Presentation
Kevin Roche’s University of Massachusetts-Amherst Fine Arts Center and Brutalism’s Monolithic Concrete Construction Performance Perception Penalty
Assocaition for Preservation Technology Northeast
(2017)
Abstract
Studies of buildings belonging to a subset of Modernist architecture, Brutalism, have included discussions pertaining to social and architectural history, critical reception, tectonic form and geometry inspirations, material property selections, period technology limitations, and migration of public perceptions. Evaluations of Brutalist buildings’ energy related performances have been restricted to anecdotal observations with particular focus on the building type’s poor thermal performance, a result of the preferred construction method, i.e. monolithic reinforced concrete used as structure, interior finish and exterior finish.
A valid criticism, but one that often serves to dismiss the building from any discussion related to an intervention that might improve a building’s Energy Use Intensity (EUI) to one that is more in accord with the energy performance expectations of our built environment’s current climate change remedying mandates
The University of Massachusetts-Amherst Fine Arts Center (FAC) designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Kevin Roche, was the Brutalist building used to focus attention on the potential impact of performing conductive heat loss mitigating interventions to the interior surfaces of the building’s thermal envelope, excepting those spaces dedicated to performance, where aesthetics and acoustics would be negatively impacted.
Analyses was accomplished using DesignBuilder, an EnergyPlus simulation frontend. A calibrated (ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 140) energy model was programed with all requisites, i.e. geo-position, ordinal orientation, building geometry, envelope materiality, construction details, local weather and climate, program activities, mechanical systems, occupancy schedules, etc.
The FAC’s EUI, as determined from the baseline model and a potential EUI determined from a model of the FAC inputted with a single energy efficiency measure (improvement of the conductive thermal envelope) was compared with EUI data from “CBECS, 2012 Table C5” and Architecture 2030 Challenge Targets for U.S. National Medians for College/University Campus Level Buildings. This perspective and insight into the building’s reality, within the context of measured energy performance aids in clearing some of the haze from one of Brutalist architecture’s maligned characteristics.
Disciplines
Publication Date
Winter February 3, 2017
Location
Albany, New York
Citation Information
L Carl Fiocchi. "Kevin Roche’s University of Massachusetts-Amherst Fine Arts Center and Brutalism’s Monolithic Concrete Construction Performance Perception Penalty" Assocaition for Preservation Technology Northeast (2017) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/lcarl_fiocchi/8/