Energy Efficient Housing
For this project we had to make a design a device that uses solar energy to heat water. We learned lots about heat transfer and that most of it comes from the sun. Our heater starts with a shoe box and has many other materials like soft copper tubing. We had to know which materials had better thermal conductivity and thermal resistance. Our goal was to heat up water with our design only using the suns energy in a certain amount of time. First, my group started to brainstorm. We can up with the idea to let the water sit in the copper tubing and let it heat up. Our group collected our needed materials and after drawing our sketch, we started to build. We used plastic tubing to transfer the water, copper tubing to hold the water, water container that stores the water, aluminum foil that collects radiate waves from the sun, cardboard box which is our base, plastic sheet that reflects the sun for sunlight, and cotton balls for our insulation. The water would come down from the water container into the plastic tubing. It will enter the box, that had a greenhouse effect and sit in the copper tubing. The plastic tubing will not allow heat to escape and our insulation would also keep the heat in. Our tin foil would reflect the light all over the greenhouse. We would collect all the extra water droplets and keep adding them back in. At the end of 30 minutes, we collected our water and the temperature increased by 12 degrees. Our total heat gain was 6,279 J.
Concepts
Conduction- transfer heat through solid (ex. pan and stove)
Convection- transfer heat through liquid (liquid, gases)
Radiation- transfer of heat through waves/particles/rays (ex.sunlight)
Insulation- bad at conducting (opp. of conducting) resistance to transfer heat
Thermal Conductivity- rate at which a material transfers heat
Thermal Resistance- ability of materials to resist transforming heat
Daylighting Design and Techniques
For this next activity we had to design a scale model using cardboard of a 1000 square ft.house for us to know more about daylighting techniques for the Stem house they built last year. Our goal was to design a prototype and use as much sunlight as possible without using hours of unneeded electricity. My group first started to brainstorm and came up with a sketch to the scale of our prototype. Our house had to have a solar tube, light shelf and sky lights with many windows. We had a master bedroom(15by10), bedroom(10by10), kitchen(20by10), living room(20by10), and a bathroom(5by5). Our house blueprint came out to be a total of 925 square feet. Our calculated energy savings was a total of 8.28 kw/hr. I believe that we could have done many things better with this project. We could have but a better light catcher in the southern part of the house to get more light there. I liked our design and i think if we put it into motion it could work very well.
Required lighting and time
Living Room - 4 bulbs on for around 3 hours
Kitchen - 3 bulbs for around 3 hours
Master bedroom - 3 bulbs for around 2 1/2 hours
Bedroom - 2 lights for around 2 hours
Bathroom - 2 bulbs for around 1 1/2 hours
Hallway - 3 bulbs for around 2 hours
Total energy savings - 8.28 kw/hr
Required lighting and time
Daylighting techniques
1) Skylights- They a giant windows on the roof of a house to provide a huge amount of sunlight especially at noon.
2) Light shelves- They are like shelves on a window to reflect and distribute light from outside into inside ceiling. wall and is good at catching light in the morning & evening.
4) Solar Tubes- these are giant tubes/pipes placed on the roof of a homes ceiling. It catches light and distributes it all around the house.
SITE SELECTION
During this project we had to take data on the best spot on campus to build a house. We had to rank the selected sites on a scale. My group decided it was best to do a 1-3 scale (one being the lowest and three being the highest). The location that we thought would be best is where we would build our house design on. Below is what we ranked the different sites on
1.) Space 6.) Noise
2.) Accessibility 7.) Visibility (not too hidden)
3.) Sun/Shade 8.) View/Elevation
4.) The sun throughout the day (plentiful) 9.) Disruption to others
5.) Privacy 10.) Temperature (too hot/cold)
Materials Testing Lab For this lab, we had to find out which building materials is the most efficient "conductor" or "insulator " of heat. We tested the materials listed below. The first procedure was to place 1 ft of testing material 12cm below a 60 watt inefficient bulb. Then place tested material on cardboard to insulate from the counter top. After, take initial temperature, turn of light bulb and keep taking the temperature for every 5 min for 20 min. When 20 min is up, turn bulb off and take temperature again for 20 min. Find total temp gain and total temp loss for each material. When everyones done we compared materials and analyze data. My groups material was different types of wood and OSB had the greatest gain of temp at 3 degrees.
