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Space Zoning

There are many different types of spaces in a building, each with its own spatial characteristics and functional requirements, which require that systems serving them are differentiated accordingly. All design objectives: accessibility, aesthetics, cost effectiveness, functionality, historic, productive, security/safety, and sustainability and their interrelationships must be understood, evaluated, and appropriately applied within the spaces.

Contents

1.Definition                                                
2. Use/Application
    a. Established Techniques
    b. Emerging Trends

3. Use an Integrated Approach
4. Resources 

5. Associated Strategies

6. Case Studies

There are many different types of spaces in a building, each with its own spatial characteristics and functional requirements, which require that systems serving them are differentiated accordingly. All design objectives: accessibility, aesthetics, cost effectiveness, functionality, historic , productive, security/safety, and sustainability and their interrelationships must be understood, evaluated, and appropriately applied within the spaces.                       

Building spaces may be grouped or zoned by several categories or combinations of categories:

• Site relationship: orientation, solar exposure, daylighting orientation, wind orientation, view, natural features.  
• Program: functional activity, space population, time of day/night usage, interior/exterior relationships.
• Location within the building: interior or exterior zone, a high rise core or perimeter, or a low, mid, or high level floor.
• Building codes: by fire hazard and building type groups. 

Building spaces can maximize energy savings if their zoning and configuration are integrated with other sustainable design strategies for daylighting, cooling and heating.  Utilize space zoning opportunities for energy savings and reduction of carbon emissions to:

• Maximize daylighting to reduce use of electric lighting:
  • Orient the long axis of the building on an east-west axis so the long facades face north-south.
  • Establish daylighting space zones: perimeter for maximum use of daylighting, transitional where both daylighting and electric lighting are used, and interior zones where only electric lighting is used. Depth of daylighting space zones will vary with true building orientation, time of day, time of year, latitude of the building location, ceiling height, and openness of interior space layout.
  • Integrate HVAC systems with space zoning and provide adjustable individual controls.
  • Group people-intensive spaces along the north and south perimeter zones for maximum daylighting benefit to occupants.
  • Group spaces that require security, privacy, and service spaces in interior zones.
  • Provide open space layouts to maximize daylight penetration to the interior.
  • Reduce depth of spandrel beams and mechanical systems at perimeter of building to permit maximum penetration of high daylight.
  • Provide flexible and adjustable electric lighting controls in perimeter and transitional zones to adjust to changing daylighting conditions and availability.
  • Provide interior windows and borrowed lights to enable daylight exposure for spaces in the transitional and interior zones.
  • Utilize skylights and clerestories to provide daylighting to interior zones.

• Reduce heat gain in cooling dominated climates:
  • Utilize interior thermal mass to shift daytime heat gain to off-peak or nighttime.
  • Size and shade windows to reduce heat load in perimeter zones.
  • Maximize use of natural ventilation and mixed-mode cooling in perimeter zones for summer and swing seasons.
  • Utilize cross ventilation strategies to cool interior zones, such as operable transoms, and electric fans to move the air rather than mechanically cool the air.
  • Use cool roof and/or green roof designs to reflect roof heat and reduce cooling load throughout all space zones.

• Provide heat gain in heating dominated climates:
  • Size and orient windows to maximize solar gain to perimeter zones in heating season.
  • Utilize thermal mass to absorb and store heat.
  • Increase heating efficiency by using floor radiant heating.

• Manage HVAC systems
  • Specify separate hours of operation for different zones based on occupancy, use, etc.
  • Provide mechanical ventilation schedules by zone, based on occupancy, use, etc.

Established Techniques

Emerging Trends

Use an Integrated Approach

A new way of thinking must be adopted to meet the goal of reducing carbon emissions associated with buildings. Your solutions can begin by integrating four possible methods. None works alone, and they are not all relevant in considering every strategy. However, considering the following tactics is necessary:

• Reduce the overall energy use in your building 
  • Optimize daylighting to reduce building overall energy load and reduce emissions.
  • Utilize occupancy and daylight sensors to reduce energy use.
  • Program functional activities in appropriate building space zones to optimize energy conservation.
  • Right-size building systems (i.e. HVAC) to be reduced in size and cost to make way for further energy saving materials, designs, and technologies.
• Specify energy efficient equipment and technologies
  • Use an integrated system approach to design the most cost effective combination of space zoning and planning strategies with appropriately designed and sized building systems.
• Use renewable strategies and purchase green power
  • Optimize daylighting with functional activities to reduce building overall energy load and reduce emissions.
•  Educate building owners, operators, and occupants

Resources

• Tips for Daylighting; Jennifer O’Connor, Eleanor Lee, Frances Rubinstein, Stephen Selkowitz; Building Technologies Program, Energy & Environment Division, Earnest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Publication LBNL-39945, http://windows.lbl.gov/daylighting/designguide/dlg.pdf.
• High Performance Building Guidelines, City of New York, Department of Design and Construction, April 1999.
• Guidelines for Creating High-Performance Green Buildings, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 1999.
• Ensure Appropriate Product/Systems Integration, Whole Building Design Guide/Design Guidance/Functional-Operational, on the WBDG web site at http://www.wbdg.org/design/ensure_integration.php.
• Configuring Structure to Improve Daylight Access in Multistory Buildings; Christine Theodoropoulos, G. Z. Brown, Arthur Johnson, Michael Hatten, Christopher Flint Chatto, Jeff Kline, Dale Northcutt; Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory, University of Oregon; KPFF Consulting Engineers; SOLARC Architecture + Engineering, paper delivered at ARCC Spring Research Conference, Eugene, Oregon, April 2007.

Associated Strategies

All 50to50 strategies relate to each other in some way. However, we recommend that you consider investigating these selected 50to50 strategies to assist you in gaining a deeper understanding.

• Building Orientation
• Building Form
• Cool Roofs
• Daylighting
• Efficient Artificial Lighting
• Energy Modeling
• Green Roof
• Natural Ventilation
• Open, Active, Daylit Spaces
• Passive Solar Collection Opportunities
• Rightsizing Equipment
• Sun Shading
• Windows and Openings

Case Studies

• Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life
• IRS Kansas City Campus
• Global Ecology Research Center
• Government Canyon Visitor Center

 Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life
 Photo credit: Paul Crosby

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