High rise building and
energy simulation
• Presented by: Marco Nabil
Tower at PNC Plaza, USA.
LEED-NC Platinum
Tower at PNC Plaza,
USA.
Project Data
• Completion Date: October 2015
• Height: 172 m Stories: 33
• Area: 56,485 sq m
• Primary Function: Office
• Owner: PNC Bank Developer: PNC Realty Services
• Architect: Gensler (design)
• Structural Engineer: Buro Happold (design)
• MEP Engineer: Buro Happold (design)
• Main Contractor: P J Dick Inc. Other CTBUH
• Member Consultant: Langan (geotechnical) Other CTBUH
• Member Supplier: Sematic S.r.l. (elevator)
• Award:2012 Evergreen Awards
• Expected to the greenest office tower in the world. & surpass LEED Platinum
standards
Tower at PNC Plaza,
USA.
• Using ies for environmental analysis
and simulations
Technology and Features
• Double-Skin Facade: The Tower at PNC Plaza’s most
innovative green technology is its double-skin façade,
which is the country’s only fully-automated double-skin
façade that is part of a solar-assisted natural ventilation
system.
• Solar Chimney: The largest in a modern office building in
the US, the solar chimney and double-skin façade creates
a cycle in which fresh air enters the building, naturally
warms, rises through the shafts, and exits at the roof
skylight.
Technology and Features
Workplace Amenities: The Tower offers
occupants “living rooms,” collaborative
spaces, outdoor terraces, observation
decks, and an indoor park on the 28th
floor. A cafeteria provides seating for
more than 250 employees.
Technology and
Features
• Blinds and Lighting: Blinds with automated
controls prevent glare, help control indoor
temperature and ensure that employees have
sufficient lighting at their workspace.
• Energy Recovery Wheel: Depending on the
season, the energy recovery wheel efficiently
humidifies or de-humidifies and heats or cools
air before it enters the building.
• Radiant Floors: To efficiently maintain interior
comfort in large spaces, the Tower’s lobby and
indoor park feature a radiant floor that both
heats and cools. Warm or cool water is
supplied in tubes embedded in the concrete
floor.
Tower at PNC Plaza, USA.
• Expected to the greenest office tower in
the world. & surpass LEED Platinum
standards
Shanghai Tower
Marshall Strabala
Shanghai Tower
The tower is a multi-functional building. It includes nine different
functional zones with 7 structural systems and more than 30 electrical,
mechanical, and intelligent subsystems. It is a complicated structure that
requires a large number of specialists and professions in different
disciplines to come together. Hence, the project employed more than 30
consulting companies in architectural structure, mechanical and
electrical engineering, fire protection, and curtain wall design. It also
contracted with a dozen of subcontractors in foundation, structure, and
machinery.
The tower is 632 meters in height with 121 stories. It vertically divided
into 9 functional zones, each zone rises 12 to 15 floors with a public
space balcony within curtain walls. The lowest ground zone occupied by
an open market that connects the tower with the surrounded activities
and Shanghai’s Metro, whereas the podium zone involves stores and
restaurants. The offices occupy the middle zone while the hotel was
placed at the top with the observation deck. The construction of the
building started in 2009 and it is predicted to be opened in 2015.
Shanghai Tower
• Overview of BIM Implementation
• Accordingly, the BIM application system was implemented and run since the first
phase of the project at the end of 2008. Autodesk applications were chosen for the
system by applying Revit Architecture, Structure, and MEP software for the design
and documentation processes. Whereas Autodesk Naviswork Manage software was
used to facilitate the coordination between the employees.
• Ecotect Analysis was also utilized for environmental analysis. In addition,
Autodesk Consulting implemented an on-site BIM environment for the local team
and afforded training and support services. “By combining Autodesk’s BIM
technology and the deep expertise of Autodesk Consulting, we have been able to
successfully transition to BIM much faster. As a result, this project has set new
standards for the information management of construction projects in China,” says
Gu.
• Other than form, the major contribution to the building by the double-skin is
energy conservation. Strabala states that, With the double skin, the building will
function much like a thermos bottle. This allows us to harvest and use daylight,
reduce artificial lighting to a minimum, increase the insulation of the building’s
interior, and, long-term, dramatically reduce energy consumption and energy
costs. In addition to the buffered facade, the building will feature wind turbines on
the roof and will sit within a 10,000 m² public park.
Shanghai Tower
Shanghai Tower underwent testing using Autodesk Ecotect
Analysis software, and by incorporating sustainable practices,
Shanghai Tower is at the forefront of a new generation of
highrise towers. Gensler aims for their ground-breaking design
to hold a LEED Gold rating and a China 3 Star rating, being the
highest level of performance made only possible through
consistent testing during the design stage of the project.
Testing on the Shanghai Tower produced a structure and shape
that reduces wind loads by 24% which in turn resulted in a
saving of $58 million in construction costs. This also gave the
possibility for greater sustainability – vertical-axis wind turbines
will generate up to 350,000 kWh of supplementary electricity
per year. Simulation tools are crucial in facilitating architects on
implementing energy efficiency aspects from the conception of
the design process.
The tower features elements such as an innovative curtain wall
suspended from the mechanical floors, to carry the load of a
transparent ‘glass skin’. The double-layered insulating glass
facade is calculated to reduce the need for indoor air
conditioning and is made of reinforced glass with a high
tolerance for temperature changes.
Shanghai Tower
CSI SAP 2000 software was crucial in doing wind tunnel
tests to simulate the region’s natural forces, while the
test results would actually refine the shape of the tower.
This cross-over between design and engineering in recent
years demonstrates how high-rise building simulations
are developing at a rapid rate.
The resulting impact has intensified collaborations of
architects, specialists, and engineers, and the challenging
task of inter-disciplinary coordination is being tested. The
collaboration of professionals, which has always been
essential in energy-efficient design, has become more
vital than ever. As a result, the architectural profession is
being placed under considerable new pressures, which
only hint at what the future may hold for energy
efficiency and building simulation. The above-stated
building demonstrates the art of building from parts to
the whole like any conventional building and its
components, but the parts here emphasize the energy-
efficient simulations which have a chain-link effect on the
whole building. Energy efficiency simulation techniques
are emerging to become a way of practice in architecture
which in the future will form the crux of building design
and construction technology.
Shanghai Tower achieves LEED Platinum certification
