Conference Agenda

This paper discusses the cooling potential of three types of green roofs, insulated, uninsulated, radiant-evaporative, evaluated with test cells. Different rules and schedules were tested for irrigation, water movement through the radiant pipes, plenum fan operation, and cooling with outside air. Results indicate that on warm days with maximum outdoor temperatures below 32 °C the uninsulated green roof will perform better and on drier days up to 44 °C and a Wet Bulb Temperature below 24 °C, the green roof with a radiant system and evaporative cooling performs better. On very warm days with high maximum temperatures above 33 °C the insulated green roof and the insulated roof (non-green) perform better. Optimum zones for the green roofs are plotted on the Building Bioclimatic Chart.

Buildings in Saudi Arabia consumes approximately 80% of the electricity generated in the country. Saudi Arabia’s hot, arid climate, with summer temperatures frequently exceeding 45°C, means that air conditioning uses nearly 50% of the country’s electricity, and virtually all the electricity is generated from fossil fuels. Passive cooling techniques could be a sustainable alternative to conventional air-conditioning systems when integrated properly within a building. A Passive Downdraught Evaporative Cooling (PDEC) tower is considered as one of the most efficient passive systems and was investigated in this study. A single storey open plan room with a PDEC tower was digitally modelled and then changes in wind direction and architectural form were simulated to see the effect on the PDEC performance. IES VE software was selected for the simulations as it can conduct a dynamic thermal simulation for PDEC systems. A weather file for Riyadh was obtained from the software Meteonorm. The study demonstrated that significant cooling can be achieved by PDEC towers, but that their effectiveness was greatly reduced by changes in wind direction linked to opening distributions in the room attached to the PDEC tower.

This research proposes a new set of equations that predict conditions at the outlet of a single stage passive downdraft evaporative cooling tower (PDECT) as well as a multi-stage passive and hybrid downdraft cooling tower (PHDCT), namely temperature drop (∆T) and air velocity (V). Equations were developed through multiple linear regression using data collected from experimental evaluation conducted during Summer, 2017 in Tempe, Arizona on built prototypes of these towers. Regression analysis indicated a strong correlation between measured and predicted data with an adjusted coefficient of determination ranging between 0.80 and 0.95.

Dry Mist technology targets basic human needs by improving micro climatic conditions to create a healthy and comfortable outdoor environment. The technology can be integrated into the design of public spaces, streetscapes, markets, playgrounds and parks to permit intense outdoor activities and to counter the effects of urban heat islands. This paper is about the results of a performance demonstration of Dry Mist Systems in the Cayman Islands. The systems have been successful tested under tropical conditions in open public spaces, plazas and restaurants.

Field measurements were made in an urban canyon, located in the center of the City and Port of Veracruz, Mexico, where higher temperatures are compared to its surrounding areas. Research focused on better understanding the behavior of the microclimates of a city and its impact on thermal comfort. Temperature (T) and Relative Humidity (RH), are the variables considered to be measured by an autonomous flight system (MeVA), for the determination of the behavior of the street's thermal profile and its fluctuations due to the vehicular park that it transits. It is determined that the increase in temperature as a result of the cars increases from 3.50 to 1.50 ° C, and this effect is dissipated at a height of 3 meters. The investigation allows establishing parameters of adequate control of the vehicular tributary and a better planning in the aspect ratios of an urban canyon so as not to increase the temperature and achieve hygrothermal comfort values for the pedestrian.

The modern building industry sends products all over the world to improve building envelope performance. Though there are existing standards and tools to evaluate hygrothermal behavior of wall sections in different climates, they are often based on different assumptions and provide development teams with different insights. This paper attempts to compare the capabilities and limitations of three hygrothermal analysis tools: Ubakus, HT Flux, and WUFI. An engineered bamboo wall section with wool insulation that was recently built in Washington D.C. is used as a case. The results from the various tools are compared for the different climate zones where constituent parts of the building envelope were manufactured as well as the location of final assembly.

Thermal conditions of spaces in a load-bearing wall house were investigated. The key finding results are 1) steel reinforced concrete structure is needed to be reduced due to its high capability of heat accumulation 2) measured data showed that peck temperatures occurred in late afternoon due to the material’s heat inertia. A new wall system that use the same material was developed. The new wall has the less mass and the air inside the block’s cavities could be ventilated by stack effect in order to reduce heat build-up in the wall and lower peak temperatures of the spaces.

The central scope of this work is the architecture element roof, analysed through its close relationship with two conditions of low latitude regions. First, its relationship with climate conditions, in reference with the high amount of solar radiation it is exposed to, and second, the roof importance, in terms of area, in the middle of a disperse urban tissue. Thus, this study addresses the roof impact on residential buildings interior conditions, in these regions. This investigation has been handled with the use of simulation software. The input data and results were based and validated with a measurements campaign carried out in a seaside city of Ecuador. The results highlight the roof as the principal source of heat gains on the interior heat balance, even higher than direct solar gains through windows.

Users’ well being and satisfaction are a key priority in the current architectural design trends and represent a relevant issue in a human-centred perspective. Concerning this aim, the application of climate adaptive building shells (CABS) offers relevant opportunities for tackling these challenges. This paper reports the outcomes of a study run on CABS to optimise the indoor comfort while calibrating the configuration of a dynamic facade module. Through the physical measurements of the environment and the integration of these values in the parametric process for integrating daylight and thermal performance into the design phase, a performance-based workflow evaluation supported the design of a Passive Adaptive Façade.

The purpose of this work is to provide a replicable method that is the base of a facade system design. The system, made of simple horizontal louvres, has a controlled movement manoeuvred by an actuator that exploits the expansion of a thermo-active resin. The louvres can rotate and close passively with the increase of the external temperature. Results show the uniformity of distribution of daylight across the entire space and the substantial gain of indoor thermal comfort.

In order to quantify the seasonal differences in the comfort temperature and to develop a domestic adaptive model for highly insulated Japanese dwellings, thermal measurements and a thermal comfort survey were conducted for more than one year in the living room of 3 condominiums in Tokyo and Yokohama areas of Japan. We have collected 19,081 thermal comfort votes from 94 residents of 69 flats. The results suggest that the residents are highly satisfied with the thermal environment of their dwellings. People are highly adapted to the thermal condition of the dwellings, and that the comfort temperature has large seasonal variation. An adaptive model for housing was derived from the data to relate the indoor comfort temperature to the prevailing outdoor temperature. Due to the high insulation of the condominiums, the seasonal differences of comfort temperature and the regression coefficient of the adaptive model are smaller than those of detached houses. Adaptive building design and adaptive thermal comfort of people are important for the energy saving building design.

This paper describes the characteristics of Cognitive Temperature Scale (CTS) under the thermal adaptation in summer. Field measurement and survey in summer for about 640 elementary school students in Sapporo and Kumamoto in Japan from 2009 to 2015 were made. Students put a red sticker on their individual “Thermal Diary Card” when they felt strongly thermal discomfort. They also recorded their CTS to the cards without checking the thermometers. It was found that firstly the CTS are strongly connected to the outdoor temperature in Sapporo and Kumamoto. Secondly, the CTS in Sapporo were around 26 to 27°C when 50% of them felt thermal discomfort. On the other hand, the CTS in Kumamoto were over 30°C. This result suggests that there is significant difference in thermal adaptation to the hot and humid environment in Sapporo and Kumamoto.

This paper describes the results of radiant exergy analysis on the process of human adaptive thermal comfort in summer. A subjective experiment controlling not only indoor thermal environment but also their clothes and posture for removing discomfort was made in 2016 summer. We found that subject’s adaptive thermal comfort is related to their cognitive temperature and warm radiant exergy from the interior surface of buildings envelopes. To decrease warm radiant exergy by behavioural controls such as opening the window and the door, and controlling the venetian blind is to decrease their cognitive temperature of the subjects.

This research presents a study of Functionalistic Nordic housing by appraising the Regenerative Sustainable Design qualities of four projects built before the energy crisis of the 1970s and by comparing them to four projects created after the year 2000 when Sustainable Design became an explicit target, and the concept of Regenerative Design was not widespread. The functionalist projects are Erskine’s Box, Aalto's Helsinki House, Jacobsen's, Gotfred Rodes Vej House, and Korsmo's Planetveien House. The recent case studies selected are AART Architects’ Home for Life, Henning Larsen’s Adaptable House, Rune’s Tind Prefabricated House and Kaminsky Architecture’s Villa Nyborg. The Regenerative Design Sustainable Features of the case studies are studied qualitatively considering aspects such as Biophilia, Salutogenesis, Human Centric Design and quantitatively analysing Daylighting Distribution, Operational and Embodied Energy. Site visits, literature review, and computer simulation are the used methods.

