Energy Efficient Housing
Atomic Structure, State, and Heat:
While learning about energy efficient we started off by learning about atomic structure, state, and heat. To start off we talked about what makes up an atom. We learned about protons, neutrons, and electrons and what they do in the atom. We then learned about molecules and compounds. After learning about what atoms are made up of we learned about what heat is. We went over how heat transfers from one object to another through conduction, convection, radiation, and we also talked about insulation, heat itself, thermal conductivity, and finally thermal resistance.
Concepts:
Conduction- Conduction is the transfer of heat through an object.
Convection- Convection is the transfer of heat through a fluid.
Radiation- Radiation is the transfer of heat through waves/particles/rays.
Insulation- Insulation is something that is bad at conducting.
Heat- Heat is a form of energy measured in joules, it is also a measure of the kinetic energy of atoms.
Thermal Conductivity- Thermal conductivity is the rate at which materials transfer heat.
Thermal Resistance- Thermal resistance is the ability of a material to transfer heat.
Design a Hot Water Heater:
Our next project was to create a solar water heater. We used what we learned about how heat transfers to create this water heater. We were supplied a copper pipe and a length of tubing. We placed the copper tube in a cardboard box that was covered on tin foil. We covered it in tin foil so that it would reflect the most light onto the copper tube. We attached an insulated water storage at the top of the system and we put a cup at the bottom of the system to collect the water as it came out of the system. Then we measured the temperature difference from the beginning of the experiment to the end of the experiment.
Concepts:
The concepts for the solar water heater are the same as atomic structure, state, and heat except this time we got to see them in action. The copper pipe would conduct the heat from the sun into the water. The water would spread the heat around using convection. The water storage at the top of the system was insulated so that the water would not lose too much heat while it was in the storage.
Solar Angles and How it Changes During Seasons:
After we created the solar heater we talked about the angle of the sun and how it changes over the seasons. While learning about the sun angles we talked about how the most direct light is when the light is at a 90 degree angle to the surface that it is hitting. When the light is slanted it is less concentrated because it is the same amount of light hitting a larger area. We talked about the seasons too, there are different seasons because of the tilt of the earth on it's axis. The hemisphere tilted towards the sun receives more direct sunlight and experiences summer. The hemisphere tilted away experiences winter.
Concepts:
The solar angles and how they change during seasons had only one major concept. The concept was that the closer you are to a 90 degree angle the more direct light you get. This concept is very important in a later segment.
Day Lighting Design Activity:
For the day lighting design activity we were tasked with creating a model house that uses some day lighting techniques, these day lighting techniques are clerestory windows, light shelves, solar tubes, and skylights. We had to use one of each day lighting techniques in the model house. Once we had built the house we used a light bulb to simulate the sun. We moved the light bulb at various sun angles that accounted for different seasons and different times of day. We recorded how much light we got in each room and how the day lighting techniques helped get light into these rooms.
Concepts:
Clerestory Window- A clerestory window is a window that is on the upper part of a wall that rises up above the roof.
Light Shelf- A light shelf is a horizontal surface placed below a window that reflects light into the building.
Solar Tube- Solar tubes are cylinders used to bring light into homes.
Skylights- A skylight is a window installed in the roof or ceiling.
Site Selection:
For the site selection we were tasked with finding three sites around the school campus where we could build a structure. We made a table with columns for temperature, sun angles, seasonal, variation, sun/shade percentages, time of day variation, use of the structure and where it makes sense to place it, and social dynamics of use. Then for each site we rated them based off of that criteria. We also added multipliers to the categorized that we though were important, so our group thought that sun/shade percentages were important so we put a 2 times multiplier on them.
Concepts:
There was only one major concept for this segment of the project. The main concept was how things change over time and how to identify ideal locations for building structures.
Materials Testing:
In this segment we tested various different materials that we could use in out next project, the building design. We tested these some of these materials for radiation, some for conductivity, and some for absorption or reflection. These materials were placed under a light bulb to heat up for a certain amount of time, the heat gain was recorded. Then the light bulb was turned off and they cooled for the same amount of time and again we measured the temperature. This experiment told us how fast the material heats up and how long it holds that heat.
Concepts:
Radiation- Transfer of energy through waves/particles
Conductivity-The rate at which heat passes through a specific material
Absorption- The process of when one thing, heat in this case, is being absorbed by anther thing, our material.
Reflection- The throwing back by a surface of light, heat, or sound without absorbing it.
Building design:
For this project we had to build a cold frame and come up with a solution for getting direct light into the north window of a house, the house does not get direct light because we are in the northern hemisphere. For the cold frame we used what we already know about sun angles to find the best angle for getting the most direct sunlight throughout the winter. The materials testing lab also helped us decide what materials to use for he cold frame. For the north window project our group decided to make an external solar tube. The solar tube would rise above the house and have an angled opening to catch the sunlight. The light then goes down the solar tube and reflects off of a light shelf into the window.
Concepts:
The concepts for the building design as a combination of all of the previous concepts and used them in one project. We especially focused on light angles though, it was important to get the light in at the correct angle.
reflection:
This project was our longest project by far and we had a lot to cover but we also had a lot of time. One of group's peak was that once we put our mind to making something happen we did it very quickly but we also had times where we did not accomplish much. This was one of our groups pits, because we had so much time we had a lot of time to procrastinate. This was our major pit we waited a little ehile to get some of the work done, but in the end everything turned out fine. Our second peak is that for our coldframe and north window project we made very solid designs. The engineers actually chose our north window design to build. Our second pit was that we had some problems communicating after school. On the night of the presentation I had to make some last minute changes to the presentation and I couldn't tell the other members of the group until we got to the school. Though overall our group did well in almost every aspect and I am happy with what I accomplished during the project.
