Search results for: building energy performance criteria

Authors: Alok Madan, Arshad K. Hashmi

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Performance based design (PBD) is an iterative exercise in which a preliminary trial design of the building structure is selected and if the selected trial design of the building structure does not conform to the desired performance objective, the trial design is revised. In this context, development of a fundamental approach for performance based seismic design of masonry infilled frames with minimum number of trials is an important objective. The paper presents a plastic design procedure based on the energy balance concept for PBD of multi-story multi-bay masonry infilled reinforced concrete (R/C) frames subjected to near-field earthquakes. The proposed energy based plastic design procedure was implemented for trial performance based seismic design of representative masonry infilled reinforced concrete frames with various practically relevant distributions of masonry infill panels over the frame elevation. Non-linear dynamic analyses of the trial PBD of masonry infilled R/C frames was performed under the action of near-field earthquake ground motions. The results of non-linear dynamic analyses demonstrate that the proposed energy method is effective for performance based design of masonry infilled R/C frames under near-field as well as far-field earthquakes.

Keywords: masonry infilled frame, energy methods, near-fault ground motions, pushover analysis, nonlinear dynamic analysis, seismic demand

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Authors: Fabrizio Ascione, Martina Borrelli, Rosa Francesca De Masi, Silvia Ruggiero, Giuseppe Peter Vanoli

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The Directive 2010/31/EC 'Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 may 2010 on the energy performance of buildings' moved the targets of the previous version toward more ambitious targets, for instance by establishing that, by 31 December 2020, all new buildings should demand nearly zero-energy. Moreover, the demonstrative role of public buildings is strongly affirmed so that also the target nearly zero-energy buildings is anticipated, in January 2019. On the other hand, given the very low turn-over rate of buildings (in Europe, it ranges between 1-3%/yearly), each policy that does not consider the renovation of the existing building stock cannot be effective in the short and medium periods. According to this proposal, the study provides a novel, holistic approach to design the refurbishment of educational buildings in colder cities of Mediterranean regions enabling stakeholders to understand the uncertainty to use numerical modelling and the real environmental and economic impacts of adopting some energy efficiency technologies. The case study is a university building of Molise region in the centre of Italy. The proposed approach is based on the application of the cost-optimal methodology as it is shown in the Delegate Regulation 244/2012 and Guidelines of the European Commission, for evaluating the cost-optimal level of energy performance with a macroeconomic approach. This means that the refurbishment scenario should correspond to the configuration that leads to lowest global cost during the estimated economic life-cycle, taking into account not only the investment cost but also the operational costs, linked to energy consumption and polluting emissions. The definition of the reference building has been supported by various in-situ surveys, investigations, evaluations of the indoor comfort. Data collection can be divided into five categories: 1) geometrical features; 2) building envelope audit; 3) technical system and equipment characterization; 4) building use and thermal zones definition; 5) energy building data. For each category, the required measures have been indicated with some suggestions for the identifications of spatial distribution and timing of the measurements. With reference to the case study, the collected data, together with a comparison with energy bills, allowed a proper calibration of a numerical model suitable for the hourly energy simulation by means of EnergyPlus. Around 30 measures/packages of energy, efficiency measure has been taken into account both on the envelope than regarding plant systems. Starting from results, two-point will be examined exhaustively: (i) the importance to use validated models to simulate the present performance of building under investigation; (ii) the environmental benefits and the economic implications of a deep energy refurbishment of the educational building in cold climates.

Keywords: energy simulation, modelling calibration, cost-optimal retrofit, university building

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Authors: A. Hamadelnil, Z. Razak, E. Matsoom

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Boat landings on fixed offshore structure are designed to absorb the impact energy from the boats approaching the platform for crew transfer. As the size and speed of operating boats vary, the design and maintenance of the boat landings become more challenging. Different oil and gas operators adopting different design criteria for the boat landing design in the region of South East Asia. Rubber strip is used to increase the capacity of the boat landing in absorbing bigger impact energy. Recently, it has been reported that all the rubber strips peel off the boat landing frame within one to two years, and replacement is required to avoid puncturing of the boat’s hull by the exposed sharp edges and bolts used to secure the rubber strip. The capacity of the boat landing in absorbing the impact energy is reduced after the failure of the rubber strip and results in failure of the steel members. The replacement of the rubber strip is costly as it requires a diving spread. The objective of this study is to propose the most practicable criteria to be adopted by oil and gas operators in the design of the boat landings in the region of South East Asia to improve the performance of the boat landing and assure safe operation and cheaper maintenance. This study explores the current design and maintenance challenges of boat landing and compares between the criteria adopted by different operators. In addition, this study explains the reasons behind the denting of many of the boat landing. It also evaluates the effect of grout and rubber strip in the capacity of the boat landing and jacket legs and highlight. Boat landing model and analysis using USFOS and SACS software are carried out and presented in this study considering different design criteria. This study proposes the most practicable criteria to be used in designing the boat landing in South East Asia region to save cost and achieve better performance, safe operation and less cost and maintenance.