Smart materials are often studied in architecture due to their internal changeable properties stimulated by various material-specific input or operating factors. Meanwhile, climate-adaptive facades have been investigated for design and simulation to achieve dynamic aesthetics satisfying environmental performance for energy efficiency and indoor comfort. This paper presents a design exploration framework for climate-adaptive facades with thermally responsive smart materials, limiting the scope of study to a pilot study of facades in Seoul, South Korea. The proposed smart material building skins are discussed for further simulation and validation to assess multiple criteria to verify their environmental performance and implementation for practical use. The paper is concluded by providing selected thermo-responsive smart material facade types and directions for future work.

This paper studies the Dai houses and villages in Xishangbanna, Southwest China. Dai is one of 55 ethnic minorities in China. By comparing the field study of Dai houses carried out in the 1990s and the field study for two villages in 2017, the research investigates two key aspects. Firstly, it considers the influence of new building materials and technologies and impacts brought in by rapid urbanization, together with changes in the traditional integrated relationship between houses, village environment, and surrounding environment. Three key impacts on rural development in the region were identified. Secondly, the project explores the development of the research methods for vernacular houses in China. The focuses of investigation, starting from anthropological studies in the 1950s, now include greater consideration of environmental context. Research found that architects and academic scholars can support the interface between policy, academic studies and practices on rural development for decision-making. Medium term planning is needed in order to provide link between current practice and long term sustainable aims.

Building regulations are currently under development across Europe in advance of the implementation of the nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB) standard at national member state level. However, when revising the national building regulations to improve energy efficiency, few examples exist of the monitored performance of such dwellings, making informed decision-making difficult. This paper reports on the monitored performance of nZEB compliant dwellings which were built to the Passive House (PH) Standard. It finds that the PH bedroom CO2 concentrations are significantly better than in houses built to the current building regulations which use natural ventilation.

The renovation of existing buildings is one of the priorities of western countries and needs to be promoted to increase the current low renovation rate, estimated to be of 0.6% per year in the European and Swiss contexts. In parallel, the implementation of building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) elements during the renovation process can provide a crucial response to achieve the 2050 targets in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy savings. In this context, architects, designers and engineers have a key role in achieving these objectives, mainly because they are responsible for the design decisions during the development of the projects, especially during the early-design phase when the most influential decisions are taken. Through a real-case study built in 1968, this research shows how certain design-decisions in renovation processes can affect or compromise the final performance of the building from a global life-cycle and multi-criteria approach. Life-Cycle Analysis (LCA) and Cost (LCC) results show the importance of not losing the opportunity to go beyond current practices when a building needs to be renovated and highlight the necessity to take into consideration BIPV strategies to guarantee both economic and environmental targets.

In 2013 the International Energy Agency addressed the building sector the compelling importance for changing the mode of energy and climate control1.. In seeking the contribution to this issue, this research frames the moral and the vocabulary of functionalism architecture, that values a simple flat square façade, has reached the limit for this quest and made tests to formulate an alternative ground where new set of rules and technology might appear. This research seeks answers in three-dimensionally formed façades that create shades. This research is showing the result of tests of new façade geometry. The model is is a conlusion of a search path to find façade with osmosis effects of lights: more surface area that allow penetration of ‘cool’ daylight. With the system new building will benefit roughly twice as much as use of daylight in comparison to any other existing system. The façade system is considered as a mean to soften harsh climate such as desert. It is expected to create soft northern Europe like light condition.

This research aims to provide an insight into the existing research and practices on vernacular architecture, serving as a basis for further research on vernacular architecture in China and the relevant design research both locally and internationally. It also attempts to identify approaches that can improve the overall sustainability of vernacular architecture from a retrospective perspective, using emerging technologies in contemporary architecture. It looks at the concept of vernacular architecture in contemporary contexts and provide methods for further sustainable practices.

The past decades of focus on sustainability and the decrease of energy consumption in the built environment has led to higher demand for integrated design and implementation of technical scientific knowledge in the design process. This paper aims to investigate the state of the art for the implementation of technical knowledge in architectural offices in the Nordic countries and the degree to which integrated design is performed. This paper reflects a larger survey-based study among architectural offices in Scandinavia that have a focus on sustainability. The paper underlines the diversity of each architectural office through a work profile developed based on the surveys. Although the offices’ workflows differ, microclimate comfort, daylight, and energy performance tend to be well-integrated topics in building design processes today. However, life cycle costing and life cycle assessment are new topics in the building industry and are still not included in design processes in practice. There is a discrepancy between how important architects evaluate certain kinds of information and how they include it. Much information is still based on ‘experience’ and ‘intuition’ rather than derived from the inclusion of technical scientific methods.

Shared bicycles have been around for a while and growing steadily in China. Recently, concept and volume of this new form of shared transportation vehicles captured a widespread attention and usage. This study is focused in two areas known as former French concession in Shanghai and in Xintiandi. Using one of the popular bicycle sharing app “Mobike” location and number of available bicycles is captured during a period of one week, three times a week, and every eight hours. Furthermore, this data is correlated with the existent urban framework by analysing certain aspects such as proximity to building services and daily life of locals. Allowing a quantitative and comparative evaluation with other sites regarding predictors of urban development, cyclers safety and urban quality. Then a proximity factor is introduced measuring the distance to key services, such as supermarkets, restaurants or office buildings, that impact life in the area. Finally, it will be possible to determine the comparative quality of these areas and take conclusions regarding future area studies and comparisons.

This paper considers both the housing emergency and unused building stock as part of "People and Community" and shows how, by recovering unused buildings in metropolitan areas for residential use and through conscious management by the inhabitants, the energy-hungry building stock can be upgraded and mitigate the housing emergency. The Case Study reported here is the "Spin Time Labs" building in the heart of Rome, a former office building squatted by 180 homeless families (323 inhabitants) since 2013 that has become an urban regeneration laboratory and creator of economic value and social redemption.

Safe public spaces that are universally accessible for enjoyment have become important goals for cities around the world. Universal safety is a fundamental requirement for cities to become sustainable and inclusive. Such performance criteria are difficult to measure at the scale of the local neighbourhoods and streets, and this can have life-and-death consequences for vulnerable and marginalised demographics, such as women, children or urban newcomers who are unfamiliar with local dangers and risks. However, technological advances are creating a new landscape for data production, collection and analysis, capable not only to portray routine urban patterns in fine spatial and temporal scales, but also to empower citizens as part of this process. This study analyse the data collected in Bogota and Nairobi through SafetiPin app which was developed in response to the exclusive and unsafe character of neighbourhoods. This mobile app crowd-sources data to identify the factors that lead to lack of safety and insecurity in cities. The findings of this study suggest that lighting, openness, visibility, and public transport could significantly affect the prediction of whether people feel safe. This paper also discusses the extent of this impact.

In Word Health Organization’s Global Age-Friendly Cities Guide, green spaces have been identified as essential age-friendly features in urban environments. A pilot study had been conducted to study the interrelationship between key design aspects of green spaces, health conditions of elderly residents, and their perception and preference of the green spaces using questionnaire survey. It was also found that perceived safety in green areas is associated with the aesthetic quality and the physical health of elderly residents. The results also reveal individual differences among elderly residents in perception of green spaces and the associated health outcomes. Moreover, this study showed that plant colour and maintenance of green spaces are the key design and management aspects that linked to objective assessment on aesthetic quality. Findings of the study will inform the planning and design of age-friendly urban environments in high-density cities.

Abstract: In Taiwan, the average of convenient store's Energy Use Intensity (EUI) is high at a 1501 (kWh/m2/year) which is 3 times higher than department stores, 7times higher than central air conditioning office buildings and 38times higher than housing due to operational hours, internal loads and a poorly designed building envelope. Unexpectedly, communities use convenience stores as thermal comfort refuges during summer. This study utilised a dataset of 251 convenience stores in Taiwan from the largest leading retailer to obtain data on the physical, construction elements, energy use and siting of convenience stores. Sample analysis results analysed the architectural features and main locations, urban setting of the convenience store for a base case design. The dynamic software IES-VE (2016) is used to simulate different envelope improvement techniques to understand cooling demand and indoor thermal performance in relation to an urban setting. The dataset energy loads were used to validate the simulation results. The simulation results show that the most efficient building envelope improvement type is an insulation roof with shading. It saves 17% of cooling load in arterial roads while saving up to 18% of cooling load in residential areas.

Energy Performances Certificates have been implemented in Spain just in the moment of the largest real estate recession, such situation does not allow to observe consumers’ preferences on energy efficient homes. This paper uses choice experiment to study the relative importance of energy efficiency in relation to other functional and quality attributes. In order to evaluate the role of framework information in the formation of household preferences the sample has been split into 2 sets and informed on the economic and environmental implications of energy efficiency using technical and illustrative units. Results suggest that households do give importance to energy efficiency mainly when they are informed in an easy-to understand way. This latter finding has important implications for the design of energy policy.

