Designing a Solar home
For the months January and February 2014, we were designing a solar home. My group was Kyle Rockwell, Sam Boyd, and Maielle Weinstock. But Maielle was only there for a small part of the time because she got really sick. There was multiple parts to this project, that's why it took 2 months to do.
The Different parts
1. Designing a water Heater: For this part, we had to design a water heater using different cheap material. We used cardboard, milk jug, copper and rubber tubing, aluminum foil and plastic wrap. We used the plastic wrap to make a greenhouse layer so that it stays warm, and we used the aluminum foil to reflect the light and heat to the copper tubing. We used the jug to have something to pour the water in. That's the first part of this project
2. Solar Angles: We needed to figure out the angles the sun would shine on the house so that in the summer it will be cool and in the winter it will be warm. Earth's axis tilts at a 23.5 degree angle. This causes the seasons. The angle is more intense in the summer than in the winter. So we needed to take that into account so that we get the desired amount of sunlight. Below is a diagram of the angles of sunlight at 40 degrees N.
The Different parts
1. Designing a water Heater: For this part, we had to design a water heater using different cheap material. We used cardboard, milk jug, copper and rubber tubing, aluminum foil and plastic wrap. We used the plastic wrap to make a greenhouse layer so that it stays warm, and we used the aluminum foil to reflect the light and heat to the copper tubing. We used the jug to have something to pour the water in. That's the first part of this project
2. Solar Angles: We needed to figure out the angles the sun would shine on the house so that in the summer it will be cool and in the winter it will be warm. Earth's axis tilts at a 23.5 degree angle. This causes the seasons. The angle is more intense in the summer than in the winter. So we needed to take that into account so that we get the desired amount of sunlight. Below is a diagram of the angles of sunlight at 40 degrees N.
3. Solar Design Activity: We then had to make a cardboard house to see what the best design is to use day lighting features such as light shelves, skylights, clerestory windows, and solar windows. We lost Maielle in the middle of this activity. We had a good model on her computer and when she got sick, we had to change our design on a short notice. We just used a big picture window and a clerestory window on our model. As you can see, its not very good because we were behind. So this is our solar design model.
Picking a site: My group chose the site behind the new school cafeteria because it had multiple pros to it. This site gets a lot of sunlight during the day, very visible to everyone, flat, and easily accessible. Also, since our usage is a study center and hang out area, it is in a good position because it is near the parking lot and close by the school library.
Materials Testing: Next, we tested different materials for the walls (exterior and interior), floor, roof, and insulation to see what the best materials are. The students designed the experiment. What we did was chose different materials, turned on a 60 watt light bulb that was about 20 cm above the material for 40 minutes and then turned off the light for 40 minutes. We checked the temperature of the objects every 10 minutes. Each group had to do 2-3 materials.
Floors: carpet, linoleum, hardwood (dark and light), ceramic tile, and cork.
Interior Walls: texture/ drywall, flat drywall, stone/ rock, and black/ white color.
Exterior Walls: redwood, stucco, wood, brick, plastic/ PVC, and adobe.
Roof: tar, shingles,corrugated metal, and turf/ sod
Insulation: fiberglass, spray foam, and polyurethane
Building Design: Every group needed to make their own model and give a presentation on it. So we had to research the costs and the best material for the real house. We made a model that was made out of cardboard as you can see below. Also, here are the pictures of the blueprints and the PowerPoint that went with my presentation.
Floors: carpet, linoleum, hardwood (dark and light), ceramic tile, and cork.
Interior Walls: texture/ drywall, flat drywall, stone/ rock, and black/ white color.
Exterior Walls: redwood, stucco, wood, brick, plastic/ PVC, and adobe.
Roof: tar, shingles,corrugated metal, and turf/ sod
Insulation: fiberglass, spray foam, and polyurethane
Building Design: Every group needed to make their own model and give a presentation on it. So we had to research the costs and the best material for the real house. We made a model that was made out of cardboard as you can see below. Also, here are the pictures of the blueprints and the PowerPoint that went with my presentation.
Why we are doing this: Earth is running out of fuels, so we need to be aware of other fuels available. And also, because we aren't using electricity, then we helping out the environment. Some cons to this is that they are not always reliable and the cost a lot of money initially. Here is the Google Doc made by the whole 5/6 STEM class explaining the different types of power and their pros and cons.
Wind turbines: The last part of the project was do experiments on different designs of wind turbines. There are 2 kinds of wind turbines, HAWT and VAWT. HAWT stands for Horizontal Access Wind Turbines and VAWT stands for Vertical Access Wind Turbines. We used wooden sticks and manila folders to make the turbines and a small fan to represent the wind.
Physics Concepts
Heat: The total energy of molecular a substance has
Temperature: Measurement of heat
Pressure (due to liquid): Density x Depth
Types of Heat Transfers
Convection: Heat transfer in fluid from the circulation of currents from one place to another.
Conduction: Transfer of heat through contact
Insulation: Lack of heat transfers
Radiation: heat transferred as rays,waves, or particles
Laws and Principles
Specific Heat: Heat required to heat a substance a given amount
Laws of thermodynamics;
0th: If two systems are in thermal equilibrium with a third system, then they are equal to each other. (similar to Transitive Property of equality in Geometry)
1st: Energy is neither created nor destroyed. (conservation of energy)
2nd: Entropy increases, or in other words disorder increases
3rd: Nothing can get to absolute 0, there is always going to be heat.
Reflection
This was a pretty fun project to do. I really learned a lot. Now I know what goes into designing a passive solar home. It really stinks that Maielle was sick for most of the project. If she didn't get sick, then we would have done a lot better. With that said, lets go onto the good and bad parts of this project.
Let's start with the bad parts with this project to get it over with. One bad part was that we were behind without Maielle. Another bad part was that we didn't really plan really well. Lastly, we didn't practice our presentation because we were behind so we didn't do well. Some personnel things that I could work on is not play on my iPod as much, give out more ideas and become more of a leader. Those are the bad things that I need to work on.
Now with the bad news out of the way, let's do the good news now. One thing that went really well was that my group rarely argued. Another thing is that no idea was "bad". Lastly, my group distributed the work evenly. So my group was a fantastic group.
When the actual small house, I will post the picture of it. It would be made pretty soon.
Physics Concepts
Heat: The total energy of molecular a substance has
Temperature: Measurement of heat
Pressure (due to liquid): Density x Depth
Types of Heat Transfers
Convection: Heat transfer in fluid from the circulation of currents from one place to another.
Conduction: Transfer of heat through contact
Insulation: Lack of heat transfers
Radiation: heat transferred as rays,waves, or particles
Laws and Principles
Specific Heat: Heat required to heat a substance a given amount
Laws of thermodynamics;
0th: If two systems are in thermal equilibrium with a third system, then they are equal to each other. (similar to Transitive Property of equality in Geometry)
1st: Energy is neither created nor destroyed. (conservation of energy)
2nd: Entropy increases, or in other words disorder increases
3rd: Nothing can get to absolute 0, there is always going to be heat.
Reflection
This was a pretty fun project to do. I really learned a lot. Now I know what goes into designing a passive solar home. It really stinks that Maielle was sick for most of the project. If she didn't get sick, then we would have done a lot better. With that said, lets go onto the good and bad parts of this project.
Let's start with the bad parts with this project to get it over with. One bad part was that we were behind without Maielle. Another bad part was that we didn't really plan really well. Lastly, we didn't practice our presentation because we were behind so we didn't do well. Some personnel things that I could work on is not play on my iPod as much, give out more ideas and become more of a leader. Those are the bad things that I need to work on.
Now with the bad news out of the way, let's do the good news now. One thing that went really well was that my group rarely argued. Another thing is that no idea was "bad". Lastly, my group distributed the work evenly. So my group was a fantastic group.
When the actual small house, I will post the picture of it. It would be made pretty soon.