Efficiency In The Built Environment Through Active Design Strategies

The architecture of a building directly correlates to the energy it consumes over its lifetime. Building design and active design strategies can reduce energy dependency. Plug-loads, solar harvesting electrochromic windows, and energy harvesting are active design strategies. The goal is to reduce the energy consumption of a building through its architecture, using active design strategies. The effect that advancing technologies have on occupant engagement will be monitored. If the energy distribution within a building is monitored, then the amount of energy a building consumes can be measured, and cutbacks can be made. The effects of plug-loads on building consumption will be examined, as well as the harvesting potential of the NSF electrochromic windows. The models will examine the circulation of energy within a building through plug load data, which charts the distribution of energy in a building. This will also be used to evaluate how reducing energy consumption effects occupant engagement. The climate will also be researched as a resource for effective and efficient building design, as well as its role in energy harvesting. The Bullitt center will be researched to determine practical methods of energy reduction, and conservation. In Seattle The Bullitt center is appropriate because it uses the climate to help power the building, and with ventilation; as apposed to the climate in hotter environments, where natural ventilation would be unsuitable for occupants. Investigating these techniques of energy reduction will lead to valuable findings and better methods of reducing short-term dependency on fossil fuels and providing long-term sustainability.