Introduction

Green technology has been one of the most talked and discussed topic in architecture development. There have been various attempts to put green technology into architecture; however it has been the case of installation of green panels and take energy out of it case. However, to make the green technology really useful to be part of architecture, it needs to be rethink and redesign from the ground up to suit to the building. In architecture, we believe the green technology can be applied in any scale of building, and it is more preferable to be applied in house as it is the place where most of the people spend their time.

Palm oil industry in architecture

Malaysia is one of the biggest palm oil player in the global field, almost 50% of the world palm oil production comes from Malaysia. Because that he palm oil is only 10-20%of the extraction of the palm tree fruits, the rest of the waste are basically by product which its use has not been discovered yet by. It is important to rethink about the building industry and the palm oil industry to see find any turning palm oil waste into products.
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Palm & House

In applying palm tree-by-products into houses isnt just about taking the by product to be applied into building alone, especially when we are talking about making the byproduct really useful in the architecture as part of the solution. Other than being green, the fundamental functions of the house must be improved too to suit to the green movement. It has to work as a house, feels like the house without people realizing that the house is completely green. To us, that is one of the best way to apply green technology into architecture. A perfect green sustainable house is when some one will say, that is a good house , and it is a sustainable house ! rather than just saying it is a sustainable house at the first glance .

House
Form follow function is one fo the most sustainable way to focus on a design, we have been very serious in making the house a really functional house by making it as workable as we could. It isnt just ahouse, it is also a combination of useful spaces which makes it more functional than just a house.

4 innovative approaches
Approach is the way that we make things different from the rest, from the ground up , we have chose to look at house design in a completely different way, therefore the whole sustainability could be carried out successfully to provide a total solution to become green. The criterias are Better house for the residences Greeneries integration for awareness and shading Technological approaches to improve the efficiency Right size to maximize the balance between land use and family

SmartGreen House by 7
To design a sustainable house, we start it from the ground up. Other than relying on the applications of the technological products, we believe that it is very important to marry both architecture and green approaches. We have tried to think of a way to create the building to provide end-to-end solution for the users. The use of passive cooling element and natural resources is our primary idea before applying active cooling system into the building.

Goals
Combined houses to bring back housing community. Awareness through closer touch with the nature. A total solution housing scheme to provide better sustainability method. Sustainability through architecture.

Objective
Sustainable design through nature awareness, technological approach and design.

Concept
Bringing natural resources back into human living lifestyle.

Cluster Form
where the land will run out, and multiple families would need to stay on one plot of land. We found out 4/5 stories would be the best size to make multiple families under the same roof, it isnt that crowded but yet it is convenience from the services that need to be implemented in the building.

SmartGreen building has been designed based on what we called it as the SmartGreen Typology which combines what the most desirable form for the the houses . it is meant to provide the landed house like environment and apartment style efficiency in the spaces layout. Therefore it is a hybrid of duplex unit and normal layout. The linear form is one of the best form to be provided in the house, it allows the circulation to be direct and simple by combining the spaces together ad it encourages casual interaction in the house itself. Duplex form has been adopted in the shape form to provide an extention to the house, This will create a virtual image that the house is bigger than it is as it has a staircase that leads to the upper floor, for units which doesnt have an upper floor, the space will be filled by a double volume spaces to provide a more airy and spacious environment to the house .

Multiple families under one roof

Growing population

The function of each cluster is tailored to suit to the living lifestyle and living needs of different families in the market. Family guy would usually choose to be closer to the ground so that their kids can run around the ground and enjoy the nature easier than before. It allows the kid to enjoy the nature. Whilst single or young couple would choose to stay at the penthouse or the upper floor due to the lifestyle which the owners are usually 9-5 working class people Community Exchange When 6 of the units are so diversified, it became the strength of the design where people can see each and other. Young couples will see how good it is to have the family, whilst the family guy will find some in between their age and their children age. It fills the gap in the housing community, creating a cheerful community around the neighborhood.

The population of Malaysians has been growing and it has never stop to grow. It is a sign that one day

4 stories
When we stack it up

aplce for everyone to mingle around. Not only from their own circle, but with the neighbours, the ground floor consists of sheltered zone and open garden. That allows the residents to hangout with options of going to the ground area or shaded area, the activities are free for the kids to do at the spaces.

