Grantee Research Project Results

Final Report: Greenplex -- A Sustainable Urban Form for the 21st Century

EPA Grant Number: SU835522
Title: Greenplex -- A Sustainable Urban Form for the 21st Century
Investigators: Balling, Richard J , Farnsworth, Clifton B , Borup, M. Brett , Walters, Lawrence C , Schultz, Grant G , Ward, Carol J , Clay, Michael J , Tripeny, Patrick J , McCall, Amy , Valdez, Arnold , Mecham, Bradley , Farnes, Cree , Humble, Jarrett , Buxton, Jeff , Cummings, Kayla , Nilforoushan, Massih , Jones, Matthew , Newbold, M’kynzi , Christensen, Sam , Burdette, Seth , Withers, Stuart , Antonov, Teodor
Institution: Brigham Young University , University of Utah
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Phase: I
Project Period: August 15, 2013 through August 14, 2014
Project Amount: $15,000
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2013) RFA Text |  Recipients Lists
Research Category: Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development , P3 Challenge Area - Sustainable and Healthy Communities , P3 Challenge Area - Air Quality , P3 Awards , Sustainable and Healthy Communities

Objective:

The objective of the project was to investigate a car-free, multi-level urban form referred to as the “greenplex”, which consists of tall buildings interconnected with skybridges and atria between the buildings, and sustained with a variety of green technologies. The project output was the design of a greenplex with 46 buildings ranging from 20 to 45 stories for Brigham Young University (BYU) and the city of Provo, Utah. The team produced images and a 3D printed model. The design included all space uses that its 100,000 residents would typically visit in their daily routine, all within a maximum horizontal walking distance of a half-mile. Another project output was the polycentric arrangement of 35 greenplex cities, each with 100,000 people, interconnected with high-speed transit, which would accommodate the projected 2040 population of 3.5 million for the fast-growing region that includes Salt Lake City and Provo.

Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):

• BYU Greenplex housing averages were 2696ft² per family of four and 252ft² per student.
• Only two major uses would remain for cars and trucks in a polycentric system of interconnected greenplex cities:
  1. personal recreational use to explore the outdoors, and
  2. food and freight transport to greenplex distribution centers.
• The transparent cable-spring-ETFE envelope that spans between building roofs to create atria weighs as little as 1.5 pounds per square foot, and is flexible enough to allow the buildings to displace independently under wind and seismic loads.
• The aerodynamic ETFE atria working together with hinge-connected skybridges were able to reduce structural volume of the buildings by as much as 10% in some cases.
• For the entire year, HVAC energy consumption was 20% less for conditioned atria than for no atria, and 50% less for unconditioned atria than for no atria.
• The student design for fire protection involves multiple escape routes via non- combustible skybridges, fire sprinklers supplied by swimming pools on building roofs, emergency response substations located on all skybridge levels, and smoke ventilation through the non-combustible ETFE envelope.
• The green technologies that were investigated include:
  1. ground-source heat pumps,
  2. hydronic heating and cooling,
  3. recirculating elevators,
  4. wind turbines,
  5. solar panels,
  6. vortex hydro energy,
  7. atmospheric vortex engine,
  8. natural ventilation,
  9. natural lighting,
  10. onsite wastewater treatment,
  11. wastewater living machines, and
  12. rainwater harvest.
• Project results verify that the optimum travel time design of a greenplex organizes space use into communities at multiple levels where daily trips are predominantly horizontal rather than vertical.

Conclusions:

The potential benefits to the planet of the greenplex urban form over low-density auto- oriented sprawl are truly staggering:

• 95% reduction in land consumption
• 47% reduction in air pollution
• 55% reduction in fossil fuel consumption
• 78% reduction in water consumption

The potential benefits to people of the greenplex urban form are equally impressive:

• Increased health as exercise goes up and noise and stress go down
• Increased protection from severe weather, fire, disasters, and accidents
• Increased access for all and freedom for the non-driving disabled
• Increased community via year-round personal interaction in a comfortable environment

The potential benefits to prosperity of the greenplex urban form include:

• Lower transportation costs
• Lower utility costs
• Lower insurance costs
• Lower health care costs
• Less wasted time
• Increased economic synergy
• Increased productivity

Journal Articles on this Report : 1 Displayed | Download in RIS Format

Publications Views

Other project views:	All 8 publications	1 publications in selected types	All 1 journal articles

Publications

Type	Citation	Project	Document Sources
Journal Article	Balling R, Bessey R. Flexible lightweight cable-spring support system for ETFE cushions spanning between buildings. ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering 2015;141(5):04014142.	SU835522 (Final)	Abstract: ASCE-Abstract Exit

Supplemental Keywords:

Urban design, car-free, multi-level, skybridges, atria, ETFE, polycentric, self-sustaining, ground-source heat pump, hydronic, onsite wastewater treatment, recirculating elevator

Relevant Websites:

http://ceen.et.byu.edu/content/sustainability Exit