Search

• The impact of installation environment for a condensing unit in a plant room of apartment dwelling was evaluated. • As the louver window open area ratio decreases, the input power of the air conditioner increases in a logarithmic function. • As the rear clearance distance decreases, the input power of the air conditioner increases in a logarithmic function. • Insect screen in a plant room can deteriorate the performance of the condensing unit. • Using air-guide can offset the negative impact of louver window or insect screen on air discharge performance. In many countries, split-type air conditioners have been widely used in residential buildings due to the high energy efficiency. It has been reported that optimal heat exchange conditions are necessary for the condensing unit of the air source air conditioner to perform at its rated level, particularly when installed in an apartment building's plant room. This study analyzes the impact of installation parameters of a condensing unit of a split-type air conditioner, such as the clearance distance from the rear surface of the condensing unit, the louver angle, and the use of insect screen or air-guide, on the cooling performance. The findings from the experiments and the correlations between parameters and input power presented in this paper would be useful in designing residential buildings with split-type air conditioners and air conditioner plant rooms for optimal cooling performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-rise residential building façades (HRBFs), given their size and abundant façade information, pose a challenge for conventional parsing methods. This paper presents FaçadeGraph, an approach for parsing the information of HRBFs into hierarchical attributed graphs. The method decomposes HRBF information into five hierarchical layers: ternary, floor, unit, space, and component. The façade elements are identified as semantics information with geometric attributes. The topological relationships between the elements are classified into affiliation, connection, aggregation, and decoration. The efficacy of FaçadeGraph was evaluated through the analysis of 36 HRBFs in China. The result showed that FaçadeGraph is effective in transforming diverse façade designs into consolidated graphs for automated syntax analyses. The paper contributes to the knowledge body of façade design by serving as an analytical tool for design feature analysis and underlying the development of generative HRBF design. • An attributed graph-based façade parsing approach is proposed. • A hierarchical structure is used to indicate façade elements for semantic analysis. • Universally applicable rules are defined for façade representation. • The framework is validated by a dataset of façades on 36 high-rise buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a previously misidentified antler tool from Esztergom-Várhegy-Kőbánya (North Hungary), which was found in the late medieval kitchen residue of the archbishopric palace. The arrow shaft plane, an implement used together with a knife for smoothing the wooden bolts of (cross)bows, is a rare type of tool whose role was misinterpreted by several authors in the past although its ethnographic parallels made from both antler and wood in Siberia has been described already by the turn of 19th to 20th century. This work aims to summarise all the published arrow shaft planes from Hungary and abroad by presenting their origin, context, and individual features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to electricity remains elusive for over 700 million people worldwide. Although much attention has been given to solving this vexing problem in the context of communities in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, often overlooked is that in even within so-called developed countries access to electricity might not be universal. It is estimated that more than 200,000 people living in North America do not have a connection to the electric grid. Many of these people live on Native American reservations or other Tribal Lands. Recently, there has been a concerted effort in the public, private, and non-profit sectors to electrify these homes with off-grid solar systems. This paper analyzes the electrical energy usage characteristics of 127 homes on the Navajo reservation in the southwestern United States. The homes have identical 3.8 kW solar arrays, 35.1 kWh 48 V gel lead acid battery banks, and 8 kW inverters. High-resolution inverter data was collected from these systems for a two-year period. Several statistical analyses were conducted on the data, including computing the statistical moments, creating empirical distributions of daily consumption, and analyzing consumption variation across different timescales. The results show average consumption of 2.78 kWh per day, but with a wide range of variation among homes. The implications of the analyses on pre-implementation system design, post-implementation interventions, and comparisons to incipient electricity consumption characteristics elsewhere in the world are discussed. The use of the average daily consumption in data-driven load estimation is evaluated and found to offer promising improvements over survey-based methods. • Analysis of 2-years of load data from off-grid residential solar systems on the Navajo Nation. • The study finds average daily consumption to be 2.78 kWh/day but with wide variation among the homes. • Statistical characteristics including statistical moments and quantiles are provided. • Analyses show how different component sizes could meet load and reliability targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The residential building sector & transportation sector has received significant attention in recent years due to carbon emissions affecting the livelihoods of humans. Electric vehicles (EVs) are poised to play a vital role in reducing dependency on non-renewable fuels and the transportation sector's environmental implications. Building integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV), on the other hand, will be able to cut down the energy requirements and contribute to building sustainability. This paper evaluates the energy, economic, and environmental performances of BIPV with EV charging system systems for a building in Canberra, Australia. BIPV with EV charging can assist in fulfilling building energy needs, charging electric vehicles, and reducing grid reliance. Different load scenarios were studied to optimize system size. Different panel layouts with orientation have been studied for the 5.0kWp BIPV system, each module rating 355kWp. The annual energy output of the BIPV system was found to vary between 8.56 MWh for layout one and 7.08MWh for layout 3. It was found that the payback back of the proposed BIPV system is 4.46 years, LCOE of 0.074AUD/kWh and EV charging cost of 0.95AUD/100 km. The BIPV with EV charging system could save approximately 160,198 kgCO 2 e in GHG emissions over its lifespan. • The estimated annual energy for the BIPV system with Layout 1 is 8.56MWh. • The energy supplied to the grid was found to be positive in the BIPV system. • The performance ratio of the proposed layouts for the BIPV system is 81.7 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we investigate the implications for housing taxation when households have status concerns for residential housing. For this purpose we introduce a residential housing sector and status concerns for housing into a neoclassical model with heterogeneous agents. First, finding that status concerns exert a negative externality, we calculate a progressive Pigovian tax schedule that corrects for the externality. Implementing the tax schedule is associated with a moderate aggregate welfare gain, but has a sizable and diverse impact on household groups' welfare. Second, we find that when the utilitarian social planner is constrained to housing taxes, Pigovian taxation is not constraint efficient. We show that the welfare maximizing tax of the constrained optimum is always higher than the Pigovian tax, and we analyze the mechanism behind this finding. Our results have strong implications for the optimal taxation of residential housing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Optimal Window-to-Wall Ratios were recommended for various building orientation. • Integrated models with different glazing area and orientation combinations were proposed. • Daylight factor, air temperature and air velocity were computed for each test scenario. • Three optimal intervals of Window-to-Wall Ratio were determined respectively. • Intersection interval of the three subsets is the optimal interval of Window-to-Wall Ratio. Since the ratio of glazing and opaque areas on building facade has significant impact on the indoor visual and thermal comforts as well as energy consumption, the optimal Window-to-Wall Ratio is necessary to be explored for the rural residences with a large quantity in China. Due to the traditional dwellings has been representative of housing samples among rural residences, Sizhai traditional dwellings situated in Zhejiang Province were chosen as the study buildings in this paper. The building model is rotated to 20° increments clockwise to create 18 building orientation intervals. Furthermore, the Window-to-Wall Ratio of front facade for the building model was divided into 8 intervals at increments of 0.1, from [0.1–0.2] to [0.8–0.9]. Through indoor environment simulation, the daylight factor, air temperature and air velocity were computed for the test scenarios with different building orientation and Window-to-Wall Ratio combinations. Three optimal intervals of Window-to-Wall Ratios at a series of building orientations corresponding to the daylight factor, mean maximum indoor temperature and mean indoor air velocity are determined respectively, based on the criteria of national codes and thermal comfort ranges. The intersection interval of the three subsets is the optimal interval of Window-to-Wall Ratio for the study building. In addition, for verifying the accuracy of research results, two validation techniques (i.e., comparison of experimental measurement data, and comparison of computational results from other simulation tools) were adopted in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 45–60% probability internal doors are closed while sleeping (all respondents). • Property type, presence of children and pets influence door closing habits. • Respondents in apartments more likely to close bedroom doors. • Respondents with pets and children typically more likely to leave doors open. • Results suggest daily activities prioritised over safety benefits of closing doors. It is generally accepted that keeping doors closed provides a means of protection by limiting smoke and fire spread. In the design of domestic buildings, it is therefore often assumed that occupants maintain a habit of keeping internal doors closed. The paper presents the results of an online survey to determine respondents' internal door closing habits for their domestic premises. This attracted 304 responses (250 of which were from the UK) and was then followed by a more detailed survey, attracting 26 replies, to elaborate on respondents' rationale behind their habits. The findings indicate that the overall probability that a kitchen, living room and bedroom door are closed while occupants are sleeping is 46%, 45% and 60%, respectively. It was found that the type of property, and whether respondents have children or pets, all have an influence on door closing habits. Respondents who lived in apartments were found to be up to 27% less likely to close kitchen or living room doors but more likely to close bedroom doors before going to sleep (+19%). In all instances, respondents with pets were typically more likely to keep doors open (ranging from 0% difference to +16%). However, when considering door closing behaviours for pet owners independent of the property type, it was found there was no statistically significant difference for bedroom door closing habits when sleeping. The analyses in this paper ultimately point towards the potential for daily household activities to take priority over the safety benefits which internal doors can provide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of a photovoltaic (PV) system for zero energy buildings is crucial to balance energy consumption. This paper investigated the potential of PV systems for buildings in different climate zones of China. The tilt angle, orientation, plot ratio, PV conversion efficiency and location were selected to study their influences on electricity production. The performance of the PV system was analyzed based on a residential building, and employed RETScreen in combination with TRNSYS. The results indicate that southwest China is the best place to develop zero energy buildings. Low-rise residential buildings can realize zero energy in China when the PV conversion efficiency is higher than 20%. However, an energy balance only occurs in the southwest when the PV conversion efficiency is 10%. For different building heights, with a high conversion efficiency (20%), the energy consumptions rates are less than 15 kW h/m2a all over China. In the southeast, the effect of the building shape on energy generation can be ignored due to the high solar elevation angle in the summer. Although the optimal tilt angle varies for different cities, the energy deviations are less than 10% when tilt angle is within 10° of the optimal angle. This study proposed a formula to evaluate the potential of a building PV system. The maximum difference between the simulated and calculated results is approximately 10%, which is reasonable and acceptable. This paper provides some references for the application of PV systems in zero energy buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growing need for residential buildings as a result of population growth, the building sector is a high-priority area in climate change due to its large share of CO 2 emissions, the significant energy saving opportunities it represents, and the increasing expectations for occupant comfort. This paper presents the results of climate change impact assessment on a typical mid-rise residential building in four representative cities with different climatic characteristics in Turkey. Three different scenarios that characterize different solutions towards space cooling are developed, from naturally ventilated to fully air-conditioned. The energy requirements and corresponding CO 2 emissions due to space conditioning as well as occupant thermal comfort are the investigated building performance metrics. The preliminary results based on energy simulations indicate that pronounced overheating will be experienced in the future, which will have a strong effect on cooling energy use and/or occupant comfort. The projected energy demand also points to the future need to explore measures for climate change adaptation of buildings and the importance of the decarbonization of the electricity industry for climate change mitigation. The analysis results presented in this paper provide a basis for future studies on building retrofit for climate change. • Evaluation of climate change impact on a typical residential building in Turkey. • Cooling is to dominate thermal loads due to increased temperatures. • Warmer climates to be influenced most by negative effects. • Severe overheating for poorly ventilated, highly insulated buildings. • Adaptation measures needed for climate-proofing existing buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different types of high-rise residential buildings have proliferated in different countries at least since the 1940s, for a range of reasons. This paper aims to provide an overview of the current state of evidence on how planning, urban design and architectural aspects of high-rise residential buildings may influence social well-being and mental health. A systematic review following the PRISMA guidelines was conducted. Searches for peer-reviewed papers were conducted in MEDLINE, Embase, PsycInfo, Scopus, SciELO, and Web of Science; 4100 papers were assessed. 23 empirical studies published between 1971 and 2016 were included. The review found that house type, floor level, as well as spaces intrinsic to high-rise residential buildings (e.g. shared stairwells) are associated with social well-being and mental health. However, conceptual gaps and methodological inconsistencies still characterise most of the research in this field. We expect that research about and policy attention to this subject may intensify due to its strategic relevance in the face of global challenges such as increasing urbanization and loneliness. This paper concludes by highlighting a number of recommendations for future research. • House type, floor level, and spaces intrinsic to high-rises are associated with social well-being and mental health. • Most research shows methodological problems and lack of conceptual consensus. • Cross-national research and studies in cities in the Global South are needed. • There is a lack of studies on positive mental health. • Mediators, moderators and confounding variables need to be studied conjointly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Combining several different heating devices in a hybrid installation is possible. • The RES share in heat production in hybrid installation may be significant. • The passive cooling mode of heat pumps is highly energy-efficient. • The efficiency of the ground heat pump in heating mode ranged from 3.5 to 3.8. The article presents long-term results of experimental tests of a hybrid installation (HI) consisting of four heating devices, three of which use renewable energy sources (RES). The HI is operating in a residential and retail building located near Kraków, in southern Poland. There is little experience with the operation of such installations, therefore, the purpose of this paper is to discuss significant aspects related to the implementation and operation of HI in a moderate, transitory climate. The research was carried out from 2011 to 2017. The share of solar collectors in annual heat generation ranged between 7.4% and 12.5%, with an average annual efficiency to 38%. The annual performance of a ground-source heat pump in the heating mode ranged from 3.5 to 3.8, and in the passive cooling mode, it reached up to 11.87. The annual efficiency of a gas condensing boiler was from 77.5% to 82.2%. Annually, the largest amounts of heat were supplied by a biomass boiler i.e. from 30% to as much as 50%. The paper disclosed clearly that it is possible to reach in HI high level of RES share in heat generation. A key issue requiring further research is the development of appropriate algorithms in the control systems of HI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Energy simulation of AIS using experimentally validated thermal resistances. • AIS evaluation at varying orientations, climate zones, and switching ratios. • Investigation of AIS switching and wall thermal conductivity/heat transfer. • Application of freeze timer to reduce the number of switches of AIS. Active insulation systems (AISs) in buildings are envelopes that integrate thermal insulation, thermal energy storage, and controls. Although different designs for AISs have been proposed in the literature, a comprehensive analysis of feasible AISs is lacking. This paper discusses the energy performance, peak demand reduction potential, and performance characteristics of an AIS that uses a concrete wall as thermal mass sandwiched between two solid-state thermal switches (STSs). These STSs change their thermal conductivity using an on/off metal switch to create or break a thermal bridge across the STS. This paper first describes the experimental setup, used to determine the ratio of thermal resistance during R-high (low thermal conductivity) and R-low (high thermal conductivity) states of the STSs. This ratio was then used in whole-building energy simulations to evaluate the performance of AIS walls across different climate zones with/without a freeze timer of 60 min. The timer was added to reduce the number of switches of STSs from one state to another, and hence the energy needed for these switches. Analysis of the switching frequency and interval of STSs, thermal conductivity of walls, impact of wall orientation, and heat transfer through the wall from the use of AIS at different