Currently, office buildings are designed with a high window to wall ratio (WWR), without external solar protection systems (CPS), causing visual and thermal discomfort and high building’s energy consumption. Complex fenestration systems (CFS), which include an external CPS, allow the mitigation of these problems. During the design process of a building, it is very important to predict the thermal and visual behavior of the façade systems. There are many validated tools to support the buildings design process that allows evaluating their thermal and lighting performance. Most of these tools require expert knowledge in thermal and visual evaluation methods of buildings. On the other hand, the energy performance of a building highly depends highly on early façade´s design decisions. The objective of this paper is to show a new tool to support the design process of office buildings in Chile. This tool allows the simultaneous analysis of the total energy consumption (heating, cooling, and lighting) and the visual comfort conditions in the space of a building. This tool is that it is easy to use and allows reliable simulations in a very short time, which makes it useful and practical for the early stages of the office building design process.

This paper presents a brief analysis of the substitution of the main materials traditionally used in civil construction by less energy-intensive materials, their contribution to Energy Efficiency - EE and to the reduction of GHG emissions. For the analysis, the calculation method developed by Cruz (2018) was used considering three ecoindicators: energy - (kWh/m2), environmental - (tCO2/m2), and socioeconomic - relation between minimum wage and construction cost. The study does not intend to present the life cycle analysis of the construction industry or materials, considering that its focus is to perform an objective analysis through a direct method of evaluating the substantialenergy of the materials and their equivalent GHG emissions. The final results present a epresentative case in the construction of Brazilian cities: Minha Casa Minha Vida Program, selected by the strong Brazilian housing demand, scope and volume of public investment.

Providing access to a view out is fundamental for ensuring healthy living conditions in indoor spaces; however, there are no procedures for capturing luminous variations of a view over time. The study introduces a dynamic method for quantifying such variables through HDR time-lapse photography and digital image-processing techniques. Two series with analogous contextual features portrayed three consistent luminous variability conditions. Local luminous variation suggests the highest potential to influence visual response. Finally, the paper discusses design implications and future refinements to the methodology.

Large scale daylight simulations and representations on one single analysis grid are currently impossible with the

use of conventional software and computers. Computational limitations that relate to the capacity of computer machines as well

as analysis restrictions that relate to the allowable grid node count imposed by daylight simulation software prohibit daylightcoefficient

based calculations on large scale analysis grids. The present paper utilizes a real aviation project and presents the

development of a workflow that provides the ability to perform very demanding processes in acceptable time. Radiance related

ray‐tracing processes and matrix multiplications occur on the cloud using High Performance Computing and custom scripts that

facilitate and accelerate the progression. The analysis grid count is decomposed into manageable fragments and after the

calculation is performed, the fragmented values are recomposed in one single list of results that are utilized for colouring the

analysis grid mesh. Processes are sped up by approximately 32 times. Customized tools can be adaptive and reused in other

applications with minimum modifications. The methodology can also be adopted for performing other annual climate‐based

simulations or for glare studies.

Spectral information is fundamental in understanding the human responses to light. In order to assess the impact of light on visual and non-image forming effects (NIF) in more complex surroundings, in addition to spatially and temporally resolved daylight measurement, spectrally resolved information is required. This paper focuses on the inclusion of spectral aspects of daylight to specify the potential when planning for NIF aspects in urban structures, to reduce energy consumption for electric lighting for this purpose. It introduces a novel model to describe spectral characteristics on facades in the built environment in function of prevailing daylight conditions (location, sun position, season and time of day) and the building orientation. These orientation-dependent spectral characteristics of daylight on façades are represented in spectral daylight potential diagrams (SDPD).

This study evaluates the daylight performance of the newly built workshop building at CEPT University, Ahmedabad, India using calibrated Radiance simulations with Lightstanza user interface. The building houses model making, wood, metal, ceramics & clay workshops. The methodology included field measurement of illuminance at the task plane, long term measurements, and surface material characteristics, calibrating the daylight model, and calculations of lighting energy savings. The calibrated model of the building has a RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) and an NMBE (Normalized Mean Bias Error) of less than 4%. The daylighting performance of building could achieve 4 points for LEED v4 with 93%sDA750/50% and 0.4%ASE1000/250hr. and meets ECBC (Energy Conservation Building Code) daylighting requirements. It achieves a DA750 of 46%, and the current manual switching response to daylight saves INR 86,424 per year. The Daylight Glare Probability (DGP) analysis showed that the spaces inside the workshop are likely to experience glare issues during the summer months, mostly between the time period 5-6 PM when direct sun penetrates in to the space.

Building Energy Models, which consider all energetic aspects of a building’s performance, are a beneficial tool for use in a building’s design and operational stage to optimise the design or performance of a building, aid in decision making, and carry out code compliance. Model calibration is a term which refers to the improvement in the performance of a BEM simulation to better match the actual building in design or operation, which will in turn improve the results in using the BEMs in their various applications. Model calibration is particularly relevant in a building’s operational stage considering that, as well as the number of dynamic elements involved in a building’s performance on a day-to-day basis, buildings quite often perform differently to the initial design intent. Despite the benefits, model calibration is a time-consuming process which typically requires expert user knowledge. This paper details a methodology focused on improving and automating elements of the calibration process to address these current known limitations.

PV installations on flat roofs offer a wide range of design options, which are usually neglected in urban-scale assessments as these typically assume horizontal or other fixed arrangements. In this study, we analyse the influence of common design parameters (tilt and inter-row distance) in evaluating the potential of PV arrays installed on flat roofs, using three different performance indicators. By comparing optimised arrangements to horizontal ones, we show that the latter could be misleading, unless building- and indicator-specific correction coefficients are applied.

Energy performance of historic buildings is an urgent matter, but mass implementation of efficient measures faces several challenges (namely, conservation, durability, or comfort). This paper presents the results of a multidisciplinary study of wooden windows in alpine buildings. Different approaches are needed depending whether the original window is maintained or substituted. In the first case, the results of a desk-based study led to the proposal of two new strategies of intervention. In the latter, an interdisciplinary workshop allowed highlighting the deficiencies of current practice whereas simulation results supported the definition of new approaches to address them.

Vernacular housing in tropical climates traditionally relies heavily on natural ventilation for comfort. However, global warming and climate change are threatening the efficacy of this technique. The study presented here explored two Myanmar housing types in the countries’ three climate zones, and fifteen different ventilation regimes aiming to provide comfort to the occupiers with no reliance on energy. A comparative study was developed with a total of 444 dynamic simulations where orientation, window-to-wall-ratio, and infiltration rates were varied. The efficacy of single-sided and cross-ventilation and the relationship between local weather and the culturally acceptable time to allow the opening of the fenestration were also explored. The results using a typical weather year were then compared with three future climate change scenarios. The results confirmed that the current ventilation practices are not able to provide the required thermal comfort both for typical weather year and when considering future climate change scenarios. The authors concluded the study with suggestions to redesign the façades to improve the overall performances.

In the drive toward reduced energy consumption and consequent carbon emissions, and also reductions in fuel poverty and discomfort, the need to improve the performance of existing buildings, particularly housing is critical. To meet government targets some policy drivers are being implemented to improve the performance of existing building. In Scotland this has been through the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH) which provides funding for retrofit measures. However, very little is known about the consequences of these measures. This project developed ‘light-touch’ building performance (BPE) approaches to undertake evaluation of retrofit measures examine their effectiveness and the paper identifies these techniques and reports on the findings. Whilst in general improvements led to reduced energy consumption, various unintended consequences were evident. These included issues of thermal bridging and poor detailing, and lack of improved ventilation provision led to issues of poor ventilation and indoor air quality and reinforces the need for wider evaluation of buildings in use.

This paper addresses an emerging issue for village communities located particularly in SW China. Government inspired efforts to redevelop rural villages combined with aspirations of local residents have led to the replacement of the traditional, predominantly wood-construction house with a modern, mainly concrete, alternative. The new houses have modern facilities (such as for washing and cooking) but also very different thermal characteristics and are found with large windows and more restricted air flow. There is normally little involvement of professionals in appropriate ways that would allow optimisation of design for future comfort and energy efficiency. This paper describes some analytical studies of typical design options and identifies some influencing parameters. The research justifies the need for, and development of, a tool suitable for use by village committees/groups and their advisors that will provide decision-support for optimisation of comfort and energy use.

The purpose of this research is to evaluate future impacts of different emission scenarios on architecture design strategies according to a notable thermal comfort model, the methodological procedure employed in this study is intended to provide quantifiable elements to weight the impact of climate change on passive architecture effectiveness according B1, A1B and B2 IPCC scenarios in terms of design strategies applied to achieve thermal comfort, in compliance with the ASHRAE comfort model results showed affectations about 10-25% on comfort effectiveness, causing affectations on the way we conceive and build the future passive architecture morphology.