Interlocking spaces

In creating SmartGreen house, we have gone through various discussion and experiments to find the best solution to create the best house with the best way to solve the problems. The interesting staggered shape has formed which promotes families interaction, allowing the young to meet the elder members, and the young couple will have the chance to meet the kids .

SmartGreen house utilizes the interlocking spaces to create a total block which is similar to town house to shape the building envelope profile, the interesting shape has created a building which is friendlier to the environment & architecture with the following.

Central void & side voids Single young couple family The demography of the society has been split into this 3 categories, the age of marriage has been raised form the normal 20+ to 30+ . this is due to the working culture and the environment which is monotype that doesnt promotes intractions , everyone has been living in their own comfort zone in their own isolation area. Smart Green house has reinvented the typology to solve this problem. A house has to be placed for family to shelter and gather, the goal in SmartGreen house is to create The interlocking grid creates a central void, which is similar to the courtyard in the colonial shophouses that shapes the shophouse typology of Malaysia. Sadly it has been neglected in architecture and this time SmartGreen has found a way to make it back to the SmartGreen house, and it is the feature of the house. The interlocking spaces actually open up side voids which allows the wind to flow through the spaces well, therefore it doesnt only promote vertical wind circulation but it also promotes side cross ventilation .
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Staggered roof garden The staggered roof garden allows people to interact with each and other form the roof garden, other than being just the roof garden, it allows people to interact with each and other and it is one of the new phenomena in architecture. The green roof actually reduces the urban heating when the green roof absorbs and cool down the environment. It also reduces the heat that goes into the building. When the roof acted as part of the insulation layer for internal spaces energy to another level, as the residence at the top floor is expected to be from the young couple, it would turn out to be a good idea for them to move up and down from that level.

Elevator free Because of the interesting shape , there is no need to apply an elevator to get someone from the ground floor to the upper floor. Therefore it reduces the need to provide the elevator to go up the building. Even if an elevator has been installed, there are only 3 floors with the opening, as elevators cost are counted by the numbers of opening, therefore the cost will be lower as well.

Xtra tall ceiling

Mechanical Ventilation

The ceiling of SmartGreen has been designed to be as tall as 4000mm, which is beyond what the industry has set for the standard for the housing industry. We have adopted this very good ceiling height to provide better environment to the interior of the house. Based on a study done to analyze the thermal comfort to the interior space of the house, it seems to be the taller the ceiling height, the better the temperature and thermal comfort will be better for the occupants. This is due to the nature of the hot air to be occupying on the upper side of the ceiling.

We strongly believe that mechanical ventilation should be installed in the proper manner, it should reduce the need to rely on the air conditioner to cool down the interior. In SmartGreen design, ceiling fan and exhaust fan are known to be one of the best way to increase the air movement in the internal spaces. Hot air has to be discharged in a very fast manner and the vacuum created will be replaced by fresh air.

PalmHybrid Concrete
SmartGreen houses is a post and beam building system; therefore it involves a lot of concrete in the construction. In this project, we have choose to have the hybrid concrete system which is a mixture of the by product of palm oil production, to be mixed with the concrete as the building construction material. The solid walls, floor slabs, columns are built upon the usage of concrete as the material. Concrete is robust and strong to withstand the wear and tear of the weather. After looking up and down to improve the material, the hybrid concrete seems to be the right material to be used. Not only because it uses the waste as material, it too makes the concrete become stronger than before. 20% Mixture Strength

PalmHybrid Concrete modular System

Modularity is one of the greenest way to construct the building, it allows greater quality control than the normal on site construction, it is more efficient due to the pre-assembled panels in the factor which leads to lesser disturbance in terms of waste and cause lesser noise and construction disruption to the existing neighborhood. Man power involved will be reduced to a significant number when the panels are built and done in the factory with the aid of machinery. Once the panels are done, it will be sent to the right site and assembled in a speedy style and fix to the right co-ordination on the site, the snap lock method allows the panels to be installed instantly without needing to wait for the formwork to solidify. 8000mmx8000xx Grid

According to the research done by USM , it is found that the concrete with 20% more concrete will improve the strength of the concrete. The use of 20% mixture to the concrete will actually make a better concrete material and it can reduce the concrete usage by 20% as well. Because the concrete has been reduced by 20% , therefore the cost will be reduced as well when the palm oil husk is actually the by-product of the oil extraction process. We are just making waste becoming useful.