climate zones/locations were performed. The simulation results show that the AIS can achieve energy savings ranging from ∼ 980 to 2,290 kWh in a single-family home with a floor area of ∼ 220 m2 compared with an IECC 2018 baseline. The energy savings was higher in dry climate zones which represent 17% of residential buildings in the United States, compared to humid or marine climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following a disaster, a quick and reliable evaluation of structural damage and its classification is one of the crucial steps to making decisions and disaster management. Based on a reliable evaluation of structural damage and proper classification of buildings, decisions related to structural performance (functionality), repair possibility, or in severe cases, a replacement could be made. The results of current research are obtained from a comprehensive and meticulous investigation of more than 81 damaged steel and RC buildings after the Sarpol-e Zahab (Iran) earthquake. First, a detailed explanation of various types of structural and non-structural damage to buildings is provided. Then, based on the severity, extent, and types of damage and the observed residual drift for steel structures, buildings are classified into five damage states. The damage types are the more frequently observed damage in different elements. The inherent quantitative classification of buildings into five damage states makes this approach a precise and useful tool to investigate buildings more reliably following earthquakes. Part-1 of this research (current paper) discusses various types of observed damage and the classification of buildings into damage states. In part-2 of this research (accompanying paper), a damage index is proposed based on the results of part-1 and empirical vulnerability curves for different types of damaged buildings are developed. • A comprehensive investigation of damaged RC and steel buildings is reported. • The more frequently observed types of damages are classified for 81 buildings. • The new qualitative and quantitative Damage states are presented. • Suggested damage states can be useful guides to quick and reliable assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic have led to significant changes in travel behaviour and public activities, and they might have contributed to changes in residential location choices. However, research examining the relationship between residential location choice and COVID-19 is very limited. To that end, this paper focuses on how pandemic-induced changes in work patterns, travel preferences and daily activity patterns have altered residential preferences and potentially, relocation trends. The main determinants of residential location choice have been established in the literature over the past 30 years: physical attributes of the dwelling; surrounding built environment; affordability; and accessibility to transportation, workplaces, and services. However, each of these determinants are prioritised differently depending on the circumstances. Therefore, exploring how these priorities have shifted after the pandemic can pave the way for understanding how preferences for residential location choice shift as a consequence. From the review, the key findings include the decreasing importance of transport and workplace accessibility in residential location choice after the pandemic. Firstly, teleworking is becoming more prevalent within office jobs than before the pandemic, leading to less frequent trips to conventional workplaces, reducing the need to live within a commutable distance to a workplace. Secondly, trips to other activities have likewise become less frequent due to either remote alternatives (e.g., online shopping) or shifting towards services closer to home, reducing the need to travel in general. Another consequence of the pandemic is people staying at home longer than before, thus increasing the need for more desirable dwelling attributes such as larger house size and wider surrounding green space. Since these attributes are generally more affordable in areas less accessible to transport and services, this may subsequently lead to migrations to areas of lower population density, potentially decentralising urban areas. • Long-term teleworking has reduced the need to live near the workplace post-pandemic. • Residential preferences shift towards desirable dwellings at affordable prices. • Prevalence of online shopping has led to permanent changes in retail destinations. • Transport preference inclines towards car dependency over sustainable modes. • Overall findings suggest a potential shift towards urban decentralisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Gentrification precedes and follows the opening of new parks in Los Angeles. • Gentrification precedes the opening of new parks in Chicago. • Gentrification precedes and follows the opening of non-regional parks in Los Angeles. • Stronger evidence of gentrification preceding greening farther from downtown in Los Angeles. • Gentrification follows greening close to downtown but not farther away in Los Angeles. The health benefits of green space have led to calls for equitable access to parks. When new green spaces are built in low-income communities, however, gentrification often ensues. The "green gentrification" literature has paid little attention to gentrification that might occur before greening. In this paper, we explore whether and under which circumstances gentrification might precede and follow greening, a process known as the "green gentrification cycle." Focusing on Los Angeles and Chicago, we build hedonic models focused on single-family homes sold in 2010–2021 and run post-hoc pairwise comparison tests to assess price changes over time for homes within a half-mile of new parks (treatment) and farther (control). When considering all new parks, we find that gentrification is associated with subsequent greening and, to some extent, that greening is associated with ensuing gentrification in Los Angeles. In Chicago, gentrification is associated with subsequent greening, but new parks are not associated with ensuing gentrification. Models distinguishing larger regional from smaller non-regional parks show evidence of gentrification before and after non-regional parks were built in Los Angeles, but not for regional parks. In Los Angeles, we identify stronger evidence of gentrification preceding greening farther from downtown than closer to downtown, and signals of gentrification after greening near downtown but not farther away. Models focusing on new parks built near transit stations show inconclusive results. Despite methodological limitations (e.g., examining a single measure of gentrification and different park types together), our findings shed light on the complex spatiotemporal relationships between greening and gentrification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kahramanmaraş and its surroundings were devastated with major earthquake doublets of M w = 7.8 Pazarcık and M w = 7.6 Elbistan/Ekinözü on February 6th, 2023. While a wide scatter of reinforced concrete (RC) structures experienced damage, mid-rise residential buildings constitute a large bulk with heavy damage or total collapse. Among many reasons, poor concrete strength and brittle fracture of rebars along with liquefaction-caused soil deformations contributed to building damage. This paper investigates structural, geotechnical, and architectural conditions of mid-rise RC residential buildings with heavy damage. The geotechnical component includes the investigation of liquefaction-caused settlement and subsidence of loose foundation soils. Architectural reconnaissance suggests that commonly encountered design mistakes observed in past earthquakes were repeated. Field investigation concludes that loose saturated silty and sandy soils exhibit liquefaction leading to permanent damage on the mid-rise buildings while tunnel-form code-designed RC buildings with seven-to-ten stories performed well. • Sub-standard residential mid-rise RC buildings experienced heavy damage or total collapses. • Loose silty sand and sandy silt-type saturated soils were liquefied along Hatay's the western coast and at some inland deposits. • Liquefaction and related settlement, subsidence, ground deformations and surface cracking contributed to massive damage. • Mid-rise code-designed tunnel form systems performed well with minor/repairable damage in their coupling beams. • Hollow fired bricks or hollow concrete blocks have caused high levels of non-structural damage due to their brittle behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effectively utilizing low-grade thermal energy is a promising approach to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions while reducing the burden on centralized power grids. Current thermoacoustic heat pumps and power generators face challenges such as high onset temperature differentials and low performance. This paper addresses these challenges by introducing a gas-liquid resonator into a thermoacoustic combined heat and power systems to recover low-grade thermal energy in residential buildings. Through Sage modeling and calculations, the internal characteristics of the proposed system and its output performance under different operating conditions are explored. At a heating temperature of 350 °C, the system can generate 6.4 kW of output thermal power, 0.9 kW of electricity, and overall exergy efficiency is 79.3 %. Combining neural network models with case studies conducted in Spain and Finland, the system can annually save 5.6 MWh and 20.7 MWh in fuel energy, reduce emissions of 1374 kg and 5180 kg of carbon dioxide, and save a total cost of €611 and €2324, respectively. Furthermore, comparisons with other emerging micro-CHP systems highlight the efficiency of the proposed system. These results indicate the high potential of thermoacoustic combined heat and power systems in recovering low-grade thermal energy and achieving energy savings and emission reductions. • Introducing an innovative thermoacoustic micro-CHP system. • Achieving an exergy efficiency of 79.3 % under standard operating conditions. • One system can annually reduce household CO 2 emissions