Keywords: boat landing, grout, plastic hinge, rubber strip

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Authors: Ashraf Muharam, Nasser Al-Hemiddi, El Sayed Amer

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Green roof is one of sustainable practice for reducing the environmental impact of a building. Green roofs are vegetation roofs that are partially or completely covered building's roof. It can provide multiple environmental benefits such as mitigation of urban heat island effect and protecting buildings against solar radiation. In Riyadh city buildings consume about 70 % of the total energy used in the building for cooling and heating because of the Riyadh's harsh and tropical climate. So, the study aim was identifying the thermal performance of extensive green roof and comparing its performance with concrete roof performance during summer season. The experimental validations results indicated that the extensive green roofs system was better than concrete roof system for lowering the indoor air temperature. It could reduce the indoor air temperature from 2°C to 5.5°C compared to the concrete roof system. Also, the finding of this study demonstrated that extensive green roof system could reduce 12% to 33% of energy consumption of air conditioning in Riyadh city during summer seasons by using environmentally friendly insulation.

Keywords: thermal performance, green roof system, concrete roof system, tropical climatic, internal temperatures

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Authors: Hamid Reza Tabatabaiefar, Bita Mansoury, Mohammad Javad Khadivi Zand

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The current energy and climate change impacts of the residential building sector in Australia are significant. Thus, the Australian Government has introduced more stringent regulations to improve building energy efficiency. In 2006, the Australian residential building sector consumed about 11% (around 440 Petajoule) of the total primary energy, resulting in total greenhouse gas emissions of 9.65 million tonnes CO2-eq. The gas and electricity consumption of residential dwellings contributed to 30% and 52% respectively, of the total primary energy utilised by this sector. Around 40 percent of total energy consumption of Australian buildings goes to heating and cooling due to the low thermal performance of the buildings. Thermal performance of buildings determines the amount of energy used for heating and cooling of the buildings which profoundly influences energy efficiency. Employing sustainable design principles and effective use of construction materials can play a crucial role in improving thermal performance of new and existing buildings. Even though awareness has been raised, the design phase of refurbishment projects is often problematic. One of the issues concerning the refurbishment of residential buildings is mostly the consumer market, where most work consists of moderate refurbishment jobs, often without assistance of an architect and partly without a building permit. There is an individual and often fragmental approach that results in lack of efficiency. Most importantly, the decisions taken in the early stages of the design determine the final result; however, the assessment of the environmental performance only happens at the end of the design process, as a reflection of the design outcome. Finally, studies have identified the lack of knowledge, experience and best-practice examples as barriers in refurbishment projects. In the context of sustainable development and the need to reduce energy demand, refurbishing the ageing residential building constitutes a necessary action. Not only it does provide huge potential for energy savings, but it is also economically and socially relevant. Although the advantages have been identified, the guidelines come in the form of general suggestions that fail to address the diversity of each project. As a result, it has been recognised that there is a strong need to develop guidelines for optimised retrofitting of existing residential buildings in order to improve their energy performance. The current study investigates the effectiveness of different energy retrofitting techniques and examines the impact of employing those methods on energy consumption of residential brick veneer buildings in Victoria (Australia). Proposing different remedial solutions for improving the energy performance of residential brick veneer buildings, in the simulation stage, annual energy usage analyses have been carried out to determine heating and cooling energy consumptions of the buildings for different proposed retrofitting techniques. Then, the results of employing different retrofitting methods have been examined and compared in order to identify the most efficient and cost-effective remedial solution for improving the energy performance of those buildings with respect to the climate condition in Victoria and construction materials of the studied benchmark building.

Keywords: brick veneer residential buildings, building energy efficiency, climate change impacts, cost effective remedial solution, energy performance, sustainable design principles

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Authors: Ahmad Odeh, Ahmad Jrade

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Energy assessment is an evidently significant factor when evaluating the sustainability of structures especially at the early design stage. Today design practices revolve around the selection of material that reduces the operational energy and yet meets their displinary need. Operational energy represents a substantial part of the building lifecycle energy usage but the fact remains that embodied energy is an important aspect unaccounted for in the carbon footprint. At the moment, little or no consideration is given to embodied energy mainly due to the complexity of calculation and the various factors involved. The equipment used, the fuel needed, and electricity required for each material vary with location and thus the embodied energy will differ for each project. Moreover, the method and the technique used in manufacturing, transporting and putting in place will have a significant influence on the materials’ embodied energy. This anomaly has made it difficult to calculate or even bench mark the usage of such energies. This paper presents a model aimed at helping designers select the construction materials based on their embodied energy. Moreover, this paper presents a systematic approach that uses an efficient method of calculation and ultimately provides new insight into construction material selection. The model is developed in a BIM environment targeting the quantification of embodied energy for construction materials through the three main stages of their life: manufacturing, transportation and placement. The model contains three major databases each of which contains a set of the most commonly used construction materials. The first dataset holds information about the energy required to manufacture any type of materials, the second includes information about the energy required for transporting the materials while the third stores information about the energy required by tools and cranes needed to place an item in its intended location. The model provides designers with sets of all available construction materials and their associated embodied energies to use for the selection during the design process. Through geospatial data and dimensional material analysis, the model will also be able to automatically calculate the distance between the factories and the construction site. To remain within the sustainability criteria set by LEED, a final database is created and used to calculate the overall construction cost based on R.M.S. means cost data and then automatically recalculate the costs for any modifications. Design criteria including both operational and embodied energies will cause designers to revaluate the current material selection for cost, energy, and most importantly sustainability.

