Street level perspective.
College of Architecture
Team Negative: Ben Schoeneberger & Matt Elsom
New and rediscovered technologies and techniques (like photovoltaic panels, efficient windows, and geothermal heat pumps) can be used to decrease a building’s energy consumption, or in some cases even make them net energy producers. Our approach to this project has been not to simply apply these technologies to make a standard residence efficient, but to design a framework to which these energy saving and generating means can be most efficiently applied. The primary energy strategy that we utilized in our design was to use shading to minimize solar heat gain through windows in summer while maximizing the solar heat gain during the winter to offset their energy loss by conduction (often the largest contributors to the cooling loads and heating loads respectively). The roof slope and exposure was informed by setting the roof at the optimum angle for fixed, solar power generation. As a means to integrate the schematic design into the site, the residences were spaced by garages and the ramp system that draws the topography up to the raised green space. By making such strategic changes, we can achieve significantly better energy performance while largely maintaining the typologies of Lincoln’s residential context.