by 5180 kg. • Ideal for households, balancing lower output levels for both heat and electricity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retrofitting the building stock is pivotal to achieving climate neutrality by 2050. Most of the existing research on energy efficiency focuses on new residential buildings. The focus must shift to multi-building retrofits, thereby more frequently including non-residential buildings. As multi-building and non-residential projects are given a lighthouse role in achieving current global climate goals, more research should focus on this potential. This study covers single- and multi-building retrofitting projects. It also explores the role of non-residential projects, typical project settings, energy reduction achievements and the added complexity of the multi-building scale. The chosen methodology combines a systematic literature search with a subsequent critical metadata and full-text review of more than 80 peer-reviewed scientific papers. The results show that the number of studies in the research field has increased substantially in the last few years, while the research mostly originates from Europe and focuses on the residential building typology. This research is partly transferable to similar climate zones elsewhere, while a large proportion of climate zones remains unexplored. The current body of definitions and requirements regarding energy retrofitting is an impediment to the comparability of projects, and particularly the multi-building scale is in need of international guidance. Future research should focus on making retrofit measures more applicable internationally, while unifying project boundaries. The stronger inclusion of non-residential retrofitting projects as lighthouse projects including social aspects is needed. Retrofitting that covers energy production and sharing has great potential and should be seen as an opportunity. [Display omitted] • Multi-building retrofitting is emerging but requires clearer international guides. • Europe stands for most publications, motivated by policies and climate goals. • Most of the reported energy retrofits do not satisfy "deep retrofitting" goals. • Multi-building retrofitting results in added social and technical difficulties. • Clearer international guidelines and best practices needed to reach climate goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Indoor thermal comfort for sleeping environments computed with Comsol Multiphysics. • Local building materials properties were considered in the building's simulation. • Solar radiation direction computed from longitude, latitude, month and day's time. • The perception of thermal comfort of residents also obtained from a questionnaire. • Building average indoor temperature increased of 0.46 °C between 10p.m and 4 a.m. Thermal comfort is a feeling of well-being in an indoor environment. It is a guarantee of a good development of people in a building. For more than three months, many complaints were recorded in the West region of Cameroon and particularly in the city of Bandjoun. Indeed, people complain of high temperatures during sleep (between 10p.m and 4 a.m). These temperature increases led to a situation of indoor thermal discomfort in residential buildings in sleeping environments. This paper investigates numerically the three-dimensional indoor thermal comfort for sleeping environments in residential buildings constructed with local materials (concrete blocks and compressed earth bricks) in the city of Bandjoun. The novelty of the present work resides first in the computation of the direction of the incident solar radiation over the simulation time from longitude, latitude, time zone, time of the year, and time of the day. Secondly, it takes into account the various materials used for the roof (aluminum), ceiling (Bubinga wood), walls (concrete blocks/compressed earth bricks), window (glass), door (Bubinga wood) and its handle (aluminum). Finally, the solar and ambient wavelength dependence of emissivity model is used to account for differing emissivities in different wavelength bands. The multidimensional calculations were performed using Comsol Multiphysics 5.6. In addition, a questionnaire was developed to obtain the perception of residents. The numerical results obtained were in good agreement with the overall perception of residents because it was observed average increases of temperatures of 0.38 °C (between 24.57 °C and 24.95 °C) and 0.53 °C (between 24.77 °C and 25.3 °C) between 10p.m and 4 a.m respectively for buildings made with compressed earth bricks material and concrete blocks material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prediction of future consumption is vital for building management in general and green buildings in particular. A certified green building should meet an evaluation criterion of resource efficiency throughout its life cycle. This paper presents a hybrid model that combines a profile averaging model and a machine learning model, namely random forest regressor method, for improved far horizon forecasting (10% improvement when the prediction horizon is 1 week). The proposed hybrid model is modular, explainable, and does not entail a large dataset. The feature analysis highlighted the importance of explicit time encoding by feeding the time as an input feature to the forecasting model (importance factor of 35%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many of the variables that describe property attributes are continuous. Additionally, during the digitization of the real estate market, analysts have access to a large amount of information. This overload of information (many observations, many attributes) makes it difficult to analyse the data and identify patterns. For continuous variables, therefore, discretization is recommended, which among other things: speeds up calculations, increases the transparency of results, facilitates interpretation, allows the use of variables with outliers. The subject of the study is a mixed property offered for sale. The authors study the time of sale of properties depending on their area, using the method of duration analysis and the Kaplan-Meier estimator. However, these methods require attributes to be in categorical, nominal or symbolic form. In real estate research, continuous variables are most often discretized using expert knowledge and a lack of proposed solutions to this problem in the literature. There is also a lack of research on comparing the effectiveness of different discretization methods. Therefore, the paper proposes a discretization of real estate area according to thirteen selected methods. The result of the discretization should be, among others, disjoint intervals and significantly different time of sale in selected subgroups, which was the basis for assessing the effectiveness of selected methods. Due to the large number of observations (3,732), methods referring to the number of observations and the range of values proved unsuitable, with equal-frequency methods generating a larger number of classes than equal-width methods. As a result of using methods discretizing the variable into too few classes (4), selling time did not differ significantly among subgroups. The best results were obtained using the minimum entropy method and expert indication of the interval span. The results can be used in the practice of selling residential real estate, as preliminary information about the time of sale depending on the area of the flat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that attempts to transform Australia's urban environment into a sufficiently sustainable one has been misdirected. The 'green rating tool,' industry's adherence to relevant standards and governmental policies represent the primary means of effecting the sustainability transition. However, only high-profile commercial building owners seem interested in being green-rated; the actual end-users of buildings are far less committed (e.g. employees ensconced in commercial buildings and residential home occupiers). Through a systematic review of 103 journal articles published on the topic of end-users and sustainability transition, original findings are presented. The findings reveal that most residential end-users do not purchase green homes and without their 'buy-in,' sustainability transition across Australia will continue to fail. This paper offers a critical analysis of the status-quo, identifying where the effort to generate a sustainable urban environment has been misdirected, what challenges prevail, and why residential end-users have been overlooked. In looking for a way forward that engages end-users, the paper proposes that financial incentives for the purchase of low-carbon buildings must be introduced into the residential real-estate market. And the modeling for this rebate is discussed in terms of emissions trading schemes or carbon tax. • Attempts to transform Australia's urban environment into a sufficiently sustainable one have not generated desirable outcomes. • A systematic review of 103 journal articles is conducted on the topic of end-users and sustainability transition. • Residential end-users do not purchase green homes and without their 'buy[HYPHEN]in,' sustainability transition will fail. • Financial incentives for the purchase of low-carbon buildings must be introduced into the residential real-estate market. • The modeling for the rebate is discussed in terms of emissions trading schemes or carbon tax. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper presents a state-of-the-art on seismic isolation in Italy and the most important applications. After a brief introduction on the basic concepts of seismic isolation, applications to new strategic and public buildings are shown, as well as to new residential buildings, pointing out the very good behavior shown by the seismically isolated structures during real seismic events. Then, attention is focused on the retrofit of existing buildings, which represents the real challenge for the future. The most interesting applications on existing reinforced concrete, masonry and historic structures are shown, pointing out the specific challenges for each case. Finally, recordings obtained during the seismic sequence that struck Central Italy since August 24th, 2016, are presented and discussed. These are useful in analyzing the behavior of base isolation systems and their effectiveness under low energy earthquakes. Highlights • This paper presents an up-to-date state–of-the art of seismic isolation in Italy. The paper wants: • To report and illustrate the most interesting applications that followed the most important seismic events in Italy. • To focus the attention on historic structures, which represents the challenge of seismic isolation in the next future. • To discuss the importance of a suitable code to facilitate the applications, both in terms of technical issue and economic issues. • To stress the importance of seismic monitoring to improve our knowledge on the actual behavior of base isolated buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internationally, informal settlements (also known as slums, favelas, shantytowns, ghettos, etc.) are expanding rapidly which have been associated with numerous large fires (where more than 10,000 people can be left homeless in a single disaster [ 1 ]), and an increase in fire related injuries and deaths. As a result of an increase in fire related incidences, various proposed interventions have been funded from governmental or private sources. However, many interventions have been unsuccessful because of technical, political, economic, social or practical issues. It is with the above mentioned in mind that this paper seeks to provide an understanding of fire behavior between multiple informal settlement dwellings (ISDs) as a baseline for future research and experiments. The paper starts by defining informal settlements in terms of construction and continues to look at the potential causes and hazards associated with informal settlement fires. The following two full-scale informal settlement dwelling burn experiments were conducted; (a) three ISDs clad with steel sheeting and (b) three ISDs clad with timber. The heat fluxes and temperatures of both experiments are shown and compared to understand the effect of cladding materials (i.e. timber cladding versus steel cladding, which are mostly used in informal settlements) on fire spread. Some general behavioral observations made during the full-scale experiments are given and discussed (i.e. how fire spreads, collapse mechanisms, etc.). Fire spread times are reported for both experiments, and range between 4 and 9 min (i.e. from the start of flashover in the first dwelling to the end of flashover in the last dwelling). These experiments are one of the bigger ISD experiments conducted to date and are the first experiments that measured heat fluxes for ISDs, which is crucial to understand fire spread. An important finding in this paper is that there is a critical separation distance of 3.8 m needed to prevent fire spread between dwellings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Due to their significant internal heat gain resulting from computer server banks, data centres require cooling year-round, creating an opportunity to transport the waste heat to heat-deficient neighbouring buildings. This paper evaluates the quantity of multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs) that should be connected to a given data centre in order to maximize the portion of shared energy which provides the MURBs' heating energy and the data centre's cooling energy simultaneously. The paper then evaluates the financial viability and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of three different methods with which energy can be shared from a data centre to surrounding MURBs in a community energy network (CEN). The first method, called the Energy Sharing System involves using a heat pump to produce heating and cooling at the same time for the MURBs and the data centre. The second, called the One-Borefield System, has the same energy sharing aspect as the first, with additional heating and cooling coming from geo-exchange. The third method, called the Two-Borefield System, is an innovative approach to geo-exchange, which uses two separate borefields to achieve free cooling, while also incorporating the energy sharing base. The investigation finds that the optimal MURB area that should be connected to a 4000 kW cooling load data centre is 110,000 m2 for the Toronto (Canada) climate. The financial analysis shows that the Energy Sharing System was the most profitable, with a 11.9% 30-year unlevered after-tax internal rate of return (IRR). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • A pre and post renovation energy use analysis of almost 90,000 renovated dwellings. • The (p)rebound effects explain only partly disappointing energy renovation results. • Effectiveness of renovations are dependent on state of building prior to renovation. • Effectiveness of renovations are dependent on type of occupant. • Deep renovations often save less energy than expected but are the most effective. Abstract Energy renovations often result in lower energy savings than expected. Therefore, in this study we investigate nearly 90,000 renovated dwellings in the Netherlands with pre and post renovation data of actual and calculated energy consumption. One of the main additions of this paper, compared to previous studies on thermal renovation, is that it only takes dwellings into account with the same occupants before and after renovation, using a large longitudinal dataset. Overall this paper shows new insights towards the influence of the energy efficiency state of a building prior to energy renovation, the type of building, the number of occupants, the income level of the occupants and the occupancy time on the actual energy savings, the energy saving gap and on the probability of lower energy savings than expected. We also investigate if the influence is different per type of thermal renovation measure. Some of the findings are: it is impossible to conclude which single thermal renovation measure is the most effective because this is dependent on the energy efficiency of the building prior to the energy renovation, type of building, income level and occupancy; occupants with a high income save more energy than occupants with low income; dwellings with employed occupants benefit more from improved building installations than dwellings occupied by unemployed occupants; The prebound and rebound effects are only part of the explanations for lower than expected energy savings; Deep renovations result more often in lower than expected energy savings than single renovation measures but nevertheless they result in the highest average energy saving compared to other thermal renovation measures. The results could be used for more realistic expectations of the energy reduction achieved by thermal renovations, which is important for (amongst others) policy makers, clients and contractors who make use of energy performance contracting, home owners, landlords and (social) housing associations and as a starting point to improve the energy calculation method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents analysis from 'a study of staff and patient experiences of the restrictive environments of a forensic psychiatric unit. The paper conceptualises the forensic unit as an impermanent assemblage, enacted in and through practices that hold a future life outside the unit simultaneously near, yet far. We show how the near-far relations between life inside and outside the unit operate in three ways; 1) in relation to the 'care pathway', 2) practices of dwelling, and 3) creating and maintaining connections to life 'beyond' the unit. The paper concludes with a discussion about possible ways to overcome the limitations to recovery that can arise through practices of impermanence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Modern technology has greatly affected buildings' envelope, which has a significant impact on the environmental considerations, users comfort and energy consumption. The paper addresses the subject of buildings' envelopes and the external skin configurations, due to its importance as the first element facing the external environment. The contemporary studies of the environmental sustainability have made such a topic quite significant, especially in the context addressed in the research: residential buildings in Alexandria, Egypt. Such a domain has recently generated a broad debate and drawn increased attention among those involved in the design and management processes, owing to the problem of the increasing energy consumption, especially in the residential buildings, which is accompanied by a noticeable lack of awareness among both the designers and householders about the most suitable technology for building envelopes. The aim of this paper is to test some variables of design and construction, so as to determine the appropriate technology for the environmentally-efficient envelopes of the residential buildings. The presented ideas could be of some significance in formulating useful and applied guidelines in the field of architectural design and re-design of residential buildings/projects. The research introduces a comparative discourse of a literature review covering the different definitions and notions of "Low Technology" and "High Technology", followed by a direct application on a case-specific context. Based on a systematic analysis using an Energy Plus simulation tool, the study concludes a set of statements and guidelines for designers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fragility functions are the key components of damage analysis for the next generation performance-based earthquake engineering (PBEE-2) framework. Despite being widely discussed and researched topic in almost all seismically active regions, fragility functions for Nepali buildings are not widely researched to date. This paper derives empirical fragility functions for residential buildings using more than a million damage data from the 1934 Bihar-Nepal earthquake (M W ∼8.4), 1980 Chainpur earthquake (M W 6.5), 1988 Eastern Nepal earthquake (M W 6.8), 2011 Eastern Nepal earthquake (M W 6.9), and 2015 Gorkha seismic sequence (M W 7.8). A new damage classification system is proposed in this study and fragility functions for reinforced concrete, brick masonry, and stone masonry building classes are derived. As seismic site effects is one of the leading factor contributing damage in the case of Himalayan earthquakes, fragility functions considering seismic site effects are also derived for all three building classes. Finally, fragility functions derived in this study are compared with existing fragility functions and discussion regarding the discrepancies is presented. Together with the fragility functions, building taxonomy and vulnerability of all existing buildings in Nepal are outlined in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes electricity use in buildings and explores key research questions related to assessing, rating, labeling, and benchmarking building energy use. The analysis reviews annual Energy Use Intensity (EUI) data from 3060 fully electric-powered buildings across six categories: residential, educational, offices, hospitals, hotels and restaurants, and wholesale and retail trade services. One-fifth of the analyzed buildings is derived from an energy dataset that offers a higher time-scale resolution, providing more detailed insights into energy usage patterns. The analysis employs various factors, including the seasonal variation factor (SVF), daily variation factor (DVF), monthly factor (M f), and hourly factor (H f), to gain a detailed understanding of actual energy usage at different time scales. The findings indicate that electricity use is less sensitive to seasonal variations than other energy carriers that provide heating and cooling. The paper provides hourly and monthly peak load percentages (PPL), which can indirectly assist in assessing hourly schedules for building energy performance simulations. The monthly energy use pattern varies between building categories, with high-energy months alternating between winter and summer. For non-residential buildings, high-energy hours correspond directly to the daytime, while for residential buildings, there is a shift towards the evening, and the daily amplitude is lower. Furthermore, the analysis of daily and monthly variability of heating energy carriers, even if non-electric, sheds light on the implications of electrification for these loads. • The study evaluates annual electricity data from 3060 fully electric-powered buildings. • Median EUIs are meaningful energy performance benchmarks by building category. • Residential and educational buildings exhibit EUIs of 90-120 kW h/m2. • Offices and hospitals demonstrate EUIs of 160-170 kW h/m2. • Monthly and hourly factors establish energy benchmarks for finer time resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Overheating regulations and calculation methods in 26 European countries were compared. • Most of the existing calculation methods are outdated and do not fit climate-proof buildings. • France requires a mixed-mode operation of naturally ventilated households. • The UK developed a heatwave-based calculation approach. • Comfort-based, multi-zonal, and time-integrated calculation approaches are needed. With the ongoing significance of overheating calculations in the residential building sector, building codes such as the European Energy Performance of Building Directive (EPBD) are essential for harmonizing the indicators and performance thresholds. This paper investigates Europe's overheating calculation methods, indicators, and thresholds and evaluates their ability to address climate change and heat events. e study aims to identify the suitability of existing overheating calculation methods and propose recommendations for the EPBD. The study results provide a cross-sectional overview of twenty-six European countries. The most influential overheating calculation criteria are listed the best approaches are ranked. The paper provides a thorough comparative assessment and recommendations to align current calculations with climate-sensitive metrics. The results suggest a framework and key performance indicators that are comfort-based, multi-zonal, and time-integrated to calculate overheating and modify the EU's next building energy efficiency regulations. The results can help policymakers and building professionals to develop the next overheating calculation framework and approach for the future development of climate-proof and resilient residential buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the policymakers, economy, and societies' primary and ambitious objective has been to make the world cleaner and carbon neutral. One critical problem in reaching these goals is building energy management, including using local energy sources. This paper provides a methodology based on a total sustainable performance index estimated as the "total life cycle costs," including externalities, that apply to a possible energy source, energy generation, energy storage, energy use, and management. The methodology is applicable to comparative analysis of the locally available energy sources, optimization of the energy generation mix, and real-time energy management of the building, especially for individuals and groups of small and private houses. The significant results of this research conducted in this paper show that (i) the effective, optimized energy mix includes 2 or 3 types of locally available energy sources, (ii) the real-time energy support of the building is effective in case of dealing with all the energy sources, energy generation, and energy use methods, (iii) the energy management system should be centralized and supported by a large number of sensors, (iv) developing local micro grid including 20–100 houses increasing the energy supply efficiency for 20–45%. • Residential buildings use 26% of total energy in the European Union. • All the applicable technologies and locally available energy sources must be optimized/managed. • New objective function: overall life cycle cost/unit of energy used (single parameter index). • Concept/methodology created for optimization/management of building energy support. • Developed system improves building energy support for efficiency by 12–26%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reliability levels against which seismic standards are calibrated are currently quantified based on accepted practice, which may not lead to optimal designs that minimize the lifecycle cost. Deviation from optimal design is even more pronounced in countries whose regulations are adopted from the few leading codes. A major challenge in the quantification of optimal target reliability for the countries with such adopted codes is the lack of risk models that are suited for the local construction industry and design practices. This paper presents a holistic risk-based framework to quantify the optimal target reliability for seismic design through the notion of minimum lifecycle cost. To enable the implementation of the framework in countries with adopted provisions, the present paper proposes an approach to adapt the available risk models to the local conditions of those countries. The proposed framework is showcased through the National Building Code of Iran, which is adopted from the codes of the United States, using a case study of five residential steel building archetypes. The archetypes have various structural systems and comprise intermediate moment-resisting frame (IMF) buildings of various heights and special concentrically braced frame (SCBF) buildings. The results reveal 50-year optimal target reliability indices of 2.5, 2.0, and 1.9 for low-, mid-, and high-rise IMF buildings and 2.1 for mid-rise SCBF buildings. • Design codes that are adopted with no recalibration suffer from a lack of adequate safety. • Quantifying target reliability for such codes is challenged by lack of risk models suited for local conditions. • A framework is presented that tailors available risk models to the local industry and practices. • It is applied to the building code of Iran using a case study of three building archetypes. • The framework is readily applicable to building codes with adopted regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past, the network environment usually adopted a distributed design, which often caused a series of problems such as cumbersome performance adjustment and high energy consumption. The software-defined network adopts a new design method that is different from the traditional network environment, which is hierarchical management and centralized control. This design method can achieve overall planning and can adjust the network structure in a comprehensive and flexible manner. In order to solve the disadvantages of distributed design, this paper innovatively proposes the use of sleep heuristic algorithm to realize dynamic adjustment of WAN energy consumption and performance in SDN network environment, and defines a new network evaluation method. This mechanism flexibly adjusts the network structure through users' attention and feedback on network performance, which can not only ensure network performance, but also effectively reduce network energy consumption. At the same time, the mechanism was verified using a simulation environment. Experimental results show that the mechanism is universal and can be easily implemented in various scenarios. The close integration of low-carbon design concepts with high-rise residential buildings can fully improve the energy-saving effect of buildings, reduce energy consumption, and help build a green and environmentally friendly residential city. Based on this, this article combines theoretical practice, first analyzes the definition of low-carbon design concepts, and then discusses the reasons why high-rise residential buildings need low-carbon design concepts, and proposes specific applications of low-carbon design concepts in high-rise residential building design. There will be some reference and help for the design of similar projects in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term smart houses have spread recently, and the smart house is a result of technological development and modern technologies. Internet of things (IoT) technology is a connection between all things and the Internet. IoT devices In various fields such as intelligent transportation, environmental