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SUNNYSIDE NEIGHBORHOOD SMART SUSTAINABLE NEIGHBORHOOD DESERT ELEGANCE ARCHITECTS THAILY RODRIGUEZ, WILLIAM PYLE, DAN NGO

2019-2020

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Table of Contents

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Overview of Neighborhood 3

Defining the Problem 4

Generating Possible Solutions 4

Daily Log 5

Evaluating Possible Solutions 7

Location 7

Layout 7

Transportation 8

Houses 9 House Material- 9 Floor & Walls 10 Orientation- 10 Windows- 10 Roof- 10 Floor Plans- 10

Utilities 12 HVAC System- Geothermal System 12 Electrical System- Microgrid System 13 Liter of Light: 14 Solar Panels 14 Water System- El Paso Water Supply 15

Community Areas: 16 Greenhouses: 16 Community Lots: 17

Smart Technologies: 19

Cost & Feasibility Analysis: 20

Number of Annual Visitors: 1

Operational benefit analysis of systems and ideas 2

Annual energy consumption: 3

Making and Improving Design 3

Designing on Revit: 3

Renders and Details: 1

Technical Plans: 1

Modifying and Improving Design 1

Software: 1

2

Exporting to Unity 1

Fixing VR 1

3D Printing Process 2

Printing Hours: 2

Scale Comprehension Ratio: 2

Functionality: 2

Relevance: 2

Communicating Final Design 3

References 4

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Overview of Neighborhood

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Defining the Problem As population continues to grow steadily, it strains resources that support the way we

live. Innovations in architecture and how we use the space we have can help us fight these

problems. Therefore we took on the challenge to design a smart sustainable neighborhood which

would serve the needs of future and present generations when it comes to environmental,

economic, social and cultural aspects.

Generating Possible Solutions

Some of the needs we believed are key to the future and present include energy

conservation, healthy living, a smaller transportation footprint, and a focus on renewable energy.

By taking these needs in consideration, we came up with three goals our team wanted to focus

on:

• A focus on providing affordable renewable energy.

• An overall interconnectedness & improvement of quality of life.

• Reducing the transportation carbon footprint and fighting climate change.

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Daily Log

October 8 2019: Decided to take on the Historical Building Competition and started to research

historical places.

October 11, 2019: Brainstormed ideas and researched into the historical guidelines to know how

much potential the buildings we were looking into could hold.

October 16, 2019: After research on historical buildings and their historical guidelines, we

decided to move onto the Smart Sustainable Neighborhood instead as we believed it held more

potential and would allow us to use our architectural skills more. We looked into other existing

neighborhoods and what they used but shifted our focus onto the homes themselves.

October 17, 2019: Researched hydroponics and how we can connect the functionality of the

houses with the hydroponics systems. Started thinking about neighborhood layouts.

October 20, 2019: First sketches of two houses were made, we decided upon a

modern/contemporary theme for our neighborhood and looked into how we could incorporate

ecofriendly ways onto our homes.

October 21, 2019: Started sketches for a greenhouse which will have a hydroponic system.

October 23,2019: Looked into electricity utility and accommodations and set our first official

meeting as a team.

October 25,2019: Met as a team and interviewed someone with solar panels to provide more

research and an insight from someone who doesn’t have batteries with their solar panels.

Sketched neighborhood layouts and greenhouses sketches. Measured streets behind our school to

assure we have the right measurements.

October 26, 2019: Attended the first workshop which helped us with Unity and to learn about the

aspects of the competition. Looked into the possibility of getting another team member with the

experience in programs like Unity.

October 27, 2019: looked into other ways to export stuff to Unity without having to design in

Unity.

October 31,2019: Messed around with transporting from Revit to AutoCad to Unity, but

encountered a problem as not all the texture was sent to Unity.

November 4, 2019: Discovered a program called SimLab which could potentially help us with

transferring from Revit to SimLab to Unity with textures.

November 6, 2019: Tested and confirmed that we could export from Revit to SimLab to Unity

with textures successfully.