~ sand ~rubber
~ water ~terra cotta
~ dirt ~white paint
~ brick ~ yellow paint
~ aluminum ~white paint
~ copper ~black paint
~ steel ~magnetic paint
~ nails ~ saran wrap
~ screws ~glass
~ plywood (thick) ~two layers of saran wrap
~ plywood (thin) ~rigid foam
~ OSB ~spray foam
~ 2x4 ~fiberglass
WIND TURBINE LAB
In this lab, we had to design and build a turbine powered by wind to generate the electricity needed for our house. We studied two different types of turbines: VAWT (Vertical Axis Wind Turbine) and HAWT (Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine). We learned that HAWTs were more common, and were easier to use, because the wind is pushing them from only one direction. VAWTs, on the other hand, were more inconvenient due to the way their blades spin horizontally. This makes the wind push them on two sides, making it hard for the VAWT to start moving.
Vertical Axis Wind Turbines Horizontal Axis wind Turbines
Ways of generating energy
Solar Reflector panels and Cold Frame design
All the projects above eventually led to this project: our building design. We had to build a cold frame to allow plant growth during the winter for the San Marin garden, and design a reflector for the north window on the passive solar home that the 2017 STEM class built last year. After designing them, we had to create a scale model of them[the designs] and explain the key features, list the materials and why we chose them, their costs and the source links, and create blueprints. Here are both of the presentations:
Reflection
For this project we worked with the same group members for over 2 months. My group consisted of Olivia, Jacob, and Evelyne. Our group from day one got along and worked together great. The first project we were faced with we all put in ideas and tackled the project together. I feel like this group has been one of the hardest working ones I have been in so far. Also we got along within the group well to so no one fought with one another. Some of the things my group and I have to keep working on is time management. It seems like every project we always deal with this happening due to us slacking a bit in the beginning. The last pit was just keeping on task for the last couple of weeks during the cold frame and reflector design. We were given freedom on this last project and we got the job done but if we had stayed focused more of the time then we would have made more efficient time to finishing this project. I feel like during this long period of time i improved on skills of mine. I gained a lot of leadership skills with brainstorming ideas and putting them into action. I also think that the group as a whole learned a lot about working together. For the most part during build days we were all helping each other out or working on something to do with the project. I really liked this project and I was happy with the group that I worked with it on.
CONCEPTS
Heat~ a form of thermal energy, usually from light; the measure of movement in molecules (more heat=more movement)
Absorb~ to take in and hold energy
Reflect~ when light is neither absorbed or transmitted to another substance, but is bounced directly off of it.
Temperature~ the property that tells you whether they have heat or not (hot or cold)
Thermodynamics~ 0th law.) explains temperature "if two systems are in thermal equilibrium with a third system, then they are in equilibrium with each other 1st law.) the conservation of energy "energy is neither created or destroyed; heat is a form of energy"2nd law.) entropy increases "disorder increases; over time, everything becomes the same temperature" 3rd law.) temperature can never get to absolute zero "heat always exists"
Specific Heat~ a constant for a substance, measures how slowly an object heats up; how well it holds heat high specific heat- warms up slowly and holds heat well
Pressure~ force per unit area; the greater the area, the more pressure (the deeper the water, the more pressure)
Buoyancy~ the weight of water after it's displaced; when an object is submerged in water, the upward force is the opposite of gravity and is called the buoyant force.