This paper presents five design prototypes for cool urban water environments developed in the ‘Really cooling water bodies in cities’ (REALCOOL) project. The REALCOOL prototypes address an urgent need: urban water bodies, such as ponds or canals, are often assumed to cool down their surroundings during days with heat stress, whereas recent research shows that this is not always the case and that urban water bodies may actually have warming effects too. There are, however, indications that shading, vaporising water, and proper ventilation can keep water bodies and their surroundings cooler. Yet, it is necessary to explore how these strategies can be optimally combined and how the resulting design guidelines can be communicated to design professionals. The REALCOOL prototypes communicate the spatial layout and biometeorological effects of such combinations and assist design decisions dealing with urban water environments. The micrometeorological simulations with Envi-met showed that the prototypes led to local reductions on daytime PET from 1 °C to 7 °C, upon introducing shade. Water mist and fountains were also cooling solutions. The important role of ventilation was confirmed. The paper discusses and concludes about the use of the prototypes as tools for urban design practice.

During an architectonical competition for a new neighbourhood in Frankfurt/Main, Germany microscale urban climate modelling was carried out to help decision makers to choose the best climate adopted design for implementation. Based on an urban climatic map with ventilation modelling all designs were proofed by the microscale model ENVI-met. The evaluation was done with the thermal index PET, as here ventilation and radiation processes could be judged. All results show a clear change in climate. For the winner design it was possible to reduce the local heat load and creating air paths for surrounding neighbourhoods.

ABSTRACT: Climate scientists warn that “time is running out to prevent global environmental collapse” [1]. Global CO2 emissions increased again in 2017, after three years of stagnation. This was the conclusion drawn from two studies that confirmed the forecasts of experts who recently participated in the Bonn Climate Summit (COP 23). [2] It is therefore increasingly urgent to cut emissions and thereby avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change. Only then will it be possible to achieve the objective of not exceeding an increase in average global temperature of 2ºC that had been established at the Paris Climate Summit. Here, we report on a case study of energy rehabilitation involving a publicly-owned residential building constructed in Barcelona in the 1960s and a plan to convert it into an Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB): “EU Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings" (2010/31/EU). [3].

KEYWORDS: Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB), Passive house principles, Energy modelling software.

The urban village is a unique phenomenon in China that thousands of former rural villages have been rapidly urbanized along with the surrounding built environment. The government, developers, and urban planners positioned these urban enclaves as to have terrible environmental quality and support wholesale demolition during urban renewal. Given the absence of environmental knowledge of urban villages and the evaluation of environmental impacts after reconstruction, this research examined urban heat island (UHI) and outdoor ventilation of two reconstructed urban villages in inner-city Shenzhen. Significant UHI during the day and night in the two reconstructed urban villages and strong wind conditions of some edge spaces were captured. Sky view factor, greenery planning, and the porosity of ambient environment provide directions to address the above-identified environmental problems.

The residential market in the Mediterranean climate as well as in other parts of the world has a large number of buildings that were built with a long lasting structure but limited consideration for energy efficiency and thermal comfort. Retrofitting the existing envelope can help reach national energy reduction goals while improving the living conditions and reduce energy expenses for the tenants. This study focuses on low budget retrofitting of old residential buildings in a Mediterranean climate with two applicative case studies already finished. The two buildings are of similar size but in different local climate settings. In both projects a similar analysis methodology was performed, that included structural, thermal and energy use inquiry. The analysis concluded in intervention strategies for each building, and despite the similarity in the buildings, the variations in the intervention strategies were essential. This paper focuses on the methodology to analyse existing structures in order to identify preferred renovation tactics, based on the knowledge of the executed case studies. The study was done in collaboration with Israeli housing companies and is meant to serve as a pilot for larger renovation projects of existing residential building stock.

The applicability of passive cooling methods has been a recurring subject in architectural engineering science. The integration of these methods in architecture often requires feasibility studies and, in most cases, a deep knowledge of the climatic conditions is required to succeed in this task. The number of parameters to be evaluated will depend on the complexity of the cooling system, the physics involved and the context. This paper addresses the climatic applicability of convective and evaporative cooling systems in the context of United States (US) through the creation of a series of applicability maps deriving from processed climate data. This work is a revision of the climatic maps for downdraught cooling developed in Europe and in China with an extension to evaluate the opportunity for natural ventilation. More specifically, the studied cooling solutions are: Natural Convective Cooling (NCC), Passive Evaporative Cooling (PEC), and Active Downdraught Cooling (ADC). The maps obtained demonstrate the strong potential for the use of passive evaporative and convective cooling solutions in the US to overcome the current dependency on mechanical systems.

Climate and weather severe events together with political conflicts linked to climate change are the most driving force for mass population to leave their homes seeking safe heavens. Climate refugees are becoming and will be the next wicked challenges we will face. Refugee temporary settlements proved to have high environmental burdens given their short life time using industrial materials with high embodied carbon in the production. Since long, alternative natural based low impact materials do exist using a carbon neutral production and construction process. This paper is presenting the outcome of one-year project in designing and constructing an eco-cycle negative carbon and positive energy eco-cycle home. The idea is to achieve a self-sufficient and low impact temporary shelter design with the least carbon emissions during construction and after demolition. The design complies with premium passive house standards constructed in an experimental urban living lab for proof of concept. The house now under monitoring for evaluating its performance. The project is applied in Sweden but the methodology could be applied in different other climatic contexts.

The cost of living rurally, already higher than urban areas in terms of food, transport and energy, is exacerbated by energy inefficient and inflexible homes, which has had detrimental impacts on the viability and sustainable growth of rural communities. Following on from community land buy-outs in the late 1990’s, the communities on the Island of Eigg and the Knoydart peninsula in the remote north west of Scotland have facilitated innovative measures which have been central to lowering their CO2 emissions and maintaining the viability of their off-grid locations. Central to Eigg’s strategy has been the implementation of a world-first zero-emission grid combining LZCGTs, battery storage and smart controls, telecommunications networks and shared equity land policies to encourage self-build housing. Notwithstanding, there is a lack of appropriate community-led, affordable, adaptable, grid-integrated housing models which remains a significant barrier to encouraging new people to move into the community to ensure its long-term resilience. The following paper discusses parameters for the design of alternative hybrid zero-emission housing typologies that have the capacity to cater for varied tenures and lifestyles, including live-work and rentable space, providing lifetime homes and energy balancing scenarios through their in-built flexibility.

Due to the expectation of climate change and increasing global temperature, new building rates will face challenges. Nearly 40% of world-wide carbon emissions can be linked to building's energy consumption. Therefore, it is significant to understand how a building's energy consumption will behave under future climate change in order to reduce carbon emissions. The residential sector's demand for energy in the KSA is massive at 50%. Based on recent government initiatives of KSA, mandatory new residential buildings must meet stringent energy codes. This study investigates the effects of applying the new Saudi residential building energy codes for a detached single-family house (villa) located in Jeddah, KSA. This study aims to see how the code might perform under current and future climate change scenarios. Although the current code already shows a significant improvement in combating future climate change, a total reduction of 38% in the annual cooling demands of existing villas in Jeddah after applying the new standards will be illustrated. However, increases in cooling energy demand due to climate change still exist. Applying more passives strategies that are not included in the code would assist the researcher in knowing if there are other means to achieve significant decreases in cooling demand.

People in rural areas of Nepal have been using firewood for variety of household purposes. In this paper we analysed the firewood consumption patterns and their relationship with family size and the number of livestock rearing in the study area of Dhading district of Nepal. Investigation on periodic household firewood consumption was carried out for 24 hours for 16 households. Per-capita firewood consumption was found 639 kg/capita/year and average household firewood consumption was found 12.1 kg/family/day. We found household firewood consumption increases as increase in family size but per-capita firewood consumption decreases with increase in family size. Firewood consumption was also increased with the increase in the number of livestock reared. The rate of firewood combustion of small and big households was 1.28 kg/hour and 1.34 kg/hour respectively. Average time for firewood burning of households of small and big households was found 8.7 hours and 9.9 hours per day. Based on present information on the firewood consumption patterns of Dhading district, application of appropriate technologies for the improvements on traditional cooking stoves and improvements on the environmental and health condition of the rural people are to be done

With the aim of optimizing urban built environments in terms of potentially consumed and produced energy of buildings, a new methodological approach is proposed based on several urban typo-morphological archetypes. Given the complexity to obtain all their characteristics at integrating knowledge of urban planning professionals or architects in a co-design situation, both in terms of produced geometry and materials to be used, a hybrid tool with parametric modeling capabilities and operators on high-level geometric primitives is proposed inside a framework coupling all the tools necessary for energy optimization. It integrates a parametric urban morphology generator based on Rhinoceros/Grasshopper, an energetic assessments tool working at urban scale (Citysim) and a tool controlling the optimization process (ModeFrontier), which gives best urban form solutions using a multi-criteria analysis among best potential solutions inside the Pareto front. This approach appears to give an adapted way for integration of a high level of representation and knowledge on urban archetypes, thereby giving a way to deepen the exploration of new energy-optimized urban forms.

