Malacky – Project Proposals on Improving the Environment Quality in Bethany Center

Another one serious problem is to increase the quality of social protection centers. And our project could show some proposals how to solve it. In Ukraine also we have people who need the help, the means of existence, as often they are lonely old people and mothers with children. To help them in solving of living difficulties the Centers was created in all big cities. These are the photos of such centers in my city Dnipro.

Bethany Center was founded in 2006 in Malacky town(Slovakia) and designed for women who are in a difficult life situation, especially for mothers with children.

Center shelter Betania is designed for approximately 40 people. Each family is located in a separate room and has a shared bathroom, living room and kitchen.
There are a lot of different problems in Bethany Center:
– the building is quite old and does not meet modern requirements in the field of energy efficiency;
– in the center there is no medical station to provide of qualified medical care;
– there are no rehabilitation programs for the shelter residents;
– there are no children’s playgrounds and landscaping around the center.

According to the European directive of buildings energy efficiency, all new residential buildings must fit the building standard with zero energy consumption or be “positive” from December 31, 2020, and all existing buildings must be thermally modernized to meet modern requirements.
To develop measures aimed on improving the building energy efficiency and the microclimate quality of the Center’s premises, heat losses were calculated through the building envelopes monthly for the heating period.
The calculation results showed that the greatest heat losses occur through the external walls of the building – 60%, the smallest through the windows and the floors.

To solve technical, social problems, as well as increase the comfort of staying at the Center, we offer to hold a number of activities aimed on:
– improving the energy efficiency of the building, by thermal insulation of the external structures;
– construction of the greenhouse combined with the building of the Center;
– internal redesing and reprofiling of existing premises for the organization of a medical room;
– improvement of the surrounding area creation of recreational zones, playground and landscaping.

To reduce heat losses through walls and improve the indoor microclimate, it is necessary to perform thermal insulation protection of the building envelope. As a material for insulation, it is proposed to use plates of basalt wool. The Basalt wool has good heat and sound insulation qualities, it is durable, environmentally friendly and fire resistant. The thickness of the heat insulation layer was assumed for the walls – 150 mm, for the roof – 250 mm, for the floor – 100 mm. Also it is nessesary to change windows and doors into energy efficient ones.

As a result of thermal insulation measures, it is possible to reduce heat losses through the building envelope by almost 80% during the heating season. It will save 400 GJ of thermal energy per heating season.

Gardening improves physical and mental health and decreases levels of the disease. London therapists even prescribe the time to patients for gardening.
In 2013, at Brockwell Park Surgery in South London,a food cooperative was established, where the unused space of hospital areas is reprofiled grooving areas into for patients. The soil has a beneficial effect on the brain. This effect is similar to the effect of antidepressants that improve the mood.

One of the solutions of the technical and socio-psychological problems of the Bethany Center may be the construction of a greenhouse combined with the center building.
Greenhouses are used for growing vegetables, flowers, as well as for exhibition purposes (gardening shops, oranges, botanical gardens). For these various functions, different types of single or multi-level greenhouses of various sizes and shapes are offered.
The idea of growing plant products in cities, close to consumers, is becoming more popular. Ways to transfer this idea into reality are “Vertical Farms”, farms on the roofs of houses, underground farms.

There are several main models of growing plants in greenhouses: hydroponics, aeroponics, aquaponiks and traditional – on the ground.

A greenhouse should become not only an extension, but a harmonious part of the building.
Due to the transparent envelope of the greenhouse it is possible to accumulate most of the solar energy. Therefore, the greenhouse must be placed on the sunny side of the building, where insolation is provided mainly from February to November. The greenhouse functions as a solar energy storage device and contributes to the heating of the building and the reduction of heat loss.
In addition to the ventilation windows, ventilation openings can be placed in the upper part of the greenhouse to ensure communication with the cool side of the building.
For the arrangement of translucent covering of greenhouses it use such transparent materials: plastic slick, glass and polycarbonate.
To make a greenhouse frame it is possible to use materials such as wood or light-weight thin-walled steel structures.

Architectural planning solution for the construction of a greenhouse in the Bethany Center consists is presented in two variants.
The first option is to construct a greenhouse adjacent to the building from the southern and eastern sides (as most favorable for the orientation of the greenhouse). The width of the greenhouse is accepted – 5 m. The length of the greenhouse is taken according to the length of the building. Greenhouse height up to 4.5 m – to the height of the building.

Part of the external building structures of the Center, which are not in contact with the greenhouse, is proposed to be insulated, according to the design solutions developed earlier.
The second variant involves the construction of a greenhouse on the roof of the Bethany Center building. It should be noted that such option is possible only with sufficient bearing capacity of the existing building structures.
For the construction of greenhouses in the center of Bethany, we propose to use a frame made of light steel thin-walled structures. As a material of translucent covering in the greenhouse we use cellular polycarbonate, 16 mm of thickness.

The slide shows the ca ulation results of heat losses and heat inputs for the two variants of greenhouses construction.
In both cases, the annual heat inputs significantly exceed the annual heat loss of the building. But at the same time, due to the climatic conditions, heat inputs are unevenly distributed throughout the year during the coldest winter months (November, December, January, February) and heat losses significantly exceed heat inputs.
Therefore, we can conclude that for the greenhouse exploitation for whole year it is necessary to provide additional sources of heating during the coldest period or means of external protection of translucent structures from overcooling (external louvers).

As an additional source of heating we can use the heat accumulators: daily allowances for the autumn-spring transitional periods, and seasonal for the coldest winter months.
As heat accumulators in a greenhouse could be used: elements of its structure (floor, walls, soil) and individual objects installed in it (containers with water, stones).

The slide presents the main project proposals for the thermal modernization of the Bethany Center building and the results of their implementation.

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