Keywords: building information modelling, energy, life cycle analysis, sustainablity

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Authors: Mariayee Doraisamy, Suhaimi bin Ibrahim, Mohd Naz’ri Mahrin

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There are several methods to monitor software projects and the objective for monitoring is to ensure that the software projects are developed and delivered successfully. A performance measurement is a method that is closely associated with monitoring and it can be scrutinized by looking at two important attributes which are efficiency and effectiveness both of which are factors that are important for the success of a software project. Consequently, a successful steering is achieved by monitoring and controlling a software project via the performance measurement criteria and metrics. Hence, this paper is aimed at identifying the performance measurement criteria and the metrics for monitoring the performance of a software project by using the Goal Question Metrics (GQM) approach. The GQM approach is utilized to ensure that the identified metrics are reliable and useful. These identified metrics are useful guidelines for project managers to monitor the performance of their software projects.

Keywords: component, software project performance, goal question metrics, performance measurement criteria, metrics

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Authors: Josiane R. Pires, Marco A. S. González, Bruna L. Brenner, Luciana S. Roos

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The concern with sustainability brought the need for optimization of the buildings to reduce consumption of natural resources. Almost 1/3 of energy demanded by Brazilian housings is used to provide thermal solutions. AEC sector may contribute applying bioclimatic strategies on building design. The aim of this research is to investigate the viability of applying some alternative solutions in residential buildings. The research was developed with computational simulation on single family social housing, examining envelope type, absorptance, and insolation. The analysis of the thermal performance applied both Brazilian standard NBR 15575 and degree-hour method, in the scenery of Porto Alegre, a southern Brazilian city. We used BIM modeling through Revit/Autodesk and used Energy Plus to thermal simulation. The payback of the investment was calculated comparing energy savings and building costs, in a period of 50 years. The results shown that with the increment of envelope’s insulation there is thermal comfort improvement and energy economy, with a pay-back period of 24 to 36 years, in some cases.

Keywords: civil construction, design, thermal performance, energy, economic analysis

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Authors: Osama Ahmed Ibrahim Masoud, Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed Abdelhadi, Ahmed Mohamed Seddik Hassan

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The problem of study focuses on thermal comfort realization in a residential building during hot and dry climate periods consumes a major electrical energy for air conditioning operation. Thermal comfort realization in a residential building during such climate becomes more difficult regarding the phenomena of climate change, and the use of building and construction materials which have the feature of heat conduction as (bricks-reinforced concrete) and the global energy crises. For that, this study aims to how to realize internal thermal comfort through how to make the best use of building services (temporarily used service spaces) for reducing the electrical energy transfer and saving self-shading. In addition, the possibility of reduction traditional energy (fossil fuel) consumed in cooling through the use of building services for reducing the internal thermal comfort and the relationship between them. This study is based on measuring the consumed electrical energy rate in cooling (by using Design-Builder program) for a residential building (the place of study is: Egypt- Suez Canal- Suez City), this design model has lots of alternatives designs for the place of building services (center of building- the eastern front- southeastern front- the southern front- the south-west front, the western front). The building services are placed on the fronts with different rates for determining the best rate on fronts which realizes thermal comfort with the lowest of energy consumption used in cooling. Findings of the study indicate to that the best position for building services is on the west front then the south-west front, and the more the building services increase, the more energy consumption used in cooling of residential building decreases. Recommendations indicate to the need to study the building services positions in the new projects progress to select the best alternatives to realize ‘Energy conservation’ used in cooling or heating into the buildings in general, residential buildings particularly.

Keywords: residential buildings, energy conservation, thermal comfort, building services, temporary used service spaces, DesignBuilder

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Authors: Arman Ameen, Mathias Cehlin

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The use of Building Energy Simulation (BES) software has increased in the last two decades, parallel to the development of increased computing power and easy to use software applications. This type of software is primarily used to simulate the energy use and the indoor environment for a building. The rapid development of these types of software has raised their level of user-friendliness, better parameter input options and the increased possibility of analysis, both for a single building component or an entire building. This, in turn, has led to many researchers utilizing BES software in their research in various degrees. The aim of this paper is to carry out a literature review concerning the use of the BES software IDA Indoor Climate and Energy (IDA ICE) in the scientific community. The focus of this paper will be specifically the use of the software for whole building energy simulation, number and types of articles and publications dates, the area of application, types of parameters used, the location of the studied building, type of building, type of analysis and solution methodology. Another aspect that is examined, which is of great interest, is the method of validations regarding the simulation results. The results show that there is an upgoing trend in the use of IDA ICE and that researchers use the software in their research in various degrees depending on case and aim of their research. The satisfactory level of validation of the simulations carried out in these articles varies depending on the type of article and type of analysis.

