In late 2011, Portland State University faculty were awarded the largest NCARB Grant for the Integration of Practice and Education in the Academy to date in order to generate translational building science research in collaboration with firms in Portland, Oregon. This grant, along with the resources of the Green Building Research Laboratory (GBRL), transformed traditional lecture-based building science and technology courses into a series of on-going, graduate level seminars that revolve around two primary activities: (1) students conduct building science research of relevance to a project currently under design in a firm and (2) students are embedded in project teams where they attend all interdisciplinary meetings for the course of a term to witness and document interdisciplinary collaboration.
In this unique way, students became contributing members of a design team and building science experts on issues relevant to current practice. For the architecture firms involved, working with universities allows practicing architects the ability to utilize a deeper level of research expertise in the design process and access resources not typically available in practice. One of the most exciting outcomes of this collaboration have been the semi-annual research symposiums where students present their work to representatives from all of the participating firms, creating a dialog around pressing building science issues with students, faculty and practitioners.
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Life Cycle Assessment American Center, Rangoon, Myanmar
W. Uebelacker, Cole Poland, Corey T. Griffin, Ben Deines, and YGH Project Team
This LCA looks at the cradle to grave operations of a building, quantifying the environmental impacts of the materials, production process, transportation, operating use, deconstruction, and disposal. There are several environmental categories that can be identified for evaluating global impacts including global warming, ozone depletion, eutrophication, acidification, smog formation, particulates, and fossil fuels. According to the International Organization for Standardization, there are four phases for performing LCA of a building: ... Read More
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Maximixing Daylight in Lower Level Classrooms using Lightwells
J. Primozich, R. Webber, Corey T. Griffin, Ben Deines, and THA Architecture
Student and worker performance has been shown to share a correlation with access to natural sources of lighting (Heschong, 2002). Natural lighting also provides environmental benefits through the reduction of a building’s energy dependence (Ihm, P., Nemri, A., Krarti, M., 2008). Lower-level classrooms are particularly troublesome to daylight because skylight strategies are unavailable and relying on exterior glazing increases solar heat gain as well as increased envelope costs. Lightwells offer ... Read More
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Nicu Lighting Design: Responding to the Diverse Lighting Needs of NICU Users
Rachel Browne, Corey T. Griffin, Nada Maani, SRG Architects, and LUMA
SRG is redesigning a NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) for a major healthcare provider in the Portland, OR metro area.This is an intensive care unit for babies born prematurely and up to 6 months of age. The space is in an existing hospital and has previously been used as an NICU. For the last several years it was being used as overflow office space, but now is being remodeled and ... Read More
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Parametric Analysis for Building Efficiency Developing a Tool for Diagramming Programmatic Relationships using adjacency requirements
Christopher Boon, Lyee Chong, Sergio Palleroni, Huafen Hu, Ben Deines, and ZGF
Emerging Parametric technologies are opening new opportunities in Architecture. Generally, it is seen primarily as an engine to drive formal exploration and renderings. Its implications however are larger and it is possible to employ it is at many stages in the design process. During the initial design stage, much of what is explored involves theoretical concepts. The work is expressed diagrammatically. If the concept can be distilled to its parameters, ... Read More
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Portland State University Engineering Building Expansion Feasability Study
Nicole Dunbar, Huafen Hu, Sergio Palleroni, Ben Deines, ZGF Architects, and Glumac
he building was certified LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold after its construction, achieving a 45% reduction in energy use from the original building. A geothermal (ground source heat pump) cooling system is the primary cooling device in the building, along with operable windows in classrooms for natural ventilation and cooling (PSU).
