Net Zero4 EcoScience Park Prototype: Net Energy, Water, Food, and Waste
Bruce Haxton, AIA, LEED AP®, Bruce McLean Haxton, Architect
John Andary, P.E., LEED AP, Integral Group
The concept is the integration of the "Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB)," "Life Style Science Parks," "Green Sustainable Designs," "Net Zero Campus Planning," and "Closed Loop Design." The renewable energy systems that we will illustrate on the project are:
- Solar power
- Wind power
- Geothermal
- Water cooling
- Cogeneration from waste
- Waste to algae to biofuels
The "Net Zero4 EcoScience Park" is to be a live, work, play, and educate environment. Besides Net Zero Energy, the design will include net water, net waste, and net food concepts.
Major sources of energy savings for the overall design are achieved through:
- The master planning building orientations
- Net zero energy buildings
- Facility cogeneration opportunities
- Transportation energy savings with the "live, work, play, and educate" concept
- Waste to algae to biofuels generation
The master planning building orientations for the new NZEB will be designed with the long axis of the buildings in the east-west direction to reduce heat gain and facilitate natural daylighting. This orientation should also impact the site size and shape of the individual building site layouts, which in turn impacts the road patterns.
The NZEB will not just be the research facilities, but the entire integrated science park building types: campus, campus housing, offices, commercial, K-12 schools, housing, recreational facilities, technology incubators, and research laboratories. The buildings all need to work together and need to rely on renewable energy from solar, wind, geothermal, water resources and other renewable energy sources. These buildings will be designed to first conserve energy resources through passive means. The remainder of the energy that is needed for each facility is obtained through renewable energy. A list of the known energy-saving concepts used on NZEB will be a part of the presentation.
There will be a concerted effort to reduce waste and promote recycling and reuse. The waste not recycled will be used for energy generation at the cogeneration facility located in the southeast quadrant of the science park. Sewage is anticipated to be turned into algae and then into biofuels with options for reusable water production and non-petroleum based fertilizer. The fertilizer will be used for farming in the catchment area of the science park. The science park may include the surrounding farm area that supports the science park/city. This will become a good example of "closed-loop" regional design.
The reduced transportation costs will save a significant amount of both energy and resident travel time. Each family and employee will benefit from greater energy efficiency and more time to spend with family. The quality of life will be enhanced for the family and be more efficient for work.
The entire science park design will increase the water resource savings. The rainwater caught on the roofs of the buildings and in the vehicle parking areas will be captured and cleansed to be used for an amenity resource/water features.
The design of this science park is to be used by regions and countries as a teaching tool and demonstration project/proof of concept for this new integrated urban or rural form science park community. The developments worldwide will be used to propel their economies into the new renewable commercial marketplace.
The university campus, technology incubators, and research laboratories will use the intellectual knowledge of the university to create new companies in the technology incubators. This new influx of jobs will foster a self-sustaining system for the entire region.
Biographies:
Bruce Haxton, with more than 30 years of experience, has worked with a number of internationally known architects. He is a sustainable design architect, specializing in laboratory and science park architecture. He has been involved with numerous science campus and laboratory projects for both private and government clients besides numerous other building types: healthcare facilities, data centers, office buildings, performing arts centers, housing, education facilities, and airports. He holds a Master of Architecture, Advanced Studies degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In the past 15 years, he has published more than 45 articles and research papers with more than half of these focusing on sustainable design topics. He has spoken at seven International Association of Science Parks World Conferences, five Association of University Research Parks Annual Conferences, and numerous other international conferences.
John Andary has more than 25 years of consulting engineering experience with a strong background in project management and team leadership. Throughout his career, he has worked in various market sectors including higher education, healthcare, civic, industry, commercial, hospitality, recreation, and laboratory design. John believes that sustainable design is an engineer's social responsibility. His passion for this cause has led him to work on numerous LEED® projects, including six projects targeting or achieving Platinum certification. He was the principal sustainable design consultant and energy concept developer for the Research Support Facility on the campus of the Department of Energy;s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), which, at 350,000 square feet, will be the largest LEED Platinum NZEB in North America, and possibly the world. Mr. Andary has also been consulting on the master plan for the NREL campus, which is targeting net zero energy.