Week 6: 05/06/2016
This week, was the group's sixth meeting with Professor Mitchell. The Design Project is past the half way mark and so designs are being finalized. Therefore, during the meeting building orientation, the water cistern, heating of the building, and lighting were discussed.
Building Orientation: The way the building is oriented is important because it can determine how much light the solar panels will receive. For example, if building a pitch roof it is important that the building is oriented so that the sun will be able shine on both sides of the roof. However, if the roof will be a sawtooth roof it is important that the building is oriented so that the sun will be shining on the side with the solar panels.
Cistern: During the cistern discussion, calculations were gone over and a discussion on how much water should the cistern be able to hold was discussed. The calculations were based upon the area of the roof, how much water the horses need, and the average rainfall during a year. Due to the large size of the roof, if a cistern were to built based upon that there would be more than enough water captured yearly. Therefore it was decided that the cistern would be built to hold only a fraction of that amount and the overflow would be directed away from the building with the use of an overflow pipe.
Heating: There was a small discussion over whether or not heating would be necessary in the horse stable. The group was split over this and should reach a unanimous decision before the next group meeting. If heat is required then some ways it could be implemented would be through: a condensor, insulation, small electric heater, boiler, or solar panels. Insulation is extremely important because if the building is well insulated then the amount of heating would be minimized. The door is part of the building that requires special attention and needs extremely well insulation so that the cold air can be kept out.
Lighting: A skylight will be used but artificial lighting will also be required during the night. Solar panels will be placed on the roof to absorb energy throughout the day and will be utilized during the darker hours when necessary.