Conference Agenda

This research focuses on thermal performance of Mongolian self-built houses within the capital city; Ulaanbaatar. The main aim was to optimize the thermal performance in terms of energy efficiency. Fieldwork in Mongolia and computer-based analyses were undertaken. The intention of the fieldwork was to a) visit a range of self-built houses and create a design interpretation of the typical Mongolian self-built house, and b) monitor the internal and external temperatures of one house for validating the computer model. The computer based study used Autodesk Ecotect software to model both the monitored and the typical design. Monitored data was statistically compared to simulated temperatures and mean internal temperatures inside the typical house were simulated. A parametric study was carried out to optimise the walls, floor and ceiling insulation to reduce the annual heating loads. The optimum insulation level for the external walls was found to be 300mm of expanded polystyrene on the outside of the walls. Infiltration rate was found to significantly affect the heating loads. The effect of several construction combinations were simulated and the best case scenario was found to reduce the total annual heating loads from 37,990 kW to 12,692 kW.

This paper proposes a new heuristic to simulate and study the visual comfort aspect in the designing of Complex Fenestration Systems. The goal of the heuristic is two-folded, (i) provide useful and simple visualization tools for preliminary glare assessments of indoor spaces, (ii) reduce the computational overhead of extremely expensive annual glare simulations by reducing the number of simulations necessary in the study of glare. The work demonstrates that through a spatial and temporal sampling of annual Vertical Illuminance data it is possible to map the potential glare POVs and to find the critical hours to conduct more detailed simulations. The authors applied the proposed heuristic in a comparative study of 3 different fenestration schemes for 3 annual sky types, a typically overcast (London, UK) and clear sky (Phoenix, AZ, USA), and an intermediate sky (Oakland, CA, USA). In sum, the results of the work show that the proposed heuristic yields a high potential to be used in design procedures that currently are based on expensive glare simulations.

This abstract focuses on how to better adapt design aid software in daylighting to the architectural and urban design process. Reflecting on why daylighting evaluation tools are seldom use in the design process, we highlight the fact that current validated tools cannot provide results in a timely manner compatible with the design process. Users do not need the same precision of results during the various phases of design process. Much more importantly they need information at the right time. We show that cumulative ray-tracing is a good candidate for results better suited to the design process, we call this type of method "Instant Method".

This paper presents an application of the Light Pipe Dimensioning Model (LPDM) on the design of systems which guide daylight into underground boarding platforms on typical subway stations found in the city of São Paulo. The dimensioning model resulted in two different design proposals, which were empirically tested using a scale model (1:20) as a source of data for performance comparisons. Polished aluminium light pipes, with 95% internal reflectance, were designed and distributed along the train boarding platform. The illuminance data obtained one meter above the floor shows how the distance between two pipes affect the quality of the distribution of light in the space.