Building energy simulations carry out detailed calculations for energy prediction for each and every part of the building geometry. For the fenestrations, details about the glazing, the frame and the shading device are taken as simulation inputs. For the glazing part the typical inputs are the U-Value and the solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) value for the glazing. Although the SHGC value is a standard value for a glazing type, there are different calculation methods to account for the impact of shading devices into the SHGC values. The impact of SHGC value through two different methods are studied in terms of solar gains (kWh) through fenestration and cooling energy. The results are also compared with the results of the simulation model in which the shading devices are modelled and the manufacturer’s SHGC value is considered instead of effective SHGC value. Further, the impact on cooling energy reduction is determined and compared for different latitudes, climates and overhang depth. The results show that the cooling energy reduction obtained from the methods with detailed heat transfer mechanisms are closer to the results obtained from the simulation with the physical shading device.

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.

Building-integrated carbon capturing is a system that provides carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and regeneration within buildings using a moisture-swing air capture technology developed by Dr. Klaus Lackner at Arizona State University’s Centre for Negative Carbon Emissions. This paper serves as a continual ideation towards moving a concept from the research and development phase into prototype development to perform experimental evaluation of how such a project would perform in real-life scenarios. We intend to build on strengths and overcome past design weaknesses through cross-industry innovation to create a more robust mechanism that is capable of carbon capture and regeneration.

This paper aims to identify the potential of natural ventilation for cooling a representative two-bedroom residential apartment layout in India. India faces an unprecedented demand for residences and must reduce energy consumption associated with air-conditioning. Three significant climates and cities in India are investigated in this paper. The potential to extend the hours of the year for which thermal comfort is achievable using natural ventilation strategies is tested. This potential is identified by employing analytical methods to design and size ventilation capacity. Five natural ventilation design strategies are used over several scenarios varying window free area and ceiling fan speed. Indoor temperature setpoints are based on the India Model for Adaptive Comfort. Results are given as percentage of hours of the year for which natural ventilation is capable to remove calculated heat gains. Percentages of hours are divided into day-time and night-time. Findings show that the combination of large windows or balcony doors with additional ventilation openings and ceiling fan increases the total percentages of hours of the year for which natural ventilation is effective impacting on substantial energy consumption reduction with air-conditioning. Conversely, this potential varies with climate, and hence location.

Buildings consume 33% of total energy (24% domestic and 9% commercial) in India and this is growing at 8% per annum. Reliance on fossil fuel and increasing demand for energy has led to having an unregulated energy use in buildings in India. Despite multiple instances of green buildings existing throughout India wide-scale adoption of green building practices have not been observed. This leads to higher than predicted energy use. Building Performance Evaluation is essential to reduce this gap and help buildings perform better. Despite the improvements in building systems and services, energy efficient building design and implementation – there is a growing gap observed between the intended and actual performance of buildings leading to higher than expected energy use. The purpose of this study is to understand this performance gap for a university building. The study evaluates the actual performance of this building through on-site measurements and provides feedback for the building to perform better.

Town housings are facing good prospects and will play an important role in energy-saving and emission reduction in the future. As the main energy resource for heating, coal utilization in the severe cold region is worthy of attention. With data from the 2016 Northeast towns investigation, this paper estimated coal utilization in town housing by calculating expenditure. The investigation covered 4 aspects: basic household information, family living conditions, residential housing characteristics and energy utilization. Town residential coal utilization in Jilin Province is the most, while Liaoning Province is the least. Household appliances, cooking fuel, central heating, heating tools, housing area and monthly income are analysed as factors of residential coal utilization.

The improvement in the thermal and energy performance of an office building project, located in the city of Antofagasta, is analyzed, upon incorporating passive strategies oriented towards the thermal and light comfort in its design. A "base case" of the building was prepared and simulated for this, where climate-based design strategies were incorporated. The assessment is made on two of its floors: a compartmentalized floor, where the office with the most unfavorable orientation was analyzed, and an open-plan floor which was completely assessed. It was possible to determine through the simulation that the incorporation of passive strategies reduced the thermal discomfort period by an average of 80% versus the base case. In addition, on integrating the thermal comfort strategies with the natural lighting ones, energy demand was reduced by 90%. The criteria applied to the building's design will be presented, where the shape strategies, envelope optimization, solar control, ventilation and natural lighting are included, revealing how the building's final shape was nothing more than the result of the passive strategies integration process.

This study compares the thermal and visual comfort performance of the prototypical school classrooms design in two climatic regions in the Dominican Republic. Established metrics for thermal and visual indices combined with dynamic building performance simulations are carried out to assess the current performance and possible architectural interventions to improve the environmental performance of the classrooms. The PMV/PPD method with the ASHRAE scale, the adaptive comfort with the EN-15251 standard, the neutral comfort obtained with Kubota hot humid climate equations and the thermal sensation votes analysis underpins the conclusions. The prototypical classroom design was in the “comfortable” range in Santiago while “slightly cool” in Constanza School. Simulations were used to evaluate the daylight conditions and showed that Daylight Factor and Illuminance were within the acceptable ranges, but issues with glare and daylight uniformity arise. This study indicates that the use of light shelves do not improve the daylight conditions and suggests other architectural design interventions that are more effective in improving the indoor environment for students and teachers.

Post-occupancy evaluation is easily one of the most effective tools in completing the full-circle of learning from practice in architecture. The impact of the design strategies envisioned during a project can truly be understood by the experiences and satisfaction of the actual occupants of that space.The paper outlines the results from post-occupancy evaluations of open and transitional spaces in different project typologies located in India’s prevalent composite and hot-dry climate. The projects were envisaged using passive design principles and vernacular examples without the support of computer aided simulations. The learnings have been evaluated in the form of quantifiable metrics like energy consumption, spot measurements as well as feedback on users’ spatial experiences and satisfaction. The projects demonstrate that comfortable open and transitional spaces can be successfully treated as an extension to the indoors, leading to the potential elimination of built spaces for interactive functions.

Nanotechnology is commonly regarded as a crucial step ahead in technology advancement to tackle some of the environmental problems of our contemporary building construction industry. The main characteristic that distinguishes nanomaterials is size, being defined as materials whose parts are smaller than 100 nanometres. This change in size of the material’s structure, enables the generation of new material interactions with energy, opening new possibilities for performance improvement, which in turn leads to a reduction of energy consumption and greenhouse gasses emissions. Nanotechnology appears to be one of the alternatives to pursue the desired impact minimisation, while meeting the required comfort standards to provide good living conditions to the building’s occupants. But, how reliable is this statement?

The City of Buenos Aires lies on a regular grid of square blocks, following the traditional ‘Law of Indies’. Due to large immigration waves from Europe during the 20th century, the city went through a very rapid densification process leading to constant changes in the building regulations to meet housing needs. Therefore, the city is currently composed by a mix of buildings responding to all different regulations, resulting in a very irregular urban landscape. By contrast, the current building regulation proposes an extremely regular model, by limiting buildable heights according to zoning and plot dimensions. This paper is a simulation-based study that explores the environmental performance of the ‘irregular’ actual built form and the ‘regular’ model following current building regulations. The method consists of three main steps: firstly, the city’s urban layout is studied, identifying the most common block orientation. Secondly, analytic studies are carried out to evaluate the performance of typical ‘regular’ and ‘irregular’ blocks. Lastly, a redesign for the current urban block is proposed, engaging in reducing energy consumption per block and focusing specially on outdoor variety and comfort. This results in an effective ‘generic’ morphologic model, to be applied in the growth of low and mid-density blocks.

The current paper presents the activities carried out by a Working Group (WG2) within the frame of the COST Action CA16114 ‘RESTORE: Rethinking Sustainability Towards a Regenerative Economy’. The content is divided into two parts: a brief overview of the ongoing work within RESTORE, and a detailed analysis of the tasks performed in the Working Group tackling the Regenerative Design Process (RSD). With the term “Restorative Design”, is identified the activities of design, construction and building operation to regenerate the local natural systems to a healthy state and supporting their capability for self-organization and regeneration. The objective is thus to improve the built environment restorative quality, considering current and future climatic scenarios, focusing on the revision of the energy demand, and on the outdoor human comfort The paper presents a series of urban methods and design cases studies that engages in newer, continuous and healthy, relationship with the unique ‘place’ of intervention in light of climate adaptation. The envisaged results direct a change on the path of “to perceive” “to adapt” and “to develop” the urban environment and to define recommendations for science based interdisciplinary design processes.

Urban brownfield regeneration projects are complex operations that are not automatically sustainable. To facilitate the integration of sustainability issues in these projects, a recent research project led to the creation of an operational monitoring tool tested on case studies. Following this, we undertook interactions with the stakeholders of the case studies to confront the potential of the tool with the future end user’s point of view and the reality of the practice. This paper presents the method and results of these interactions. Essentially, it has been recognized that the tool could provide a valuable decision-making support throughout the transformation of urban brownfields into new sustainable neighborhoods. The inclusion of a monitoring tool into the management of these projects appears not only feasible, but realistic and desired.

