House
Energy Doctor
An education, research, and community
service program that promotes student learning of energy conservation and
passive solar design through field investigation of existing buildings and
innovative sustainable design.
In response
to the need for sustainable design and more energy conscious architects, the
House Energy Doctor (HED) was developed in 1986 at the
1. Education:
Each semester, graduate and upper division
undergraduate students are taught the fundamentals of solar geometry and
physics, building thermodynamics, psychrometrics and
thermal comfort, climate and microclimate, energy conservation and passive
solar design. Using up-to-date site
survey methods, advanced instruments, and state-of-the-art computer simulation
techniques, the thermal performance of selected buildings is predicted and
optimized.
Outdoor
classroom at the HED cool tower pit
2. Research:
The House Energy Doctor
program provides students the opportunity to develop research projects related
to their Masters studies, senior (capstone) design, and/or funded
research. Research activities include
development of new site survey methods and instruments used in field
investigation of buildings, development of new computer programs for
specialized research, and development of innovative methods, systems and
guidelines for energy conservation and passive solar design. Research activity also leads to publication
of findings and opportunity for national and international travel.
Creative Instruments:
The Azimuth Protractor is a
in-house developed and patented site instrument which uses the sun and special
charts to precisely measure a building’s azimuth angles.
Patented, Dr. Chalfoun
Publications:
Over the past 10 years, the HED team has published more
than 44 national and international research papers in conferences,
peer-reviewed journals and magazines. Students
and director traveled to
Innovative Systems:
Below-collector Trombe-wall system with
low-flow fan and insulated dbl brick thermal storage wall coupled with return
air ducts from the north side at the Mittal residence
in
(architect: R. Hershberger, system designer: N.
Chalfoun).
Data Acquisition Systems:
3. Community Service:
The no-cost energy consultation service
the HED program offers encourages home and building owners to participate in
the program. The elaborate energy
analysis the students perform helps identify critical design elements in the
structure, which contribute most to energy waste. Alternative solutions are optimized and
reported to the owners to help them implementing the new strategies and to
start saving energy.
1 2
3 4
5 6
Students interviewing homeowners (1), measuring roof tilt (2), inspecting
the heating, cooling and water heating systems (3), measuring volume of
conditioned air distributed through registers (4), checking leaks using the
blower door and smoke sticks (5), and measuring reflectance of ground surfaces
(6).
For over ten
years, the House Energy Doctor program has serviced 65 residences, 12
commercial buildings, 120 builders’ residential prototypes, two major city
libraries, four university buildings and one major health center in Southern
Arizona. In 1998, the HED program was
awarded the best energy education program in
Community Workshops:
Building on
years of experience, the House Energy Doctor team has developed an interactive
multimedia computer-based energy workshop that demonstrates the theory, application
and results of applying a number of energy conservation strategies to
buildings. The workshop, which takes the
form of a competition between teams from the audience, has been presented to
community professionals, high and middle school students, and to universities in southern
Design Build Studios:
The House Energy Doctor program annually offers students the opportunity
to participate in design/build workshops on energy conservation and passive
solar systems. The last workshop focused
on the construction of a “cool tower” at the backyard of the HED building on
campus.
Graduate students building the cool tower components at the
Environmental Research Laboratory in the summer semester of 1997.
Students erecting the cool tower
at the House Energy Doctor backyard
Left: The cool tower after partial completion in
the Spring of 1998.
Right: The tower at final stage
with evaporative pads and tensile shading structure
Urban Outdoor
Analysis:
Recently, the HED team developed a new methodology
for assessing outdoor thermal comfort in urban spaces. Utilizing sophisticated tools, in-house
developed software, scale models and fish-eye lens photography, the thermal
performance of an outdoor space is predicted, evaluated and redesigned for
comfort.
Fish-eye lens photograph of the
Sustainable Urban Design studio projects, Spring, 2001
How to find us:
U of A Campus Map
House Energy Doctor© Program
1040 N. Olive,
Phone (520) 621-6751 (520) 621-3755
Fax (520) 621-8700
chalfoun@u.arizona.edu
dab@u.arizona.edu
www.capla.arizona.edu