The Energy Wall - a research project in partnership with Jaime Stein – will enhance Pratt’s academic experience through the research and development of a simple yet effective new building technology. Students and faculty will be actively involved in the research, installation and maintenance of this green infrastructure façade system which will not only improve the thermal performance of the building but will also provide an experimental and interactive digital lighting platform for environmental monitoring and artistic expression. Interdisciplinary pedagogy will be fostered among three academic departments and culminate in a scalable, modular system which will promote Pratt’s environmental sustainability and augment the Institute’s fundraising capabilities for similar interventions.
Background
According to the Department of City Planning, the current building stock is responsible for 80 percent of the City’s carbon emissions and over 60 percent of our total energy use. In 2030, 85 percent of our buildings will be buildings that exist today – so improving the performance of existing buildings is critical to reducing New York City’s energy use and carbon emissions. As the demand for limited natural resources rises, building performance becomes increasingly critical to the design profession. The next generation of architects and urban planners will be asked to design and retrofit buildings to be more efficient, less polluting, and even energy independent.
Many of these existing buildings, including Higgins Hall, represent a trove of cultural and historic significance for the City. As a result, they are protected by landmark status and present an additional challenge to performance enhancing retrofits.
Over the past 10 years, advanced digital and green infrastructure technologies, have become available as a compliment to more traditional approaches. The Higgins Hall based programs, including Architecture, Historic Preservation and Environmental Systems Management, are well positioned to successfully apply new these technologies to historic structures. We hope that the Energy Wall can serve as a model for fusing the traditional and the technologically driven architectural interventions.
Context
Arguably, within the architectural professions, the extensive use of new digital design tools has not translated into new building components, as both professional practices and educational institutions failed at converting computational power into better building performance and into a new architectural language.
We are convinced that the key to an effective use of digital tools in architecture is to reestablish a correlation between geometry and performance, particularly in the area of energy efficiency in buildings. Additionally the digital interventions if reinforced visually can be used to engage the broader community and “make visible” the building’s newly enhanced performance.
At the same time in a parallel city-wide initiative, New York has made great strides in advancing the adoption of green infrastructure on new buildings and within the public right of way. It struggles however, to enhance adoption on existing buildings and private property. This is due to many different factors but this proposal is aimed at addressing two specific ones. First, green infrastructure interventions that could provide energy savings such as green walls are not typically applied to historic structures. We reason that the policies governing historic structures have not been fully researched with green infrastructure in mind. Second, the many benefits of green infrastructure are not fully understood by the general public. A greater awareness of these benefits will surely lead to greater adoption on private property.
Higgins Hall is an emblematic case of an aging landmark with modest environmental performance and rising energy costs. It is also the academic home to over 1000 aspiring young professionals. As such it represents a unique opportunity for an exemplar application of a technology driven, green infrastructure retrofit with a highly visual and educational component.
Project plan
The Energy Wall proposal aims to transform the underperforming, uninspiring south-facing brick facade of the landmark status Higgins Hall into an exemplar vertical garden, including an interactive lighting installation showcasing vital environmental parameters such as moisture, evapotranspiration and temperature.
The Energy Wall combines a time-honored environmental solution – the pergola of traditional architecture from the south of Europe – with a visually striking design that makes use of open source, environmental monitoring software and cutting-edge parametric techniques.
The elementary structural system is modulated by a complex geometry that responds to the changing requirements for visibility and daylight in the interior of the building. In consideration of the limited budget and the landmark status of the building, the proposed structure will use a minimally invasive and economic solution, using in-house fabrication capabilities and skilled labor available at the school.
The Innovation Fund will support the first phase of the project, including the completion of the lower portion of the Energy Wall, which does not require scaffolding or costly structural assistance. Also, the climbing plants will take 2 to 3 years to cover the lower portion of the wall, and they will be unaffected by the later completion of the structure.
The first phase also involves an important research/pedagogical component, including a preliminary feasibility assessment by the Historic Preservation department. Keeping in line with the Fund’s desire to seed innovative designs we propose a thorough analysis be done on the feasibility of green infrastructure interventions on historic buildings. By collaborating with the Historic Preservation department in their Spring studio course, we can draw on their policy experts to determine the requirements for such green infrastructure interventions on historic structures.
