The jury for the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Upjohn Research Initiative, a grant program that supports applied research that advances design and professional practice, has announced the five projects selected to receive grants.
The purpose of this grant, now in its 10th year, is to provide base funds for applied research projects that advance professional knowledge and practice. The 18-month long project grant qualifies recipients to have their findings and outcomes published both electronically and in a nationally distributed publication. The total award of $100,000 will be spread across the selected proposals. The jury, comprised of members of the AIA College of Fellows and Board Knowledge Committee, felt the process and deliberations were fully consistent with the double blind-peer review intent of the program. This double blind-peer review helps add an element of rigor to the process whereby proposals are debated on their own merits. The following five submissions were selected for funding:
A Circadian Daylight Metric and Design Assist Tool for Improved Occupant Health and Well-Being
Principal Investigator: Kyle Konis, AIA, Ph.D. (University of Southern California)
All zones within a building that do not regularly achieve the lighting conditions necessary for effective circadian stimulus can be labeled as biologically dark and considered as zones where regular occupancy may be problematic for health and well-being. The objective of this research is to develop a daylighting Metric and Design Assist Tool capable of assessing the circadian potential of architectural space. Procedures using annual, climate-based daylight analysis of eye-level light exposures will be developed to map the circadian effectiveness of a given space. The Design Assist Tool can be used to assess and differentiate the performance of various daylighting strategies during the design phases of a project or to quantify the circadian effectiveness of existing spaces.
Post Natural Material Assemblies
Principal Investigators: Meredith L. Miller (University of Michigan), Thomas Moran (University of Michigan)
Plastiglomerates, formed from the waste polymers of post-consumer plastic fusing with sand, rock, and other inorganic materials, suggest a new approach to sustainable building materials. This proposal builds on collaborative work of the research team to investigate the architectural potential of plastiglomerates with the intent to build a full-scale architectural assembly made from thermocast units. By combining the inherent properties of synthetic plastics and stone, these post natural “masonry” units can be inexpensive, durable, insulating, and locally sourced. The proposed project aims to enhance the plastic-waste-to-building-elem
Smart Cities: Population Health and the Evolution of Housing
Principal Investigator: Joe Colistra, AIA (University of Kansas)
This project will develop a multifamily housing prototype that demonstrates best practices in aging-in-place strategies and tele-health technology. It will investigate prefabricated construction techniques that can be used to bring population health strategies to the affordable housing market. The research team will work with construction industry partners as well as health professionals to test various sensor-enabled assemblies. Some of the more advanced technologies will include motion sensors/fall detection, gait analysis, automated LED smart-spectrum lighting, smart mirrors, smart toilets, sleep sensors, and automated medicine dispensers.
SMART Tiles: Novel Application of Shape Memory Polymers for Adaptive Building Envelopes
Principal Investigator: Dale Clifford (California State Polytechnic University)
Collaborators: Kelle Brooks (California State Polytechnic University), John Brigham, Ph.D. (Durham University), Richard Beblo, Ph.D. (University of Dayton Research Institute)
This project addresses the challenges of designing adaptive façade systems with ‘dynamic’ or ‘smart’ materials. The team will design latitude-specific self-shading building tiles that apply the attributes of a class of polymers with shape memory characteristics. The SMART Tiles are intended to wrinkle and reposition themselves in response to incoming solar radiation to deliver self-shading and energy harvesting performance. Stepping into the emergent field of building self-regulation with programmable matter, this project joins the shift towards a built environment that passively adapts to subtle environmental fluctuations of temperature, light, humidity, and pressure via material properties. Equally important to the team is that the dynamic aspects of the SMART Tiles appeal to the imagination and viscerally (re)connect a building occupant to the environment.
