Week 9

This week was spent preparing for the presentation and making several revisions to the paper based on instructor feedback. The new prototype was also modified and assembled. At this point most of the work was just in wrapping up the final aspects of the design and paper and making sure that our presentation made sense. Not too much work was required other than practicing our sections of the speech and proofreading the paper.

Above are images of the simple prototype which was made to show the movement of the facade's pieces.

Week 8

This week the group concentrated on finalizing the prototype as well as correcting any problems in the final report and preparing for the final presentation. The draft of the final draft had at this point already been submitted, so the group worked to fix any errors or omissions which the grader had noticed. We also had a practice presentation in Week Nine, so at this point we had to put together our slideshow and decide who would talk about which sections. This week the group also concentrated on adding a more exact description of the design to the final report. This description will be added to the Project Overview and the Design Description tabs when complete. The design is still in concept stages, as the main focus of this project was in research, rather than development.

One problem encountered when building a prototype was that the size we tried to make was much too large. The prototype was very unwieldy and small errors in the angles of the arms meant that the points did not actually meet at the center. Because of this the group decided to make a smaller, easier to handle prototype which would look less impressive, but which would work better and be easier to make.

Week 7

Much of the time spent on week this week outside of class was focused on writing the rough draft of the final report. This included the developments mentioned up to this point as well as our purpose for the project, our finding on the various methods which exist which we have combined in order to make this new design and our predictions on what still needs to be done before the design can be finalized. Overviews of this information can be found under the "Information/Resources" tab.

At this point research regarding the light shelf aspect of the design was also done and added to the paper, though these benefits were now considered more a pleasant coincidence than a real goal for the design.

Research was also done regarding the improvements in morale and productivity which daylighting can achieve. In this research, which can be seen in our paper and found in the Information/Resources tab, we found that humans often experience better mood in daylight, due to our adaptation to its spectral distribution and its changes throughout the day. In one study of 13 schools, children taking a standardized test in more daylight worked up to 25% faster and scored up to 18% better than students with less daylight.

Week 6

The group finished designing a computer model of the "pods" of the THMF in SketchUp.The rough draft of the final design report was started and plans to begin construction of a prototype were drawn up; after it was realized that the group was falling behind in the production of a prototype, as seen above. The group also realized that more research needs to be done with respect to placing a double facade on a building, in retrospect to how efficient a double facade would be.

This week was mainly spent doing research, which can be found in the Information/Resources tab as well as in the papers linked to in that section. Further detail was added to the design ideas, which can be found in the Design Description tab.

Week 5

The group looked over the various simulations made. They also added in a model of the Amtrak Cira Center as the building to which the facade will be added. At this point the group was still considering a double layered glass facade, placing the flowers inside the "chimney" of the facade. This facade could then be used to help cool or heat the building through convection. At first they thought that the convection current between the two panes of glass would allow the façade to remain in a more "open" position in hotter conditions. The cooling effects of the convection would allow light to enter to building yet filter the heat of solar radiation. However, they later reconsidered and decided to place the pieces on the outside of this double-skin facade. Doing this would allow the design, now called the Transformative Heat Monitoring Facade (THMF) to monitor the heat, rather than the amount of light. The facade would close when the facade was too hot and allow the convection current to recover.

 This image shows the facade piece from the front completely closed.

Here is another piece partly opened:

 This is another view of a section of the facade almost completely open.

This is an image of the facade pieces at various stages behind the outer layer of glass and affixed a certain distance from the existing windows, made before considering the benefits of monitoring heat instead of light.

Week 4

The group began to do more in depth research about their design, investigating similar designs and how their design is or is not superior. Some group members also began to make simulations and 3D models of the facade using Google Sketchup.

The group members did not have much experience with this program, and making this three-dimensional shape was a bit difficult. Eventually member was able to have some measure of success, though the group was unable to make a video of the transformation, as they had wanted. Instead three stages of the movement (open, partially open and closed) were made in order to give viewers an idea of what would be happening.

We also found a video of a model of a similar design in which the movement was directed from the center rather than the corners.

However, we kept our design as directed from the corners, as this allows us to have a very simple mechanism for operation. The facade can be mounted at the corners on a square frame, and the rods of this square frame can rotate to move the leaves/petals of the different parts. These rods can then be connected to the building with a second set of rods.

Week 3

The group has decided, rather than try to improve the Al Bahar design they would try to create a design of their own. They will continue to use to facade on the Al Bahar building as inspiration. By then end of the next week we plan to the primary idea for our design in place and to begin to produce a 3D model of the design. One idea which is considered is to have a general structure similar to an origami fortune teller, with the interior consisting of panels of glass and the outer panels made from solid materials. This could then be opened and closed to allow light into the building. And added bonus of such a design is the fact that this structure is attractive and rather organic in form, resembling a four-petal flower. The "flower" would be open in the back, and as the petals moved the opening would be revealed or hidden, allowing the group to control the amount of daylight entering the building.

At this point the addition of a double-skin facade was added to the design. This concept, explained further in the Information/References page, places two layers of glass around the outside of a building, leaving a chimney-like channel which seeps away hot air between them. This idea was integrated into the design because in temperate regions such as ours, limiting daylight is not always a problem. However, these facades, while effective, have a flaw. If the facade is unshaded the air inside continues to head until it is as much as 50 F above ambient temperature, which makes the double skin lose many of its benefits. For example, this facade would usually act as an insulator from excess heat during the summer, but when overheated would instead be contributing excess heat.

Week 2

The group continued to decide on the details of the project. They decided to modify an existing facade plan built in Dubai. The new design will keep the functional aspects, but also allow for a view, which is now often blocked by the structure of the facade. The new design will be much more retractable than the current facade.

When beginning preliminary design sketches the group determined that keeping the hexagonal shape would be the most convenient. Each window of the building would have it's own hexagonal shade. At first the group wanted each leaf of the hexagon to be able to fan out independently, blocking different sections of the windows, etc.

Later the group decided that perhaps the six different solid leaves of the hexagon could be folded in half in three different directions, allowing users to make three different light shelves depending on the angle of the sun. However, they encountered a problem when deciding how the joints would operate.

Week 1

During the first week the group met multiple times to discuss how the project was going to be completed and brainstormed ideas. At these meetings the group set up most of the ground work for later weeks, such as exchanging contact information, creating a blog, and constructing a design proposal. The group also created a timeline, splitting the project up into sections and assigning a completion date for these sections, one such example is that by the end of week 6 a working design will be created and the construction of a prototype will begin. This timeline will allow the group to complete the project within the ten week deadline. By the end of the ten week term the group plans to have a 3D computer model of the design and an actual working prototype. However due to time constraints on the project the group has decided to focus on the mechanical design of the façade, meaning the final design prototype will be manually operated. More information will be give about what will most likely be a hydraulic or electrical operation of the actual façade.