The construction grid system adopted for the SmartGreen house is the proven robust and solid system which makes use of the industrial standard 8000mm x 8000 mm grid system. Because it has been proven therefore the engineering aspects has little thing to deal with.

Pre-cast wall panels

PalmFibre

The walls has been designed to be pre-casted in the factory and brought over to the site for construction for assembly, windows, walls etc system will be tested on a small model before assembled. The quality assurance allow the building be in top notch condition.

Palm fiber is one of the most abundant elements that could be found on a palm tree. The quality of the fiber is proven to be more superior than coconut fiber in many ways and It could possibly be the substitute to coconut fiber in the house hold usage. The palm fiber material can be used in the following Replacement of sponge Insulation layer Mixture with timber Sound proofing Heat proofing Growing medium of plant

Floor Slabs

HybridInsulation

The usage of mixed hybrid concrete extends to the floor panels and roof panels, as the roof panels has to sustain so many weight, therefore it is best to be tested on the site before it has been moved to the right place for construction. Finishing Finishing will only be done when the structural element has been completed. Seals, renovations will only be done once the structural member has been put up. A test has been done in the lab to try out the combination of both latex and natural fiber, which in this case we have substitute the fiber to be the palm oil fiber. It is found that 30% of latex content with natural fiber is the best composition for heat insulator applications.
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Based on the absorption test, it shows that the specimen can absorb 95% of the heat, which is better compared to other specimens and synthetic rubber. HybridInsulation panels

PalmFibre Green Roof

The insulation panels can be done by mixing according to the 30% and 70% mixture, after being sent to pressing it will become an industrial standard size to be used in building industry. Weare looking forward to apply the panels at the following location Roof Wall facing sun Etc

In the recent developments, green spaces has been given attention by the architects. When building has grown up in the vertical manner, the green spaces has become more and more limited, especially when the building is in the town. The idea to provide the green spaces for every single unit is to allow the users to get closer to the nature.

Applications in SmartGreen house

PalmFibre as Soil replacement

the HybridInsulation panels will be applied in on the following surface to reduce the solar heat gain transmission into the internal spaces of the house. It is expected to reduce the heat from being transmitted intot he internal spaces of the house by a large percentage, therefore less energy will be spent to cool down the house.

The advantages of substituting the soil with fibre starts from easier installation, moisture retention to assist plant growth during the dry seasons. PalmFibre too benefit when it doesnt need extra fertilizer to grow the plants. Moreover it is easier to be installed than using soil as the growing medium as it is in the compact layer form factor.
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Rainwater harvesting system

The green roof double itself as the filter to filter the water from the rain, the green grass with the roots will neutralize the rainwater which might carry some polluting layers.

GreenRoof = Reduce urban heat island If the building has been relocated from a housing area to a place in the urban area, it can reduce the urban heat island which is caused by the concrete building. It is caused by little vegetation or very little evaporation from the building, therefore heat will build up which creates an urban heat island.

Rainwater collection system is applicable to every roof panel, the grass, fiber, stones, sands will act as the filter of the rainwater. It is filtered by the gravity, it means less energy will be required to filter the water for normal usage. GreenRoof = Energy Efficient

Illustration above shows how an urban heat island can has been created from the urban development. (Weather Question, 2008)

According to a research done by Liu,K Baskaran B (2008) . Green Roof was found to be effective in helping to cool the building during the summer. The rational is the growing medium is in the green roof keep the roofing membrane shaded from direct solar heat gain, evaporative cooling form the plants and growing medium . The layers of medium too become a layer of insulation to prevent direct solar heat gain

The numbers of roof garden can solve the problem of urban heat island to the surrounding. Especially to a country which is developing, this will help the environment. SmartGreen uses the green area as the common spaces for the occupants too.

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PalmPlywood
The trunk of the palm tree is deemed as one of the elements which could be used as timber. Because of the high fiber content, it is less likely to be used as a product itself and it finds it way to the furniture world by mixing the timber with other timber to become plywood or laminated timber. The extend of the timber usage in SmartGreen house goes to the following. Furnitures Floors Wall cladding ( interior ) Anything which relates to timber

Wet OPT veneer at the peeling line after being processed in the factory to be used in the plywood.