Keywords: building simulation, IDA ICE, literature review, validation

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Authors: Awni Alkhazaleh

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Latent heat storage using Phase Change Materials (PCMs) has attracted growing attention recently in the renewable energy utilization and building energy efficiency. Paraffin (PA) of low melting temperature, which is close to human comfort temperature in the range of 24-28 °C has been considered to be used in building applications. A form-stable composite Paraffin/Expanded perlite (PA-EP) has been prepared by retaining PA into porous particles of EP. DSC (Differential scanning calorimeter) is used to measure the thermal properties of PA in the form-stable composite with/without building materials. TGA (Thermal gravimetric analysis) shows that the composite is thermally stable. SEM (Scanning electron microscope) demonstrates that the layer structure of the EP particles is uniformly absorbed by PA. The mechanical properties in flexural mode have been discussed. The thermal energy storage performance has been evaluated using a small test room (100 mm ×100 mm ×100 mm) with thickness 10 mm. The flammability test of modified sample has been discussed using a cone calorimeter. The results confirm that the form-stable composite PA has the function of reducing building energy consumption.

Keywords: flammability, latent heat storage, paraffin, plasterboard

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Authors: Mar Cañada Soriano, Rafael Royo-Pastor, Carolina Aparicio-Fernández, Jose-Luis Vivancos

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The lack of insulation, along with the existence of air leakages, constitute a meaningful impact on the energy performance of buildings. Both of them lead to increases in the energy demand through additional heating and/or cooling loads. Additionally, they cause thermal discomfort. In order to quantify these uncontrolled air currents, pressurization and depressurization tests can be performed. Among them, the Blower Door test is a standardized procedure to determine the airtightness of a space which characterizes the rate of air leakages through the envelope surface, calculating to this purpose an air flow rate indicator. In this sense, the low-energy buildings complying with the Passive House design criteria are required to achieve high levels of airtightness. Due to the invisible nature of air leakages, additional tools are often considered to identify where the infiltrations take place. Among them, the infrared thermography entails a valuable technique to this purpose since it enables their detection. The aim of this study is to assess the airtightness of a typical Mediterranean dwelling house located in the Valencian orchad (Spain) restored under the Passive House standard using to this purpose the blower-door test. Moreover, the building energy performance modelling tools TRNSYS (TRaNsient System Simulation program) and TRNFlow (TRaNsient Flow) have been used to determine its energy performance, and the infiltrations’ identification was carried out by means of infrared thermography. The low levels of infiltrations obtained suggest that this house may comply with the Passive House standard.

Keywords: airtightness, blower door, trnflow, infrared thermography

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Authors: Zwalnan Selfa Johnson, Caleb Nanchen Nimyel, Gideon Duvuna Ayuba

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Air conditioning accounts for a significant share of the overall energy consumed in residential buildings. Solar thermal gains in buildings account for a significant component of the air conditioning load in buildings. This study compares the solar thermal gain and air conditioning load of a proposed building design with a typical conventional building in the climatic conditions of Jos, Nigeria, using a combined experimental and computational method using TRNSYS software. According to the findings of this study, the proposed design building's annual average solar thermal gains are lower compared to the reference building's average solar heat gains. The study case building's decreased solar heat gain is mostly attributable to the lower temperature of the building zones because of the greater building volume and lower fenestration ratio (ratio external opening area to the area of the external walls). This result shows that the proposed building design adjusts to the local climate better than the standard conventional construction in Jos to maintain a suitable temperature within the building. This finding means that the air-conditioning electrical energy consumption per volume of the proposed building design will be lower than that of a conventional building design.

Keywords: solar heat gain, building zone, cooling energy, air conditioning, zone temperature

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Authors: Christoph Köster

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Supplier selection is one of the key challenges in supply chain management and can be considered a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. In the 1960s, it evolved from considering only economic criteria, such as price, quality, and performance, to including environmental and social criteria nowadays. Although receiving considerable attention from scholars and practitioners over the past decades, existing research has not considered governance criteria so far. This is, however, surprising, as ESG (environmental, social, and governance) criteria have gained considerable attention. In order to complement ESG criteria in the supplier selection process, this study investigates German DAX and MDAX companies and evaluates the impact of governance criteria along their supplier selection process. Moreover, it proposes a set of criteria for the respective process steps. Specifically, eleven criteria for the first process step and five criteria for the second process step are identified. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the supplier selection process by elucidating the relevance of governance criteria in the supplier selection process and providing a set of empirically developed governance criteria. These results can be applied by practitioners to complement the criteria set in the supplier selection process and thus balance economic, environmental, social, and governance targets.

Keywords: ESG, governance, sustainable supplier selection, sustainability

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Authors: Stephanie Wall, Guido Wimmers