The design of residential area is a complex urban design process involving multiple dimensions and shaping the physical form of the cities. The question of how the form meets the needs of all other dimensions while satisfying environmental performance requirements is discussed in this paper from the methodological point of view. A Factors System (FS) is built to organize the factors in different dimensions of the complex urban system to discover, demonstrate and describe the relevance between the formal & spatial factors and other ones. Based on the FS, the Width/Height ratio is found as an operational factor to relate the space characteristic with the environmental performance and also with economic, social, visual factors. Also a real case, a residential area in Nanjing City, China is chosen to verify the feasibility of the system and the operability of the Width/Height factor.

The building and construction sector in Europe is the largest source of energy, CO2 and material consumption as well as waste production. It mostly relies on a linear building construction process. Not only materials and building elements must be demolished and disposed at the end of the life cycle of a building, but also a considerable amount of valuable raw materials therefore is lost. Due to a worldwide increasing need for construction activities, the construction industry is more and more under pressure. Counteracting it needs a completely new approach - the model of the circular economy - and the design of circular buildings. But, which requirements a circular building has to fulfill? The paper is incorporating the circular economy approach into architecture and presents a first tool to support the design of circular buildings in early planning stages.

Since 2015, the New York-based design studio No Architecture (NOA) has researched the history of vernacular and pre-industrial built environments in order to better understand indigenous solutions for climate-resilient development. Spatial and ecological performance analysis of our findings initially led to a catalog of vernacular outdoor microclimate morphologies, which we then translated into a higher-density proposal for an Ecodistrict located in Portland, Oregon’s Mediterranean climate. The interdisciplinary includes examinations of several dimensions of the early stages of a design process, including: underlying theoretical and historical frameworks; simulations of solar isolation and wind flow; and the elaboration of a set of flexible principals which can be adapted throughout climates with dry summer conditions. This proposal for a new “Rough Void” typology anticipates an alternate, climate-resilient trajectory for urban development.

The paper aims to critically analyze the housing policy Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana (PMAY), a social welfare flagship program, created by the Indian Government, to provide housing for the rural poor in India. The case study of Baiga tribe (aboriginals) is taken to understand its vernacular architecture and the impact of housing scheme on the Baiga’s traditional settlement. A brief study of settlement pattern is done. The dwellings provided by housing scheme are analysed on various aspects like architectural, social, cultural and economic, to identity the gap, why Government policy, schemes, development programme, and implementation fails to address the basic needs of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). Methodology includes literature review from various sources, site visit, photography, survey and interviews. Vernacular dwellings and the new dwellings provided by the scheme are documented and analysed. Result and findings addresses that the recommendations made in ‘the revised scheme of PVTGs’ 2015 by Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India under ‘Housing and Habitat’ is not taken in consideration by the implementing agencies. The paper concludes that Government must ensure the correct implementation of scheme at ground level. The scope of the paper is limited to Baiga tribe of Madhya Pradesh.

In complex processes of building design, any feature not directly related to the construction purpose may be deemed superfluous and including new steps relies therefore on usefulness and ease-of-adoption. In this paper, we aim to prove that LCA data undergoes the aforementioned consideration and that decreasing the entry barrier in the application maximizes penetration. This research and its companion tool leverage the moment when architectural decisions are most influential, empowering architects to impact the building’s sustainability throughout its full life cycle by visualizing carbon footprint projections in a very customizable and nimble way.

The building sector is responsible for significant consumption of natural resources. Sustainable buildings decrease environmental impacts such as energy consumption, soil, water and air pollution. Raw soil could be an alternative for the sustainable development of construction sector. Raw soil is cured without burning, mixed with Portland cement, pressed and stabilized producing soil-cement blocks, what are already regulated by the Brazilian Association Standardization. To increase its acceptance and verify its efficiency as a building material for social housing, it is necessary to investigate its properties and performance. The present study aimed to evaluate the performance of an external vertical sealing system composed of hollow blocks of soil-cement without structural function, following determinations of Brazilian standards, focusing on the requirements of habitability and sustainability. It was analysed tightness against rainwater, water permeability and durability through heat action and thermal shock tests. The system met limits set by standards for tightness against rainwater and heat action and thermal shock, but not for water permeability. The vertical sealing system composed of hollow blocks of soil-cement has potential for application in the construction, but there is still must be improved.

KEYWORDS: Soil-cement, Performance evaluation, Habitability, Sustainability

Generating walkable cities is a major stake for urban areas and the transformation of public open spaces, as streets, is a key process for it. Solar radiation exposure may be an important parameter for comfort of public spaces users. In the case of Quito, radiation levels are so high all years long this parameter is a strong health issue. While street refurbishment based on pedestrians and bikers’ requirements is still not a common practice in Ecuador, the present work proposes an approach of doing so based on simulating with ENVIMET two similar streets of Quito’s centre against thermal comfort and hence indirectly radiation exposure, one being highly vegetated and the other not. Simulations evaluate the energy exchange between street components considering their thermal characteristics, indicating the potential satisfaction level of pedestrians. The influence of street vegetation, especially the presence of large covering trees, is demonstrated as being strong. It allowed to propose an improvement process for the comfort deficient street, thus offering a potential larger solution for Quito’s streets configuration.

This study evaluates the building performance of an office building in London, which had issues reported concerning thermal comfort of occupants. The research aims to assess the occupants’ thermal comfort, and building performance of this building during the winter season. The study undertakes field studies including a questionnaire-based survey, and on-site monitoring as well as building simulation modelling to evaluate the building performance and to validate a simulation model to be used in the second phase of the study concerning energy efficient and cost effective retrofit proposals.

Townhouses in a hot and humid region require an economic solution to improve their indoor thermal condition and energy efficiency. One way is by enhancing ventilation to reduce collective heat and promote cooling effect for the residents. A townhouse unit in Chonburi province, Thailand was selected as a case study to investigate effects of a ventilation system on its indoor thermal performance. Results from the field measurement during summer in 2017 showed that, with closed building condition, the use of ventilation system during 2 hours before the residents return home could not provide sufficient air velocities for comfort but effectively reduce the room temperatures and humidities. This could result in energy saving for nighttime air-conditioning system.

Productivity and Satisfaction of the building occupants is largely influenced by Thermal Comfort. Specifically, in Factory buildings where occupants are constantly exposed to excessive heat produced from machines, it is important to maintain comfortable indoor environment and therefore evaluation of the comfort conditions inside these buildings is necessary. The research aims at assessment of naturally ventilated factory buildings located inside a Factory Premise in Mumbai. Three factory buildings with similar process and architectural features having different orientation and sizes were selected for assessment. The assessment was done based on onsite measurements and thermal comfort survey of the occupants. Key reasons behind discomfort were identified. Based on this assessment and comparison with standards, design guidelines were formulated. There is further scope for validating effect of passive design strategies with the help of Building Simulation

This paper discusses how the existing urban houses in a hot humid climate of Southeast Asia can adapt to the future increase in urban temperature in the near future through building modifications. TRNSYS simulations were employed to investigate the indoor thermal environment under naturally ventilated conditions as well as to assess the effects of passive design techniques on the thermal comfort and cooling load under the current and future weather conditions in a typical row house in Hanoi, Vietnam. The results show that the passive design techniques perform well to lower the operative temperature but they are not able to satisfy the thermal comfort in the future weather condition. Further, the cooling load is predicted to increase by up to 23% in the future.

With the availability of high quality remote sensing data, the phenomena of urban heat island has been well documented over the past two decades. Various mitigation measures, including changes to urban form, construction material, etc. have been suggested; however, these factors tend to be static and have a long gestation period. Water and forest body have higher specific heat compared to urban built up and thus have a lower surface temperature during the afternoon, when the temperature generally peaks. Many indigenous civilizations have used this ‘cooling effect’, but the effectiveness of water and forest bodies on cooling is poorly understood. This study uses remote sensing data, specifically, thermal imagery from Landsat 7 and 8 satellites to calculate the quantity and range of cooling due to the combined presence of water body and green strip along the water’s shore. The study finds that in the studied area, the cooling effect ranges from 1.1 to 3.9˚ C but with a maximum effective range of 360 meters under the favourable wind conditions. The short range of cooling effect raises questions if green-blue infrastructure can be an effective way to combat UHI in the dense urban area where land is scarce and expensive.

Retrofit of naturally ventilated educational building is an effective solution to the thermal and visual discomfort problems of the occupants. A residential school, located in outskirts of Hyderabad, India. The school functions in an International Baccalaureate (IB) Curriculum. The building has IGBC Platinum rating. The project deals with the retrofit procedure of the Senior Academic Block, which is naturally ventilated. The procedure involved assessment of the existing conditions through climate analysis, thermal images, measurements & occupant surveys. The retrofit design proposal was then presented to the owners and further prioritization and optimization of the scenarios were done based on thermal and daylighting simulations. The tools used for the analysis were EDSL TAS and LightStanza. Replacement of windows and addition of a low-energy cooling system (evaporative cooler) was identified as the best solutions.