November 9, 2019: Attended second workshop which helped us with more of the design aspect

of the competition, rubric and prizes explained more in detail. Tested VR and received our VR

sets.

November 13, 2019: Discovered the school PC’s didn’t work with the VR so started looking for

other solutions. Finishing up all 5 floor plans.

November 14, 2019: Sketches of floor plans, looked into research on utilities and materials.

November 15, 2019: Decided upon using plastic brick for the material for our house, took into

consideration the limits as to what our material could and couldn’t do. Floor plans were

transferred onto Revit.

November 18, 2019: Discussed buying an adapter for the VR ourselves and settled on a capacity

and size of our neighborhood.

November 19, 2019: Finishing up some floor plans and 3D designs of homes on Revit.

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November 20,2019: One of our teammates discovered we could test VR on his own home PC

and decided that if we need help, we would get in contact with UTEP.

November 21, 2019: Tested VR on home PC, started design and sketches of a recreation center

for our neighborhood.

November 24, 2019: First idea for recreation center finished on Revit, model tested in Unity and

on the Oculus Rift.

November 27, 2019: Decided upon using a Geothermal system for the HVAC system, a

Microgrid system for electricity, and after research decided to stay with EP Water supply for our

neighborhood. Contacted the EP Water supply regarding a possible tour for more research on

how their system works.

December 3, 2019: Started making some calculations and estimates regarding how much our

utility systems would cost. Received email saying EP Water didn’t have any tours until after Feb.

December 6, 2019: Started recreation center idea #2 as we were not happy with idea #1.

December 8, 2019: Finished all home floor plans and 3D views.

December 10, 2019: Finished recreation center #2 and decided we were satisfied with that

recreation center design.

December 12, 2019: Started actual research portfolio and PowerPoint presentation summarizing

what we have done so far to present to our class.

December 15, 2019: Set a timeline to follow and what everyone would do over the holiday break

as we felt we weren’t making progress and we weren’t satisfied.

December 20, 2019: Started designing the full Recreation center with landscape and the

community area in Revit.

December 27, 2019: Started putting the surrounding houses and completing the neighborhood

layout on Revit with full landscape. Continued expanding on engineering/research portfolio.

January 3, 2020: Tested transferring from Revit to Unity to see what works and what doesn’t,

making a list and assessing the problems needed to be revised. Expanded on research portfolio.

January 6, 2020: Continued working on Revit by adding roads and landscapes.

January 8, 2020: Looked into what final design would be best for our neighborhood.

January 9, 2020: Worked on designing and sketching final works of the multipurpose center.

January 13, 2020: Changed design of community centers after closer look on their benefits.

January 15, 2020: Finalized greenhouse layout and worked on designing the multipurpose center.

January 17, 2020: Added details such as driveways, benches etc., onto Revit model.

January 22, 2020: Started printing renders and technical plans. Finished details on Revit model.

January 25,2020: Started exporting onto Unity. January 30, 2020: Exporting to Unity done, moving on to VR phase of the project. January 31, 2020: Adding more details and textures to Unity, working on portfolio touch ups. February 3, 2020: Finished renders, sheets, and placing renders and scanned sheets in portfolio. February 4, 2020: Meeting in order to set up and configure VR and video recording. February 5,2020:Edited YouTube video and portfolio. February 7, 2020: Finished edits of portfolio and finalized video submission. February 18, 2020: Determined scales fit for 3D printed models.

February 20, 2020: Started a 3D printed prototype of the recreation center.

February 22, 2020: Attended workshop for help with unity and 3D printed information.

February 24-27, 2020: Started 3D printing and working on making models realistic.

March 3 & 5 : Meeting to fix VR, edit portfolio, remake video and fixed 3D printed models.

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Evaluating Possible Solutions

Location Far eastside of El Paso for the following motives:

• There are a lot of empty plots of land to use.

• A big part of our neighborhood is solar energy, & El Paso has 302 days of sun yearly.

• El Paso is considered the 56th fastest growing and rising city in the United States.

Layout A circular neighborhood shape for safety and feasibility purposes.