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The construction and operation of buildings greatly contribute to environmental degradation through resource and energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The design of the envelope system affects the environmental impact of a building in two major ways; 1) high thermal performance and air tightness can significantly reduce the operational energy of the building and 2) the material selection for the envelope largely impacts the embodied energy of the building. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a scientific methodology that is used to systematically analyze the environmental load of processes or products, such as buildings, over their life. The paper will discuss the results of a comparative LCA of different envelope designs and the long-term monitoring of the Wood Innovation Research Lab (WIRL); a Passive House (PH), industrial building under construction in Prince George, Canada. The WIRL has a footprint of 30m x 30m on a concrete raft slab foundation and consists of shop space as well as a portion of the building that includes a two-story office/classroom space. The lab building goes beyond what was previously thought possible in regards to energy efficiency of industrial buildings in cold climates due to their large volume to surface ratio, small floor area, and high air change rate, and will be the first PH certified industrial building in Canada. These challenges were mitigated through the envelope design which utilizes solar gains while minimizing overheating, reduces thermal bridges with thick (570mm) prefabricated truss walls filled with blown in mineral wool insulation and a concrete slab and roof insulated with EPS rigid insulation. The envelope design results in lower operational and embodied energy when compared to buildings built to local codes or with steel. The LCA conducted using Athena Impact Estimator for Buildings identifies project specific hot spots as well illustrates that for high-efficiency buildings where the operational energy is relatively low; the embodied energy of the material selection becomes a significant design decision as it greatly impacts the overall environmental footprint of the building. The results of the LCA will be reinforced by long-term monitoring of the buildings envelope performance through the installation of temperature and humidity sensors throughout the floor slab, wall and roof panels and through detailed metering of the energy consumption. The data collected from the sensors will also be used to reinforce the results of hygrothermal analysis using WUFI®, a program used to verify the durability of the wall and roof panels. The WIRL provides an opportunity to showcase the use of wood in a high performance envelope of an industrial building and to emphasize the importance of considering the embodied energy of a material in the early stages of design. The results of the LCA will be of interest to leading researchers and scientists committed to finding sustainable solutions for new construction and high-performance buildings.

Keywords: high performance envelope, life cycle assessment, long term monitoring, passive house, prefabricated panels

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Authors: T. Wen, Y. Liu, J. Wang, W. Zheng, T. Shao

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Along with the increasing density of urban population, solar energy potential of building facade in high-density residential areas become a question that needs to be addressed. This paper studies how the solar energy utilization potential of building facades in different locations of a residential areas changes with different building layouts and orientations in Xining, a typical city in west China which possesses large solar radiation resource. Solar energy potential of three typical building layouts of residential areas, which are parallel determinant, gable misalignment, transverse misalignment, are discussed in detail. First of all, through the data collection and statistics of Xining new residential area, the most representative building parameters are extracted, including building layout, building height, building layers, and building shape. Secondly, according to the results of building parameters extraction, a general model is established and analyzed with rhinoceros 6.0 and its own plug-in grasshopper. Finally, results of the various simulations and data analyses are presented in a visualized way. The results show that there are great differences in the solar energy potential of building facades in different locations of residential areas under three typical building layouts. Generally speaking, the solar energy potential of the west peripheral location is the largest, followed by the East peripheral location, and the middle location is the smallest. When the deflection angle is the same, the solar energy potential shows the result that the West deflection is greater than the East deflection. In addition, the optimal building azimuth range under these three typical building layouts is obtained. Within this range, the solar energy potential of the residential area can always maintain a high level. Beyond this range, the solar energy potential drops sharply. Finally, it is found that when the solar energy potential is maximum, the deflection angle is not positive south, but 5 °or 15°south by west. The results of this study can provide decision analysis basis for residential design of Xining city to improve solar energy utilization potential and provide a reference for solar energy utilization design of urban residential buildings in other similar areas.

Keywords: building facade, solar energy potential, solar radiation, urban residential area, visualization, Xining city

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Authors: Elise Machline

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Policy instruments have been developed worldwide to reduce the energy demand of buildings. Two types of such instruments have been green building rating systems and energy efficiency standards for buildings -such as Green Star (Australia), LEED (United States, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), Energy Star (United States), and BREEAM (United Kingdom, Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method). The popularity of the idea of sustainable development has allowed the actors to consider the potential value generated by the environmental performance of buildings, labeled “green value” in the literature. Sustainable performances of buildings are expected to improve their attractiveness, increasing their value. A growing number of empirical studies demonstrate that green buildings yield rental/sale premia, as well as higher occupancy rates and thus higher asset values. The results suggest that green buildings are not affordable to all and that their construction tends to have a gentrifying effect. An increasing number of countries are institutionalizing green strategies for affordable housing. In that sense, making green buildings affordable to all will depend on government policies. That research aims to investigate whether green building fosters inequality in Israel, under the banner of sustainability. The method is comparison (of the market value). This method involves comparing the green buildings sale prices with non-certified buildings of the same type that have undergone recent transactions. The “market value” is deduced from those sources by analogy. The results show that, in Israel, green building projects are usually addressed to the middle to upper classes. The green apartment’s sale premium is about 19% (comparing to non-certified dwelling). There is a link between energy and/or environmental performance and the financial value of the dwellings. Moreover, price differential is much higher than the value of energy savings. This perpetuates socio-spatial and socio-economic inequality as well as ecological vulnerability for the poor and other socially marginal groups. Moreover, there are no green affordable housings and the authorities do not subsidy green building or retrofitting.

Keywords: green building, gentrification, social housing, green value, green building certification

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Authors: Pratik Pankaj Pawar

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Lightweight structures - structures with reduced weight, which otherwise retain the qualities necessary for the building performance, ensuring proper durability and strength, safety, indoor environmental quality, and energy efficiency; structures that strive for the optimization of structural systems - are in tune with current trends and socio-economic, environmental, and technological factors. The growing interest in lightweight structures design makes them an ever more significant field of research. This article focuses on the architectural aspects of lightweight structures and on their contemporary and future applications. The selected advanced building technologies - i.e., Ultra-High-Performance Concrete, fabrics, and flexible photovoltaics.