The techniques applied in this paper were planned to minimise the additional energy and capital costs required for achieving occupant thermal comfort in Chilean residential buildings. Extensive analytical work is reviewed here to assess the influence of building design and occupant envelope-controls on auxiliary space-conditioning energy. Results of simulations indicate that indoor comfort temperatures can be achieved all year long at low extra capital and without recourse to traditional space-heating and cooling. The methods applied here for central Chile outline guiding principles for designing naturally conditioned dwellings across the main inhabited region of the country.

Risks of urban heat island (UHI) on the outdoor comfort and human health are rising in the trends of high-density urbanism. Green façade (GF) is one of the technologies which interested by researchers and architects because of the effects of the diminution on UHI, urban acoustic, and air pollution. This paper focuses on the shading effect of the GFs on the semi-outdoor thermal environment. A student dormitory with GFs is invited to investigate on a summer day in Munich, Germany. Through the measurements comparing the shaded and exposed area, results show that the Ave. and the Max. air temperatures (Temps) are decreased by 0.7℃ (W) and 2.1 ℃ (W), the Ave. surface Temp of the glazing is reduced by 1.2℃ (E), and which of the aluminium is reduced by 3.5℃ (W)in the shaded area. Results confirm the shading effect of the GFs and reveal the potential of the decreasing heat reflection on building façade to the surrounding environment.

The term "Profile" is often used in different disciplines to identify fundamental properties of an object, while analyzing future steps to use them. In this research, the concept of Energetic Profile for Existing Office Buildings and its features are presented. The Energetic Profile consists of seven architectural parameters ranging from macro to micro, taking into consideration its surrounding environment, the building’s morphological characteristics up to the typical floor plan design. The Energetic Profile enables the identification of energy saving opportunities and enables distinction between energetic-architectural typologies of office buildings which are not commonly discussed in environmental conscious standards. For each of the parameters a methodology was developed to investigate its total energy impact (divided into cooling, heating and lighting) in a theoretical office building located in a hot and humid climate. Performed case studies demonstrate the effectiveness of the tool to identify potential action directions for energy savings, compare design alternatives, and examine the influence of various construction phases of the building. The case studies proved up to 50% in savings potential compared to current condition, when implementing the conclusions of the profile. Future contribution is expected as an auxiliary tool for designing also new office buildings.

Commercial and office buildings often have problems on the aspects of indoor thermal environment and energy performances. The actual performance of these types of buildings, most of the time, are different from the desired performance. A data collection was conducted in an office space of a university building in Singapore as part of the ongoing study, measuring the environmental performance of office buildings across Southeast Asian countries. The objective measurement on the thermal condition shows that most measurement points across office space is at the colder side of the comfort zone. This finding is supported by the survey results where only about 65% of occupants voted for “slightly cool”, “neutral” and “slightly warm” and about 22% of occupants showed “cold” related symptoms on their legs, hands and body at the end of working hours. The calculated neutral temperature range was generally from 24 degC to 26 degC, while the measured room temperature was mostly below 24 degC.

The first aim of this paper is to analyse the potential for application of hydrogen production and storage systems integrated with renewable energy sources, aimed to provide safe, efficient and stable energy solutions for building and transportation on isolated territories. The value of this concept will be checked on the examples of pilot and demonstration facilities developed for distant European islands. Several archipelagos belonging to different European countries were selected as case studies. The purpose of such choice is to investigate various climatic, geographic and legislative conditions determining the new opportunities that may bring benefits to cleaner and more sustainable environment. The second goal of this study is to check if/how European Union Framework Programmes contributed to the development of increased energy efficiency, independence and renewability in the isolated European territories.

CO2 emissions of buildings are progressively shifting from operation to other lifecycle stages. Despite the increasing importance of embodied carbon, it remains unregulated, without defined standards or industry benchmarks. This paper presents research findings from the analysis of five exemplary built precedents, comparing both operational and embodied CO2 emissions with benchmarks. Designed with a holistic approach, the whole-life carbon emissions from these buildings are shown to have been reduced by some 50%. Design guidelines resulting from study of these built precedents have been synthetized into a design application for central London, with estimated a 75% reduction in carbon emissions when compared to standard buildings.

This short paper provides a critical literature review of several domains in the field of daylighting design with respect to their lack of accountability to the chronobiological factors related to daylighting design. The review identifies deficiencies in the current metrics from the quantitative - instrumental, health-effective, to the qualitative – aesthetical to quantify the impacts of daylighting design on occupant’s health and well-being. To test the critical analysis, a pilot study was designed to provide a holistic view of how the integration of these domains can address the application and architectural decision making for window design parameters. It is an attempt to elaborate on the glass industry’s research and aims to look at the effects of different window design parameters on the transmission of the electromagnetic spectrum within a space’s interior. More specifically, it investigates the effects of distance from a window on the transmission of daylight through clear glazing and how the daylighting quantities and qualities transmitted affect occupant health and well-being, with a focus on circadian entrainment. This proof of concept study is seen as a first step to investigate long-debated hypotheses on the mechanisms of daylighting impacts on occupant’s health and well-being.

This study investigates the relationship between solar radiation received on vertical building façades and two sky exposure performance indicators, i.e. Sky View Factor (SVF) and Sky Exposure Factor (SEF). The study was conducted by using Ladybug for Grasshopper to perform solar radiation simulation on over 300 cases of archetypal urban forms with different morphological settings. Regression analysis was then applied to examine the relationship between X and Y. The findings suggest that though both SVF and SEF have a high goodness-of-fit with solar radiation on vertical building façades (R2 = 0.69 and 0.70 respectively), site coverage should be used as a categorising factor for improved assessment.

A ThermO-Drain (TOD) is a system that uses water cooled by night sky to drain the radiant heat within a building. In office buildings, ‘all air-cooled’ systems are most prevalent. The study aimed to assess the thermal comfort of occupants in a ground and two storied naturally ventilated office building in the composite climate of Nashik in India where TOD system was installed. Assessment was conducted by taking hourly readings over a 25-hour period in peak summer of May 2017. Primary data collected included Dry Bulb Temperature (DBT) and Relative Humidity (RH) indoors, surface temperature of top and bottom of roof slab and Globe temperature within the office. Secondary data for the same period was obtained from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). Monthly electricity bills were used to measure the Energy Performance Index (EPI). The Tropical Summer Index (TSI), an index suggested in the National Building Code (NBC) 2016 of India, was calculated. Results show that the indoor operative temperature in the peak of summer with outdoor temperature of 36.30C was found to be close to the neutral temperature of 27.50C. The EPI of 26.5 kwh/m2/year falls within the BEE 5-star rating of below 40 kwh/m2/year.

This paper describes a project to propose a National Energy Efficiency Policy for Cambodia. The project was initiated by the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy of Cambodia (MIME). The European Union Energy Initiative Professional Dialogue Facility (euei pdf) provided funding and Integration Consulting Group management. The policy was written by a team of five experts who met in Cambodia over a period of eight months (2012-2013). The areas of expertise comprised energy efficiency in industry, consumer goods, biomass, rural electrification, and buildings. This paper will describe the author’s contribution as building expert, and will therefore focus on energy efficiency in buildings. Its purpose is to share experience with other developing countries, to solicit helpful suggestions from those with similar experience and expertise, and to promote this on-going effort.

Design of contemporary glass-box office buildings is unsuitable for the tropical climate of Uganda Overheating is commonplace in indoor spaces because glazed façades are exposed to beam radiation from all directions everyday, through the year. As a result high-energy loads are associated with space cooling. These energy loads are significant for the context where only 15% of the population has access to electricity accompanied by regular load shedding and black outs. This research posits that shading to reduce cooling energy loads coupled with PV generation can improve overall energy availability for the country.

The paper presents a proposal for a Student Centre in Northern Greece. The proposed building is located at an existing educational unit in a densely vegetated environment and includes a high level of transparency to increase contact with its surroundings. Environmental strategies focusing on energy efficiency and natural resources preservation aim to balance the effects of extensive glazing through minimising winter heat loss and summer overheating while enhancing the benefits from natural daylight and natural ventilation. The preliminary estimation of the building’s environmental performance through simulations revealed almost 47% reduction on heating and cooling loads by implementing sustainable design strategies, and more than 20KWh energy production by pv cells integrated on the building envelope, as well as appropriate daylight conditions. Further simulations demonstrate in detail energy consumption requirements, pollutant emissions, daylight levels and occupants’ comfort.