• Following Disneyland steps as they have a circular shape so that the visitors don’t get lost

and easily know where they’re at.

Designed a mixed income neighborhood fit for 90-300 persons.

• A mixed income community to reduce class-biased stigma and promote engagement

between the residents of the community.

• A 90-300-person capacity so we could design a community center fit for that capacity.

*However, this capacity was set for design and time management purposes and can be fit

for expandability.

Figure 1 Layout of our neighborhood.

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Transportation A 10-minute walkability time from the community areas to the houses, therefore enforcing

walking. We used the neighborhoods where we live and their distances to our school in order to

calculate an average walking distance of 10 minutes (6-7 blocks).

Minimal roads and simple road layouts for safety. This is

followed in Arizona.

A focus in bike infrastructure will be put into place

following San Jose’s steps, and therefore promoting other

forms of transportation.

A focus on electric car infrastructure by putting EV

chargers in every house’s carports, and assuring there is

public EV charging available. The public charging stations

would be solar powered and include shading for the cars.

There will be public transportation stops available throughout the neighborhood promoting other

forms of transportation, therefore decreasing the carbon footprint.

Figure 2 Inspiration for our streets based off San Jose, California.

Figure 3 Inspiration for EV Public charging and shading system.

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Houses House Material- Recycled Plastic Brick

1. Collect plastic waste.

2. Plastic is shredded, melted, & additives are added

for it to be fireproof.

3. Melted plastic is put into molds creating a brick.

Benefits:

• By avoiding plastic going to waste sites, water and energy costs are reduced along with

Co2 emissions.

• A 400 square foot home can be built in 5 days. Putting this into scale with our square foot

average one house could be built in about 2 weeks.

• The plastic is biodegradable and has a lifespan of 500 years.

• It is fireproof and has minimal maintenance.

• The brick molds are designed in a Lego type structure so anyone can learn how to build.

• Plastic donations bins around our neighborhood to be transported to factories for reuse.

It helps tackle poverty, climate change, the

plastic waste problem, affordability and

pollution problem along with the possible

creation of more jobs by creating factories for

brick production.

Figure 4 Plastic Brick Process developed by Oscar Mendez in Columbia.

Figure 5 Example of a plastic brick home in Columbia.

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Floor & Walls

• Reclaimed wood floors promote recycling.

• Stucco covered walls for aesthetic and helps contain plastic particles from brick.

Orientation-

• Longest walls face the North and South for maximization of Solar Light and Heat

use.

• Orientated in a way to welcome natural cross ventilation.

Windows-

• Long windows to welcome natural light in.

• Windows are placed mostly in North and South walls to

maximize winter and summer sun.

• Double Paned Windows to reduce energy usage up to 24%

therefore saving money and creating fewer greenhouse gas

emissions while also reducing outside noise.

Roof-

• Flat, sloped roofs directed towards the South in order to

provide the best efficiency for solar panels.

• White & grey rooftops in order to reflect light and not absorb

much heat.

• 2.5’ overhang so when its winter it will allow light to come in

providing warmth but in the summer, it will block direct heat

from the sun while still providing natural light and providing

shading.

• Overhang and shading focus on Southside of the house as

it is the side most affected by the sun.

Floor Plans-

• Variety of 5 floor plans ranging from 700-1400

square feet.

• Fit for starter families up to midsize families.

• Promotes a mixed income community.

Figure 6 Double Paned Window.

Figure 8 Path of the sun during winter and summer.

Figure 7 How roof overhangs affect maximization of winter and summer sun.

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Utilities

We strived to have a close to 100% renewable energy system throughout all our utilities.

*The use of all electric appliances removes the need for a gas utility.

HVAC System- Geothermal System

How it works:

There are three main components: the heat exchanger pump

unit, the underground loop system, and regular duct work.

1. The ground loop geothermal system uses the constant

temperature of the ground 4-6 feet underground by burying

pipes with sensitive temperature liquid.

2. The pump circulates temperature sensitive liquid in through

the underground pipes because the temperature underground

is usually 40-60 degrees year-round.

3. In winter, warm liquid carries heat into the house which is

turned into heat through the heat pump.

