The Climate Crisis in Sacramento, California
Daniel Weiss takes full responsibility for the information posted.
The information on this page represents that of Daniel Weiss and not that of California State University, Sacramento.
Still Confused?
The concepts surrounding net zero and adaptive reuse buildings are technical and highly complex. If you are interested in creating a net zero space or wish to renovate a current space using these principles, please reach out to your local profesional/Architect or Architecture firm.
For further information on net zero goals and the future of design please visit Architecture 2030’s website: ARCHITECTURE 2030
What is the Problem?
Climate change, as a result of increased carbon emissions, is bad for Sacramento’s natural environment and can cause harm to local biological populations. Construction accounts for nearly 11% of the world’s global carbon emissions, and in a city that is increasingly growing, many old buildings are torn down to create new buildings among new developments. These new buildings are expensive, take long periods of time to design and construct, and as mentioned prior, create a lot of carbon emissions.
What is the solution?
New ways of approaching design and architecture. Instead of tearing down old buildings and constructing new ones, using exisitng buildings (Called adaptive reuse) is a great way to alleviate this contribution to the climate crisis. On top of this, exploring
design strategies that encourage efficiency in energy usage and conservation helps future communities and minimizes carbon emissions. Architectural innovations and better management of buildings’ construction, in the developing downtown and greater
Sacramento, can reduce carbon emissions and in turn improve the wellbeing of its users and local wildlife of the area.
10 Design Strategies that can be used in projects right now:
1. Use existing buildings and renovate them instead of tearing them down to build something new. A lot of carbon is emitting through this lengthy and expensive process. As stated above, 11% of global carbon emissions come from new construction. Plenty of existing buildings are more than capable of sustaining their integrity for years to come and keep consistency of
architectural styles within a city.
2. Implement energy efficient lighting strategies, such as LED (Light Emitting Diode) bulbs and fixtures as well as passive solar tubes that light areas without energy. Passive solar tubes provide light without the use of electricity, and LEDs are efficient enough to drastically lower energy usage even over a year.
3. Install solar panels to passively collect and store energy to be disbursed through the building. Solar panels create large amounts of energy in a clean and efficient way. By relying on solar power, a building does not tap into local electricity providers that may use inefficient procedures to create that electricity.
4. Use occupancy sensors and technology to manage energy systems to run only when necessary. This can include heating and cooling systems as well as electrical systems (lighting). Sensors can turn lights and systems off when not in use, thus preventing the possibility of people leaving systems running and wasting energy.
5. Design open floor plans to allow for cross ventilation maximizing the natural wind forces (In Sacramento, this would be the Delta breeze). At night, the delta breeze can flow through an open space flushing out pockets of heat left over from the day.
6. Instead of planting non-native plants and greenery, opt for native plants which are drought tolerant and look more natural. This also provides a natural refuge for local wildlife populations such as birds and insects. Turf and non-local plants take up absurd amounts of water. Planting local greenery is extremely efficient and fits the landscape better.
7. Recycle rainwater to keep plants watered rather than use city connected potable water lines. Collecting rainwater provides a
usable source of water for greenery within a building.
8. Instead of wasting greywater (Water not used from drinking fountains, showers, and sinks) down sewage lines, recycle it to be used in toilets. Currently, toilets waste large amounts of potable water (safe to drink). By recycling unused greywater, a building can minimize the amount of drinking water wasted.
9. Create passive heating and cooling strategies to minimize energy usage through heaters and air-conditioners. This can exist in the form of operable windows and minimizing window glazing on the most overexposed sides of a building by daylight (East and West). During the afternoon, The east and west sides of buildings receive large amounts of light and heat. Creating natural ventilation minimizes the need to cool the building down with an air conditioner.
10. develop effective strategies before designing the building itself to achieve “net zero” or better. “Net zero” means that a building is completely self sufficient or creates more energy than needed to function. If a building is not using outside sources to help it run, it is emitting zero carbon.
S.M.A.R.T Objectives - A Look at the Numbers
*Note: In order to empirically assess energy usage and carbon emissions as a result, we will use the term EUI (Energy use Intensity). This term refers to the energy consumed by a building per square foot on a yearly basis. We will also use the unit of measurement of kBtu (k is 1000 and Btu is short for British Thermal Unit – a unit of heat). Lastly an average EUI for commercial buildings in Sacramen-to is 60kBtu/sf/yr. Our goal is to get this number closer to or below 0.
1. Within one year of use, PV (Photo-voltaic or Solar) panels that cover 60% of a building’s roof surface can decrease a buildings EUI by 32kBtu.
2. Within one year of use, an energy efficient cooling and heating system such as an ASHRAE package terminal heat pump can reduce a buildings EUI by 18 kBtu alone.
3. Within one year, passive shading of sunspots through the use of louvers or shades can decrease a buildings EUI by 5 kBtu.
4. After one year of switching to exclusively native plants and landscaping, water usage for irrigation can decrease by 75%. This contributes to a more efficient use of energy and a lower EUI by about 5, now reaching 0.
These caluclations were made assuming 40% roof coverage of a building located at 1024 10th street in dowtown Sacramento.
This shows how much energy is produced by the assumed solar panels and even shows the annual savings using these panels.