OPT ( Oil Palm Tree ) Plywood Oil Plan tree plywood is really new in the industry, Malaysia has produces around 2.54 million cubic metres of the OPT is suitable for plywood production, however only 50% of it, which is about 1.27million cubic metres has been used. 508,000cubmic metres of plam plywood will be produced every year.
Preliminary drying of wet OPT to be used in timber industry .

After the sunbath process, the OTP will be sent to the dryer to dry up the panel entirely as preparation for the next level.

OilPalmTree blocks a the plywood factory, aged OPT will be chopped off to be replanted.

The gluing process take place to glue multiple layers of timber layer together. Making the timber become more rigid and strengthen the stiffness

Peeling OPT at the Lathe to process the timber form the trunk, to thin layers of timber.

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PalmPlywood Furnitures ( pre-fitted)

The first thing a person gets into the house is to find the right furniture to suit to their environment, most of the people doesnt really hire an interior designer to design the internal spaces and simply get the shelves and furniture at some furniture shops hoping it to suit to their own house. We think that the building industry should provide the furniture as the standard version to the owners of the house. When furniture has been provided as part of the housing system, it can ensure a perfect suit which is tailored to maximize the spaces whilst making use the best material to promote recycling. The following are the selected things which will be provided to the user. The owners will be given their autonomy to decorate the stuff according to their needs Ongoing development has to be done carefully and constantly to improve the quality of the timber to keep on changing the timber material and to improve it.

The timber will be pressed to compress the elements of the layers, it will become plywood in a better strength at a better size.

The OTP timber plywood will be ready to be used after it is processed, it can be used as the replacement of timber. Turning waste into products.

Tables Shelves Kitchen storage Cabinets Beds Mattress

The finished timber will be further process to be used into the furniture industry, starting with tables, floors etc which can be used to replace timber Source : The Malaysia Plywood Industry, 11 March 2011 .

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Kitchen

Living Room & Common Area

Cabinets Kitchen has the most shelves and cabinets to store the cutlery elements, which can be built by using the OPT PalmPlywood as the material. Therefore it reduces the need to chop off healthy tree just to build the materials. Laminated Timber Special treatment which is to laminate the timber will be given to make the timber to become more protected against the moist from the kitchen.the top surface will need to be protected by different finishes to prevent water absorption. Timber Staircase The staircase risers has been constructed with timber to fully make use of the PalmTimber, it has been designed to be 50mm thick to have the strength to withstand the load of the human. By multi-layering the timber with strengthening beam below, it can withstand bend and stress for normal wear and tear.

PalmTimber Floor The living room with the common area is designed to use the timber on the floor. Timber floor panels absorbs lesser thermal energy from the sunlight, therefore less heat will be absorbed in the PalmTimber Door Doors that has been build using timber can be substitute to use PalmTimber as the material, Moist proof treatment has to be done to the door to prevent moist and insulation could be filled by using PalmFibre insulation layer . Timber Sofa Frame Sofa consist of the frame and the cushion to make it a set. The frame of the sofa can be substituted with Palmtimber whilst the cushion foam will be filled with PalmFibre. This combination makes the sofa fully make use of the byproducts of Oil Palm Trees.

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Smart Louvers
of sunshades has been placed in between the curtain wall . these layers of sunshades are designed that it would be located to shade from the exterior. It will become the double skin faade for the building. By having this idea, I this proven that it works better inc cutting the sunlight and glare from entering the interior. SmartGreen house is heavily shaded from direct solar heat gain through the curtain wall. In response, the 30degree solar cut off is adopted. This is to make sure that no direct sunlight will be visible in the building from 10am to 4pm. Therefore the building will remain cool whilst enjoying the natural illumination.

The louvers of the SmartGreen house have been design to cut off glare from the sunlight. The material chosen is concrete with laminated timber. Concrete works well as the most robust element to be exposed to the tricky environment, whilst the laminated SmartTimber will reduce the heat absorbed into the concrete.