4. In summer, cool liquid draws the heat out of the house

leaving cool air instead.

To reduce costs, all the pipes and boreholes are connected to one main pipeline. However, all

homes still have their own systems. The pipes are installed before any other construction

around the neighborhood, and there is a central pumping station which the main pipeline is

linked to.

*Inspired by Whisper Valley Neighborhood in Austin, Texas.

Benefits:

• 40-60% saving in water and electric bills

• It can be installed without disturbing any established

streets, sidewalks and underground infrastructure.

• Low maintenance & High Reliability

• Low environmental impact

• Renewable high efficient heating and cooling

Figure 9 An individual HVAC system at work.

Figure 10 Whisper Valley in Austin, Texas

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Electrical System- Microgrid System

How a Microgrid works:

a. The Microgrid is connected to the grid however,

there is a switch in which you can either connect to or

disconnect from the grid, making it an “islanded”

system. In this case, we would always be disconnected

unless there is the absolute need to reconnect.

. (Not enough energy produced, solar

………………… panels/battery storage fault etc.)

b. The microgrid would be powered by the solar

panels found throughout the whole neighborhood.

c. The energy produced throughout the neighborhood

would be stored in a battery storage in the learning

center and distributed when needed.

Battery Storage System:

• Use of the 20’ ABB PowerStore Standalone Battery Storage System to

administer all of the energy needed to run our neighborhood and storage.

• Use of ten storage systems to have the capacity of holding the energy

produced.

• The specific battery storage we are using is specifically made for islanded

use disconnected from the local electricity, just like our neighborhood.

Benefits:

• Energy focus on the most vital structures in case of any time of crisis.

• Higher savings and lower costs.

• Allows the community to be more interconnected by being aware of energy usage.

• Environmentally friendly

• An energy independent community.

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Liter of Light: Bleach + Water in a plastic bottle to create the equivalent of 10 watts of light. Used in third world countries that can’t get electricity.

• Modified this idea by creating a skylight/recessed light-like container in which a plastic bottle is filled with bleach and water just like it is used in third-world countries.

• In order to maintain a clean, modern aesthetic in the house there will be a recessed light hole to hide the bottle, rather than having half a plastic bottle coming down from your roof.

• Since it’s like a skylight, it will allow the sunlight to react with the mixture while still letting natural light in.

• The roof would have parapets which serve a multipurpose for rain flow and to hide the bottles from the public view.

• There would be a combination of this and regular LED recessed lights along the ceiling in order to receive good lighting and reducing electricity usage.

I. .r

Solar Panels

Usage of solar panels in every building to

maximize energy production.

Creative placement and usage of solar panels to

embrace and promote solar energy. This is made

possible as solar shade systems.

Placement of the solar panels on the southside of

the house on flat, sloped roofs to maximize the

sun’s energy throughout all four seasons.

The use of solar panels in El Paso is amazing due to the fact we have an average of 302 days of

sun every year.

Figure 12 Inspiration of solar panels used as a creative shading center.

Figure 11Modified version of Liter of Light.

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Water System- El Paso Water Supply

The current working of a facility center that promotes a closed loop system would allow that

after wastewater is treated in the treatment plants, they would go through an advanced

purification in the facility allowing them to send the water directly back to customers instead of

sending it back to aquifers, potentially being 100% reusable water.

Advanced Purification Process:

1. Reverse Osmosis- Removes salt and contaminants

2. UV light treatment- Hydrogen Peroxide is added

then UV light kills bacteria and destroys containments

3. Activated Carbon- Filters and takes off organic

matter and hydrogen peroxide

4. Disinfected with Chlorine

Benefits:

• It is already located here in El Paso, so we save land and money.

• The system they use is eco-friendly and making history around the world.

• We can incorporate smart technologies and systems to help save water and money.

• Potentially 100% renewable over the years due to the building of the new Advanced

Water Purification Facility.

Figure 13 Advanced Purification System.

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Community Areas:

Greenhouses: In order to provide the best quality of living to our community, we designed a greenhouse which

runs a vertical hydroponics system.

