In this project, we were assigned to make a passive solar home in 6 weeks. Our driving question is how can we design a home that is confortable in all conditions without the use of electricity? Within this timeframe we made a few different projects. Mr. Williams wrote a letter to PG&E and they gave the program a grant for $5000 that we could work with for our houses. I was grouped with Gaby Bitton, Ronan Shaffer, and Kyle Jones.
Solar Water Heater
One of the projects we made was our solar water heater. The water heater was made with a paper bag full of insulation. Inside the insulation we had a bottle where the warm water was held. We also had a plastic tube connecting the bottle to the rest of the warming system. The warming system included the copper tubing, which warmed up the water inside the tubing. We learned from this experiment how the rays of the sun come at from different angles like in the afternoon the light angles come at a more slanted angle so when we tilted our heater to the sun, the hotter the water heater gets. We learned from this mini project about conductivity and radiation of the sun
Solar Angles and How it Changes During Seasons
Solar angles are very important in knowing how day lighting works year round. The solar angles change every season because earth is tilted on an axis of 23.5 degrees. The earth is always revolving around the sun, this sis the reason of why we have different seasons thought the year. Due to the fact the rays of light are tilted, less rays of light fit in an area. This is why we are able to get better sun light from the mid day sun.
Solar Water Heater
One of the projects we made was our solar water heater. The water heater was made with a paper bag full of insulation. Inside the insulation we had a bottle where the warm water was held. We also had a plastic tube connecting the bottle to the rest of the warming system. The warming system included the copper tubing, which warmed up the water inside the tubing. We learned from this experiment how the rays of the sun come at from different angles like in the afternoon the light angles come at a more slanted angle so when we tilted our heater to the sun, the hotter the water heater gets. We learned from this mini project about conductivity and radiation of the sun
Solar Angles and How it Changes During Seasons
Solar angles are very important in knowing how day lighting works year round. The solar angles change every season because earth is tilted on an axis of 23.5 degrees. The earth is always revolving around the sun, this sis the reason of why we have different seasons thought the year. Due to the fact the rays of light are tilted, less rays of light fit in an area. This is why we are able to get better sun light from the mid day sun.
Passive Solar Cardboard Model
The second project we made was a cardboard model house. We made the house to show the different types of windows and what types give more light than others. We learned from this experiment, which windows worked and didn’t work as well. What we concluded from this experiment is that picture windows and clearstory windows work the best for our needs. The solar tubes did not work very well at all. Here are the definitions to understand each type of window and technic further-
Skylights- an opening in a roof to admit light.
Clerestory Windows - windows situated up high, not for view, but to catch sunrays that come in at higher angles.
Solar Tubes- opening lets in light, which bounces down reflective lining and into the room.
Light Shelves- used to bounce light from the overhang on the sill, back into the room's ceiling, which then reflects, or traps light throughout the room.
Site Selection-
When we were selecting our site we searched many spots on our campus. The one spot that we all thought was the best for our building and found that was able to obtain the most sunlight was along Novato Boulevard. This spot had a solid, flat ground, which makes building on it easier. It also is very open to the public, which is exactly what we wanted. Also, it gets sunlight and is accessible to all students.
When we were selecting our site we searched many spots on our campus. The one spot that we all thought was the best for our building and found that was able to obtain the most sunlight was along Novato Boulevard. This spot had a solid, flat ground, which makes building on it easier. It also is very open to the public, which is exactly what we wanted. Also, it gets sunlight and is accessible to all students.
Materials Testing - Problem: Which building materials absorb or reflect the most heat? How long do they hold that heat? How quickly do those materials absorb heat?
In this experiment we were searching for the best materials for our energy efficient home. Our class came up with a well planned testing design. For our walls, flooring, roofing materials we held a light bulb over them and took the temperatures every 10 minutes for 80 minutes. The light bulb was held at 30 cm above the 1 square foot material, and all the bulbs were 100 watts. This was to ensure that they all were getting an even amount of heat in this experiment. For our insulation we took a beaker of hot water and surrounded in in the insulation. Then we checked the temperature just like we did with the materials. Lastly we saw what the difference was and made a graph for it as well.
Materials Tested-
Flooring Carpet, Dark Hardwood, Light Tile, Dark Granite, Bamboo
Interior Walls - White Drywall, White Board
Exterior Walls - Brick, Stucco, Redwood
Roofing - Aluminum, PVC, Corrugated Metal
Insulation - Jeans, Styrofoam, Fiberglass Batting, Spray foam
Building Design -
After preforming all od the mini projects we were using the day-lighting techniques, materials testing, and the solar angles, to able to design a model of our house. First of all, our blueprints had to be made. Before we could build a model we needs the blueprints to plan out how it would look and the amount of materials needed. Once we finished the blueprints for the house we applied the measurements to the digital program to make a digital model. The model included all of our main key features. For our interior walls we used drywall, for exterior we used stucco, for our flooring we used bamboo, and for our roofing we used corrugated metal. The reasons we used these materials is because they preformed the best for what we wanted each of hem to do like the drywall and bamboo were great at releasing the heat that was absorbed. The stucco was great at absorbing the heat. The corrugated metal was very good at reflecting the heat, which will be the best during the summer. Other key features include our East wall, which contained 3 clerestory windows, which allowed light to bounce into the room. On our south wall we had one big picture window, which was great at bringing in light from all angles. On the roof we had 2 skylights which, were great at bringing in the mid day sun, and our roof was also slanted so that the rain would slide right off and give the skylights a better angle for bringing light in.
