We wanted a light weight roof to make up for the weight of our many solar panels that are mounted on top.
Snow shedding
Snow can be a hazard to a home in many different ways. A metal roof can reduce the risk of damaging a house. One way it can do this by snow shedding. Once the ambient heat of the roof rises, the snow will simply just slide off of the roof. This is beneficial for two reasons. One reason is the reduced weight. After a big snowstorm the weight of the snow on a roof can cause a cave in. by getting rid of the snow, the load goes with it. Also by having the snow slide off the threat of ice damming is gone.
Communal Roof Garden
Above the carports, there is a communcal roof garden for all three families and have their own roof plantings
Benefits:
-Can provide food
-Temperature control
-Additional outdoor shared space
-Hydrological benefits
-Biodiversity
Structure Structure: Understanding SIP panels
Structural insulated panels (SIPs) consist of an insulated foam core sandwiched between two structural panel facings, typically oriented strand board (OSB). The most common types of foam utilized to create SIPs are Expanded polystyrene (EPS), and Extruded Polystyrene (XPS).
-EPS is rigid and tough close cell foam. It offers an R-4 per inch.
-XPS consists of closed cells; offers improved surface roughness and higher stiffness and reduced thermal conductivity. IT offers an R-5 per inch. (Insulation is rated by R-value, which measures a material’s thermal resistance).
Note: XPS is the foam utilized on SIPs walls for all three units in our project. Overall wall thickness is 12 ”. Under optimum conditions the expected
R-value on our Sips will be 58.3
Diagrams Solar Chimney
These diagrams show how we will heat and cool the building using our solar chimney towers.
It is a process that improves natural ventilation by using convection of air heated by passive solar energy
What is a solar chimney?
Winter: To heat the building, our trombe wall is creating a constant warm air current upwards so the upper and lower vents will help by releasing the warm air taken from the trombe wall and once this air cools down and falls, the lower vent will pull that air out of the living space and return it back into the trombe wall, creating a loop system
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Summer: to cool the building, we will grab outdoor air and pull it through an underground duct to cool this air. Then, this cool air will go into the living spaces through ducts in the ceiling to be released opposite the vents. For this process, the lower vents will be closed to allow the warm air to rise into the upper vents and be expulsed out of the tower