TrashWalls
Principal Investigators: Taiji Miyasaka (Washington State University), Robert Richards (Washington State University), Vikram Yadama (Washington State University)
Collaborators: Rex Hohlbein (Facing Homelessness; Rex Hohlbein Architects), David Drake (Washington State University)
TrashWalls, fabricated using materials harvested from the local solid waste stream, are designed to reduce heat loss from rented apartments, improve the comfort of those spaces during hot or cold weather, and save renters money on their utility bills, while reducing pollution. The purpose of this project is to design, construct, and examine prototypes of interior insulating walls that are attractive, have an R-value of R-10 (US) or greater, cost less than ten cents per square foot, are built from recycled waste materials, are easily manufactured, fire safe, and can accommodate windows. The research team, a collaboration between architecture and engineering, seeks applications of TrashWalls to backyard transitional homes for people who are homeless in Seattle. Testing will occur in a lab setting and at an urban site.
You can see learn more about previous Upjohn Research Initiative projects here.
Related Stories
| Sep 13, 2010
Triple-LEED for Engineering Firm's HQ
With more than 250 LEED projects in the works, Enermodal Engineering is Canada's most prolific green building consulting firm. In 2007, with the firm outgrowing its home office in Kitchener, Ont., the decision was made go all out with a new green building. The goal: triple Platinum for New Construction, Commercial Interiors, and Existing Buildings: O&M.
| Sep 13, 2010
Stadium Scores Big with Cowboys' Fans
Jerry Jones, controversial billionaire owner of the Dallas Cowboys, wanted the team's new stadium in Arlington, Texas, to really amp up the fan experience. The organization spent $1.2 billion building a massive three-million-sf arena that seats 80,000 (with room for another 20,000) and has more than 300 private suites, some at field level-a first for an NFL stadium.
| Sep 13, 2010
'A Model for the Entire Industry'
How a university and its Building Team forged a relationship with 'the toughest building authority in the country' to bring a replacement hospital in early and under budget.
| Sep 13, 2010
Committed to the Core
How a forward-looking city government, a growth-minded university, a developer with vision, and a determined Building Team are breathing life into downtown Phoenix.
| Sep 13, 2010
3D Prototyping Goes Low-cost
Today’s less costly 3D color printers are attracting the attention of AEC firms looking to rapidly prototype designs and communicate design intent to clients.
| Aug 11, 2010
Mark McCracken named chair-elect of USGBC Board of Directors
Mark MacCracken, CEO of CALMAC, Inc., a producer of cold storage energy solutions, has been selected as Chair-elect of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Board of Directors for the 2010 calendar year. The USGBC Board of Directors is responsible for articulating and upholding the vision, values and mission of USGBC. In 2009, MacCracken was elected to serve a second 3-year term as Director in the Energy Services Seat.
| Aug 11, 2010
Underwriters Laboratories, ICC Evaluation Service announce dual evaluation and certification program for building products
Underwriters Laboratories (UL), the leading product safety testing organization, and ICC Evaluation Service, Inc (ICC-ES), the United States' leader in evaluating building products for compliance with code, today announced a partnership that will provide the building materials industry with a Dual Evaluation and Certification Program for building products.
| Aug 11, 2010
The New Yorker's David Owen: Why Manhattan is America's greenest community
David Owen is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of 14 books, most recently Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less Are the Keys to Sustainability, in which he argues that Manhattan is the greenest community in America. He graduated from Harvard and lives in Washington, Conn., where he chairs the town planning commission.
| Aug 11, 2010
Indie Energy's geothermal technology earns U.S. Department of Energy funding
Indie Energy Systems Company, LLC announced today that it has been awarded funding by the U.S. Department of Energy for the continued development of the Company's smart geothermal technologies for commercial and public buildings. The $2.45 million grant will contribute to an innovative geothermal conversion of the Local 150 International Union of Operating Engineers office campus in Countryside, Illinois.
| Aug 11, 2010
Sustainable Buildings as Teaching Tools: 4 Strategies for Integrating Buildings into Experiential Learning
4 Strategies for Integrating Buildings into Experiential Learning
