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Laboratory Atria Design Strategies for Daylighting
and Natural Ventilation
Jayesh X. Hariyani,
Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann Associates
The use of atria plays a significant role in the design of many
buildings. Atria have been an integral part of many European buildings
for some time. Most original research on atria, performed under
the auspices of the Internal Energy Agency (IEA), has come from
Norway. Atrium spaces, when properly integrated with the building
design, complement the building's functionality, provide vibrant
space, provide daylighting deep into the building interior, and
also save energy. The proposed study will discuss the design of
an atrium for an L-shaped 200,000 square foot building in Troy,
New York. The glass used in the atrium is carefully selected, with
the correct amount of "fritting" for solar control. In
a rather benign cooling climate in Albany, strategies were studied
to allow the atrium to remain at a comfortable temperature without
using air conditioning. The study was performed using the following
methods:
- Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis for temperature
distribution in the atrium, for selected design conditions.
- An hour-by-hour analysis for determining annual history of space
temperature using TRNSYS simulation.
The study considered the following strategies:
- Natural and Forced Ventilation
- Forced Ventilation and Night Flushing
- Forced Ventilation and Night Flushing, with relief air from
offices and computer labs
The results of the study showed that the natural ventilation above
would not provide acceptable comfort in the atrium. Smoke exhaust
fans were used with variable speed drive to provide forced ventilation.
The optimum strategy yielded atrium temperatures which were within
the acceptable comfort range for most of the year. Overheating situations
were encountered for very few hours in the summer. The study resulted
in a savings of 250 tons of cooling system for the atrium. The details
of the study, the methodology, and the results will be presented.
The environmental benefits of this strategy will also be presented.
Findings:
- Use of atrium provides daylighting, energy savings, and delightful
space for people interaction.
- Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis has been used to
study the ventilation strategies for the conditioning of the atrium
with no air conditioning.
- Comfort conditions can be maintained by exhausting relief air
from the building through the atrium and night cooling with ambient
air in cold climates.
- Significant first cost savings in equipment cost are possible.
- The building is under construction.
Labs21 Connection:
- Energy and environmental performance goals
- Range of sustainable energy and water efficiency
- Sustainable design opportunities beyond building site
Biographies:
Jayesh X Hariyani is an associate and a lead architect in
Burt Hill's high tech market sector. His artistic ability coupled
with his technical capabilities creates a new dimension to visual
presentations. He quickly and easily transforms design concepts
into 3-dimensional renderings. From his international experience,
he is sensitive to the multi-cultural influences. He was the lead
architect on the project being presented in this submission. Jayesh
had been involved in many projects for residential development,
focusing on both research and design of community development and
the sociological impact. He is Burt Hill's lead architect on the
University of Texas Institute of Molecular Medicine Building in
Houston.
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