ENGR4016 Design Practice: Sustainable Components Spring

Design Improvements For Enhanced Ventilation And Natural Cooling In Public Spaces

Introduction

A sustainable Urban Oasis is a design concept that focuses on the formation of an ecological, comfortable and beautiful public area. The main emphasis is on solving the problems typical for the urban environment such as the heat island effect, the lack of green areas, and insufficient ventilation. The project aims to make a positive contribution to improving the environmental quality of cities through an innovative use of sustainable construction materials Rammed Earth material and a connection with nature.

The central concept of the design is a curved wall, which directs light and encourages airflow in the building to minimize the need for artificial light and air conditioning during the day (Prabhakar et al. 2020). This wall is accompanied by green wall systems that can be in the form of vertical gardens that help in cooling and increasing the quality of air.

• Sustainability: Emphasis on eco-friendly materials and minimizing carbon footprint.
• User Experience: Focus on comfort, accessibility, and user-centric design.
• Energy Efficiency: Optimizing natural light and ventilation to reduce reliance on artificial systems.
• Good health: Oasis design improves air quality and thermal comfort. It meets health goals by reducing heat stress and improving public open spaces' well-being.

The design created large spaces, which help in air circulation and airflow thus it does not feel hot for the users without artificial air conditioning. These structures are located in a way that the client minimize the solar energy that is gained by surfaces to give comfort including promoting social grouping in common places.

This study is targeted to municipalities, urban planners, and developers who desire, and need to implement creative, efficient, and eco-friendly improvements to public areas. This design is good to go in different settings given that the construction is a low-cost, and modular one.

Finally, the Sustainable Urban Oasis design provides an extensive solution to the public space design problem by focusing on the environmental aspect, people, and accessibility for everyone. The following design brief captures speculations, phases, and other aspects that were taken into consideration while developing this project.

The urban ventilation concept in relation to the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. Quote research on urban ventilation in compact cities, such as Palusci & Cecere, 2022; explain how the design applies ventilation strategies, including green walls and open spaces, to enhance airflow and decrease heat retention in the outdoors.

Design Considerations

The Sustainable Urban Oasis design considers multiple client and designer requirements to make the design functional, environment-friendly, and ergonomic (Prabhakar et al. 2020). The change of the building regulation should be described in the context of protection standards, energy efficiency, and environmental responsibility. Such states safeguard structures from structural failure, conserv energy and are constructed bearing in mind environmental conservation. For example, safety measures might range from fire and other forms of resistance to the structure of the building and on the other hand, energy has to-do with synergetic natural air and light.

Client Specifications

The client stressed the desirability of a cost-effective system and one, which could be readily assembled and replaced in a range of urban contexts. The given design must be aligned and conforming to some of the basic principles of the new building regulations, which address safety and the environment. Another specification is also necessary that the product is made of environmentally friendly raw material that should withstand wear and tear.

In this project, the use of recycled material is fundamental. The curved wall is constructed from Rammed Earth material to decrease the carbon footprint of the structure but to also provide the necessary strength for the facility’s use. Structural support is realized through recycled steel and aluminum, which give the structure strength as well as embracing sustainability. The seating areas are made out of woods that have been certified Rammed Earth material d by FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and this means that all the timber that is used comes from well-managed forests.

With respect to market specialization, a product can target urban planners and municipalities willing to develop sustainable public spaces (Piselli et al. 2020). This meant that the design had to provide for a competitive product that would also offer long-term advantages for the client by cutting on energy costs while at the same time improving the comfort of the users.

Designer Specifications

To satisfy ergonomic, aesthetic and sustainability requirements integrated more specifications. One area of special focus was ergonomics to avoid straining the users while selecting the type of seating and layout of spaces. There are thus bench type of seats of different heights, with and without backrest for all ages and physically challenged persons. For visually impaired users, there were pavings incorporated and for safety, non-slip flooring were incorporated.

• Sustainability is at the core of most of the design. Green wall systems, which are incorporated within the space, not only make the space look aesthetic but also cools the environment by increasing the rate of air exchange (Abdullah and Alibaba, 2022). These vertical gardens are Wally Oasis and through them, the client help to reduce the effect of the Urban Heat Island in the public area. It is also important to note that the green walls are not fixed into a specific location or permanently installed, which is made possible with the use of modular designs.
• Aesthetic, the style is more or less organic curves that complement the environment that the building is located in. It is not only a practical part; however, the curve in the wall draws the space more open and fluid. The same may be said of the shade structures that are intended to protect patrons from the weather while also being modern, sleek, and attractive.
• Ergonomics is another specific aspect, which needs to be taken into account in the design process. There is no sharp edge on the furniture and construction materials to cause harm and all the furniture and construction materials used are non-toxic and eco-friendly (Bamdad et al. 2022). The material has been chosen because the client are strong and have the least negative impact on the environment and this makes the space safe and accessible to all persons.