Evaporation~ the cooling process that takes heat from water, and cools water down
Archimede's Principle~ an immersed object is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid it displaces (boat weighs 10,000 lbs, displaces 10,000 lbs of water)
Bernoulli's Principle~ if a speed of a fluid increases, the pressure decreases
For this project we had to make a design a device that uses solar energy to heat water. We learned lots about heat transfer and that most of it comes from the sun. Our heater starts with a shoe box and has many other materials like soft copper tubing. We had to know which materials had better thermal conductivity and thermal resistance. Our goal was to heat up water with our design only using the suns energy in a certain amount of time. First, my group started to brainstorm. We can up with the idea to let the water sit in the copper tubing and let it heat up. Our group collected our needed materials and after drawing our sketch, we started to build. We used plastic tubing to transfer the water, copper tubing to hold the water, water container that stores the water, aluminum foil that collects radiate waves from the sun, cardboard box which is our base, plastic sheet that reflects the sun for sunlight, and cotton balls for our insulation. The water would come down from the water container into the plastic tubing. It will enter the box, that had a greenhouse effect and sit in the copper tubing. The plastic tubing will not allow heat to escape and our insulation would also keep the heat in. Our tin foil would reflect the light all over the greenhouse. We would collect all the extra water droplets and keep adding them back in. At the end of 30 minutes, we collected our water and the temperature increased by 12 degrees. Our total heat gain was 6,279 J.
Concepts
Conduction- transfer heat through solid (ex. pan and stove)
Convection- transfer heat through liquid (liquid, gases)
Radiation- transfer of heat through waves/particles/rays (ex.sunlight)
Insulation- bad at conducting (opp. of conducting) resistance to transfer heat
Thermal Conductivity- rate at which a material transfers heat
Thermal Resistance- ability of materials to resist transforming heat
Daylighting Design and Techniques
For this next activity we had to design a scale model using cardboard of a 1000 square ft.house for us to know more about daylighting techniques for the Stem house they built last year. Our goal was to design a prototype and use as much sunlight as possible without using hours of unneeded electricity. My group first started to brainstorm and came up with a sketch to the scale of our prototype. Our house had to have a solar tube, light shelf and sky lights with many windows. We had a master bedroom(15by10), bedroom(10by10), kitchen(20by10), living room(20by10), and a bathroom(5by5). Our house blueprint came out to be a total of 925 square feet. Our calculated energy savings was a total of 8.28 kw/hr. I believe that we could have done many things better with this project. We could have but a better light catcher in the southern part of the house to get more light there. I liked our design and i think if we put it into motion it could work very well.
Required lighting and time
Living Room - 4 bulbs on for around 3 hours
Kitchen - 3 bulbs for around 3 hours
Master bedroom - 3 bulbs for around 2 1/2 hours
Bedroom - 2 lights for around 2 hours
Bathroom - 2 bulbs for around 1 1/2 hours
Hallway - 3 bulbs for around 2 hours
Total energy savings - 8.28 kw/hr
Required lighting and time
Daylighting techniques
1) Skylights- They a giant windows on the roof of a house to provide a huge amount of sunlight especially at noon.
2) Light shelves- They are like shelves on a window to reflect and distribute light from outside into inside ceiling. wall and is good at catching light in the morning & evening.
4) Solar Tubes- these are giant tubes/pipes placed on the roof of a homes ceiling. It catches light and distributes it all around the house.
SITE SELECTION
During this project we had to take data on the best spot on campus to build a house. We had to rank the selected sites on a scale. My group decided it was best to do a 1-3 scale (one being the lowest and three being the highest). The location that we thought would be best is where we would build our house design on. Below is what we ranked the different sites on
1.) Space 6.) Noise
2.) Accessibility 7.) Visibility (not too hidden)
3.) Sun/Shade 8.) View/Elevation
4.) The sun throughout the day (plentiful) 9.) Disruption to others
5.) Privacy 10.) Temperature (too hot/cold)
Materials Testing Lab For this lab, we had to find out which building materials is the most efficient "conductor" or "insulator " of heat. We tested the materials listed below. The first procedure was to place 1 ft of testing material 12cm below a 60 watt inefficient bulb. Then place tested material on cardboard to insulate from the counter top. After, take initial temperature, turn of light bulb and keep taking the temperature for every 5 min for 20 min. When 20 min is up, turn bulb off and take temperature again for 20 min. Find total temp gain and total temp loss for each material. When everyones done we compared materials and analyze data. My groups material was different types of wood and OSB had the greatest gain of temp at 3 degrees.
