Please find below the
Finalist Evaluation
Judges'' ratings
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Judges'' comments
Congratulations -- this proposal has been selected as a Finalist!
Comments from Judges:
- The Judges saw the overall concept of developing a tool to evaluate the "passive potential" of buildings to be a strong one. This being said, there are likely more lower hanging fruit in India than passive architectural design.
- The proposal is very thorough overall, however some key elements were lacking; details on emissions reductions, e.g.
- The Judges believe that the real value of this tool comes from creating a practical tool that practitioners can use instead of research and publications. (As described, the project is framed more as a research project instead of as a very practical tool development effort.) You may not want to have just a university operating alone perform this project.
- The project is ambitious, i.e., how to evaluate a substantial range of passive design and control techniques in different building types, and will also require much more integration with practitioners throughout the building development chain (i.e., real-estate firms, architects, MEPs, building operators, etc.). Thusly, the Judges believed that the proposers have significantly underestimated the budget, resources, and time required to make it happen.
Best of luck in the voting period!
Semi-Finalist Evaluation
Judges'' ratings
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Judges'' comments
I agree with the authors of this proposal that a strong integration of passive measures into the design of new buildings located in hot climates can play a critical role in enhancing their sustainability. With the expected growth in both population and buildings in Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, this could have a major impact on future building energy consumption. Moreover, passive architecture research and design to date has focused to a large extent on space heating-dominated climates, i.e., per the PassivHaus Institut in Germany. The passive building concepts implemented in heating-dominated climates are not fully appropriate (technically, and considering cost) for wholesale adoption in space cooling-dominated climates, and require modification to be optimized for space-cooling dominated climates. The Passive House Institute U.S. has begun working toward this goal, but more efforts are needed, particularly focused on solutions that can work in the context of developing nations. A PADI could be adopted by code bodies and/or voluntary programs. I would recommend that authors use a strong (i.e., not too "adaptive") definition of indoor comfort when evaluating the need for air conditioning. Thermal comfort has a real impact on productivity and quality of life, and I believe that a fully passive design will not be able to reliable bring thermal comfort in many hot climates, particularly hot and humid climates. Finally, I think that the proposed project terminates too early. It does include field testing to evaluate existing building (~case studies), but thereafter appears to rely on simulations only to identify and select the most effective design solutions and systems. Many energy-saving technologies look good until they are deployed in the field, where people use the technology and construction does not always occur as designed. Think about sick building syndrome, hygrothermal/moisture problems in walls, mechanical ventilation systems in tight (including passive) houses that don't work properly, etc. Before scaling up *any* solution and having it adopted by the building development chain, people will need to be shown that the solution works effectively. Buildings are expected to last decades! I strongly encourage the proposers to include a significant field testing and evaluation component to evaluate and, ideally, demonstrate the real-world viability of the design solutions developed.
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