EFRI-SEED: Living Wall Materials and Systems for Automatic Building Thermo-Regulation

EFRI-SEED：用于自动建筑温度调节的活墙材料和系统

• 批准号: 1038305
• 负责人: Zhiqiang Zhai
• 金额: $ 196.74万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Boulder
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-08-15 至 2016-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1038305&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EFRI; SEED; Living; Wall; Materials

The objective of this EFRI-SEED project is to study a "living wall" concept that acquires its original idea from biomimicry of the body's thermo-regulation systems (i.e., respiratory and circulatory systems) that can efficiently adapt to changes in the surrounding environment via sophisticated heat transfer processes and metabolic adjustments. The novel living wall system embeds two sets of optimized microvascular fluid channel (MVFC) networks and a distributed phase change medium (PCM) into an innovative polymer-based wall unit to allow autonomous movement of air and liquid and charge/discharge of PCM in response to real-time indoor and outdoor temperature variations so as to dynamically regulate the thermal behavior of the building envelope and the entire dwelling. While natural convection drives air through a porous holding material, novel hydrogels with tailored temperature sensitivity will be developed to move liquid in the wall thickness direction. By combining hydrogels with different temperature sensitivities the responsiveness will be increased and the amount of free liquid reduced to negligible level. Mathematical models and computational design approaches will be developed to optimize the layout of the holding material, the MVFCs and PCM components. A prototype of the living wall will be fabricated and studied under a series of thermal and structural loading scenarios. The performance of the entire living wall system under dynamic indoor and outdoor conditions will be systematically investigated through multi-physics simulations and novel design approaches to seamlessly integrate the living wall concept into current and future building constructions.This project will expedite the research for net-zero-energy buildings with significant reduction of heating and cooling energy needs via smart building envelope designs. Based on preliminary results, the new living wall concept is expected to reduce 80-95% of the current building energy needs for offsetting adverse heat losses/gains through conventional walls and for providing extra ventilation and electrical lighting due to tighter and opaque wall structures. The success of this research will greatly stimulate the application of biomimetic design principles for developing sustainable energy efficient engineering designs and reshape the current building design and construction philosophy and practice. The proposed research will ultimately lead to the development of a brand new interdisciplinary academic program in Bio-Architectural Science and Engineering (BASE). This will include the development of a horizontally and vertically integrated cross-disciplinary research and education program for pre-college, undergraduate and graduate students from broad fields of interest, as well as developing a rich, multi-faceted outreach program. The PIs will team up with the NSF-funded Colorado Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate and College of Engineering's BOLD Center to attract and integrate undergraduate and graduate students from underrepresented groups into this research project. A formal assessment plan will be implemented to measure the success of the education and outreach activities.The FY 2010 EFRI-SEED Topic that supports this project was sponsored by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorates for Engineering (ENG), Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) and Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE), and Computer & Information Science and Engineering in collaboration with the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

eri - seed项目的目标是研究一种“活墙”概念，该概念从人体热调节系统（即呼吸和循环系统）的仿生学中获得其原始想法，该系统可以通过复杂的传热过程和代谢调节有效地适应周围环境的变化。这种新型的生活墙系统将两套优化的微血管流体通道（MVFC）网络和分布式相变介质（PCM）嵌入到一个创新的基于聚合物的墙壁单元中，允许空气和液体的自主运动以及PCM的充电/放电，以响应室内和室外的实时温度变化，从而动态调节建筑围护结构和整个住宅的热行为。当自然对流驱动空气通过多孔保温材料时，将开发出具有定制温度敏感性的新型水凝胶，使液体沿壁厚方向移动。将具有不同温度敏感性的水凝胶结合，可以提高反应性，将游离液的量降低到可以忽略不计的水平。将开发数学模型和计算设计方法来优化保持材料，mvfc和PCM组件的布局。在一系列的热载荷和结构载荷情景下，将制作和研究活墙的原型。通过多物理场模拟和新颖的设计方法，系统地研究整个生活墙系统在动态室内和室外条件下的性能，将生活墙的概念无缝地整合到当前和未来的建筑结构中。该项目将加速研究净零能耗建筑，通过智能建筑围护结构设计显著减少供暖和制冷能源需求。根据初步结果，新的生活墙概念预计将减少80-95%的当前建筑能源需求，以抵消传统墙壁的不利热量损失/增益，并提供额外的通风和电气照明，因为墙壁结构更紧密和不透明。本研究的成功将极大地促进仿生设计原理在可持续节能工程设计中的应用，重塑当前建筑设计和施工的理念和实践。拟议的研究将最终导致生物建筑科学与工程（BASE）的全新跨学科学术课程的发展。这将包括发展一个横向和纵向整合的跨学科研究和教育计划，为大学预科生、本科生和研究生提供广泛的兴趣领域，以及发展一个丰富的、多方面的外展计划。pi将与nsf资助的科罗拉多研究生教育联盟以及工程学院的BOLD中心合作，吸引并整合来自代表性不足群体的本科生和研究生参与该研究项目。将实施一项正式的评估计划，以衡量教育和外展活动的成功程度。支持该项目的2010财年eri - seed课题由美国国家科学基金会（NSF）工程（ENG）、数学与物理科学（MPS）、社会、行为与经济科学（SBE）、计算机与信息科学与工程理事会与美国能源部（DOE）和美国环境保护署（EPA）合作赞助。