Article
Construction & Building Technology
Radoslav Ponechal, Peter Barnak, Pavol Durica
Summary: This study focuses on the Research Centre building of the University of Zilina, examining the impact of the building envelope and infill cooling system on the indoor environment. Through measurements and simulations, it was found that choosing appropriate personal factors can reduce the differences between the measurement and simulation results.
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Robert Flores, Sammy Houssainy, Weixi Wang, Joseph Robertson, Khanh Nguyen Cu, Ben Polly, Ramin Faramarzi, Jim Maclay, Jack Brouwer
Summary: This work presents the development process of an accurate community-scale energy model for a low-income community in Huntington Beach, CA. The model relies on publicly available data and emphasizes the importance of partnerships for successful model development. The model demonstrates a physics-based approach using the URBANopt platform and achieves a high level of accuracy compared to utility data, making it a valuable tool for evaluating clean energy investments.
ENERGY AND BUILDINGS
(2023)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Walter Fornari, Grigori Grozman, Niklas Wikstroem, Per Sahlin
Summary: An alternative to accurate Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations for obtaining detailed descriptions of air flows and temperature fields in a zone is to use zonal models, which deliver reasonably accurate predictions of thermal comfort with shorter computational times. However, none of these models have been implemented in building performance simulation (BPS) tools. This paper presents the development and implementation of a BLOCK zonal model within the IDA ICE (BPS) software, which combines a multi-node 1D model, flow element theory, and an appropriate algorithm for estimating view-factors in non-convex geometries with obstacles. The model is validated against test cases and proves suitable for predicting thermal stratification.
ENERGY AND BUILDINGS
(2023)
Review
Construction & Building Technology
Chun Yin Siu, William O'Brien, Marianne Touchie, Marianne Armstrong, Abdelaziz Laouadi, Abhishek Gaur, Zahra Jandaghian, Iain Macdonald
Summary: This paper provides a critical review of past modeling and simulation research on quantifying the thermal resilience of buildings and discusses future research needed to enhance practice and building codes. The paper defines a framework for building performance simulation-aided resilience quantification and reviews topics such as heat stress, resilience metrics, model assumptions, simulation tool capabilities, weather file selection, and visualization methods. The paper concludes with a discussion on fundamental research and future tool development needed to accelerate the transition from research to practice.
BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Silvia Angela Mansi, Ilaria Pigliautile, Marco Arnesano, Anna Laura Pisello
Summary: Personal comfort models (PCM) represent the most promising paradigm for human-centric thermal comfort in buildings. Advances in wearable sensing suggest that the use of physiological data for real-time comfort measurement can be the start-up of the next generation of building design and operation with PCMs. This study presents the results from a large original experimental campaign aiming at human thermal comfort decoding via physiological signal, demonstrating the potential of physiological measurements in identifying specific thermal sensations.
BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Rui Bo, Wen-Shao Chang, Yang Yu, Yitong Xu, Haibo Guo
Summary: Given the forecasts of global warming and heatwaves, concern is growing about the exacerbation of overheating in dwellings in severe cold and cold regions of China. However, this concern has been neglected by Chinese national building codes and standards. This research aims to reveal overheating risk in these regions of China and identify deficiencies in local standards using validated simulation results and empirical data.
BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Yuan Su, Zongmao Li, Qinglin Meng, Qinfeng Zhao, Xuezheng Wu, Qiaochu Liu, Zhirui Wu, Chanjuan Wang
Summary: High-density urban development is negatively impacting the outdoor microclimate of residential areas. This study found that the spatial forms of buildings significantly influence outdoor thermal comfort in residential blocks. Parameters such as vegetation volume to built-up volume and landscape otherness have a significant impact on optimizing outdoor thermal comfort.
BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Thermodynamics
Ruirui Zhu, Yibin Liu, Baowen Yan, Xiaotong Zhang, Liyun Yuan, Yefan Wang, Yanting Pan
Summary: The study selected the famous Badaguan District in Qingdao as the object and conducted simulations using ENVI-met. The results show that reducing the green space and increasing the building density deteriorate the microclimate, and the thermal environment of the basic case is the best.
CASE STUDIES IN THERMAL ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Sergio Rodriguez Miranda, G. O. Gamboa, Marco Antonio Zamora-Antunano, Nein Farrera-Vazquez, Raul Garcia-Garcia
Summary: The aim of using electromechanical air conditioning in buildings is to maintain thermal comfort, but it consumes 40% of a building's total energy, leading to economic and environmental impacts due to reliance on fossil fuels. To improve performance and reduce usage, the incorporation of a solar chimney was simulated and evaluated using computational fluid dynamics. The results show that the solar chimney induces air flow and achieves speeds suitable for comfort zones, making it a potential solution for reducing energy consumption.
Article
Construction & Building Technology
D. Satola, A. Houlihan-Wiberg, A. Gustavsen
Summary: In India, a quarter of citizens live in unsuitable slums. To address the increasing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, affordable and comfortable multifamily building designs with low lifecycle emissions are needed. This study identifies influential design parameters and proposes optimal strategies for reducing lifecycle GHG emissions and costs.
ENERGY AND BUILDINGS
(2022)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Malgorzata Fedorczak-Cisak, Alicja Kowalska-Koczwara, Krzysztof Nering, Filip Pachla, Elzbieta Radziszewska-Zielina, Piotr Stecz, Tadeusz Tatara, Tomasz Jelenski
Summary: Historic buildings have limited possibilities for improving energy efficiency and comfort due to their construction features and heritage values. This article presents a methodology for measuring and diagnosing important features for energy performance and comfort improvements, using a historic masonry building in Southern Poland as an example. The research found that the acceptable level of thermal, acoustic, and aesthetic comfort was exceeded. Thermal and acoustic comfort can be addressed through optimized technical measures, while aesthetic comfort requires research-through-design to address the complex relationship between the perceiver and the environment.
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Bruna de Souza Apolinario, Luiz Fernando Kowalski
Summary: This study aims to analyze the thermal viability of EPS core panels in Brazilian bioclimatic zones and compare it with masonry with ceramic blocks. The results showed that EPS core panels have higher thermal load than masonry in hot zones, but they can significantly reduce the thermal load in cold regions when combined with high solar absorptance and shading. Thus, this study identified the technical feasibility of EPS core panels and provided guidance for professionals and public agents in the construction sector.
JOURNAL OF BUILDING ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Tiantian Xu, Runming Yao, Chenqiu Du, Baizhan Li, Fangxin Fang
Summary: Understanding the relationship between past thermal experience and outdoor thermal comfort is important for sustainable urban design and city resilience. This study aims to reveal the quantitative relations and develop a new model by conducting a year-long survey and campaign in Chongqing, China. The results show that the temperature of past outdoor thermal experience is correlated with thermal sensitivity, deviation, and outdoor thermal demands. Based on the analysis, a new model has been developed and outdoor adaptive thermal comfort zones have been drawn.
BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Maria Hurnik, Joanna Ferdyn-Grygierek, Jan Kaczmarczyk, Piotr Koper
Summary: This paper analyzed the effectiveness of the ventilation and cooling systems in a sports hall and examined the possibility of meeting the cooling demands through the existing air conditioning system. The study found that the current ventilation air flow cannot remove the heat gains from the hall.
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Dinesh Kumar Shahi, Hom Bahadur Rijal, Genku Kayo, Masanori Shukuya
Summary: Nepalese households have been using electricity from hydropower plants at a low rate compared to other countries, and residents adjust their indoor environments with primitive methods. The study focuses on improving the thermal comfort of residents by enhancing the thermal insulation of houses. Conducted in different regions, the research found regional differences in comfort temperatures and revealed that enhancing thermal insulation can increase indoor air temperature.
BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