How it works:

1. Using a tube with a pump to get water to the top and bottom layers of the tower.

2. Gravity helps the water flow down to the reservoir at the

bottom of the tower.

3. We are using a single tube to deliver water to the different

layers

4. The water reservoir has nutrients in it which is recycled

throughout the process.

Benefits:

• The tower is made from recycled PVC pipe to save money

and promote recycling.

• Vertical hydroponics system to make the most out of the

land we have.

• Provides homemade fruits and vegetables to our

community.

• Provides 3-4 times more produce than a regular garden.

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Community Lots:

We decided to have community areas centrally located around our neighborhood in order to

benefit the neighborhood in the following ways:

I. Promoting exercise: By providing a space to work out and stay active, the health and

wellbeing of a community by giving them a convenient, affordable place to stay active.

II. Providing an economy boost: The center provides jobs (staff needed to run the recreation

center) and also gives us the ability to rent spaces or host activities. The recreation center

will also boost the property values and resale values.

III. Promoting community engagement: This center allows everyone of all ages to engage in

a variety of activities. It gives spaces for them to host meetings, events and simply gather

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In the community areas, the following is found:

• Recreation Lot: Inside the recreation center there is a weight room,

a locker room, a basketball court, spaces for events and a small gym.

Open for public use. There is an outdoor pool and grilling stations.

• “Fun” Lot: There is a jungle gym focused towards providing

entertainment for younger children. Open for public use. In this same

area there is a grass patch which we plan on using a farmer’s market

where the community could sell what they grow in the community

garden and greenhouses.

• “Green” Lot: There would be a greenhouse which runs with a

hydroponics system. There is a community garden available for those

fruits/veggies which can’t be grown in the greenhouses. This area

would be secured for private use of the community.

• A learning center in our community serves as a space for the

pumping stations and battery storage. To provide the best usage, we

made it serve multiple purposes.

Learning Center Sectors:

Pumping Stations: There is a need for at least 2000 square feet of space for geothermal

pumping stations in order for the geothermal system to work for the community. There

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will be an office for the administration and monitoring of the pumping stations. We are

using 20, 20-ton heat pumps.

Battery Storages: In order for the microgrid system to work, we need at least 2000 square

feet of space for the ABB PowerStore battery storage systems. There is an office for the

administration and monitoring of the systems.

Administration Offices: A space focused for those who want to move into our o

neighborhood, bills payment, or are simply interested in learning how our neighborhood

works. It serves as a learning center as there are tours available displaying how

everything works. People area able to see systems at work and visualize it firsthand.

Smart Technologies:

The implement of a variety of smart technologies helps with the conservation of water and

energy. There will be technologies which will help with security issues and the betterment of the

community overall.

Some technologies we are using are the following:

• Technologies for Efficiency: We plan on integrating systems such as Amazon’s Alexa or

hiioiooooooooo Google’s Google Home. These systems would allow smart controlling of

hiioiooooooooo light bulbs, appliances, HVAC systems and more. We would integrate

hiioiooooooooo these systems with friendly appliances which would allow a smooth

hiioiooooooooo running between the systems and appliances.

• Security Technologies: We plan on using a system we actually designed early on this

hiioiooooooooo school year called Smart Lock Doorbell. We developed this idea from

hiioiooooooooo scratch, and focused on providing safety, feasibility and modernized

hiioiooooooooo technology through this design. It is a door add on with a fingerprint

hiioiooooooooo system, a timer to automatically close and open doors, a modern

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hiioiooooooooo aesthetic to fit in with future architecture, an app which allows them to

hiioiooooooooo control their system and a camera for safety issues.

• Water Conservation Technologies: We are using a smart technology called Eva Drop

hiioiooooooooo which is a smart shower system has a motion sensor to automatically

hiioiooooooooo stop and start water in order to conserve as much water as possible. We

hiioiooooooooo are using appliances which will help with the conservation of water.

