Building envelopes significantly contribute to energetic gains and losses, relying on insulation ... more Building envelopes significantly contribute to energetic gains and losses, relying on insulation and HVAC systems to maintain thermal comfort. The Thermally Active Ceramic Envelope (TACE) is being developed to capture, transform, re-distribute bioclimatic energy flows rather than act as a barrier. By redirecting rather than rejecting thermal energy, building envelopes act as on-demand variable mass systems which can achieve the same balancing effects as traditional thermal mass approaches, without such intensive material requirements. By managing entropy production at the envelope, it is reasonable to expect lower mechanical system energy expenditures to maintain thermal comfort. This paper outlines two parallel methods of analysis, physical and digital, used to inform design decisions in the development of TACE systems. In the first method, digital simulation, multiple digital models were prepared to characterize the thermal performance of TACE tile modules. With a well-prepared si...
A+BE: Architecture and the Built Environment, 2020
Research and development in building envelope design have promoted the convergence of two system ... more Research and development in building envelope design have promoted the convergence of two system types, Thermo-Active Building Systems and Adaptive Building Envelopes, that re- conceptualize the envelope as a distributed energy transfer function that captures, transforms, stores, and even re-distributes energy resources. The widespread deployment of Thermo-Active Building Systems as a building envelope will depend on several factors. These factors include the value of the design attributes that impact energy transfer in relation to the performance of the building envelope assembly and the return on investment that these attributes individually or in the aggregate can provide as a reduction in Energy Use Intensity. The research focus is on the design development, testing, and energy reduction potential of a Thermo-Active Building System as an adaptive countercurrent energy exchange envelope system using ceramic components: the Thermal Adaptive Ceramic Envelope.
Despite the fact that tall buildings are the most wind affected of architectural typologies, test... more Despite the fact that tall buildings are the most wind affected of architectural typologies, testing for aerodynamic performance is typically conducted during the later design phases, well after the overall geometry has been developed. In this context, aerodynamic performance studies are limited to evaluating an existing design rather than a systematic performance study of design options driving form generation. Beyond constrains of time and cost of wind tunnel testing, which is still more reliable than Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations for wind conditions around buildings, aerodynamic performance criteria lack an immediate interface with parametric design tools. This study details a framework for empirical data collection through wind tunnel testing in a uniform airflow of mechatronic dynamic models (MDM) and the expansion of the collected dataset by determining a mathematical interpolating model using an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) algorithm developing an Aerodyna...
Digital modeling in the design environment has prompted intuitive shaping of architectural form. ... more Digital modeling in the design environment has prompted intuitive shaping of architectural form. The pliability of the imagination allows limitless possibilities of shape without a constrained methodology. This paper chronicles a design exploring catenary form-finding using parametric constraints in a dynamic modeling environment. Catenary structural networks are treated as digital cloth objects. Applying parametric edge and point constraints simulates various behavior patterns under gravity load. The integration of real-time Finite Element Method [FEM] and dynamic cloth simulation presents an intuitive method for the design and analysis of catenary structures. Constraints resist the limitless pliability of shape and hone the intuition using force to find form realized as a ceramic catenary network.
This paper examines the use of Fluid-based Aerodynamic Modification (FAM) methods derived from fl... more This paper examines the use of Fluid-based Aerodynamic Modification (FAM) methods derived from flow control techniques first developed for the aerospace industry. Instead of relying on the adjustment of the solid material within the structure to improve the aerodynamics of a tall building, fluid-based active flow control is added to the building systems' matrix to manipulate the building boundary layer and achieve a desired performance for both the interior and exterior. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate proof of concept for the FAM approach to tall building aerodynamic modification.
Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, 2014
ABSTRACT A novel approach is proposed to integrate active air flow control into the assembly of b... more ABSTRACT A novel approach is proposed to integrate active air flow control into the assembly of building envelopes in order to affect the interaction between tall buildings and surrounding air flow. The potential benefits of the proposed approach include reduction of embodied energy contained within the building structure, improvement of the overall life-cycle of building materials, and increased access to natural daylight by shallow lease spans. To date, the trend towards light-weight and high-strength materials in tall buildings, compounded with the emerging inclination towards modular prefabrication of structural assemblies, increasing flexibility and reduced damping, and greater slenderness ratios, has increased the susceptibility of the structural performance of tall buildings to dynamic wind load effects. Currently, mitigating wind loads relies on either changing structural or geometric characteristics such as the building׳s shape or through the addition of auxiliary damping systems. Furthermore, market driven pressures on increasing the slenderness ratios of tall buildings have been at odds with the socio-economic viability of the corresponding deep lease spans that tall buildings have required at their base. The proposed Fluid-based Aerodynamic Modification (FAM) approach is fundamentally different: instead of re-shaping the solid material to improve the aerodynamic ‘shape’ of the structure, fluid-based active flow control is used to manipulate the separating boundary layer in order to improve the building׳s aerodynamic performance and thus reduce the wind excitation.
Contemporary construction materials and mechanical building ventilation systems types are complic... more Contemporary construction materials and mechanical building ventilation systems types are complicit in the degradation of indoor air quality (IAQ) and have become principal contributors to public health concerns in developed countries. These challenges are further exacerbated by the increasing cost of energy that is required to maintain healthy levels of IAQ in these buildings. Addressing these issues will require not only innovative technologies and approaches, but also deep collaborations across several disciplines. This research stems from an interdisciplinary framework for the development of a building-integrated phytoremediation system using bio-mechanical techniques to ‘scrub’ toxins from the air and maintain desired psychometric profiles for IAQ by integrating modules containing hydroponic-supported plant materials into heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. This research is multi-dimensional and interdisciplinary in scope, with the precise goal of integrat...
International Journal of Architectural Computing, 2006
The strategizing for the repopulation of the inner city is certainly one of the great challenges ... more The strategizing for the repopulation of the inner city is certainly one of the great challenges for American designers.Advances in material science, manufacturing processes and computational technology make available to the designer novel configurations that suggest a ...
Building envelopes significantly contribute to energetic gains and losses, relying on insulation ... more Building envelopes significantly contribute to energetic gains and losses, relying on insulation and HVAC systems to maintain thermal comfort. The Thermally Active Ceramic Envelope (TACE) is being developed to capture, transform, re-distribute bioclimatic energy flows rather than act as a barrier. By redirecting rather than rejecting thermal energy, building envelopes act as on-demand variable mass systems which can achieve the same balancing effects as traditional thermal mass approaches, without such intensive material requirements. By managing entropy production at the envelope, it is reasonable to expect lower mechanical system energy expenditures to maintain thermal comfort. This paper outlines two parallel methods of analysis, physical and digital, used to inform design decisions in the development of TACE systems. In the first method, digital simulation, multiple digital models were prepared to characterize the thermal performance of TACE tile modules. With a well-prepared si...
A+BE: Architecture and the Built Environment, 2020
Research and development in building envelope design have promoted the convergence of two system ... more Research and development in building envelope design have promoted the convergence of two system types, Thermo-Active Building Systems and Adaptive Building Envelopes, that re- conceptualize the envelope as a distributed energy transfer function that captures, transforms, stores, and even re-distributes energy resources. The widespread deployment of Thermo-Active Building Systems as a building envelope will depend on several factors. These factors include the value of the design attributes that impact energy transfer in relation to the performance of the building envelope assembly and the return on investment that these attributes individually or in the aggregate can provide as a reduction in Energy Use Intensity. The research focus is on the design development, testing, and energy reduction potential of a Thermo-Active Building System as an adaptive countercurrent energy exchange envelope system using ceramic components: the Thermal Adaptive Ceramic Envelope.
Despite the fact that tall buildings are the most wind affected of architectural typologies, test... more Despite the fact that tall buildings are the most wind affected of architectural typologies, testing for aerodynamic performance is typically conducted during the later design phases, well after the overall geometry has been developed. In this context, aerodynamic performance studies are limited to evaluating an existing design rather than a systematic performance study of design options driving form generation. Beyond constrains of time and cost of wind tunnel testing, which is still more reliable than Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations for wind conditions around buildings, aerodynamic performance criteria lack an immediate interface with parametric design tools. This study details a framework for empirical data collection through wind tunnel testing in a uniform airflow of mechatronic dynamic models (MDM) and the expansion of the collected dataset by determining a mathematical interpolating model using an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) algorithm developing an Aerodyna...
Digital modeling in the design environment has prompted intuitive shaping of architectural form. ... more Digital modeling in the design environment has prompted intuitive shaping of architectural form. The pliability of the imagination allows limitless possibilities of shape without a constrained methodology. This paper chronicles a design exploring catenary form-finding using parametric constraints in a dynamic modeling environment. Catenary structural networks are treated as digital cloth objects. Applying parametric edge and point constraints simulates various behavior patterns under gravity load. The integration of real-time Finite Element Method [FEM] and dynamic cloth simulation presents an intuitive method for the design and analysis of catenary structures. Constraints resist the limitless pliability of shape and hone the intuition using force to find form realized as a ceramic catenary network.
This paper examines the use of Fluid-based Aerodynamic Modification (FAM) methods derived from fl... more This paper examines the use of Fluid-based Aerodynamic Modification (FAM) methods derived from flow control techniques first developed for the aerospace industry. Instead of relying on the adjustment of the solid material within the structure to improve the aerodynamics of a tall building, fluid-based active flow control is added to the building systems' matrix to manipulate the building boundary layer and achieve a desired performance for both the interior and exterior. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate proof of concept for the FAM approach to tall building aerodynamic modification.
Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, 2014
ABSTRACT A novel approach is proposed to integrate active air flow control into the assembly of b... more ABSTRACT A novel approach is proposed to integrate active air flow control into the assembly of building envelopes in order to affect the interaction between tall buildings and surrounding air flow. The potential benefits of the proposed approach include reduction of embodied energy contained within the building structure, improvement of the overall life-cycle of building materials, and increased access to natural daylight by shallow lease spans. To date, the trend towards light-weight and high-strength materials in tall buildings, compounded with the emerging inclination towards modular prefabrication of structural assemblies, increasing flexibility and reduced damping, and greater slenderness ratios, has increased the susceptibility of the structural performance of tall buildings to dynamic wind load effects. Currently, mitigating wind loads relies on either changing structural or geometric characteristics such as the building׳s shape or through the addition of auxiliary damping systems. Furthermore, market driven pressures on increasing the slenderness ratios of tall buildings have been at odds with the socio-economic viability of the corresponding deep lease spans that tall buildings have required at their base. The proposed Fluid-based Aerodynamic Modification (FAM) approach is fundamentally different: instead of re-shaping the solid material to improve the aerodynamic ‘shape’ of the structure, fluid-based active flow control is used to manipulate the separating boundary layer in order to improve the building׳s aerodynamic performance and thus reduce the wind excitation.
Contemporary construction materials and mechanical building ventilation systems types are complic... more Contemporary construction materials and mechanical building ventilation systems types are complicit in the degradation of indoor air quality (IAQ) and have become principal contributors to public health concerns in developed countries. These challenges are further exacerbated by the increasing cost of energy that is required to maintain healthy levels of IAQ in these buildings. Addressing these issues will require not only innovative technologies and approaches, but also deep collaborations across several disciplines. This research stems from an interdisciplinary framework for the development of a building-integrated phytoremediation system using bio-mechanical techniques to ‘scrub’ toxins from the air and maintain desired psychometric profiles for IAQ by integrating modules containing hydroponic-supported plant materials into heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. This research is multi-dimensional and interdisciplinary in scope, with the precise goal of integrat...
International Journal of Architectural Computing, 2006
The strategizing for the repopulation of the inner city is certainly one of the great challenges ... more The strategizing for the repopulation of the inner city is certainly one of the great challenges for American designers.Advances in material science, manufacturing processes and computational technology make available to the designer novel configurations that suggest a ...
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Papers by Jason Vollen