MIES - Contain It

Container architecture is really recycling at its best.  Napper Architects, based out of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, is highly innovative in this regard.  Using containers from shipping yards, they've found a resourceful way to design LEED accredited buildings.   Needless to say, they've earned many credits in the Innovation portion of LEED.

This 3 story building utilises 37 recycled shipping containers that are to be adapted and reconditioned to create an innovative building solution. The development will provide approximately 10,000 square feet of office space that will be unique to the region. Aimed at sustainable enterprise businesses the modular building itself is incredibly sustainable in that the majority of the structure is recycled, the re-used shipping containers having already transported goods around the world for 20 years.

As can be seen in the light model, the building will be transparent/open in places from above, allowing a natural passive heating and cooling system to take place.  Also of note is how sunscreens block out a majority of these spaces, where light enters.  The facilities designed by Napper are innovative but also resourceful.  LEED recognized Napper's willingness to counter the albedo affect by the placement of these brise soleils.  

All things considered, this may not win design of the year anytime soon, but it does show a willingness to be resourceful.  As driven as star designers may be to avoid this kind of utilization, it's impossible not to respond favorably to this kind of clever wit in architecture.  It really is a smart solution.

BDCS Notes - Aluminum Production

Aluminum Production

Historical Production of Aluminum: Uses processes that were developed in the 1880s. Bayer developed the sodium aluminate leaching process to produce pure alumina (Al2O3). Hall and Heroult developed an electrolytic process for reducing the alumina to pure aluminum.

Process: The production of aluminum follows the following process:

1. The mining of the aluminum ore, bauxite.
2. Crushing of the bauxite, which is then washed, to remove clay and silica materials, and kiln dried afterwards.
3. Mixing the crushed bauxite with soda ash and lime and passed through a digester, pressure reducer, and settling tank to produce a concentrated solution of sodium aluminate. (This removes silica, iron oxide, and other impurities).
4. Seeding of the solution with hydrated alumina crystals in precipitator towers. The seeds attract other alumina crystals and form groups that settle out of solution.
5. The resulting alumina is reduced with the Hall-Heroult process and melted in a cryolite bath (a molten salt of sodium-aluminum-fluoride).
6. A current is passed between anodes and cathodes of carbon, which separates the aluminum from the oxygen and the molten aluminum is collected at the cathode at the bottom of the bath.

The final molten aluminum is either shipped to a foundry for casting into final products or is cast into ingots. The ingots are formed by a direct chill process that produces sheets for rolling mills, or square billets for production of wire, rod and bar stock.

Final products are made by either casting or deforming solid aluminum stock. Casting is the oldest method, and can be done in three ways:

1. Die Casting – Forcing molten aluminum into mold under high pressure.
2. Permanent Mold Casting – Pouring aluminum into reusable metal mold.
3. Sand Casting – Sand with a binder packed around a pattern, aluminum poured into pattern, reproducing the shape.

The deformation processes are:

1. Forging
2. Impact Extrusion
3. Stamping
4. Drawing
5. Drawing Plus Ironing

Recycling Aluminum: Scrap stock is melted in a furnace. The molten aluminum is purified and alloys are added.