Portland State University’s commitment to sustainability sparked the impetus to push for a design that would ... Read More
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Post-Occupancy Daylight Analysis: Vernonia K-12 School
Portland State University. School of Architecture
Early design approaches are becoming increasingly important in the architectural design process. Studying the buildings performance after occupancy has allowed our field to study the accuracy of design modeling. This has been especially true with daylight analysis. Specifically in school settings, daylight is not only desirable but crucial to the health and performance of children. Analysis of daylight in the architectural field has increased as the opportunity to perform more ... Read More
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Renton Highlands Library Daylighting Analysis
Sergio Palleroni, Vanessa Vanderhoof, Huafen Hu, Ben Dienes, and Angela Cutright
It is common knowledge that natural light is better for the built environment and occupying such environments. It also is important to note that society spends the better part of their lives in structures or buildings; these spaces have a hand in our daily experiences. Not only do people benefit from natural lighting, physically and mentally, but daylighting systems can also lower dependency on electricity, lowering the usability and lifetime ... Read More
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Thermal Imaging for Facade Performance Evaluation: Informing Decisions for SRG’s PSU School of Business Renovation
Kelsy Colvin, Samuel North, Corey T. Griffin, Ben Deines, and SRG Architects
This research serves to evaluate the current condition of existing building skins on The School of Business and The School of Education at Portland State University (PSU) through infrared thermography. The buildings were constructed at two different points: The School of Education in 1979 and The School of Business in 1986. Both have had minor renovations since their construction, and each are articulated in differing materiality. Infrared thermography is best ... Read More
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Wall Assembly and Material Analysis
Sam North, Cole Poland, Reid Weber, Sergio Palleroni, Huafen Hu, Ben Deines, and THA Architecture
We researched the thought process and reasoning behind the design of wall assemblies from start to finish. We explored the specific reasoning for placement and use of every material in the wall and brought to light where the reasoning came from. The wall assemblies in question are those of an academic building currently under construction on Portland Community College, Cascade Campus designed by Thomas Hacker Associates Architecture (THA).
The project ... Read More
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A Critical Assessment of Concrete and Masonry Structures for Reconstruction After Seismic Events in Developing Countries
Heather McWilliams and Corey T. Griffin
Overview: The infrastructures of developing countries, old and new, are in severe danger of the next natural disaster, only due to the fact that there is zero concern for the overall use of materials. And although the awa reness of poor construction tech niques have been presented, engineers and arch itects are continuously proposing systems tha t are destined to be hazards once the next disaster hits. Not only is ... Read More
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Airflow Simulation and Analysis of a Campus Courtyard Research for the design of U.C. Davis International Complex, Phase I
Corey T. Griffin, J. Moore, and SRG Partnership
Natural Ventilation has the attractive qualities that it is free and unlimited. The task is how to utilize it in such a way that it properly transports its capacity in making a well-conditioned environment. Preliminary design of a campus is tested and studied, in an attempt to find out if the geometry of the building provides suitable amount of air through its courtyard. The courtyard is the most important space ... Read More
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Air Temperature Stratification: a Post-Occupancy Study of the 12|West/ZGF office
Justin Wells, Matt Sedor, and Corey T. Griffin
The primary method for cooling is through the ventilation system during winter. HVAC studies were done using computational fluid dynamic models by the engineers. They predict that heat will be transported by convective air currents that rise from the floor, through an “occupation zone” to the ceiling and then exhausted through the ceiling air plenum. Although the air is distributed relatively evenly through floor-mounted diffusers, it is unknown how evenly ... Read More
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A Multi-Performance Comparison of Long-Span Structural Systems
E. Douville, B. Thompson, Corey T. Griffin, and KPFF Consulting Engineers
When a building requires a long span, especially on the ground floor of a multi-story building, the long span often determines the structural system used early in the design pro-cess without any other consideration. Commercial and residential buildings are responsible for roughly 40% of all carbon emissions and energy use, more than any other sector in the USA. Moreover, this excludes the significant energy and emissions required to extract, process, ... Read More
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Balancing Optimal Daylight and Optimal Solar Gain using Climate-Based Daylight Modeling
B. Deines and Corey T. Griffin
Designing an envelope that optimizes the solar radiation entering a building is critical to the quality of interior spaces. Some of this radiation is necessary for illumination. This decreases the need for electric lighting and significantly contributes to the quality of architectural space. In contrast, direct solar radiation can heat a space. In large buildings this heating often contributes to the cooling load and decreases overall energy performance. This study ... Read More
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Barriers in the Implementation of Cross-Laminated Timber as a Sustainable Alternative Structural System in Multi-Family Multi-Story Housing