While learning about energy efficient we started off by learning about atomic structure, state, and heat. To start off we talked about what makes up an atom. We learned about protons, neutrons, and electrons and what they do in the atom. We then learned about molecules and compounds. After learning about what atoms are made up of we learned about what heat is. We went over how heat transfers from one object to another through conduction, convection, radiation, and we also talked about insulation, heat itself, thermal conductivity, and finally thermal resistance.
Concepts:
Conduction- Conduction is the transfer of heat through an object.
Convection- Convection is the transfer of heat through a fluid.
Radiation- Radiation is the transfer of heat through waves/particles/rays.
Insulation- Insulation is something that is bad at conducting.
Heat- Heat is a form of energy measured in joules, it is also a measure of the kinetic energy of atoms.
Thermal Conductivity- Thermal conductivity is the rate at which materials transfer heat.
Thermal Resistance- Thermal resistance is the ability of a material to transfer heat.
Design a Hot Water Heater:
Our next project was to create a solar water heater. We used what we learned about how heat transfers to create this water heater. We were supplied a copper pipe and a length of tubing. We placed the copper tube in a cardboard box that was covered on tin foil. We covered it in tin foil so that it would reflect the most light onto the copper tube. We attached an insulated water storage at the top of the system and we put a cup at the bottom of the system to collect the water as it came out of the system. Then we measured the temperature difference from the beginning of the experiment to the end of the experiment.
Concepts:
The concepts for the solar water heater are the same as atomic structure, state, and heat except this time we got to see them in action. The copper pipe would conduct the heat from the sun into the water. The water would spread the heat around using convection. The water storage at the top of the system was insulated so that the water would not lose too much heat while it was in the storage.
Solar Angles and How it Changes During Seasons:
After we created the solar heater we talked about the angle of the sun and how it changes over the seasons. While learning about the sun angles we talked about how the most direct light is when the light is at a 90 degree angle to the surface that it is hitting. When the light is slanted it is less concentrated because it is the same amount of light hitting a larger area. We talked about the seasons too, there are different seasons because of the tilt of the earth on it's axis. The hemisphere tilted towards the sun receives more direct sunlight and experiences summer. The hemisphere tilted away experiences winter.
Concepts:
The solar angles and how they change during seasons had only one major concept. The concept was that the closer you are to a 90 degree angle the more direct light you get. This concept is very important in a later segment.
Day Lighting Design Activity:
For the day lighting design activity we were tasked with creating a model house that uses some day lighting techniques, these day lighting techniques are clerestory windows, light shelves, solar tubes, and skylights. We had to use one of each day lighting techniques in the model house. Once we had built the house we used a light bulb to simulate the sun. We moved the light bulb at various sun angles that accounted for different seasons and different times of day. We recorded how much light we got in each room and how the day lighting techniques helped get light into these rooms.
Concepts:
Clerestory Window- A clerestory window is a window that is on the upper part of a wall that rises up above the roof.
Light Shelf- A light shelf is a horizontal surface placed below a window that reflects light into the building.
Solar Tube- Solar tubes are cylinders used to bring light into homes.
Skylights- A skylight is a window installed in the roof or ceiling.
Site Selection:
For the site selection we were tasked with finding three sites around the school campus where we could build a structure. We made a table with columns for temperature, sun angles, seasonal, variation, sun/shade percentages, time of day variation, use of the structure and where it makes sense to place it, and social dynamics of use. Then for each site we rated them based off of that criteria. We also added multipliers to the categorized that we though were important, so our group thought that sun/shade percentages were important so we put a 2 times multiplier on them.
Concepts:
There was only one major concept for this segment of the project. The main concept was how things change over time and how to identify ideal locations for building structures.
Materials Testing:
In this segment we tested various different materials that we could use in out next project, the building design. We tested these some of these materials for radiation, some for conductivity, and some for absorption or reflection. These materials were placed under a light bulb to heat up for a certain amount of time, the heat gain was recorded. Then the light bulb was turned off and they cooled for the same amount of time and again we measured the temperature. This experiment told us how fast the material heats up and how long it holds that heat.
Concepts:
Radiation- Transfer of energy through waves/particles
Conductivity-The rate at which heat passes through a specific material
Absorption- The process of when one thing, heat in this case, is being absorbed by anther thing, our material.
Reflection- The throwing back by a surface of light, heat, or sound without absorbing it.
Building design:
For this project we had to build a cold frame and come up with a solution for getting direct light into the north window of a house, the house does not get direct light because we are in the northern hemisphere. For the cold frame we used what we already know about sun angles to find the best angle for getting the most direct sunlight throughout the winter. The materials testing lab also helped us decide what materials to use for he cold frame. For the north window project our group decided to make an external solar tube. The solar tube would rise above the house and have an angled opening to catch the sunlight. The light then goes down the solar tube and reflects off of a light shelf into the window.
Concepts:
The concepts for the building design as a combination of all of the previous concepts and used them in one project. We especially focused on light angles though, it was important to get the light in at the correct angle.
reflection:
This project was our longest project by far and we had a lot to cover but we also had a lot of time. One of group's peak was that once we put our mind to making something happen we did it very quickly but we also had times where we did not accomplish much. This was one of our groups pits, because we had so much time we had a lot of time to procrastinate. This was our major pit we waited a little ehile to get some of the work done, but in the end everything turned out fine. Our second peak is that for our coldframe and north window project we made very solid designs. The engineers actually chose our north window design to build. Our second pit was that we had some problems communicating after school. On the night of the presentation I had to make some last minute changes to the presentation and I couldn't tell the other members of the group until we got to the school. Though overall our group did well in almost every aspect and I am happy with what I accomplished during the project.