Sustainability Considerations:

Many elements in the design are in line with the company’s sustainability plan. First of all the carbon content of the project is minimized with Rammed earth material. The green walls are useful in the promotion of the diversity of plant species in the building especially as the client use local species in the construction.

This way the product is designed in a fashion that makes it easy to add or modify according to future requirements hence minimizing waste and the structure’s life cycle is given a boost. Further, the use of natural ventilation and light diminishes the possibility of having artificial ones, which saves on expenses and has fewer effects on the environment.

The circular economy is the core of the project, as the company (Palusci and Cecere, 2022) will implement it. The design follows the 6R framework: Recycle, Reuse, Repair, Restore, Remanufacture and Reduce. This means that even when the product has reached its useful life it will not be a burden to the environment since the materials used in its production are recyclable or reusable.

Amsterdam is an example of multi-use urban design that is based on the features that encourage multifunctionality in public spaces. Perhaps you would like to write a few sentences describing how some of these design principles were applied to aspects of the Oasis project itself, such as flexible sitting, open plans, climate-responsive materials for different forms of public use in Parramatta.

Description of Each Project Phase

The Sustainable Urban Oasis design project is broken into three key phases: These are the stages of research and concepts, the design development and rapid prototyping, the pre-production prototype and the quality control stages.

Figure 1: Product test life cycle

(Source: https://jelvix.com/)

All of the phases are significant if the project is to meet its sustainability, usability, and aesthetic objectives as well as the specifications. The subsequent sections provide an overview of each phase of the project, the specific activities that were conducted and the results that were attained.

Phase 1: Research and Concept

The first phase involves the research and concepts part of the design development process, which is followed by the design and testing of prototypes in the second phase by the design (Amanowicz et al. 2023).

Tools such as sketching and model making are part of the industrial design processes that provides significant roles in developing concepts. This teaching approach enables the designers to draw fast and develop different aspects of a concept, in addition to helping transfer ideas between the designers. Happily for the busy designer, it is used to draft the ideas as a first step towards creating images, before passing to other phases that are slightly more elaborate. Modeling, on the other hand, enables theuilder the actual construction of the design so that feasibility of form, function, as well as ergonomics can actually be tested. It also helps come up with areas of weaknesses and enhancements foreseen to make the final design both efficient and attractive.

The first stage of the project was therefore primarily involved in research, idea generation and creation of initial concepts to be taken. The primary objective during this phase was to acquire sufficient data that would guide the design process to achieve the product that would adequately suit the target market while at the same time taking into consideration the environmental and ergonomic factors.

Research:

The first stage of research focused on identifying the market for sustainable public spaces designs for targeting urban planners and municipalities. It focused on identifying some of the pain points in public areas including the lack of greenery, poor ventilation as well as poor user comfort because of high temperatures from the UHI (Urban Heat Island).

The target focus groups involved senior citizens, disabled people as well as young families that use the website for searching a house to rent. This was useful to determine the most primary user needs, which are; ease of access, good seating and adequate shade to avoid direct sun.

The requirements of the Australian Standards and the environmental regulations were consulted to see that the design would meet the safety and environmental standards (Yoon et al. 2020). The research phase also included consideration of materials that would allow for the construction of sustainable production, including Rammed Earth material, steel from recycled sources, and wood from FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) sources.

Concept Development:

As found from the proposed research, it came up with three main design concepts. These concepts were concerned with the issues of sustainability, users’ comfort, and the contemporary looks of the public realm.

Concept 1: Curved Wall with Green Wall System:

The first concept presented the curved wall, the purpose of which is better illumination with natural light. Its curvatures help to reduce artificial lighting since the wall allows as much sunlight as possible to penetrate through. Pavilions in the Oasis are configured to achieve maximal shade and cross airflow while eliminating direct sunshine exposure from those using pavilions to provide the users with expansive, warm areas of relaxation.

This is complemented by green wall systems, which are vertical growing spaces that enhance the quality of air, serve as natural air conditioning systems and have an aesthetic value of greenery in cities (Elliott et al. 2020). These green walls were fixed at the right places to minimize the effect of the Urban Heat Island, which is common in many parts of the world.

Concept 2: Open Space for Ventilation:

The second concept was about the provision of open spaces to facilitate airflows and ventilation as significant for the provision of comfortable urban environment. This prevents compactness of the design, which in turn enhances cross ventilation in the space, with no need for air conditioning. It also enhances the free flow of people within the space through the design of the open layout to suit every person’s disability.

