Artist John David
Mooney, Engineer Intern Nick Aitken, Senior Project Engineer Ken Maschke and
John David Mooney Foundation intern Maggie Jarr and architect Jeff Owczarek
presented the New Harmony project findings to the Cliff Dwellers Club for
people interested in the arts.
Harvesting the Sun
By Ken Maschke, Senior Project Engineer, Thornton Tomasetti, Chicago
May 10, 2011 - It is said that nature can inspire solutions
to the world’s toughest technological challenges. If that’s true, what can we
learn from our surroundings to solve the current energy crisis? Could we again
rely on the sun’s radiation to power our world? Do sunflowers hold the key to
maximum efficiency solar panels? Engineer Intern Nick Aitken and I recently explored these questions with Chicago artist
John David Mooney in his vision for a solar energy producing gateway
installation in New Harmony, Ind.
Mooney, a sculptor and environmental artist, was inspired by
New Harmony’s history of patronage to the natural sciences,
art and architecture. His work began with a commission
for an entrance sculpture but grew to include a city-wide plan to educate the
public about environmental sustainability while cultivating renewable energy
sources. The project’s objectives included a solar power generating “park,” a
museum for green technology, sustainable building upgrades and retrofitting the
existing infrastructure for electric vehicles. To date, emphasis has been
placed on the development of a 60-acre site to support the museum and solar
park.
My participation in the project was accidental, but it has
been thoroughly rewarding. I first met John David at his studio during the
exhibition of the Chicago Architecture Club’s Mine the Gap
Competition. At the time, I saw an older
gentleman struggling to bring several full bags of groceries up steep stairs
and volunteered to help. As we walked, I introduced myself as an engineer with
Thornton Tomasetti. To my surprise, John David explained that (Managing Principal)
Joe Burns used to participate in his foundation, and he could use an
engineer with similar spirit on his latest project. John David was so
enthusiastic about his idea to take New Harmony ‘off the grid’ that I was
compelled to keep volunteering my time.
A rendering by Ben Raines and David Lefevre of Adrian Smith
+ Gordon Gill Architecture illustrates the dimensions of the proposed photovoltaic
panels.
Aitken joined the project as an intern with the John David Mooney Foundation, whose mission is to transform the public domain through
art, architecture and urban planning in a way that fosters and demonstrates the
unique societal responsibility of the artist. “I joined the foundation shortly
after arriving in Chicago from the U.K.,” Aitken said. “I soon found myself
sitting around the studio meeting table one evening with people from all
different professions and backgrounds, including Ken. I came to realize this is
a common practice at the foundation and much of the work produced is through a
collaboration of disciplines. At that meeting, we were roughing out the
important and defining responsibilities of the New Harmony project. The
possibilities were endless and I was consumed by a desire to contribute to the
progress made by the foundation.” (Engineer Intern Alloy Kemp also had a role in project.)
The New Harmony Gateway project seeks to change our
relationship with the sun, whose vital radiation nourishes life. Six concentric
rings of solar collectors, comprising nearly 13,000 m2 of
photovoltaic area, are proposed for the site. The solar array is expected
provide approximately two-thirds of New Harmony’s annual energy needs. This
projection was based on industry data provided by Jeremy Jones of SoCore
Energy, for whom Thornton Tomasetti has previously provided structural
consulting for buildings with roof-mounted solar panels. We also performed some
energy modeling.
The New Harmony Solar Park has the potential of creating
3.69 Gwh per year, which would greatly offset New Harmony’s annual energy usage
of 5.33 Gwh per year. Image by Alloy Kemp.
PVWatts is a simple tool hosted by the National Renewable Energy
Labs that allows users to adjust tilt, orientation and other variables to see
how that influences monthly energy yield. To further refine our calculations to
account for shading from adjacent structures and the possibility of using
sun-tracking solar panels, co-contributors Ben Raines and David Lefevre from
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture conducted solar gain simulations using Ecotect.
Our main contribution to the project was a concept that
would facilitate sun tracking. Nature helped inspire the unique structural
mechanism for supporting the photovoltaic panels. Sunflowers have the ability
to follow the path of the sun during the day to increase the plants’ rate of
photosynthesis. This behavior is facilitated by flexible cells that expand and
contract to tip the orientation of the flower. The New Harmony solar arrays
would implement a similar system, initially through hydraulic pistons, and
perhaps later by organically activated materials.
Like a Sunflower, solar panels would rotate from East to
West for optimal solar orientation.
It took months of research to learn enough about solar
energy to make intelligent decisions about the project. More literacy about the
sun and its path through the sky is essential to our culture again harnessing
this natural energy source. To help educate citizens, an outdoor museum space
has been proposed within the central ring of the solar array. Lunar gardens,
shadow mazes and other naturally inspired spaces would provide exploratory
learning opportunities. The selective plantings of trees and fauna would also
illustrate at large scale the path of the sun and indicate the solstices.
John David Mooney’s concept for the entrance piece to New
Harmony is one which educates and provides a national example of how public art
can be environmentally responsible and active in harvesting energy sources for
an entire town through the art. This piece will encompass numerous areas, such
as conservation and sustainability; community building; economic development;
scientific literacy and uses of technology; cultural development; and
inspiration for those who are looking for “green solutions” to reinvent the
manner in which we live on our planet. Those involved are hopeful that the project
will attract the support and funding necessary to turn this idea into reality.
Since the project’s initiation, this work has been presented
in various forms. Last summer the Mooney Foundation interns, including Aitken,
presented their findings to the Cliff Dwellers Club, a Chicago-based
organization that welcomes those who are involved with or appreciate the arts.
From Feb. 12 to March 19, 2011, the models and presentation boards were
exhibited at the New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art, in a show titled
“Harvesting our Sun, responsible energy systems for New Harmony, Ind.” I
traveled to New Harmony to join John David for the keynote presentation that
concluded the exhibition.
The “Harvesting our Sun” exhibition is now on display at the
John David Mooney Foundation in Chicago, 114 West Kinzie St., just three blocks
from Thornton Tomasetti’s Chicago office. It is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on
weekdays and by appointment on weekends. Feel free to contact me or Nick Aitken with further questions about the project or if you’d like a
guided tour.