Keywords: light weight building, carbyne, aerographite, geopolymer reinforced wood particles aggregate

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Authors: Ana Paula Esteves, Diego S. Caetano, Louise L. B. Lomardo

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This paper presents an approach to the performance of the natural lighting, when the use of appropriated solar lighting systems on the roof is applied in cultural buildings such as museums and foundations. The roofs, as a part of contact between the building and the external environment, require special attention in projects that aim at energy efficiency, being an important element for the capture of natural light in greater quantity, but also for being the most important point of generation of photovoltaic solar energy, even semitransparent, allowing the partial passage of light. Transparent elements in roofs, as well as superior protection of the building, can also play other roles, such as: meeting the needs of natural light for the accomplishment of the internal tasks, attending to the visual comfort; to bring benefits to the human perception and about the interior experience in a building. When these resources are well dimensioned, they also contribute to the energy efficiency and consequent character of sustainability of the building. Therefore, when properly designed and executed, a roof light system can bring higher quality natural light to the interior of the building, which is related to the human health and well-being dimension. Furthermore, it can meet the technologic, economic and environmental yearnings, making possible the more efficient use of that primordial resource, which is the light of the Sun. The article presents the analysis of buildings that used zenith light systems in search of better lighting performance in museums and foundations: the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in the United States, the Iberê Camargo Foundation in Brazil, the Museum of Fine Arts in Castellón in Spain and the Pinacoteca of São Paulo.

Keywords: natural lighting, roof lighting systems, natural lighting in museums, comfort lighting

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Authors: Pamela Del Rosario, Elisabetta Palumbo, Marzia Traverso

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The building sector plays an important role in addressing pressing environmental issues such as climate change and resource scarcity. The energy performance of buildings is considerably affected by the external envelope. In fact, a considerable proportion of the building energy demand is due to energy losses through the windows. Nevertheless, according to literature, to pay attention only to the contribution of windows to the building energy performance, i.e., their influence on energy use during building operation, could result in a partial evaluation. Hence, it is important to consider not only the building energy performance but also the environmental performance of windows, and this not only during the operational stage but along its complete life cycle. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) according to ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006+A1:2018 is one of the most adopted and robust methods to evaluate the environmental performance of products throughout their complete life cycle. This life-cycle based approach avoids the shift of environmental impacts of a life cycle stage to another, allowing to allocate them to the stage in which they originated and to adopt measures that optimize the environmental performance of the product. Moreover, the LCA method is widely implemented in the construction sector to assess whole buildings as well as construction products and materials. LCA is regulated by the European Standards EN 15978:2011, at the building level, and EN 15804:2012+A2:2019, at the level of construction products and materials. In this work, the environmental performance of wooden windows was assessed by implementing the LCA method and adopting primary data. More specifically, the emphasis is given to embedded and operational impacts. Furthermore, correlations are made between these environmental impacts and aspects such as type of wood and window transmittance. In the particular case of the operational impacts, special attention is set on the definition of suitable maintenance scenarios that consider the potential climate influence on the environmental impacts. For this purpose, a literature review was conducted, and expert consultation was carried out. The study underlined the variability of the embedded environmental impacts of wooden windows by considering different wood types and transmittance values. The results also highlighted the need to define appropriate maintenance scenarios for precise assessment results. It was found that both the service life and the window maintenance requirements in terms of treatment and its frequency are highly dependent not only on the wood type and its treatment during the manufacturing process but also on the weather conditions of the place where the window is installed. In particular, it became evident that maintenance-related environmental impacts were the highest for climate regions with the lowest temperatures and the greatest amount of precipitation.

Keywords: embedded impacts, environmental performance, life cycle assessment, LCA, maintenance stage, operational impacts, wooden windows

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Authors: B. Vikram, Y. Anu Leena, Y. Anu Neena, M. V. Krishna Rao, V. S. S. Kumar

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The industry is often criticized for inefficiencies in outcomes such as time and cost overruns, low productivity, poor quality and inadequate customer satisfaction. To enhance the chances for construction projects to be successful, selecting an able contractor is one of the fundamental decisions to be made by clients. The selection of the most appropriate contractor is a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) process. In this paper, multi-attribute utility theory (MAUT) is employed utilizing the multiplicative form of utility function for ranking the prequalified contractors. Performance assessment criteria covering contracting company attributes, experience record, past performance, performance potential, financial stability and project specific criteria are considered for contractor evaluation. A case study of multistoried building for which four contractors submitted bids is considered to illustrate the applicability of multiplicative approach of MAUT to rank the prequalified contractors. The proposed MAUT decision making methodology can also be employed to other decision making situations.

