The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) once again crowned the student team of the Faculty of Engineering (FT) Universitas Indonesia (UI) as 1st place in the Setty Family Foundation Net Zero Energy Design category at the ASHRAE Design Competition 2024 which was announced on August 1, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Six FTUI students who are members of the Archine team, managed to outperform 163 other teams with a green building design that they named Bromeliad Library. For three consecutive years, UI students have always brought victories from this event.
The Archine team consists of six Mechanical Engineering and Architecture students of the class of 2020, namely Muflikh Kas Yudamaulana, Miguel Bintang Samuel Silitonga, Alfian Febrianto, Alya Widha Aurellia, Bimantyo Ganggas Fadhil Ihsani, and Risma Fitriyanti. Guided by Dr. Miktha Farid Alkadri, Dr.-Ing. Ir. Ova Candra Dewi, Ardiyansyah, S.T., M.Eng., Ph.D., and Dr. Eng. Arnas Lubis, this project highlights the concept of a building that can reduce CO2 emissions and meet net-zero emission standards.
To achieve this goal, the building incorporates a passive and active strategy in its design. The intended passive strategy includes optimizing natural light, reducing solar heat, and innovative clay facades to control moisture. On the other hand, active strategies in buildings focus on air quality, efficient water management, and energy-efficient lighting.
“We designed the orientation of the Bromeliad Library to face 356° to the north, allowing for natural light penetration while avoiding direct sunlight on important areas such as the book collection. Then we allocate 61% of the building landscape area for green space, one of which is by utilizing native plants, such as Bromelia and Jacaranda which help reduce the effect of heat and increase CO2 absorption,” said Muflikh, as the team leader.
Biman, one of the team members, added that the Bromeliad Library is equipped with several excellent features such as LED sunlight sensors and a Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) system with Heat Recovery (HR), as well as the use of roof areas for vegetated terraces and solar photovoltaic panels. The building also has a Water and Fog Harvesting system that can accommodate up to 3.3 million liters of rainwater and dew per year.
With the implementation of these strategies and technologies, the use of Energy Use Intensity (EUI) in buildings has been significantly reduced from 211 kWh/m² to 87 kWh/m², reducing energy consumption by 59%. These reductions can be achieved through façade repairs (12.11%), window glass (1.69%), advanced lighting and controls (9.25%), high-efficiency HVAC systems (35.45%), and PV solar panels (44.31%).
Acting Dean of FTUI, Prof. Ir. Mahmud Sudibandriyo, MSc., Ph.D., said, “This year, the FTUI student team again won first place in the ASHRAE Design Competition 2024. Two years earlier, the FTUI team also won third place in 2023 and first place in 2022 in the same category. The success of the Archine UI team is a clear example of our students’ ability to present innovative and sustainable building solutions, in line with ASHRAE’s vision to create a sustainable future for the earth.”
ASHRAE is an organization with more than 50,000 members spread across more than 132 countries, committed to advancing the science of Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) and Refrigeration. The ASHRAE Design Competition 2024 focuses on designing a new central public library in the heart of São Paulo, Brazil. This competition has 3 categories, namely HVAC Design Calculations, HVAC System Selection, and Setty Family Foundation Net Zero Energy Design Projects. Furthermore, Team Archine will receive their award at the 2025 ASHRAE Winter Conference in Orlando, Florida, in February 2025. At the conference, the team also had the opportunity to present the innovative design of the Bromeliad Library in front of the international community.
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Public Communication Office
Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia
