These past couple of weeks our studio has been transitioning from Schematic Design into the Design Development phase. At this point, our designs have reached the stage in which we have figured out the larger ideas and now we can start to understand the details of each one. We are fine tuning our designs and starting energy and cost analysis of each design to determine the feasibility of whether or not it should be built.
Some of the things we are looking at in our energy analysis is thermal and daylighting quality. Thermal analysis allows us to take a closer look at the energy outputs of lighting, equipment, heating, and cooling loads. This analysis will be able to tell us our our average monthly utility costs for the house and whether or not these can be offset with photovoltaics. Daylighting Analysis allows us to understand whether or not our house can operate during the day without the use of lighting equipment.
Upon returning from Thanksgiving break, we have a bit of time to finalize our work before final presentations with our stakeholders.
-Travis Surmeier
The Net Positive Studio 