Keywords: multi-attribute utility theory, construction industry, prequalification, contractor

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Authors: Eda K. Murathan, Gulten Manioglu

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In the building design process, reducing heating and cooling energy consumption according to the climatic region conditions of the building are important issues to be considered in order to provide thermal comfort conditions in the indoor environment. Applying a phase-change material (PCM) on the surface of a building envelope is the new approach for controlling heat transfer through the building envelope during the year. The transparency ratios of the window are also the determinants of the amount of solar radiation gain in the space, thus thermal comfort and energy expenditure. In this study, a simulation-based evaluation was carried out by using Energyplus to determine the effect of coupling PCM and transparency ratio when integrated into the building envelope. A three-storey building, a 30m x 30m sized floor area and 10m x 10m sized courtyard are taken as an example of the courtyard building model, which is frequently seen in the traditional architecture of hot climatic regions. 8 zones (10m x10m sized) with 2 exterior façades oriented in different directions on each floor were obtained. The percentage of transparent components on the PCM applied surface was increased at every step (%30, %40, %50). For every zone differently oriented, annual heating, cooling energy consumptions, and thermal comfort based on the Fanger method were calculated. All calculations are made for the zones of the intermediate floor of the building. The study was carried out for Diyarbakır provinces representing the hot-dry climate region and Antalya representing the hot-humid climate region. The increase in the transparency ratio has led to a decrease in heating energy consumption but an increase in cooling energy consumption for both provinces. When PCM is applied to all developed options, It was observed that heating and cooling energy consumption decreased in both Antalya (6.06%-19.78% and %1-%3.74) and Diyarbakır (2.79%-3.43% and 2.32%-4.64%) respectively. When the considered building is evaluated under passive conditions for the 21st of July, which represents the hottest day of the year, it is seen that the user feels comfortable between 11 pm-10 am with the effect of night ventilation for both provinces.

Keywords: building envelope, heating and cooling energy consumptions, phase change material, transparency ratio

Procedia PDF Downloads 152

Authors: Hadis Pouyafar, D. Matin Alaghmandan

Abstract:

Gallium arsenide (GaAs) solar cells are widely used in applications like spacecraft and satellites because they have a high absorption coefficient and efficiency and can withstand high-energy particles such as electrons and protons. With the energy crisis, there's a growing need for efficiency and cost-effective solar cells. GaAs cells, with their 46% efficiency compared to silicon cells 23% can be utilized in buildings to achieve nearly zero emissions. This way, we can use irradiation and convert more solar energy into electricity. III V semiconductors used in these cells offer performance compared to other technologies available. However, despite these advantages, Si cells dominate the market due to their prices. In our study, we took an approach by using software from the start to gather all information. By doing so, we aimed to design the optimal building that harnesses the full potential of solar energy. Our modeling results reveal a future; for GaAs cells, we utilized the Grasshopper plugin for modeling and optimization purposes. To assess radiation, weather data, solar energy levels and other factors, we relied on the Ladybug and Honeybee plugins. We have shown that silicon solar cells may not always be the choice for meeting electricity demands, particularly when higher power output is required. Therefore, when it comes to power consumption and the available surface area for photovoltaic (PV) installation, it may be necessary to consider efficient solar cell options, like GaAs solar cells. By considering the building requirements and utilizing GaAs technology, we were able to optimize the PV surface area.

Keywords: gallium arsenide (GaAs), optimization, sustainable building, GaAs solar cells

Procedia PDF Downloads 54

Authors: Soheil Roumi, Fan Zhang, Rodney Stewart

Abstract:

Indoor environmental quality (IEQ) indexes represented the suitability of a place to study, work, and live. Many indexes have been introduced based on the physical measurement or occupant surveys in commercial buildings. The earlier studies did not elaborate on the relationship between energy consumption and IEQ in office buildings. Such a relationship can provide a comprehensive overview of the building's performance. Also, it would find the potential of already constructed buildings under the upcoming climate change. A commercial building in southeast Queensland, Australia, was evaluated in this study. Physical measurements of IEQ and Energy areconducted, and their relationship will be determined using statistical analysis. The case study building is modelled in TRNSys software, and it will be validatedusingthe actual building's BMS data. Then, the modelled buildingwill be simulated by predicted weather data developed by the commonwealth scientific and industrial research organisation of Australia to investigate the occupant resilience and energy consumption. Finally, recommendations will be presented to consume less energy while providinga proper indoor environment for office occupants.

Keywords: IEQ, office buildings, thermal comfort, occupant resilience

Procedia PDF Downloads 80

Authors: An-Shik Yang, Chiang-Ho Cheng, Jen-Hao Wu, Yu-Hsuan Juan

Abstract:

Natural ventilation has played an important role for many low energy-building designs. It has been also noticed as a essential subject to persistently bring the fresh cool air from the outside into a building. This study carried out the computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based simulations to examine the natural ventilation development of a work area in a public building. The simulated results can be useful to better understand the indoor microclimate and the interaction of wind with buildings. Besides, this CFD simulation procedure can serve as an effective analysis tool to characterize the airing performance, and thereby optimize the building ventilation for strengthening the architects, planners and other decision makers on improving the natural ventilation design of public buildings.

Keywords: CFD simulations, natural ventilation, microclimate, wind environment

Procedia PDF Downloads 541

Authors: Yazan Al-Kofahi, Jamal Alqawasmi.

