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ATMOSPHERE | ECO-VILLAGE

Nan Wu
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Out of all the cities in New Zealand, Christchurch has the worst air quality; the air pollution level is extremely high compared to other cities. High pollution levels are the cause of many problems, people can suffer from cancer, disease, and there are a large number of deaths caused this every year. There are several reasons behind this, geographically Christchurch is guarded by the Port Hills, which prevent smog dispersal, and trap the air pollution produced by heating. The earthquakes have only added to the problem due to the ongoing demolition there are a hight number of particulates let thrown into the atmosphere. Unfortunatly the city previously known as the garden city can now be called the polluted city. Given that the air quality is a serious issue, I started my investigation by looking into methods that can be used to reduce the pollution level. The best way to achieve this is to plant trees as well as outdoor and indoor plants, hence reducing the indoor and outdoor pollution at the same time. I found out that planting Willow trees are the best to reduce the outdoor air pollution level, so I divided Christchurch into 50sqm and then I calculate how many trees are needed per grid. I found a total number of 60,000 Willow trees would be needed to reduce the pollution to acceptable level. For my design, I proposed a tree farm integrated with housings. The site is within the Green Frame (refer to the CCDUs master plan). The master plan leave the Green Frame unspecified hence it would be a perfect site to integrate a tree farm and housing. The trees are transplanted to other locations once they mature. The purpose behind integrating housing into the tree farm is to bring workers back to the city so as to reduce their commute and reduce the overall emmissions. The integration of the tree farm and the housing I belive will make Christchurch a garden city.

FUTURE CHRISTCHURCH
COURSE THE UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND ADVISORS

V2

2nd Semester 2012 Design 6 School of Architecture and Planning Camia Young & Jordon Saunders

SITE PLAN

ZOOM IN RENDER OF HOUSING

FINAL DESIGN RENDER IN RELATION TO OTHER GROUP MEMBERS DESIGN


A street elevation of the tree / house farm showing the proportion of trees in relation to housing, and the material of the houses

ELEVATION

DESIGN CONCEPT

ORIGINAL CCDU MASTER PLAN OF SELECTED SITE

DEVELOPING TREE / HOUSE PLANTING METHOD BY GRIDDING THE SITE

ised Master Plan


Existing Hospital Sport Facilities Residential & Mix City Frame Cricket Court City Central & Business

PLANTING IN THE TREES


Hospital Related Sport Related Residential & Mix Related Frame Maintaince Related Field Related Business Related Lost

FLOOR PLAN - HOUSE NO.1

SCALE 1:100

CROSS SECTION - HOUSE NO.1

SCALE 1:50

PROCESS OF REDEVELOPING THE CCDU MASTER PLAN

PLANTING IN THE HOUSES

CONCEPT ELEVATION

Showing the gradient between housing and trees - More house/less trees to More trees/less house.

AXONOMETRIC

Showing the proportion between Road / Green zone / Trees / Housing in the redeveloped master plan.

INVESTIGATION

FLOOR PLAN - HOUSE NO.2

SCALE 1:100

CROSS SECTION - HOUSE NO.2

SCALE 1:50

POLLUTION DATA
A pollution diagram of Christchurch showing how bad the air quality is.

INDOOR PLANTS NEEDED TO REDUCE TOTAL AIR POLLUTION


Indoor pollution also need to be reduced as people live/sleep in inside, hence high indoor pollution would cause health issues. A calculation of indoor plants needed to reduce the air quality.

TREES NEEDED TO REDUCE TOTAL OUTDOOR POLLUTION


Outdoor pollution is main caused by vechiles/industry/wood, it is a serious problem due to many factors, hence I Divided Christchurch into 50m sq grids, calculating how many trees are needed in each grid to reduce the overall pollution to an acceptable level. The result gives an large number of 60,000 trees.

FLOOR PLAN - HOUSE NO.3

SCALE 1:100

CROSS SECTION - HOUSE NO.3

SCALE 1:50

SUITABLE PLANTS FOR REDUCING INDOOR POLLUTION

Areca Palm: An upright houseplant that is somewhat vase shaped. Specimen plants can reach 10 to 12 foot in height. Prefers a humid area to avoid tip damage. Requires pruning. When selecting an Areca palm look for plants with larger caliber trunks at the base of the plant. Lady Palm: durable palm species adapts well to most interiors. The Rhapis are some of the easiest palms to grow, but each species has its own particular environment and culture requirements. The Lady Palm grows slowly, but can grow to more than 14 in height with broad clumps often having a diameter as wide as their height. Bamboo palm: prefers bright indirect light. New plants will lose of some interior foliage as they acclimate to indoor settings. This plant likes to stay uniformly moist, but does not like to be over-watered or to sit in standing water. Rubber Plant: Grows very well indoors, preferring semi-sun lighting. Avoid direct sunlight, especially in summer. Young plants may need to be supported by a stake. The Ficus grows to 8 with a spread of 5. Wear gloves when pruning, as the milky sap may irritate the skin. Dracaena Janet Craig : The Dracaena grows to 10 with a spread of 3. Easy to grow, these plants do best in bright indirect sunlight coming from the east/west. They can adapt to lower light levels if the watering is reduced. Keep the soil evenly moist and mist frequently with warm water.