Concept 3: Shade Structures:

The third concept incorporated the use of shade structures with a view of mitigating heat transfer from direct sunshine (Izadyar et al. 2020). These structures are well arranged so that there can be uniformity of cooling throughout the public area and foster togetherness. The structures assist in reducing the level of heat and increase the comfort of users through the provision of shade especially in urban areas with high levels of solar intensity.

Phase 2: Design Development and Rapid Prototyping

In the second phase, the selected concept was developed and tangible models were produced to evaluate the concept’s feasibility, durability and ergonomics. The main effort was directed on taking the conceptual designs and models, as well as adding specifications that are more detailed and further refining them to make working models and prototypes that would undergo different tests.

Pavilion position optimized for wind and cooling but maintains a clear passage as well as social areas to minimize retained heat from neighboring buildings

1. 3D Solid Modeling:

The first activity that took part in this phase was establishing the 3D solid models that were in line with the client’s preferred concept (Mata et al. 2021). The models were as follows:

• The dimension and material model of the curved wall, green wall system, the seating and shade structure.
• These models were created using computer-aided design CAD software to increase the level of accuracy and to make modifications when the project was being implemented.
• The technical package of the design provided such items as engineering drawings and specifications of materials that were used to create the real prototype.
• The design also had modularity so that one could easily construct and de-construct the structure in different environments within the urban area.

2. Prototyping:

After the models will make, the it will want ahead to develop the actual tangible prototypes of the design aspect. The prototypes will make from recycled plastics, Rammed Earth material and wood sourced from well-managed forests (Ozarisoy, 2022). All these materials will be selected due to their ability to withstand wear and tear, their sustainability and the minimal harm the client have on the natural environment.

During the prototyping phase of the design, the it will able to identify the sturdiness of the curved wall and the viability of using a green wall system to cool the interior of the building and the ergonomics of the provided seating. Before moving to full-scale, only the model was made as a preliminary design and model for working and trial purposes.

3. Usability Testing:

Another technique that was used to test the user experience was the use of usability testing done on a focus group within the prototype space. Some tested the softness of the seats the viability of using the green walls for cooling and the practicality of the shade structures.

The focus group was able to identify that the design contributed to the improvement of indoor air quality and cooling of the space (Alwetaishi et al. 2020). While sitting, the users were satisfied with the spaces provided for sitting and the structures to provide shade from the sun did so effectively while still allowing the users to view the surrounding environment and move about the area freely.

Phase 3: Pre-Production Prototype and Quality Control

The last stage proved the most time-consuming as it involved the creation of the pre-production prototype as well as the implementation of various quality control tests to ascertain that the product was ready for mass production. This phase also witnessed the completion of the engineering drawings and other preparations towards the publicity of the product.

1. Final Engineering Drawings:

• The engineering drawings were gotten back to from the usability testing and prototypes by making some modifications.
• These last diagrams contained all the information that was required to build the product: type of materials, reinforcements, and other directions.
• The concept was then developed with the improved modularity of the components to allow for dismantling and easy transportation of new components or repositioning of existing ones to various parts of the urban fabric (Fan et al. 2021).
• This is a great advantage of the product based on the fact that may be installed in different areas of public use without much change.

2. Pre-Production Prototype:

Design refinement followed where a full-scale pre-production prototype was built with all changes made throughout the design process incorporated.

Installation Process:

The installation process is systematic to ensure appropriate structure and working of the system in the subsequent steps:

• Site Preparation: They need to clear the area and check for the right leveling of the installation site to carry out the work.
• Foundation Setup: Prepare the base to a code requirement for the general structural support, with an option of using Rammed Earth material.
• Structural Assembly: Construct the principal structure (recycled steel or aluminum) based on the required design.
• Green Wall Installation: Stabilize the green wall system for cooling the building naturally and also to purify the air that is circulated in the building.
• Final Adjustments: Install additional benches and shades and complete connection works.

Cooling Effectiveness (Sun et al. 2021):

• Decreases the amount of heat that enters the building by using green walls that cool by physiological way.
• Reduces air resistance by promoting breeze circulation thus reducing on the use of artificial ventilation.
• Reduction of urban heat island impacts leading to refreshing and comfortable public spaces.

Figure 2: Prototyping and Pre-production

(Source: https://www.lappengineering.com/)

This prototype was produced to evaluate the effectiveness of the real-life use of the final product in terms of weather resistance and product longevity.

Environmental considerations were also assessed for the chosen prototype, the materials used in building the prototype were environmentally friendly and no artificial cooling or lighting were used.