Google Docx -
As a class we created a justification piece, which included the pros and cons of an energy in general. Between wind and the sun, energy for our lives is created. Although there are nuclear plants and other thing being used for energy they all have an impact on our ecosystem and economy. If you take look at our document you can see all of this into depth.
As a class we created a justification piece, which included the pros and cons of an energy in general. Between wind and the sun, energy for our lives is created. Although there are nuclear plants and other thing being used for energy they all have an impact on our ecosystem and economy. If you take look at our document you can see all of this into depth.
Concepts
Conduction - transfer of heat through a material
Convection - transfer of heat through a fluid
Radiation - energy transmitted as rays, waves, or particles
Heat - a form of energy
Thermal Conductivity - Heat travels from places of lower pressure to higher pressure, or from hot places to colder places.
Fluids - a substance, liquid or gas, that is capable of flowing and that changes its shape to fit its container
Pressure - the exertion of force upon a surface by an object, fluid, etc. Pressure is Force / Area
Buoyancy - ability to float or rise in a fluid. An object must have a density less than the fluid to float.
Laws of Thermodynamics - There are four main laws of thermodynamics; the 0th, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. The 0th law explains temperature, and states that if two systems are in thermal equilibrium with a third system, they are also in equilibrium with each other. The 1st law explains conservation of energy, stating that energy is neither created nor destroyed, and that heat is a form of energy. The 2nd law is about how entropy increases; as time passes, energy gets unstable over time. For example, the sun gives of significant quantities of energy, but as it does so, it becomes unstable until it will eventually explode. The 3rd law simply states that temperature can never get down to absolute zero. The idea of absolutely no molecular action is theoretical, because heat always exists, even if it's very slight.
Specific Heat - a physical property of matter that states the heat capacity of a certain object.
Reflection
In this long project I learned how many different processes are made to ensure a solid plan for a house. My group and I worked very hard on our project and had very good characteristics while working together. For example we did very well communicating to each other about different ideas and different views of the project. Another good part about our group was that raised to the challenge ahead. Building a house is very intimidating let alone designing and testing different material for the building. I also learned lenience from this project because in this project we had some disagreements that weren’t always going my way, so I went with the decision and lived with it.
Some pitfalls to this project were that some people inside my group were a little impatient and expected too much. I also thing we didn’t get enough done in the certain amount of time either. I also had trouble getting my work done while trying to keep some group members on task. Other than those pitfalls I thought that this project was the best one yet.
Conduction - transfer of heat through a material
Convection - transfer of heat through a fluid
Radiation - energy transmitted as rays, waves, or particles
Heat - a form of energy
Thermal Conductivity - Heat travels from places of lower pressure to higher pressure, or from hot places to colder places.
Fluids - a substance, liquid or gas, that is capable of flowing and that changes its shape to fit its container
Pressure - the exertion of force upon a surface by an object, fluid, etc. Pressure is Force / Area
Buoyancy - ability to float or rise in a fluid. An object must have a density less than the fluid to float.
Laws of Thermodynamics - There are four main laws of thermodynamics; the 0th, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. The 0th law explains temperature, and states that if two systems are in thermal equilibrium with a third system, they are also in equilibrium with each other. The 1st law explains conservation of energy, stating that energy is neither created nor destroyed, and that heat is a form of energy. The 2nd law is about how entropy increases; as time passes, energy gets unstable over time. For example, the sun gives of significant quantities of energy, but as it does so, it becomes unstable until it will eventually explode. The 3rd law simply states that temperature can never get down to absolute zero. The idea of absolutely no molecular action is theoretical, because heat always exists, even if it's very slight.
Specific Heat - a physical property of matter that states the heat capacity of a certain object.
Reflection
In this long project I learned how many different processes are made to ensure a solid plan for a house. My group and I worked very hard on our project and had very good characteristics while working together. For example we did very well communicating to each other about different ideas and different views of the project. Another good part about our group was that raised to the challenge ahead. Building a house is very intimidating let alone designing and testing different material for the building. I also learned lenience from this project because in this project we had some disagreements that weren’t always going my way, so I went with the decision and lived with it.
Some pitfalls to this project were that some people inside my group were a little impatient and expected too much. I also thing we didn’t get enough done in the certain amount of time either. I also had trouble getting my work done while trying to keep some group members on task. Other than those pitfalls I thought that this project was the best one yet.