Big Long Post... but still no pictures.

still no pictures. my friend set up a blog on my website, but i really have no time to customize it right now. I will just go through flickr and post links to my flickr page.


on the topic of "where is my project at?"
I need to make a big presentation Dec 12th so everything is timed out backward from then.

here, in a long post, is how this design has evolved ...

Topics

Introduction
Geodesic
Large full system
Modular components
Net + Ice
Inflatable
Inflatable Geodesic Ice Mesh - proposed design direction



Introduction

well... i started wanting to build greenhouses for the arctic. Actually it started before that but greenhouses were my first direction to tackling the problems of health and diet which are found in the Canadian arctic. I found that greenhouse technology and materials were a fairly mature already. The reasons that this has not taken off in a large way are that heating and lighting are brutally expensive during the "out of season" times. Also, materials and transportation costs are very high. Also there seems to be an uncertain fuel/energy availability in some areas.

I have directed my project to address cost, weight, ease of setup in a product that provides a means to decrease costs arising from heating loss. I have identified heating loss from "forced convection" as a large factor for buildings in the arctic. Forced Convection is the process where (arctic cold) air moving over a surface causes heat to be exchanged ( lost ) a greater rate than if there were no wind movement. My project seeks to minimize this loss. The project also considers ways to collect sunlight from a large area, for use by a greenhouse, and being able to reduce the heating and lighting budgets by this method. The proposed design will also need to meet the demands of wind loading and snow loading.




Geodesic

During my research I have explored various methods of construction. Initially I examined geodesic structures in combination with aluminum frame and corrugated polycarbonate panels. Although this approach provided a flexible and reconfigurable structure, it was apparent that it would soon be too costly to actually be implemented. At this stage I had conceived that I would be building a style of greenhouse.

Large full system

After realizing my budget constraints I began examining build a development which included some greenhouse facilities, but which could serve other roles as well. At this time I was aware of three techniques in maintaining heat; doming, burying and nesting. I had researched materials enough to know that opaque materials could provide better insulation per dollar than transparent ones. If I designed a larger complex I could use a variety of materials and be able to implement doming, nesting and burying all in one, albeit complex, design. This could use a glass or polycarbonate roof with walls and floors built from high performance foams, with air breaks and a variety of other building techniques. I could effectively bury a nested structure with glass or clear roofs. Although this might work, perhaps even well, it had become too complicated, and the costs would make this sort of venture a major commitment for anyone financing it.

Modular Blocks

I continued on the idea of burying the structure, but rather than literally burying it I wanted the same effect. Burying removes the effects of wind. I wanted to shelter structures from wind. Animals take shelter from the wind. Seals, when pupping, will build a little mound to dig into for shelter. I wanted to create walls, not permiable to wind, yet which light could pass through. I thought that I could cast blocks in ice, with a mesh matrix for added strength, that would serve this task. There were many points where this seemed appealing; indigenous techniques, available materials, lots of cold to go around. This technique has much merit in that alone, but also allows for a control of the wind which hits a structure, possibly to be used for some benefit. This control could come from blocks which are formed to create a channel for wind to move in, rather than to just move over the surface. Although this approach seems to have a lot of merit the labour required to build a wind barrier might be too large for this approach to succeed.

Ice Nets

At this point I was also examining the idea that a fabric mesh be sprayed with a coating of water, which when frozen could act as a wind barrier, while still being thin and transparent enough to allow light to pass through it. Here I thought that I had found a way to quickly erect a barrier and make it solid, my worry was that this sort of structure would not be strong enough. This method would also demand a frame of some sort to support the final weight of the form.

Inflatable

After the most recent round of critiques I have investigated inflatable structures. This type of structure is well suited for a quick and easy deployment. Inflatables seem well able to support the type and size of structures required. Shipping weight, cost and adaptability to the best form are areas where the current inflatables designs may be improved.


Proposed Design...

My proposal will consist of the best of all these approaches. It will be lightweight, simple to assemble, provide a variety of different forms and configurations, it will be transparent and a barrier to wind.

A triangular panel formed by fabric edges which house inflatable structural members, the face of the panel will be a mesh of an inexpensive, durable and thin material (nylon) which will have a cell size small enough to allow a buildup of water on its surface, but still to be large enough to allow the passage of light. Panels will have a front and back face which will be separated by the inflation of the tubes. The air pocket created by this will allow a small measure of insulation. Panels will be joined at their edges by means of ropes passed through the grommet holes. The triangular shape of the panels will allow a great flexibility in the type of form which can be built. This could range from long wall type structures to domes, from rectilinear forms to highly organic shapes which are intimately adapted to their particular location. A weight saving will be gained over existing inflatable designs because the majority of the surface will be made of mesh (and later ice), rather than polyurethane coated fabric. Strong structures can be built because the edges where panels join can accommodate many panels in a branching, rhizomatic pattern, rather than a typical surface-shell type of structure. Any structure built and made strong with ice could be turned into a economical reflector if a survival blanket (aluminized polyester) were to be attached to it.

mesh or block

In a previous post I wondered whether to build a wind-shielding surface out of a mesh which gets sprayed down with water, or out of blocks. Each way has its benefits, but mesh would be easier to set up. and I think that is probably the clincher.