Portland State University. School of Architecture
Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) was first developed in the early 1990s in Austria and Germany and has been gaining popularity in residential and non-residential applications, mainly in Europe. Currently, panels are being manufactured in a limited number of places in North America, which allows CLT to be used in a few projects while trade organizations and governmental agencies adopt specifications and codes for its use. CLT is being used in Europe ... Read More
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Comparing the Embodied Energy of Structural Systems in Parking Garages an Analysis of Three Built Projects: Cellular Steel, Precast Concrete and Post-tensioned Concrete
Corey T. Griffin, L. Bynum, A. Green, S. Marandyuk, J. Namgung, and KPFF Consulting Engineers
The structure of a typical office building contributes roughly one-quarter to one-third of the total embodied energy. Although the occupation phase of a building’s life cycle currently dominates energy use, as operational energy use is minimized through high-performance design, construction and equipment, embodied energy will play a larger role in the overall energy consumption of a building. Consequently, the structural system should be a primary target for reducing the embodied ... Read More
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Efficacy of Replacement Windows in Building Energy Retrofits: A Post Occupancy Evaluation
Chris Rockhill, Heidi Crespi, Corey T. Griffin, and Boora Architecture
The thermal performance of replacement windows has made considerable progress in a short time frame. Few studies have been carried out with regard to application of new and retrofit windows to pre-retrofit windows. The goal for this energy retrofit is occupant comfort, as 80% of a buildings energy use goes toward maintaining this standard.Any effort to make this load more efficient is worth investing and warrant post occupancy evaluation to ... Read More
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Improving the Integration of Sustainable Strategies in Schematic Design: Developing a multi-faceted tool to improve thermal resistance in architectural enclosure systems
M. Boyce Postma and Jacob Spence
This study seeks to develop a tool that can be quickly and easily used by schematic designers to set a thermal resistance target for the complete enclosure system and receive options in a variety of variables to achieve that goal.
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Lincoln-Juarez Land Port of Entry Vehicle Processing Facility
Nathan Clifford, Dylan Morgan, Chad Norvell, Chris Kline, Raul Bayoan Cal, Matthew S. Melius, and THA Architecture
PROJECT OVERVIEW:
The indoor environmental quality of a building has a significant impact on occupant health, comfort, and productivity. Exposure to the exhaust fumes of idling vehicles is a dangerous but avoidable toxic hazard. Proper ventilation of vehicle inspection areas is essential, and to the maximum possible means, should be accomplished by natural ventilation. We intend to research the extent to which it is possible to use passive ventilation strategies ... Read More
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Optimizing Efficiencies in Multi-Performance Upgrades to Unreinforced Masonry (URM} Buildings
Julie McEvoy Baines
In 2001, the City of Portland identified over 1,900 URM's, many of which have never been seismically upgraded. These structures will pose a serious risk to occupants both during and after a seismic event. In this collection of historic structures live and work thousands of families, school children, and professionals. Additionally, due to their lack of wall insulation and outdated mechanical systems, these URM buildings tend to perform poorly in ... Read More
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OSU Teaching and Learning Facility
Portland State University. School of Architecture
OSU Teaching and Learning Facility
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Preservation Sustainability Modernism: The Qualitative Analysis of Valuing Modern Architecture through Preservation and Sustainability
Portland State University. School of Architecture
As sustainability becomes increasingly important, it has transformed design, construction, and operation of new buildings. Preservation has become a common sustainability strategy; however, it is much easier to argue the historical value of a hundred year old wood-framed house than a modern glass structure. Many buildings constructed with modernist ideals have more currently become a topic of debate for sustainable preservation. The tension stems between preserving embodied energy of existing ... Read More
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The Principles of Exterior Wall Systems
M. Coon, A. Green, T. Stephens, and Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects
To assist designers and clients alike in understanding, investigating, and detailing wall systems, Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects has created a document known as the Principles of Exterior Wall Systems (PEWS). This assemblage of information highlights their main types of wall systems including rain screens, mass walls, curtain walls and other systems while consisting of graphic models, sections, and diagrams. In an effort to further enhance the PEWS document, an investigation ... Read More
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The Role of Structures in Daylighting Retrofits for Existing Buildings: Exploring an Iterative Workflow for the Schematic Design Phase in Building Retrofits
Portland State University. School of Architecture
Existing buildings, particularly those with deep floor plates, must be retrofitted to reduce electricity consumption. The structural systems of existing buildings can both inhibit and support daylighting retrofits, specifically the use of skylights. This research explores the interactions of structural systems and daylighting through the use of simulation software, specifically the ability of structure to reduce glare by blocking direct sunlight and distributing light more evenly.
... Read More