The second phase of the proposal is the module construction and installation. This too will have a pedagogical component and be linked to the Summer 2013 Green Infrastructure Design & Build Studio. Prepared by the research and design work of phase one, students and faculty will work with the applicants to construct and install the module.
Long-term goals
The larger ambition of this proposal is very much in line with the goals outlined in the Institute’s Strategic Plan. We aim to enhance academic experience, engage the broader community and create a dynamic environment by providing students, faculty and the larger Pratt community with a tangible and inspiring example of sustainable technology on campus.
Enriching the Academic Experience: The project offers an opportunity for students and faculty to engage in the design, fabrication and installation of an emerging building technology. The structure supporting the vertical garden uses parametric design strategies that are being developed at the architecture school with metal parts fabricated in part by in-house digital fabrication capabilities.
The design, construction maintenance and monitoring of the project will foster inter-disciplinary collaboration among three departments; Undergraduate Architecture, the Graduate Center for Planning & the Environment and Undergraduate Communications Design.
Engaging the Broader Community: The Energy Wall will be an addition to our NYC DEP funded green infrastructure projects. As such it will benefit from the maintenance and monitoring resources of the green infrastructure grant and our green infrastructure fellows. Additionally, it will be another opportunity to engage the broader community and “make visible” the many benefits of green infrastructure.
Creating a Dynamic Environment: The project will serve as another highly visible innovation within our facilities. The Energy Wall will be emblematic of a larger strategy pursued by the Institute to improve building performance while forging a new architectural language.
Expanding our Horizons: The Energy Wall offers the opportunity to develop a simple yet effective and innovative technology, which will provide a scalable and replicable retrofit for historic buildings throughout the City.
The Energy Wall will enhance further research capabilities and raise Pratt’s profile as a leader in innovative technologies and environmental education. Once completed, the project will be an addition to our suite of green infrastructure projects on campus, further enhancing the credibility of the Institute in developing, implementing and monitoring green infrastructure technology systems. This outcome can serve as leverage for government research grants in the future.
Plans for continuation
The Energy Wall will be further testimony of Pratt’s implementation of green infrastructure and commitment to environmental education and sustainability. This enhanced commitment will ultimately create a greater cache of projects from which to leverage further governmental and private funding.
The plans for continuation of this project are three fold:
First, we hope this project could continue the innovation of historically sensitive designs and policies for green infrastructure interventions.
External support for the continued research of green infrastructure interventions on historic structures could potentially come from the Landmark Preservation Commission
Secondly, through the project’s promotion of energy efficiency in buildings, an area of research that can be supported by State (NYSERDA) and Federal Department of Energy grants, we plan to continue module fabrication and installation of the entire south facing façade of Higgins Hall North.
Thirdly, this project will add to the “suite” of monitored green infrastructure projects on campus and further enrich our “remaking research” agenda through visualization of the many benefits of green infrastructure. As was emphasized in our award winning grant application to the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, it is our intention to create a suite of green infrastructure projects on campus. Each innovative project will “making visible” its many benefits and serve as a demonstration site for innovative interventions with citywide replicability. Both NYC DEP funded green infrastructure projects, the 5,600 square foot green roof and the Cannoneer Court bioswales, will have a technology driven data visualization similar to that proposed for the Higgins Hall Energy Wall.
Lastly, the Energy Wall provides an experimental and interactive digital lighting platform for the visualization of its environmental data. Through a light display, visitors will be able to see the variations in temperature and moisture produced by the Wall. The lighting platform will also provide the opportunity for continued experimentation with Arduino open source software (see Design & Technology Workshop: Garden Gadgets pdf attached)
We intend to have the environmental monitoring data be added into our suite of monitored green infrastructure projects on campus. Continued monitoring, maintenance and data visualization of the project will be folded into the existing framework and budget of the 2012-2013 GI projects on campus. Enhancement of the proposed, long-term environmental parameter visualization and education goals would be fundable by NYC DEP, The ERM Foundation, The Environmental Protection Agency and the Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence.