Is it possible to build an office complex that is not only environmentally sensitive to the area around it but actually produces more energy than it consumes? It is, and NASA did it! Located at the Ames Research Center in California, the Sustainability Base was the topic of our LiveChat with Associate Director Steven Zornetzer. 149 were on hand to hear Mr. Zornetzer present how engineering and technology were used to produce one of the greenest buildings on the planet.
Here are some questions we did not get to in the chat:
Here are some questions we did not get to in the chat:
Deshmukh, Rohan asks: How long do you expect this building to be top-class before another one is created that has higher standards? Will you keep updating the building to be top-of-the-line? Thank you!
SZ: I hope new buildings quickly overtake Sustainability Base in performance! I wanted to set a high standard with this building but I am eager for others to set even higher standards. We do expect to use our building as a living test bed for new energy efficient technologies as they become available in the future, so our building will continue to evolve and improve in performance.
Vo, Ashley-Grace asks: If you changed the shape of solar panels, would it work better/worse? What about a slightly concave shape, not deeply curved so there won't be shadowed? Is there a better shape for solarpanels than rectangular?
SZ: I know companies have been experimenting with different shaped solar panels (cylindrical, concave, thin film, etc.). Currently, due to cost of manufacturing primarily, nearly all commercially available solar panels are rectangular. I would not be surprised if in the future that changes as the technology evolves or is replace by an entirely new photo-voltaic technology.
Kahl, Rebecca asks: Was there anything else you would do if you had a bigger budget? Is the building structurally safe in the event of an earthquake or other natural disasters if the technology was implemented around the country?
SZ; If I had a larger budget I would have used electrochromic windows in the building. These windows change heat transmissivity as a function of UV absorption. They are relatively new and therefore still quite expensive. Regarding earthquake resilience, because the building has an exoskeleton, in other words, has all its structural steel support outside the skin of the building, it is very earthquake resilient. In fact, it is the safest building on our entire campus.
Returning students may have noticed some changes in our weekly LiveChats. We have new chat software by Blackboard Collaborate that provides more functionality to moderators, and better controls for presenters. You shouldn’t have any different experience other than the color of the frames. We will be using Collaborate on all future chats.
Another change is the number of students who are able to attend our LiveChat. We have doubled in size from last year, which makes our presenters and us happy to see so many students interested. This increase has presented a problem at the question and answer period following the chat. Last night, for instance, we had 30 unanswered questions when our time ran out. These questions were captured and sent to the presenter and will be posted with answers on the Discussion Board. This is a big job and our presenters have been gracious to spend extra time for us, but I’d like to have a better way to ask questions. If you have ideas, post them to the Discussion Board under Chat Talk. We want it to be fair, but I hate disappointing students who wait in line only to end right before their question is taken. I’m interested in hearing your ideas!
One more thing: All LiveChat quizzes are set for unlimited attempts and saving the highest score. If you miss a question, keep taking it until you get the full 25 points. A question from the NASA Going Green quiz that opened last night was scoring at .5 points instead of 5 points, so if you finished the quiz with 20.5 points, please retake it and get your full 25 points.
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