I am worried about the strength issues with water over mesh, and also how to ensure good clarity (want sunlight to get through)

ice scuplture

Ice scuplture. no, really. But not so much like sculptures of pigs or carousels or the like. I'm thinking of ice as more of an engineered material.

I found this photo (i'd love to just post it, but this blogger software will NOT let me put a photo up.must. make. workaround)

its some frost on a chicken wire mesh and all the ice has been blown horizontally, awesome shot.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54788032@N00/1141279468/

I am trying to address the operating costs of a greenhouse by creating a still air-pocket around it. I am thinking that cast ice components may be able to shape winds away from structures and toward generators. These may be viable structures for 8 months of the year in places.

Is it very windy where you are?
Is there anything done, structurally, to create windbreaks?

This might also be useful in places other than immediately around a greenhouse, like maybe in a common space. And there is a lot of opportunity for weird forms. Weird like cellular creatures and diatoms and pinecone-like things.

I had a sculpture teacher who taught a workshop to kids in Prince George, BC. Some mix-up in the planning stages had him arrive with absolutely no supplies, so he taught the kids how to cast ice into ice-molds (using a plastic bag in between). I am no expert, not nearly enough to teach anyone, and I don't know I could set this up but...

a challenge.
the highest temperature inside a structure, the most energy generated off of the surface, the least cost of materials and the best looking form.

I'd like to see that! I'd like to do that!

A freezer! A freezer!

I have discovered the need for a really big walk-in feezer. I need to do testing. I am hoping to use some kind of climatic kung-fu to make a really cheap, no fuss way of reducing heat loss due to wind motion. Its what goose down and wool and the hairs on your body that raise when you get cold are all doing: creating a pocket of still air next to the body.
I am hoping to use cold to do this. Its free, locally available and there is lots to go around. But to test this I will need to find a great big freezer.
I also need to keep the blog updated regularly, and make it more fun n' stuff. I agrees.
Carl

Findings

After a hectic week of compiling data, writing reports and defining my direction I can take a wee break and update the blog.

My findings, such as they are, reside here:
http://www.fletcherdesignlab.ca/HLG/ResearchReport.pdf
9.9MB

and here:

http://www.fletcherdesignlab.ca/HLG/DesignBrief.pdf
763KB

but those are big long documents, so here is an executive, executive summary...

many problems with growing.
many opportunities.

there is need. there is demand.
Efficiencies improve with larger structures.
There are some impressive material options, but cost is a limiting factor.
People seemed inclined to share their facilities, but wish for some autonomy in this.

I concluded that as a solution (there may be many) I would focus on a material/structure approach to provide insulation value at a low cost. It would allow sunlight through. This material/structure would be shown in the context of a public facility.

There are other approaches, like energy generation rather than efficiency, that look promising in some locations. Wind power looks like an option, but one that would work better at a community scale than an individual one. And there are other things which could be done, like making bio-diesel from algae-based scrubbers attached to the diesel fuel generators, which may make a little bit of energy. Both of these looked like interesting tangents, but I have researched the viability only a little.

yet to do:

materials ideas + research
prototyping a material
testing
drafting a proposal for a public project (as this falls WELL outside of my knowledge it will be only a very rough draft)
making visuals etc. for presentation.

there may be a few more surveys ;) and there will definitely be some pictures.
but now, to the drawing board!

-Carl

Surveys pt 1 & 2

Here is survey part 1 - Growing in your town
Click Here to take survey pt 1

And here is survey part 2 - Produce availability and quality
Click Here to take survey pt 2

I should send an original art-picture to all my respondants by email, but they will need to ask for it because the survey doesn't track emails. Feel free to ask, everyone.

update and sickness

Ok , back again. It's fall so I should stop acting as if its summer. I've been stuffed up and sneezy, lately. Not out much, still hooked up to the computer so I can still work some.
I have to do more first hand research, that's what they say. Got plenty of studies, climate data, reports and whatnot.
Surveys, that what I need. I drafted up a couple of surveys and am going to try to shop them about to get some response.
I don't feel like I am much further in my process, but maybe I can justify my position better at least.