protection, government work, public security, smart house, intelligent fire control, industrial monitoring, etc. A smart house is a group of connected IoT devices that can be controlled remotely using a smartphone or computer. In recent years, IoT devices have spread widely and with more development in all aspects of life, and with this development, new security challenges appear. This paper is focused on the security of the smart house and the privacy of the individuals who live in that house, is surveyed a set of previous studies including Analyze the security and risks faced by smart houses and identifying vulnerabilities that can be exploited to gain access to authorized information or refuse service, Analysis of some of the systems of Internet of Things devices that helped in the management and protection of these smart houses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is increasingly used as an early-stage design-decision tool to support choices of structural system. However LCA modellers must first make numerous methodological decisions, and the resultant wide variations in approach are often inadequately described by the modellers. This paper identifies, and quantifies, the three major areas of methodological variation. These are: temporal differences in the stages considered; spatial differences in the material boundaries; and physical disparities in the data coefficients. The effects are then demonstrated through a case study of a student residential building in Cambridge. The cross-laminated timber (CLT) structure is compared with concrete frame, steel frame and load-bearing masonry, considering the influence that varying the temporal boundaries, the data coefficients, and the spatial boundaries has on the choice. While for this building CLT is confirmed as the lowest impact material, the paper demonstrates that varying the methodological choices can change the results by an alarming factor of 10 or even more. The findings confirm the need for the utmost clarity and transparency with all LCA calculations. Making wider industry or policy decisions based on LCA results should be undertaken with extreme caution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Users’ behaviour and indoor climate are two leading aspects that must be taken into account if we want the retrofitting of the housing stock to contribute to CO 2 reduction, comfort improvement and reduction of living costs. The integrated facade module evaluated in this paper, which constitutes an approach to zero energy renovation, includes a preliminary study for the identification of target occupants and their characteristics and requirements that will guide the design decisions. The proposed strategy primarily focuses on the case of social rental multi-family housing stock in the Netherlands, but should provide insights in the application of the concept in Europe. This paper presents the analysis of the adaptability of this solution to the Mediterranean climate, taking into account the specific characteristics of the occupants of this climatic zone. The results showed an improved performance of building after the application of the evaluated solution in southern Spain, but with lower savings on the energy demand than in the Netherlands, so the economic investment should be reduced in this case. Also, the inclusion in the solution of some variables, such as the forced night-time ventilation for passive cooling and the insulation thickness reduction, were tested and proved to be an optimisation of its performance in the Mediterranean climate. Overall, the study concluded that the proposed refurbishment strategy has the potential to be implemented in different climates, particularly if certain modification in the facade operation is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to optimize the passive design of newly-built residential buildings in hot summer and cold winter region of China for improving indoor thermal comfort while reducing building energy demand. In this respect, this paper investigates the performance of a representative apartment building in the city of Shanghai and evaluates the optimum solutions by using a developed optimization approach, which includes three major steps of 1) setting the model for multi-objective optimization, 2) sensitivity analysis for reducing the dimension of input variables, and 3) multi-objective optimization by using the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) coupled with the Artificial Neural Network (ANN), among which a novel indicator for evaluating the annual indoor thermal comfort of residential buildings of Shanghai named Comfort Time Ratio (CTR) is defined based on the modification of Szokolay’s theory in terms of bioclimatic analysis, and the impacts of passive design variables on the indoor thermal comfort and building energy demand in terms of different directions are comprehensively investigated. Results of the multi-objective optimization indicate that the residential buildings of Shanghai have a great potential in comfort-improvement and energy-saving. A series of novel optimal passive design tactics for residential buildings in Shanghai are derived accordingly which could be easily understood and conveniently carried out by the architects in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construction of residential buildings using off-site methods, in particular modular construction, is receiving considerable attention. However, the sustainability performance of modular buildings has rarely been investigated through a life cycle perspective. In this paper, a life cycle sustainability performance assessment framework is developed for modular buildings and its application is examined. In the first part of the paper, suitable life cycle sustainability performance criteria (SPCs) for modular buildings were developed and ranked. In this regard, potential SPCs were identified through a comprehensive literature review and expert interviews. These SPCs were then evaluated by construction experts through two questionnaire surveys against three evaluation criteria: applicability, data availability, and data accuracy. The evaluation criteria's weights were determined through a group decision making process using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) method. Consequently, the experts' feedback was analyzed with the help of the Elimination and Choice Translating Reality (ELECTRE) outranking MCDA method and all the SPCs were ranked within their associated sustainability categories (i.e., environmental, economic, and social). In the second part of the paper, application of the proposed framework has been discussed and validated through a case study of a modular building in British Columbia, Canada. Sustainability performance of modular buildings in the proposed framework were assessed by developing aggregated sustainability indices for the selected SPCs and comparing them with corresponding benchmarks. In this regard, appropriate sustainability performance indicators (SPIs) under each selected SPC have been developed and calculated. Consequently, through an aggregation process, sustainability indices are developed using the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) MCDA method. In this paper, the environmental life cycle performance of the case study building has been benchmarked and recommendations have been made for performance improvements. This research is deemed useful for the construction practitioners since it provides a methodical framework for life cycle sustainability performance assessment of modular buildings and assists with the selection of sustainable methods of construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to evaluate and illustrate the energy saving potential of the façade addition on existing and low energy performing block buildings in different climatic contexts. To achieve this purpose, the paper illustrates some outstanding case studies on deep renovation through façade and volumetric additions, as reference possible solutions towards energy renovation. To further assess the energy potential of these transformations, the same solutions have been applied to a reference building in Bologna. In particular, a selected apartment of typical building block has been investigated and simulated in detail, to identify the buildings’ energy requirement and propose different retrofitting hypotheses towards nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEBs). Simulations of these different hypotheses resulted in corresponding diverse energy performances, from the very low grade of performance in “as built” scenario, up to nearly zero energy demand, for selected technological solutions applied in specific climatic contexts. To further estimate the energy impact the same apartment has been “extracted” from its original climatic context and energy simulations have been also carried out in two different climatic zones. Obtained results prove that façade additions are a very powerful solution towards the aim of zero energy in existing buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Third-party verification and certification processes for low energy built environments have played a critical role in influencing transitioning sustainable societies to reduce their emissions footprint in both residential and commercial buildings. One prominent example is the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification program, which was conceived by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). Its residential platform, LEED for Homes, started as a pilot in 2004 and was fully implemented in 2008. This paper attempts to answer the question: what are the characteristics of growing sustainable LEED residential societies in the United States? The paper examines residential LEED market adoption trends in the United States by analyzing a decade-worth of data from 2005 to 2014 (71,438 certified units). The study implemented data visualization techniques and statistical analyses to explore predictors of residential LEED community adoption trends. The findings suggest that market share of LEED licensed residences in a state and the number of policies and incentives in that state are generally related. Overall