Question

You are part of a Design and Construct team for a conference centre and 300 bed hotel accommodation in Darwin, Northern Territory. The site is 10 hectares on the oceanfront. The developer wants the project to be environmentally friendly and to minimise energy consumption and water usage while maintaining a luxury hotel feel. List the factors and strategies that you would consider most important in the design of this building, i.e. the design adaptations for the building.

Answer 1

There are various things we can do to make an energy efficient building without compromising on their performance

• Use of solar panels - Using solar panels as an alternate method of water heating and electricity can conserve electricity .Since , it is a luxury hotel it should be so made that the solar panels heat the water and provide electricity when there is enough sunlight to charge the solar cells , and when the solar cells do not have enough charge , the normal electricity should work .
• Use of natural light -Using natural light to light up dimly lit areas where there is a need for continuous light , wherever possible can reduce electricity usage .Using polarized glasses can help to control the amount of light .
• Rain water Harvesting - Proper filtration and harvesting of rainwater can make rainwater reusable and also decrease the usage of water from other sources , putting rainwater on use .
• Using Steel sections - Steel is sustainable and can be used to make components of the building wherever possible .
• Sustainable Interior design - Sustainable interior designing can reduce the amount of waste .Some applications like using plants and biodegradable materials for aesthetic purposes and painting light colors on places where natural sunlight is used can maintain the interior temperature .
• Materials like lightweight concrete can be used
• Proper air movements can minimize the dependency on air conditioners so , proper ventilations and windows are required
• Other techniques like plantation of trees to minimize the wind load on the structure can be adopted .

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