30degree cut off line

For the shading devices, we have looked at the National Library of Singapore as our references. The building has been carefully designed to cut off direct sunlight into the building to reduce any unwanted daylight into the internal spaces To maximize the daylight and reduce the use of artificlal light, curtain wall has been introduced into the design. However to avoid direct sunlight from entering the building through this curtain wall, layers

Our references, Singapore National Library are shading devices. The shading devices are designed to cut off the direct sunlight from entering the internal spaces.
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SmartSave / Energy Saving

The SmartGreen house aims in saving most of the electricity and cutting down your carbon emissions. It is no doubt that a typical unit of house consists of air conditioner and normal lighting operation produces 50,000 kilograms of carbon-emission annually. Judging on the figure, the SmartGreen house which will be occupied by 6 units of houses will produce 300,000 kilograms of carbon-emission annually. Thus, our aim is to reduce the carbon footprint not only through architecture design, but from the electrical devices as well. Energy saving calculations

Our Smart idea starts with a very basic foundation, which is to change whatever components which can reduce the running cost of the house. Although the starting price will be slightly more expensive to use energy saving bulb, but focusing on using the ceiling fan will greatly reduce the cost of the house by 90%than using the air-conditioned solely .

Comparison between materials

The internal spaces are designed to be as open as possible, allowing indirect sunlight to brighten the internal spaces , whilst using the natural air to comfort the internal spaces .
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SmartSolar System
money on electrical cost as well as to encourage renewable energy as one of our government vision. We provide 7 areas of 8X8m2 to imply this solar power system on the roof. Our priority has given on the passive solar design elements in SmartGreen House architectural design and the use of Energy Saving products. However, with the additional use of solar power system, it is proved that, we could reduce the PV capacity for more than 2kWp.

Strategies Passive Solar Design Elements Active Systems Total PV capacity Number of Solar Panel Needed Total cost of installation 185W solar panel @ RM2900

Conventional Design Minimal consideration given No considerations at all 4kWp 22

SmartGreen House Priority given Purchase of Energy Saving products 2kWp 10

By 2010, Renewable Energy is expected to contribute 350MW to total energy supply in Malaysia, which is projected to reach 3,128 PJ. Biomass such as rice husks, palm oil and bio waste will be used on a wider basis mainly for power generation, followed by solar energy. In this case of solar power, the climatic conditions in Malaysia are favourable for the development of solar energy due to abundant sunshine with the average daily solar insulation is 5.5kWm2, equivalent to 15MJ/m2. Thus, in our SmartGreen House, we intend to use solar power to heat homes water and even provide electricity. It is intended to help the household to save

RM183800

RM89000

Reference : http://www.pam.org.my/AM/18-2/P19_practice66-68.pdf

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SmartGreen supports GreenCar ! FreeBicycles for everyone

The future of automobile is the electric car system; Nissan was one of the companies which initiated the zero emission electric car system. Proton in 2011 has pushed out the EV car and according to the report; they are pushing the prototype into testing phase. It means that building in the future will need to play a prominent role in electric car charging.

Other than just a house, we think that the building should incorporate the bicycle as part of the selling point. By providing bicycles to the occupants, in free form, this will allow the residences to use the bicycle during their free time in the late evening, encouraging people to go back to the nature and enjoy how great it is to ride the bicycle rather than being in the car alone.

Charging & Backup The on board battery that stores energy for the car can be doubled up as the energy backup for the building. Should there be any blackout; the car will help to illuminate the emergency lighting system by using the energy which has been supplied to the car from the solar panels.

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SmartGreen Conclusion
In overall, we look in a whole cycle to make the SmartGreen house as sustainable as it could. We look into these aspects. 1. Sustainable design Modular system which is meant to increase the efficiency and quality control of the design Community based design to allow the design to be more flexible. Density of housing has to be improved, because the population is increasing. 1 land should occupy more people than before. 4. Future House must adopt the future of green movement SolarPanels must be used to promote green technology. Wind turbine isnt that feasible to be installed, we dont get too much wind anyway. The cost-production feasibility doesnt justify enough. GreenCar movement, building industry should play a strong role in pushing their support on Electric car charging.

2. Materials Usage Household furniture is the easiest to implement the material changes. Most of the furniture are timber based, we can change it to palm timber. Building materials, the timbers and the fibres of the palm product can actually be used in building industry. Saving cost in material Low heat absorbent materials, usually based on natural material dont absorb too much heat.

3. Marketing & Sales Including the furniture as the house package will allow us to provide whole control of sustainability approach. Commodity based products which can be done by using palm material can be used.

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