1.

Define “ESD” and state the four principle positive aims and/or impacts on nature and human
activities in the office building environment
Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD) is a building deigned skillfully to decrease the negative impacts
received by environment and considers the health, safety, and welfare of the building occupants. It also aims
to improve the stability and performance of a building (Sustainable Design, 2019). It is considered by others
as a philosophy more than a conceptual design. Many design companies are committed to sustainable
designs because they seek to enhance the quality of the environment and teach the future generations to
treat the world better.
ESD has been widely used in many countries and has proven its efficiency with the following positive impacts
that it imposes to any building with its application.
a. Lowers Air Pollutant and Greenhouse Gas Emission. ESD uses either energy free materials or
renewable sources of energy. Thus, it decreases the consumption of fuel and electricity which causes both
greenhouse gas emissions and carbon dioxide which significantly affects the atmosphere and the
environment negatively.
b. Reduced Volume of Solid Waste. One main sustainable principle of ESD is to recycle wastes. It will
decrease the growing problem in solid wastes especially on how to get rid of them considering the lack of
solid waste landfills. With ESD, the products are carefully watched starting from their production until it has
served its purpose. It will then go through the process of segregation, recycling, and reproduction.
c. Decreased Use of Natural Resources and Lower Ecosystem Impacts. Another advantage of ESD is
that it uses energy not from the natural resources, but form the energy coming from the sun. The use of
control panels has been growing into such time that almost the whole country use these kinds of alternatives
rather than getting energy from those machines that are created utilizing natural resources.
d. Human Health and Environmental Safety. One main group affected by the negative impacts of those
aspects stated above are the living beings, especially humans. Humans depend widely in the environment
so as to maintain its capacity to live especially considering the food they eat and the air they breath. A building
designed with accordance to ESD would give an assurance to the health and environmental safety of the
people (Environmentally Sustainable Design, 2017).
2. Define “energy” that concerns design decisions in building and state the major impacts on a
building performance lifespan
Buildings are considered as one of the greatest consumers of energy in the industry. Started from excavation,
construction, up to its operation, it all uses energy to perform the job well. Energy is a power derived from
different sources which gives life to machines we used today for convenience. It is considered as one of the
most relevant issues in our environment and proper management of energy is necessary to avoid addition of
toxic materials in the world. Energy has two parts, the operational and embodied energy.
The operational energy is the energy used to operate the whole building. From researchers, it is shown that
85-95% of energy is used inside the building in order to operate and serve the occupants inside for as long
as the building is standing. From the emissions of CO2, heating, cooling, ventilation, and water use.
The embodied energy is the energy used in the construction of the building. The material and machine
processes need energy to work and produce components of the materials. It is necessary to produce this
energy to ensure the stability of the building throughout its lifespan. (Akadiri, Chinyio, & Olomolaiy, 2012).
3. Describe “heat lost” and “heat gain” factors and the major impacts of each on building
performance throughout the year
Heat lost is when the warmth inside the building is transferring to the outside. Heat gain is the opposite of
heat lost, wherein the warmth outside the building comes inside (heat gain and heat loss, n.d.). Heat transfer
could mainly affect the performance of the building considering the energy used by the building itself, thermal
comfort of the people using the building, and lastly, durability and potential moisture effects of the temperature
change to the buildign strength during the transitional stages of climate in summer, winter, spring, and others.
Thus, conceptualizing the design of a building should always consider the effects of heat transfer.
4. Specify a major building material and construction technique that contribute to minimize the heat
loss of a building and describe the mechanism and impact of each
In considering the minimization of heat loss, designers often assess the aspect of material that will be used
for the whole lifespan of a building. One material in the construction of building which has high embodied
energy is aluminum. In mining raw aluminum, large amount of electricity is consumed which made it the most
considered.
Among all the energy conservation measures, insulation of the building is one of the most considered
because it affects the energy expenditures more than others. Through air-tightness strategy, heat loss will
be eliminated, and existing vents will be blocked. (Akadiri et al., 2012)
5. Define two major “zero energy” building categories and state basic characteristics of energy
As a scientific definition, energy is the capacity to do work. This word is significant as it can be produce
motion in any object or living thing. Also, energy is widely defined as such that it is present everywhere and
can be transferred from a certain type of energy into another. Energy has been part of human’s life and thus
has taken its part to be an influence into a every country’s cost of living.
In order to have a zero-energy building, we have to cut back into energy consumption and save our natural
resources. The following are the categories to achieve zero-energy building:
 Energy efficient deconstruction – this includes demolition, disentanglement of cable systems, and
abolishment of chemical, mechanical, thermal coatings in the building. There are bar codes assigned
to every material so the removal of materials will be easier.
 Recycling of materials – by using recyclable and reusable materials, we could lessen the hazardous
materials exposed in the construction area. Other companies started exploring materials used in the
construction that are high quality and recyclable materials (Akadiri et al., 2012).
6. Describe two typical active “solar” systems and the general characteristics of each. Also, specify
the panel number and area of one selected solar system product required to demonstrate how a
building with the annual energy consumption of 25,000 kWh can be turned into zero energy operation
Two typical active solar systems that are widely considered are water heaters and air heaters. A solar hot
water production uses solar radiation absorbed by solar panels to transfer heat into storage vessels
containing waters. Same process is used for air heaters wherein the radiation is transferred from the panels
to a storage to be released through mechanical machines when necessary. As active solar systems, their
main advantages aside from electricity cost is that they can reduce pollution as they are free from greenhouse
gas transmission. (Solar Energy, n.d.).
A Photovoltaic solar panel made in monocrystalline silicon material shown in the figure below can produce
an energy equal to 330W and is 1956 x 992 x 40 mm in size (approximately 2 sq. m.). Given a building which
consumes an energy of 25,000 kWh annually, it will require almost 9 pieces of this kind of the said solar panel
with a total area 18 sq. m. as computed below.

Figure 1. Photovoltaic Silicon Solar Panel

Source: www.alibaba.com

Figure 2. Details of Photovoltaic Silicon Solar Panel

 Source: www.alibaba.com

1000 𝑊 1 𝑑𝑎𝑦 1 𝑦𝑟
25,000 𝑘𝑊ℎ⁄𝑦𝑟 𝑥 𝑥 𝑥
1 𝑘𝑊 24 ℎ𝑟𝑠 365 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠
𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑃𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑙𝑠 =
330 𝑊
𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑃𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑙𝑠 = 8.65 𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 9 𝑝𝑖𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑠
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑅𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 = 9 𝑝𝑖𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑥 2 𝑠𝑞. 𝑚.
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑅𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 = 18 𝑠𝑞. 𝑚.
References:
 Environmentally Sustainable Design. (2017, April). Retrieved from geelong:
https://www.geelongaustralia.com.au/planning/article/item/8d364694019e82e.aspx\
 Sustainable Design. (2019, May). Retrieved from gsa: https://www.gsa.gov/real-estate/design-
construction/design-excellence/sustainability/sustainable-design
 Akadiri, P.O., Chinyio, E.A., Olomolaiye, P.O. (2012). Design of A Sustainable Building: A
Conceptual Framework for Implementing Sustainability in the Building Sector. University of
Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton.
 Heat gain and heat loss. (n.d.). Retrieved from sunshine rooms: http://sunshinerooms.com/heat-
gain-and-heat-loss
 Solar Energy. (n.d.). Retrieved from EESI: https://www.eesi.org/topics/solar/description