Abstract:

In this study, a comprehensive literature review (SLR) was conducted, with the main goal of assessing the existing literature about how artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL) models are used in sustainable architecture applications and issues including thermal comfort satisfaction, energy efficiency, cost prediction and many others issues. For this reason, the search strategy was initiated by using different databases, including Scopus, Springer and Google Scholar. The inclusion criteria were used by two research strings related to DL, ML and sustainable architecture. Moreover, the timeframe for the inclusion of the papers was open, even though most of the papers were conducted in the previous four years. As a paper filtration strategy, conferences and books were excluded from database search results. Using these inclusion and exclusion criteria, the search was conducted, and a sample of 59 papers was selected as the final included papers in the analysis. The data extraction phase was basically to extract the needed data from these papers, which were analyzed and correlated. The results of this SLR showed that there are many applications of ML and DL in Sustainable buildings, and that this topic is currently trendy. It was found that most of the papers focused their discussions on addressing Environmental Sustainability issues and factors using machine learning predictive models, with a particular emphasis on the use of Decision Tree algorithms. Moreover, it was found that the Random Forest repressor demonstrates strong performance across all feature selection groups in terms of cost prediction of the building as a machine-learning predictive model.

Keywords: machine learning, deep learning, artificial intelligence, sustainable building

Procedia PDF Downloads 31

Authors: M. A. N. Masrom, M. H. I. A. Rahim, G. K. Chen, S. Mohamed

Abstract:

Large infrastructure project is one of significant category in the development of Malaysian construction industry. This type of project has been recognized as a high complexity project with numerous construction risks, large cost involvement, highly technical requirements and divers of resources. Besides, the development of large infrastructure such as highway, railway, Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and airport are also needed a large investment of public and private sector. To accomplish the development successfully, several challenges has to be determined prior the project commencement. To date, a comprehensive assessment of key success criteria particularly for large infrastructure in developing country such as Malaysia, is still not systematically defined and therefore, it needs further investigation. This paper aims to explore the potential success criteria that would be useful in gauging overall performance of large infrastructure implementation particularly in developing country. Previous successful criteria studies were used to develop a conceptual framework that possibly suitable for measuring large infrastructure performance. The findings show that successful criteria of infrastructure projects implementation could be grouped according to several key elements as it seems significant to the participants in prioritizing project challenges more systematically.

Keywords: successful criteria, performance, large infrastructure, Malaysia

Procedia PDF Downloads 379

Authors: Wenzhe Li, Xiaoyu Ying, Grace Ding

Abstract:

Architecture plane form is an important consideration in the design of green buildings due to its significant impact on energy performance. The most effective method to consider energy performance in the early design stages is parametric modelling. This paper presents a methodology to program plane forms using MATLAB language, generating 16 kinds of plane forms by changing four designed parameters. DesignBuilder (an energy consumption simulation software) was proposed to simulate the energy consumption of the generated planes. A regression mathematical model was established to study the relationship between the plane forms and their energy consumption. The main finding of the study suggested that there was a cubic function relationship between the depth-ratio of U-shaped buildings and energy consumption, and there is also a cubic function relationship between the width-ratio and energy consumption. In the design, the depth-ratio of U-shaped buildings should not be less than 2.5, and the width-ratio should not be less than 2.

Keywords: graphic parameterization, green building design, mathematical model, plane form

Procedia PDF Downloads 126

Authors: M. Jamil Ahmad

Abstract:

In this paper, the heating/cooling potential of a passive building (mosque) of Prof. K. A. Nizami center for Quranic studies at AMU Aligarh, has been evaluated on the basis of energy balance under quasi-steady state condition by incorporating the effect of ventilation. The study has been carried out for composite climate of Aligarh. The performance of the above mentioned building has been presented in this study. It is observed that the premises of the mosque are cooler than the outside ambient temperature by an average of 2°C and 4°C during the month of March and April respectively. Provision of excellent ventilation, high amount of thermal mass, high ceilings and circulation of cool natural air helps in maintaining an optimal thermal comfort temperature in the passive building.

Keywords: heating/cooling potential, passive building, ambient temperatures

Procedia PDF Downloads 362

Authors: Gul Nihal Gugul, Merih Aydinalp-Koksal

Abstract:

In this study, hourly energy consumption model of a single detached house in Ankara, Turkey is developed using ESP-r building energy simulation software. Natural gas is used for space heating, cooking, and domestic water heating in this two story 4500 square feet four-bedroom home. Hourly electricity consumption of the home is monitored by an automated meter reading system, and daily natural gas consumption is recorded by the owners during 2013. Climate data of the region and building envelope data are used to develop the model. The heating energy consumption of the house that is estimated by the ESP-r model is then compared with the actual heating demand to determine the performance of the model. Scenarios are applied to the model to determine the amount of reduction in the total energy consumption of the house. The scenarios are using photovoltaic panels to generate electricity, ground source heat pumps for space heating and solar panels for domestic hot water generation. Alternative scenarios such as improving wall and roof insulations and window glazing are also applied. These scenarios are evaluated based on annual energy, associated CO2 emissions, and fuel expenditure savings. The pay-back periods for each scenario are also calculated to determine best alternative energy source or technology option for this home to reduce annual energy use and CO2 emission.

Keywords: ESP-r, building energy simulation, residential energy saving, CO2 reduction

Procedia PDF Downloads 169