• Energy Conservation Technologies: By using smart appliances such as smart lightbulbs,

hiioiooooooooo energy efficient kitchen appliances, and smart plugs, we plan on saving

hiioiooooooooo as much energy as we can. We are also integrating software which would

hiioiooooooooo connect to the solar panels each home has, allowing them to see and

hiioiooooooooo administer their energy usage through their phone.

Cost & Feasibility Analysis:

Estimating the actual cost of our neighborhood is not possible since there are too many details to

be accounted for. For this reason, we gathered data from existent neighborhoods and compared

the costs and materials to those we are using.

For example, by using Plastic Brick as the material we are building with we reduce the cost of

building the home by around 30%.

The average cost of building a 2,000 square foot house is $238,00.

Calculations for our smallest home:

(800 square feet)

$10,400 Framing

+$5,700 Exterior

=$17,000

Calculations for our biggest home:

(14000 square feet)

$14,040 Framing

+$9,600 Exterior

=$24,000

When calculating our houses overall cost, we took into consideration:

*Sitework: $16,000

*Foundation: $26,000

*Framing and Exterior: $17,000- $24,000

*Systems: $11,000- $25,000

*Interior Finishes: $25,000

*Total: $95,000- $116,000

Costs of our systems:

Our systems focus on community wide investments which would pay off over the years.

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*Geothermal HVAC System:

One geothermal HVAC system ranges from $15-20k. Since we modified this system, instead of

paying $15-20k per building, it would be a community investment, and it would be paid off over

the year as a monthly utility bill. the costs should cover themselves leading to profit after a few

years. An individual HVAC Geothermal System usually make their money back in 10 years, so

we estimated a payback time of about 15 years for our system.

* Solar Panels:

The microgrid system cost (solar panels and batteries) should be paid back through savings on

bills over the initial first years then made back by profits. This would be a Community Wide

Investment. This would be a costly investment, however due to the amount of renewable energy

provided, the savings in utilities, and the solar panels life spans make up for it. An individual

solar panel system costs about $11-18k, and is typically paid back in 5-8 years. Due to the

immensity of our neighborhood, we can’t calculate exact numbers nor reliable estimates.

*Water System:

Due to the water supply system already here, costs would be minimal, and savings would exceed

the average by using our smart technologies to save energy and water.

*Through the use of our community areas, we expect to make money which would be used for

the maintenance of the community areas and used to pay back neighborhood costs. Due to the

recreational center and learning facility being open to public, we expect most of our money to

come from those centers. *The following numbers are educated estimates.

Number of Annual Visitors:

Estimate of Neighborhood Residents:

*180-300 Neighborhood Residents. *This number does not take into account expandability.

For the sake of time management, our model only displays our neighborhood fit for 180-300

persons. However, we have taken expandability into account and believe this neighborhood is fit

for any future growth. Due to our community areas sizes, we estimated that our neighborhood

would be fit for double that of our model. (If this was the case, an additional greenhouse would

be set into place.

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Visitors Expected for Community Areas:

The average American visits parks & recreation centers 29 times a year. The reason why

this number isn’t higher is because the areas are too far, or they are not aware of them.

Therefore, we expect our residents and visitors to visit more than 30 times a year.

Through the promoting of our neighborhood and the community areas open to the public we

expect many visitors annually in all of our community areas, alongside with the future expected

growth of our neighborhood.

Operational benefit analysis of systems and ideas Building Construction:

• An R value of around .30-.48, which is higher than that of adobe and clay (estimated by

using the R-Values of rubber and plastic). This means buildings are highly insulated.

• Low maintenance & Easy construction through Lego-like construction.

• Tackles plastic waste problem as bricks can be adjusted to use up to 20 bottles per brick.

Geothermal HVAC System:

• Low maintenance and does not disturb community as construction happens before any building goes up.

• Easy operation as it is as efficient as a standard HVAC system.

• Highly reliable and easy control of systems through smart technologies.

• Set monthly utility bill for smooth payments and easy operation. Microgrid System:

• Energy independent because it is not connected to the grid. For example, when something needs to be repaired (such as a power outage), everyone connected to the grid is affected. Due to the islanded microgrid system had there been an outage energy would focus on vital structures (recreational center etc.) which can support the residents in a time of crisis.