DECIDING WHICH TREE TO USE FOR TREE FARM

Millions of poplars and willows have been planted on farms in recent decades, usually supplied through regional councils for stabilising erosion-prone hill country, providing shelter and shade for farm livestock, vista, resolving drainageproblems and, in some regions, as a source of supplementary fodder during dry summer months. Uses: Environment: As a plant, willow is used for biofiltration, constructed wetlands, ecological wastewater treatment systems, hedges, land reclamation, landscaping, phytoremediation, reduce of air pollution, soil erosion control, shelterbelt and windbreak, soil building, soil reclamation, tree bog compost toilet and wildlife habitat. Energy: Willow is grown for biomass or biofuel, in energy forestry systems, as a consequence of its high energy in-energy out ratio, large carbon mitigation potential and fast growth. -Each Willow tree are able to reduce the pollution level 10% greater than any other trees. Needs a total amount of 60,000 trees to cure the city of Chrischurch. And 400 trees for my chosen site.

POTENTIAL PLANTING AREA WITHIN EACH SUBURB

FLOOR PLAN - GREEN HOUSE

SCALE 1:200

CROSS SECTION - GREEN HOUSE

SCALE 1:200

MAIN FACTORS OF AIR POLLUTION

SEASONAL AIR POLLUTION LEVEL

POLLUTION COUNTS AND HEALTH EFFECTS

DETAILED DRAWING FOR GREEN HOUSE

DETAILED DRAWING FOR HOUSING

MATERIALS USED FOR EACH PART OF THE HOUSE

AIR POLLUTION DESCRIPTION

Air quality incidents reported to Environment Canterburys Pollution Hotline most commonly relate to agricultural or industrial odour as well as smoke from domestic and outdoor fires. However, air quality incidents reported also relate to a wide range of other issues such as dust from construction sites or quarries, particulates from abrasive blasting, and other emissions from industrial premises. Seventy-three per cent of the complaints received by the pollution hotline this quarter were related to air quality (1192 complaints). Christchurch City had the highest number of complaints (907 complaints) which is due to Environment Canterbury enforcing the air plan rules relating to domestic chimneys.

WHY CHRISTCHURCH HAVE SUCH HIGH POLLUTION LEVEL

The Port Hills (to the south-east of the city) act as a natural barrier that prevents the smogs dispersal. In the winter months, smog becomes trapped down at the street level underneath a layer of warmer air (inversion layer). The climate of the area plays a part in the problem too. The average temperature in winter is just 12C meaning most homes will end up using some form of heating. Wood burners are the cheapest way for most to heat their homes but are also the main cause of the citys air quality problems. Burning wood (particularly moist wood) emits PM10 particulate into the atmosphere. Older fires, particularly those installed before 2000 (over 20,000 of which are still left in Christchurch), burn less efficiently emitting higher quantities of PM10. Eighty percent of Christchurchs winter air pollution comes from wood or coal burners and open fires, while the remaining twenty percent is made up of vehicle emissions and industry.

DETAIL DESCRIPTION ON WHAT CAUSES POLLUTION

Windy conditions allow pollution to disperse and consequently have a far smaller impact. On the other hand, features such as valleys and hills cause pollution to linger, combine and consequently intensify enhancing the effects. On top of this, during cold still conditions (generally through the winter months) temperature inversions occur that trap smog at street level beneath a layer of warmer air. Therefore, at times pollution can be worse in a particular year because of the weather conditions alone, rather than as a result of increased rates of pollution. Conversely, a windy year with few temperature inversions may show fewer pollution episodes regardless of any changes in pollution emitted.

NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLDS THAT BURN WOOD TO HEAT THEIR HOMES PER KM2

PROPOSED SOLUTION

The City Councils management of the issue involved setting a goal of compliance with national air quality standards (not exceeding 50 microgrammes/m3 of PM10 per day) by 2013. This was done by zoning the city into categories of restricted use of wood and coal burning fires and zones with no restrictions, as well as rezoning some areas of industry. A full ban was imposed in some areas through the winter months to ensure milestones are met. They established the Clean Heat Project educating residents about cleaner heating alternatives and offering subsidies to people converting from open fires.

INTERIOR RENDER - BEDROOM DOMESTIC HOME HEATING EMISSION FACTORS

INTERIOR RENDER - LIVING ROOM

INTERIOR RENDER - BALCONY - VIEWING OUT

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