Many of the tall buildings built around the world have more than one occupancy type within the building. Often times there are hotel, office, and residential (either apartment or condominium) occupying a single structure. Each of these has different opportunities. Residential and hotel occupancies have a concentrated use of domestic water in the morning and evening, whereas offices have a low demand for domestic water that is consistent throughout the day. This provides the opportunity to share domestic water systems, with a consequential reduction in infrastructure, which would not occur in separate buildings. Additionally, the energy from this domestic water can be captured through micro turbines in the drains, and grey water systems that not only reuse the water, but extract the energy in the water through the use of heat pumps. Another opportunity is through condensate recovery from air handlers. Due to pressure gradient changes and the need to keep core sizes down in tall buildings, floor by floor air handlers are typically used on office floors. The offices are generally cooling load driven and generate a significant amount of condensate. Even the building itself can generate condensation, especially super-tails in hot environments, as the moisture in the night air condenses on the surface of the building, and can be captured through appropriate drainage design. In the area of indoor environmental quality, tall buildings offer the opportunity to develop a solar chimney component that drives natural ventilation airflow without the use of fan energy. This saves energy, provides a balanced daylighting strategy and improves indoor air quality through natural ventilation.
展开▼