1. Quality Control and Client Presentation:

Other checks were done to evaluate the quality of the product its sturdiness, safety and efficiency (Sun et al. 2021). These tests involved subjecting the curved wall and the sitting area to stress testing the green wall system for cooling effectiveness and making sure that the shades did not deteriorate when exposed to the sun for an extended period.

The final product was then shown to the client together with the 3D models, technical drawings and the usability test results once the product had undergone the quality control tests. The outcome of the project was client satisfaction and the fact that the project achieved all the intended sustainability, usability and aesthetic objectives intended for the project.

Timeline

Figure 3: Timeline

(Source: MS Project)

Design Cost and Time to Complete Each Phase

List of cost for major components:

1. Rammed Earth material (Curved Wall): $25,000
2. Green Wall System: $10,000
3. FSC-Certified Wood (Seating and Furniture): $8,000
4. Shade Structures (Recycled Materials): $7,000

Logistics and Installation:

1. Site Preparation: $3,000
2. Transport and Delivery of Materials: $4,500
3. Assembly and Installation Labor: $12,000
4. Testing and Adjustments: $2,000
5. Final Inspections and Quality Control: $1,500

Total Estimated Cost: $88,000

Product Name: Another important decision-making criterion that is proven effective is called ‘Sustainable Urban Oasis’ (Diz-Mellado et al. 2020).

Product specification document

Type	Design Criteria/Citation/Evidence	Indicator	Reason	Priority
Curved Wall	Rammed Earth material for eco-friendly construction (Prabhakar et al., 2020)	Curved geometry allows natural light and airflow	Optimizes natural ventilation and lighting, reducing energy consumption and enhancing user comfort	H
Green Wall System	Vertical gardens for natural cooling and air quality improvement (Sun et al., 2021)	Improves air exchange, reduces Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect	Enhances sustainability by cooling the environment and improving air quality through natural plant-based systems	H
Open Spaces	Open spaces integrated for ventilation (Izadyar et al., 2020)	Allows cross-ventilation and reduces reliance on HVAC systems	Increases natural ventilation, which reduces the need for artificial cooling and promotes user comfort	M
Shade Structures	Recycled materials used for shade structures to reduce solar heat gain (Izadyar et al., 2020)	Protects users from direct sunlight	Provides shaded areas, improving user comfort and reducing solar heat exposure while using sustainable materials	M
Ergonomics	User-friendly furniture designs based on ergonomic principles	Accessible seating for all ages and abilities	Incorporates ergonomic seating with varying heights and accessible features for the elderly and disabled	H
Modularity	Prefabricated, modular design allowing flexible installation and easy maintenance (Palusci & Cecere, 2022)	Easily adaptable to different urban environments	Ensures that the design can be deconstructed and reassembled in different public spaces, promoting versatility	M
Sustainability	Recycled steel and FSC-certified wood used in construction	Durable, eco-friendly materials	Emphasizes sustainability by using recycled metals and certified wood, reducing the carbon footprint	H
Durability and Safety	Rammed Earth material and recycled steel provide structural strength, while FSC-certified wood enhances safety and durability	Robust construction materials	Materials are durable and safe for public use, reducing the risk of failure and promoting longevity	H
Cooling Effectiveness	Green wall systems and open spaces designed to optimize natural cooling	Reduces heat absorption and enhances ventilation	Natural cooling strategies lower internal temperatures, reducing reliance on artificial cooling systems	H
Aesthetic Design	Curved organic shapes and green walls create an aesthetically pleasing, modern environment	Visually appealing and functional design	Combines functionality with aesthetics to create an attractive public space that promotes environmental awareness	M
Environmental Impact	6R framework (Recycle, Reuse, Repair, Restore, Remanufacture, Reduce) applied to all materials and construction processes	Minimizes waste and environmental impact	Aligns with sustainability goals by reducing waste and ensuring materials can be recycled, reused, or repurposed	H

Material, Manufacturing, and UNSDG Goals

Material:

The Sustainable Urban Oasis uses:

The curve wall’s Rammed Earth material minimize carbon emissions.

Manufacturing:

The project incorporates pre-fabricated off-site constructions and has a small number of wasted and disrupted work areas (Zhong et al. 2022). CNC machining and 3D printing procedures effectively minimize material wastage and lean manufacturing minimizes the use of unnecessary materials. Every process is aimed at energy conservation; using only renewable energy in manufacturing and recycling, the manufacturing scrap.

UNSDG Goals:

The design aligns with several UN Sustainable Development Goals:

• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities to design urban environment that can be sustainable.
• SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production, most especially with the utilization of recycled and environmentally friendly materials.
• SDG 13: Climate Action, in which green walls and Rammed earth material have been used.

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Reference List

Journals

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