~ sand ~rubber
~ water ~terra cotta
~ dirt ~white paint
~ brick ~ yellow paint
~ aluminum ~white paint
~ copper ~black paint
~ steel ~magnetic paint
~ nails ~ saran wrap
~ screws ~glass
~ plywood (thick) ~two layers of saran wrap
~ plywood (thin) ~rigid foam
~ OSB ~spray foam
~ 2x4 ~fiberglass
WIND TURBINE LAB
In this lab, we had to design and build a turbine powered by wind to generate the electricity needed for our house. We studied two different types of turbines: VAWT (Vertical Axis Wind Turbine) and HAWT (Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine). We learned that HAWTs were more common, and were easier to use, because the wind is pushing them from only one direction. VAWTs, on the other hand, were more inconvenient due to the way their blades spin horizontally. This makes the wind push them on two sides, making it hard for the VAWT to start moving.
Vertical Axis Wind Turbines Horizontal Axis wind Turbines
Ways of generating energy
Solar Reflector panels and Cold Frame design
All the projects above eventually led to this project: our building design. We had to build a cold frame to allow plant growth during the winter for the San Marin garden, and design a reflector for the north window on the passive solar home that the 2017 STEM class built last year. After designing them, we had to create a scale model of them[the designs] and explain the key features, list the materials and why we chose them, their costs and the source links, and create blueprints. Here are both of the presentations:
Reflection
For this project we worked with the same group members for over 2 months. My group consisted of Olivia, Jacob, and Evelyne. Our group from day one got along and worked together great. The first project we were faced with we all put in ideas and tackled the project together. I feel like this group has been one of the hardest working ones I have been in so far. Also we got along within the group well to so no one fought with one another. Some of the things my group and I have to keep working on is time management. It seems like every project we always deal with this happening due to us slacking a bit in the beginning. The last pit was just keeping on task for the last couple of weeks during the cold frame and reflector design. We were given freedom on this last project and we got the job done but if we had stayed focused more of the time then we would have made more efficient time to finishing this project. I feel like during this long period of time i improved on skills of mine. I gained a lot of leadership skills with brainstorming ideas and putting them into action. I also think that the group as a whole learned a lot about working together. For the most part during build days we were all helping each other out or working on something to do with the project. I really liked this project and I was happy with the group that I worked with it on.
CONCEPTS
Heat~ a form of thermal energy, usually from light; the measure of movement in molecules (more heat=more movement)
Absorb~ to take in and hold energy
Reflect~ when light is neither absorbed or transmitted to another substance, but is bounced directly off of it.
Temperature~ the property that tells you whether they have heat or not (hot or cold)
Thermodynamics~ 0th law.) explains temperature "if two systems are in thermal equilibrium with a third system, then they are in equilibrium with each other 1st law.) the conservation of energy "energy is neither created or destroyed; heat is a form of energy"2nd law.) entropy increases "disorder increases; over time, everything becomes the same temperature" 3rd law.) temperature can never get to absolute zero "heat always exists"
Specific Heat~ a constant for a substance, measures how slowly an object heats up; how well it holds heat high specific heat- warms up slowly and holds heat well
Pressure~ force per unit area; the greater the area, the more pressure (the deeper the water, the more pressure)
Buoyancy~ the weight of water after it's displaced; when an object is submerged in water, the upward force is the opposite of gravity and is called the buoyant force.
Evaporation~ the cooling process that takes heat from water, and cools water down
Archimede's Principle~ an immersed object is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid it displaces (boat weighs 10,000 lbs, displaces 10,000 lbs of water)
Bernoulli's Principle~ if a speed of a fluid increases, the pressure decreases