ENTRY DETAIL - Building: Student

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Entry Description

School M.O.D.

This prototype school building challenges sustainable architecture by focusing on feasibility and maximizing flexibility. This construction technique allows any individual to build with locally available materials to meet immediate needs while providing the opportunity for future growth. The usual constraints of fixed areas are resolved by combining M, O, and D systems: modular, open building, and a dual structural system. Mostly made of wood, the school has a limited impact on the environment.

As an advocate for flexible assembly, the benefits can be realized at all stages of a project and building life cycle. As school or community needs change, desired layout and room sizes must be as flexible and easily interchangeable as the curriculum. The design favors interdependent systems that are assembled based on the desired outcome. This means that the interior layout determined by the use will decide which of the structural combinations (column-column, column-wall or wall-wall) is employed to effectively utilize the space. In the future when program needs expand, modules can be attached using the same assembly techniques undergoing the same process as the initial construction. In the same manner, modules can be removed without additional hassle or demolition of any part of the building.
School MOD is result of 3 structural systems combined in order to maximize flexibility:
Open Building System (inner flexibility) - The base building (skeleton) and partitions (infill) are treated as separate entities with different life cycles. All utility and mechanical systems are preset under the floor which provides flexibility for room layout adjustments.
Modular System (outer flexibility) - Based on the premise that repeated parts and techniques reduce cost and assembly time, modular systems are highly efficient and effective. Modular strategies reduce waste by coordinating dimension. Also, it encourages re-use of building components such as Interior dividing walls which can be disassembled, stored and re-placed again during tenant improvement.
Dual Structure Grids System – It avoids limitations inherent in one structural arrangement. Having two offset grids – one is the load bearing wall and the other post-and-beam – when one system does not provide the necessary spatial requirements or visual connections, the other grid is able maintain structural stability.

Steel and concrete have high Green House Gas (GHG) emissions in the process of extraction, refining, and manufacturing. On the other hand, wood has negative carbon intensity since CO2 is taken from the atmosphere rather than being emitted during its growth. Our approach toward reducing GHG emissions is by substituting wood for building materials that have high carbon intensity. Also, wood can be locally maintained. It requires no skilled labor, no heavy machinery, low embodied energies, and low cost.

The goal is to aid local businesses and workers by providing them the opportunity to tackle the project. As part of the strategy, the design ultimately meets the criteria of small needs and can later be expanded upon as more space is required. The target is to make new construction affordable short term, in the mean while inherently building in a long term planning objective within the system of modular design.

As a product of its teachings, the building promotes environmental as well as social sustainability. Our responsibility is not only to the environment in which we build but also the means by which we carry out the task. Building assembly can be achieved by anyone not requiring any special trainees or experts. This strengthens community involvement and interaction on site bringing together the local trades and shops. Even children attending can have a helpful impact on site helping with landscaping. In addition, the knowledge they gain of the materials used in the building will be the key to the sustained maintenance of the building in the future. In summary, everyone within the community has a role and responsibility that is shared for the mutual benefit of all.
Having wood as the main building material, the building functions like a carbon sponge. It soaks up carbon dioxide; every kilogram of wood can store 1.8 kg of CO2. Also, wood is an efficient material when it comes to process of re-sizing re-forming and re-use. Compared to other materials, wood products require less energy and effort during transportation and recycling. In this project, all interior and exterior wall panels are made of massive wood and are all removable therefore can also be reassembled for a new layout. The whole premise behind sustainable architecture can only be achieved by using sustainable resources – wood. Use of local wood encourages maintenance (outlook and care) for forests in the region.

School is always an integral part of the community to an extent. Our design attempts to push the envelope by extending the role architecture can play. Using the school as a tool to teach individuals, to improve the neighborhood, and bring together industries, businesses, carpenters, craftsman, users, and residents, social sustainability and responsibility can be brought to the doorstep of everyone in the community. With a flexible program, communal spaces used by the school during the day can be used to benefit the community at night.

Entry Metrics

The only concrete used in the building is for its foundation

The only steel used in the building are for connections

School MOD uses linoleum for floor finishing instead of carpet

Our mission is to reduce the impact that our buildings have on the environment. Some of our standard building materials such as the most widely used concrete and steel require exhaustive expenditures of energy up till the point of erection. With our design, we have substituted the standard building material with wood to reduce the total embodied energies of our project. Other advantages of utilizing wood are for its ability to be recycled after its life cycle. As structural members lose its capacity, it can be cut out and replaced. This wood can be used in other parts of the building or used throughout the community. For wall construction, we have selected the use of Brettstapel panels which are formulated from small bits of timber which are joined using dowel rods. The assembly eliminates the use of glue to avoid toxic gas emissions when burned. Logs that are used for the sub beams are collected from the forest maintenance practices to allow for healthy growth of other trees and also from wood that is rejected by mills for quality assurance. Our intention once again is to avoid further emissions from transport and manufacturing by rerouting the wood that would normally be sent to manufacturers of OSB and other wood-chip based products. The only other energies spent will be from the hands of the carpenters cutting to fit and installing the wood. As for the flooring, linoleum serves as an eco friendly, low emissive material that is durable for the high traffic flow schools experience. Lastly, finishes used will be that of vegetable oil based paint to further reduce toxic emissions into the environment.

Using ATHENA EcoCalculator, we calculated our building by selecting timber construction method, and got result of 13 ton GHG emission for the assembling stage. Then we used the same square footage to calculate this building in the case of concrete built and metal built. Concrete method (using concrete column & beam, concrete flat plate flooring, 6” cast-in-place concrete wall, and pre-cast double-T roof member) resulted 350 tons of GHG emission. Metal method (using wide-flange steel column & beam, Steel stud joist & OSB flooring system, 2X4 steel stud wall, open-web steel joist w/ steel decking) resulted 144 tons. Therefore, we can estimate total 130 to 336 tons (mean-233 tons) of GHG is reduced by our method of construction. Linoleum and wood use for flooring in stead of carpet will reduces large amount of GHG emission in the lifecycle. We estimated our floor reduces 12.5% GHG emission compared to the case of that our floor is 50% covered by wool carpet.