In most European countries, new energy directives on building performance have been developed as a consequence of unsustainable greenhouse gas emissions. These norms promote active and passive energy strategies to lower the environmental impact of the building sector. Among the active strategies, building envelopes with Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) have a significant potential to generate clean electricity. However, despite the numerous advantages of BIPV products, diverse barriers are preventing their large-scale implementation. Many architects complain about their poor aesthetics as well as the lack of information on existing BIPV solutions, which leads to a generalized lack of interest on BIPV among building stakeholders. Aiming at overcoming these barriers, an interdisciplinary research team has designed and constructed the Advanced Active Façade (AAF) full-scale demonstrator. The mock-up integrates active and passive energy strategies such as BIPV and low-carbon construction principles, to meet the latest façade energy requirements. The AAF demonstrator approaches BIPV integration from an architectural perspective and showcases a new BIPV panel composition which widens the range of BIPV façade design opportunities. The ultimate objective of the AAF demonstrator is to generate an active façade architectural reference, while providing architects with an assessed low-carbon façade construction system.

The urban sustainability assessment is the key to evaluate environmental, social and economic issues at various levels. This paper aims to devise and evaluate a set of sustainability indicators to assess the impacts of urban development on Indian hill settlements. New Tehri Township in Uttarakhand is taken as a case study for the analysis, that was planned to resettle the residents of settlements affected by Tehri dam. Qualitative content analysis (QCA) method have been employed in the study to select the sustainability indicators for proposing a sustainability framework and performing spatial analysis using a GIS-based tool. Previous scholarly literature has shown that a set of indicators are very useful for developing qualitative and quantitative variables of urban environments. The analysis has shown that topography, the climate of the place, appropriate urban layout, transportation and connectivity, extent of open spaces and adequate solar exposure play a major role in promoting sustainable development and ensuring a better quality of life in a hill settlement. Also, a conceptual sustainability assessment framework provides an indexing model to the planners and designers to be used as a decision support tool in curbing the negative consequences of development in environmentally sensitive hill areas.

Climate change is disrupting our planet’s natural cycles and the steep socio-economic growth together with rapid urbanisation are increasing the uncertainty of its effects. During the last decades, frequency and impact of flash floods and droughts in Mediterranean and Middle-East regions has substantially increased and will continue to rise due to these new variations. Buildings and local architecture in these areas must be adapted to avoid future damages. However, disaster prevention will not be truly effective until the ‘human factor’ is considered, based on actual evidence. Better research into how communities are affected by disasters and how they re-act with new architectural solutions is urgently needed.

In 2007, one Spanish town was tragically affected by the Girona River flash-floods and its population and buildings were severely disrupted. This case study was chosen as the main testing ground within this research, whose main aims were: a) to identify environmental retrofit strategies to increase resilience and adaptation to flooding, while improving comfort and living conditions; and, b) to present the proposed strategies to the affected local population. The project revealed insights in the increased level of acceptance and understanding of innovative solutions by local inhabitants when greater communication and participation is achieved.

This paper investigated the effectiveness of high solar reflectance paints in three building types—houses, medium rise residential buildings, and factories—in the tropical climate of Bangkok, Thailand. It was found that high reflective paint, when applied to the walls and/or roofs of buildings, could reduce electricity used in air conditioning systems up to 21.6-49.8% for a house, 7.6-15.8% for a medium rise residential building, and 7.6-61.7% for a factory. Results also showed that the total solar reflectance or TSR property had a higher impact on reducing energy demand than the thermal emittance property of the paints. When the heat resistance property of construction materials increases, the effectiveness of high reflective paint decreases.

Setting Zero Net Energy Performance goals for large building stocks such as University Campuses can have a great effect on mitigating climate change impact, especially in locations such as Hawai’i, where resources and energy are limited. This paper describes the content and the methods used to develop the Building Design and Performance Standards for the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM BDPS). They help achieve this goal and other building performance and energy use related State mandates while responding to the climate and environmental priorities of the region of Hawaii. The UHM BDPS are based on a location-specific set of sustainable goals extracted from current industry standard documents along with the results of extensive performance simulations. They address the project phases and teams involved, and include pre-design information to develop procurement documentation, design strategies and requirements for building performance, water conservation, and other principles of sustainable operational models. These Standards also address the building operation phase and describe the framework to provide real-time information to document the progress in achieving the ZNE and other progressive campus sustainability goals overtime, in addition to identifying operation and maintenance issues.

ABSTRACT: There is an increasingly urgent need to cut global CO2 emissions and thereby avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change. In the EU construction sector, action has already begun to help minimise carbon emissions and reverse their current negative impact on the environment. These initiatives have so far been based on introducing the mandatory construction of “Nearly–Zero-Energy Buildings” (NZEBs) from 2018 onwards, in compliance with an EU Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings (2010/31/EU) [1]. The NZEB project not only constitutes a technical challenge but also a challenge for the design process. It must be accompanied by the introduction of new, specialised programmes at Schools of Architecture. This article points out how this quest for design strategies to produce NZEBs has been converted into pedagogical content in the Polytechnic University of Catalonia’s (UPC) MSc in “Architecture & Sustainability: Design Tools & Environmental Control Techniques”. As an example of the work done and the results obtained, we present a project designed for a residential building in Barcelona, Spain. This was developed by a team of students from the MSc course and presented as their final project.

The world’s cities are growing in size and number. At the same time, the global climate change rise global average temperatures as well as increase weather extreme events. Sao Paulo, the 5th urbanized region in the world, has currently more than 21 million inhabitants and recent studies alert for the increased frequency of extreme climate events in the city. Therefore, this work deals with the role of planning, urban and building design for climate change adaptation in the microscale. The aim is to quantify the impacts on urban microclimate, based on present and future climate scenarios, regarding: 1) urban density; 2) building envelope and other urban surfaces; 3) green infrastructure; and 4) thermal performance and comfort in buildings, during occasional heat waves or for the projected IPCC AR-5 scenarios of climate change. For this purpose, a research project was structured at the Architecture and Urbanism school [4] approaching the interdependencies between urban morphology and microclimate in São Paulo, aiming to discuss urban design alternatives to counterbalance urban warming effects in a subtropical changing climate. This paper briefly summarizes what we have learnt with remote sensing, measurements and numerical simulation in the metropolitan, local and building scales and present partial results.

Building energy performance optimization requires an integrated design approach to explore and evaluate alternative strategies for energy saving and to improve construction process management. Energy efficiency education into architecture and engineering curriculum should address economic, social and environmental issues arising from the technology as well, training professionals and technicians who wish to be able to develop core skills in those subject areas according to a multidisciplinary educational approach. This paper presents the experience of a Post-graduated Master Degree Program at University of Florence, Master ABITA, that includes studies on low energy architecture and energy efficiency measures, integration of renewable energies in buildings, Building Information Modelling and Energy Simulation Analysis tools.

This paper discusses with examples, a course that introduces net zero energy carbon and energy modeling in large lecture courses. Several strategies were implemented: integrating design in technical courses, reducing the number of variables to consider in a design problem, increasing understanding of the physics of energy and buildings and increasing expertise in the use of analogue and digital tools. The course is conducted in both lecture and seminar/lab formats and it involves theory, practical applications, calculations, hands-on experiments and a main project in which students integrate energy model in the design process of a zero net energy project. All 49 student projects for the 2016 and 2017 courses are collected in two books, “Going to Zero” and “Going to Zero 2017”.

The aim of the architectural design thesis is to study the potential benefit of implementing passive design in an adaptive reuse project. From studies, several types of adaptive reuse together with its building elements were identified. Next, the potential of each adaptive reuse type was explored to determine the relevance of implementing each type to a unique project. The potential approaches were applied to an unused naturally-ventilated railway depot in Seremban, Malaysia to find out further improvements that can be added. Finally, several suggestions were made to improve the passive design potential through these various types of adaptive reuse for the aforementioned heritage building.

Three low energy luminaire projects, in which architecture and design students participated, utilizing LEDs, local materials and/or 3D printing were evaluated in this study: A) temporary luminaire compositions featuring local material assemblies produced in graduate architecture student charrettes in Thailand, illuminated with LEDs, assembled and photographed as part of a Fulbright workshop; B) 3D printed prototypes of luminaires produced by interior design students exploring light and shadow patterns and exploring a new modeling technology and C) U.S. EPA-funded LED desk lamp project by undergraduate students; exhibited at the National Sustainability Expo. The three projects’ requirements were different. A and C had an emphasis on available material and sustainability, B had a technology emphasis and used biodegradable material. Researchers found students’ luminaire design projects exhibited a great deal of variation across the convenience sample (n= 5, 22 and 18 for A, B and C respectively). Team compositions and disciplines varied. The use of various attributes: 3D printing; sustainable, local, or “found” materials; technology; light sources; and universities’ facilities’ with workshop availability varied across the projects. For B, 73% of participants reported the use of 3-D printing improved their effectiveness as an Interior Designer. Each project presented a unique learning opportunity.