Water System:

• The incorporation of smart water saving technologies and water efficient appliances we

facilitate the use of everything.

• Due to the water supply being locally known it is easier to adjust to and control concerns.

Community Areas:

*Recreational Center-This allows a better, healthier lifestyle while promoting events and providing entertainment benefits.

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*Learning Facility-Through the multiple purposes this facility has it makes it easy on the residents to get in touch with owners, pay their bills, and voice their concerns. Along with this, they also get to inform the public about renewable energy. *Greenhouse- Since this area is secured for private use of the residents, it keeps control of responsible planting and produce. Hydroponics system is easy to learn how to operate. Community garden plots to provide a wider range of produce potentially grown. *All these also create job positions which can be taken by neighborhood

residents allowing them to work close to home.

Due to the incorporation of smart technologies such as apps, smart devices and appliances, and smart security systems it is easier to control everything, operate daily activity smoothly, and feel safe in your home.

Annual energy consumption:

The average American household (2,000sqft) uses 10,972 kilowatt-hours annually. Due to energy efficiency appliances proved to bring energy usage down up to 30% , smart technologies allowing us to keep constant track of energy use, and the interconnectedness the microgrid system brings by being conscious that they are sharing energy, we are certain that our neighborhood would consume less than the national consumption average. We can’t develop exact numbers for energy consumption due to the ranges of our structures and scale of project. For this reason, we try to create the following educated estimates: Household consumption *10,972kWh *-30% in Savings *=7680kWh

Commercial consumption *25,000kWh *-30% in savings *=17,500kWh

Total consumption

- Savings =Educated annual consumption

*The following are educated estimates.

Making and Improving Design

Designing on Revit: Once we settled on the designs and systems we were going to use, we set out to putting

everything through Revit. We started by designing all the houses, the community centers, and

any individual project on its own. Once we had everything individually made, we planned out

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the terrain and placed all the buildings in. After all the buildings were in, we started landscaping

and placed grass, driveways, roads, and anything else onto it. We fixed details and made changes

as necessary to have everything look well together and to make sure the functionality of

everything works.

Renders and Details: After the neighborhood was put together, we added details such as trees, trash bins, plants,

shades, etc. Once we were satisfied with our project, we rendered pictures of different angles and

buildings.

Technical Plans: Finally, we set out to add dimensions, site layouts and official floor plans. Some examples are

displayed in the upcoming pages however, the official technical plans are separately bonded

together.

Modifying and Improving Design

Software: We have decided that Unity is the best software to use because of its functionalities and its

ability to render unimaginable graphic and textures that will give us a standing ground against

other teams that are competing in this competition. Since we have a lot more experiences with

Revit, an architecture and engineering software that is used to building house and other

structures. We decided that we will design and build our houses on Revit and then transfer our

houses to Unity while keeping everything we built on Revit intact. While Unity is a wonderful

program, it does not have the ability to transfer textures from Revit, so we have to add all detail

ad materials after. We have acquired a VR headset from the competition, but we had an issue

with the VR headset because the Burges HS computers are very much outdated. In order to

tackle this problem, we ran the VR headset through a PC we have at home, assuring it works.

.

Exporting to Unity The exporting to Unity was easy and simple, as all we had to do was make the Revit file into an

FBX and opening it up on Unity. From here, we had to create textures, materials, and extra

details such as solar panels.

Fixing VR We had complications with the VR while in Unity as we couldn’t go down to walk through the

neighborhood. Due to this we used a program called Enscape in order to fully capture our

neighborhood and detail. However, after receiving more time to work on our environments, we

managed to create a realistic render in Unity, fixing all the complications we previously had.

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3D Printing Process We wanted to make sure we had realistic models which is why we kept functionality, scalability and relevance in mind.

Printing Hours: Greenhouse: 2 hours 30 minutes, Roof A: 53 minutes, Roof B: 45 minutes Learning Facility: 6 hours 30 minutes to print, Roof A-G range from 30-45 minutes. Recreational Center: 13 hours 30 minutes to print, Roof A-E ranged from 30-50 minutes

Scale Comprehension Ratio: We followed a 3/32” scale meaning that for every 3/32 fraction of an inch, that is equal to a foot in real life.

