Designing carbon neutral plus-energy-buildings with site adaptive heliotropism cycles

Designing carbon neutral plus-energy-buildings with site adaptive heliotropism cycles Conference

Spiegelhalter, T, Lee, A. (2012). Designing carbon neutral plus-energy-buildings with site adaptive heliotropism cycles . 5 3712-3716.

As architects are increasingly challenged to address carbon neutrality and energy efficiency, buildings must be designed with a high degree of passive alignment and response to their surroundings. In seeking these solutions, designers and engineers have turned to the adjacent field of biology to discover climate appropriate solutions. Leading examples of biologically-inspired innovation in the architectural field have adapted building processes, form and materials to reflect natural traits. However, architects have a greater opportunity to optimize energy performance in buildings by analyzing the functional cycles of native biological systems. This paper analyzes a design/built precedent where natural cycles from the local plant communities were researched and applied to the building systems design. The example is a built mixed-used project in Southwest Germany that applied the phototropic nature of regional plant life to the design of heat mitigation and energy harvesting systems. The basis for selecting the natural cycle, the application to architectural design, and the impacts to energy performance is explained. Copyright © (2012) by American Solar Energy Society.