Papers by Alfredo Fernandez-Gonzalez
This article introduces a new simulation tool to evaluate and optimize the thermal performance of... more This article introduces a new simulation tool to evaluate and optimize the thermal performance of Direct Gain (DG) passive solar heating systems. DG_Performance is an interactive Microsoft ExcelTM spreadsheet that allows users to modify relevant parameters that influence the thermal performance of a Direct Gain building, namely the area and type of glazing used; the area, thickness, and type of thermal mass; and the level of insulation of building envelope components. This design tool provides users with hourly indoor air and thermal mass surface temperatures during any given month selected by the user. In its present form, the program doesn’t incorporate any back-up mechanical heating options. This tool is ideal for parametric design optimization of Direct Gain systems. To illustrate the level of accuracy of DG_Performance, this article also presents a summary of the calibration study done using experimentally acquired data measured in an 11.9 m 2 test-room located in Muncie, India...
21st Century Geography: A Reference Handbook
Riparian water law is a common-law idea • Owner of land has the right to withdraw water that is a... more Riparian water law is a common-law idea • Owner of land has the right to withdraw water that is adjacent to the land. • Water must be returned in a relatively unpolluted condition to ensure that downstream users do not have their water rights violated. • The water must be used on land adjacent to the water source, not exported (reasonable use doctrine now allows irrigation). • Evolved through practical use. • Practiced mostly east of the Mississippi River where sufficient water resulted in few conflicts.
This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Conferences/Meetings (USI) at Digita... more This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Conferences/Meetings (USI) at Digital Scholarship@UNLV. It has been accepted forinclusion in Shaping the Future of Southern Nevada: Economic, Environmental, and Social Sustainability by an authorized administrator of DigitalScholarship@UNLV. For more information, please [email protected].
Page 1. SunRoom Module p. 1 Modeling the Performance of a Solar Heated Sunroom: Heat Gain, Storag... more Page 1. SunRoom Module p. 1 Modeling the Performance of a Solar Heated Sunroom: Heat Gain, Storage and Loss John E. Petersen Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and Biology Oberlin College Alfredo Fernández ...
While its exact genealogy is unclear, the English language-idiom, “A picture is worth a thousand ... more While its exact genealogy is unclear, the English language-idiom, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” is an unspoken mantra—if not a core belief—of the design disciplines. Every day, whether inside or outside of studios, workshops, ateliers, firms, offices, or any spaces that serve as the laboratory that catalyze the production of our visual language, us designers continuously forge new vocabularies to communicate increasingly creative, radical and inspiring work. The image and the model are the tools with which we construct the built (and unbuilt) environments. What we experience through sight and touch fires up neural connections that bring our thinking alive. It is within this context that this tome’s design and layout were engendered.
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This article presents the development and validation of a thermal network model that can be used ... more This article presents the development and validation of a thermal network model that can be used to predict the average interior operative temperature of a roofpond building based on outdoor climatic data. The study uses data collected from a roofpond test cell ...
Energy and Buildings, 2007
Siguiendo El Camino De Las Estrellas Libro De Actas Del Xii Congreso Iberico Y Vii Congreso Ibero Americano De Energia Solar 14 18 Septiembre 2004 Vigo Galicia Espana Vol 1 2004 Isbn 84 609 2261 8 Pags 1349 1354, 2004
Current approaches to 'green' development and architecture often focus on the interior of... more Current approaches to 'green' development and architecture often focus on the interior of the building, the materials selected, and, in some cases, the addition of a green roof to address stormwater management (Mendler, 2006). The demands of the desert environment make the issue of reduced heat loading on the building crucial to sustainability: the stormwater benefits of green roofs are perceived as negligible in locations with rainfall in the single digits, but reducing energy consumption through green roof shading in hot months under intensive radiation conditions is of particular concern. This study attempts to quantify the temperature impacts of a green roof on residential architecture in a desert environment. Eight test cells were built at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas using construction practices frequently encountered in urban desert environments. Two of the eight test cells featured conventional roofs, one finished with a black EPDM waterproofing membrane and t...
The availability and access to fresh water have become important national and international issue... more The availability and access to fresh water have become important national and international issues, as the demand for fresh water in many regions of the world already exceeds fresh water supplies. While water desalination or the transportation of water from distant regions are the approaches generally favored by water districts and municipalities that advocate centralized water supply, decentralized direct water reuse systems should be given serious consideration as they have several advantages over traditional water supply and treatment systems. This article advocates an integrative approach (the Living Oasis) to building water management in the United States Southwest that builds upon the successful experiences of more than 30 direct water reuse systems installed in the United States Northeast.
Alfredo Fernández-González has measured the thermal performance of five different passive solar t... more Alfredo Fernández-González has measured the thermal performance of five different passive solar test-cells (Direct Gain, Trombé-Wall, Water-Wall, Sunspace, and Roofpond) and a Control test-cell in Muncie, Indiana, USA, during the 2002-2003 heating season (December 2, 2002 through May 31, 2003). Description of the test facility and a comparison of the indoor temperatures with the different systems measured in that research are presented in another paper in this Conference (Fernández-González 2007). This paper presents formulas predicting the indoor daily maximum, average and minimum temperatures in the test cells with the different passive solar heating systems, and the control test cell, generated with minimum of climate information. It also compares the computed maximum, average and minimum daily temperatures with the measured ones.
This paper presents the experimental setup and a summary of the temperatures measured during the ... more This paper presents the experimental setup and a summary of the temperatures measured during the winter months of January and March of 2003 inside five different passive solar test-cells (direct gain, Trombé-Wall, Water-Wall, Sunspace, and Roofpond) and a control test-cell located in Indiana, United States. The months of January and March represent respectively the coldest month of the year in which auxiliary heating is definitely necessary to achieve comfortable conditions, and a transitional winter month in which a well designed passive building may be able to produce comfortable conditions without employing auxiliary heating. Another paper presented in this conference covers the statistically derived formulas developed to predictive the indoor temperatures using minimum climatic data (Givoni and Fernández-González, 2007).
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Papers by Alfredo Fernandez-Gonzalez