Functionality: In order to provide a realistic and inviting model to the public, we made our models have doors

that open and close, and replaced 3D printed glass walls with recycled binder plastic in order to

make it seem as if it was real glass. We also made sure to have our roofs apart from our model so

that people can lift the roof and look inside the model.

Relevance: We chose to 3D print our three most relevant pieces of our neighborhood being the greenhouse,

the learning facility, and the recreation center. The reason why we believed these were relevant

were because of the following:

• Greenhouse: Displays renewable energy through the hydroponics system and promotes

growing their own food lowering transportation CO2 emissions, the use of pesticides, and

greenhouse gases.

• Recreation Center: Displays how we incorporated renewable energies into our houses by

displaying the use of overhangs for maximization of sun use, solar energy, geothermal

energy to heat up the indoor pool, promotes healthy lifestyles, orientation of building and

opening to help with ventilation and maximization of renewable energies, etc.

• Learning Facility: Main control center for our neighborhood, shows and invites people to

learn about geothermal and solar energy by displaying those energies at work through

learning tours.

3

Communicating Final Design

Our three goals were the following and we accomplished them in these ways:

I. A focus on providing affordable renewable energy.

-Community wide investments for Geothermal HVAC systems and Microgrid Solar

system along with use of Solar powered EV Chargers.

-Creating plans to reduce total costs of energies through established long-term plans.

-By incorporating design elements, and smart technologies throughout all of our designs

we reduce our annual energy consumption.

II. An overall interconnectedness & improvement of quality of life.

-Access to parks and recreational centers promotes a healthy active lifestyle while

providing entertainment.

-Use of energy awareness through community based on community microgrid systems.

-Ability to establish and host events for economic, social and cultural reasons.

-Greenhouse & Community garden provides fresh healthy produce to community.

III. Reducing the transportation carbon footprint and fighting climate change.

-With minimal parking structures and a focus on other forms of transportation you reduce

carbon footprint while enforcing healthy lifestyles.

-Promoting public transportation and enforcing safe infrastructures for walking and

bicycles leads to other forms of transportation.

-Public solar powered EV charging stations and private EV charging available in all

houses promotes the use of renewable energies and reduces the strain of fossil fuels.

4

References

- “ABB Group - Leading Digital Technologies for Industry.” ABB Group - Leading Digital

Technologies for Industry, new.abb.com/.

- Cne. “5 Ways Architecture Can Curb Climate Change.” Architectural Digest Videos,

Architectural Digest, 26 July 2017, video.architecturaldigest.com/watch/architecture-

climate-change.

- “El Paso, TX Electricity Rates.” Electricity Local,

www.electricitylocal.com/states/texas/el-paso/.

- “How El Paso's Water Goes from 'Toilet to Tap' - CNN Video.” CNN, Cable News

Network, 5 Dec. 2018, www.cnn.com/videos/health/2018/12/05/el-paso-water-explainer-

sanjay-gupta-pkg-vpx.cnn.

- Kounang, Nadia. “El Paso to Drink Treated Sewage Water Due to Climate Change

Drought.” CNN, Cable News Network, 5 Dec. 2018,

www.cnn.com/2018/11/30/health/water-climate-change-el-paso/index.html.

- Schlanger, Zoë “A Major US City Will Start Drinking Its Own Sewage. Others Need to

Follow.” Quartz, Quartz, 18 Sept. 2018, qz.com/1353825/a-major-us-city-will-start-

drinking-its-own-sewage-others-need-to-follow/.

- “Whisper Valley: Sustainable Community Features Geothermal Heating &

Cooling.” REHAU North America, www.rehau.com/us-en/themes/whisper-

valley/whisper-valley-video/1549744.

- YouTube, YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJoSlSgG-MQ.

- YouTube, YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2EXsoiZ-To.

- YouTube, YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2S0INHcRjw.