market share for LEED Residential had a smaller effect (β = −0.03 with outliers, 0.11 without outliers) than for LEED for Homes overall (β = 0.06 with outliers, 0.12 without outliers). A significant positive relationship between LEED residential market share and number of LEED AP per capita was also found. The strongest relationship in this subset of variables was with LEED for Homes single-family homes, where one standard deviation increase in LEED AP per capita in year t was associated with a 0.15 standard deviation increase in market share in year t + 1. LEED Residential market share was not generally related to educational attainment, median household income, or political orientation (democrat vs. republican). The investigation proposes further research, specifically as related to local practice support as mechanisms of growing the transition to low-carbon societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers urban gardens as lived spaces which have an important role in reconnecting with nature in an urban environment, but also as an archive of concepts related to culture and everyday life. In this context, the paper studies the character of three of Belgrade’s urban gardens and their contribution to the quality of everyday life in the large-scale socialist residential settlements built during the 1970s. Focus is placed on establishing relations between the dwelling culture, social and cultural needs and changes, and the dominant architectural and planning paradigms of modernism and post-modernism. Belgrade’s urban gardens were created and developed spontaneously (most often non-legally) as self-organized citizens’ acts. Research presented in our case studies confirms the paper’s initial assumption that the urban gardens in Belgrade are still considered marginal and certainly not representative urban practices, overshadowed by the planned urban conceptions and socio-political actions. In this sense, we may notice the lack of a systematic approach to managing these gardens, and complete absence of legislation either provided by authorities, private or public bodies or even associations. Although the urban gardens emerged in socialism outside of any rules and regulations, they promoted the values of an active relationship between the user, dwelling culture and immediate residential surroundings, and contributed to improving the dwelling culture of the “new working class” in the socialist dwelling units. Also, the gardens were not only a place for producing food in financially difficult times, especially during the post-socialist transition of the 1990s, but above all a place associated with socialization and a “sense of home”. Recognizing the benefits of urban gardens and accordingly raising awareness about this concept in the city, together with the adoption of appropriate regulations, would certainly be of immense relevance to urban gardening and generally landscape quality in Serbia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An international standard defining a common acoustic classification scheme for dwellings is under development by ISO TC43/SC2/WG29, based on the outcomes of the European project COST Action TU0901. The proposal offers an opportunity for countries to establish building acoustic requirements using a harmonized set of descriptors. This harmonized set considers the possibility of using impact sound insulation descriptors including the impact spectrum adaptation term C I or not. Furthermore, it also considers the possibility of using different frequency ranges for the impact spectrum adaptation term, C I50 and C I100 . In order to evaluate the potential effect of such changes, it is necessary to provide translation equations between existing and proposed harmonized descriptors. The main objective of this paper is to provide, based on a statistical analysis of a large experimental data set, a translation equation for each pair (existing/proposed) of selected impact sound insulation descriptors. Additionally, the paper aims at investigating if the obtained translation equations are independent of the building type, so the same statistical analysis has been performed with two separated databases including either only heavy floors or only light floors. From the first results, it is concluded that the obtained translation equations are dependent on the building type when different assessment frequency range and rating methods are considered in both descriptors. In spite of this conclusion and in order to provide a tool for estimating the potential consequences of adopting a different impact sound insulation descriptor, the existing impact sound insulation national requirements have been translated into two proposed harmonized descriptors (L′ nT,w and L′ nT,50 ) using the translation equation obtained using the full data set, that is, not considering the building type. Additionally, the translated requirements have been aligned within the acoustic classification scheme, which is being developed by ISO TC43/SC2/WG29. The results show that, if the proposed common acoustic classification scheme is adopted, the existing requirements would lie, as expected, mainly within classes C and D, although, in some countries with more permissive requirements, the new built dwellings would be ranked class E or even class F. There is only one country where the requirements are such that the new build dwellings would be classified as B, concerning impact sound performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2023 revision of the Energy Performance of Building Directive underlines the need to consider the whole life cycle emissions for buildings. The decarbonization targets could not be achieved if reduction of energy demand in the operational phase is accompanied by a high energy resource use in the whole life. This paper proposes a novel investigation of an energy renovation project, involving both building envelope components and space heating system. The adopted method is based on the life cycle assessment, in the variant cradle-to-gate with options, to analyze and compare the design data achieved through an analysis of product (embodied) and use (operational) stages. Different solutions for energy improvement of the building performance are identified, and the scenario with the lowest embodied energy was found to be more energy efficient globally. The most effective scenario, with energy and CO 2 savings of 39% and 40% is characterized by a weight of embodied energy and emissions of 6.5% and 6.9%, respectively. Given the rise of the weight of the embodied energy in the whole life cycle of future buildings, the life cycle assessment will become crucial for sustainable design and in the transition to an energy-efficiency built environment. [Display omitted] • The impact of life cycle analysis in the process of energy efficiency is investigated. • The "cradle-to-gate" with options approach is implemented. • The efficiency of walls and windows involves the greater use of energy resources. • The most energy-efficient scenarios from an operational and non-operational point of view are different. • The scenario identified in the analysis of A1-A4 phases allows a higher total energy saving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to the problem of interpretation of Mammoth Bone Dwellings. The author considers the history of the tradition to interpret bone structures as ruins of dwellings. He concludes that this interpretation was formulated a priori. The published data on the taphonomy of faunal remains, as well as on the stratigraphy of archaeological objects belonging to the Anosovo-Mezin bone construction, are analyzed in this paper. Currently available data allow concluding that this type of archaeological structure could not be interpreted as remnants of dwellings. Anosovo-Mezin bone constructions demonstrate the final stage of the very specific tradition that existed in the Palaeolithic of Central and Eastern Europe. There is every reason to believe that these objects were determined by the religious ideas of their creators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India, there are various codes, standards, guidelines and rating systems launched to make energy intensive and large sized buildings energy efficient whereas independent residential buildings are not covered even though they exist most in numbers of total housing stock. This paper presents a case study methodology for energy performance assessment of existing residential stock of Hamirpur that can be used to develop suitable energy efficiency regulations. The paper discusses the trend of residential development in Hamirpur followed by classification based on usage, condition, predominant material use, ownership size and number of rooms, source of lighting, assets available, number of storey and plot sizes using primary and secondary data. It results in identification of predominant materials used and other characteristics in each of urban and rural area. Further cradle to site embodied energy index of various dominant building materials and their market available alternative materials is calculated from secondary literature and by calculating transportation energy. One representative existing building is selected in each of urban and rural area and their energy performance is evaluated for material embodied energy and operational energy using simulation. Further alternatives are developed based on other dominant materials in each area and evaluated for change in embodied and operational energy. This paper identifies the energy performance of representative houses for both areas and in no way advocates the preference of one type over another. The paper demonstrates a methodology by which energy performance assessment of houses shall be done and also highlights further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The students’ dormitory is the minimum living unit of the universities’ campus, carrying the students’ living, communication and learning activities. In this paper, CFD method is used to simulate the indoor environment of the student dormitory in Jinan. The indoor natural ventilation of the interior corridor dormitory and the outer corridor dormitory was analyzed under two meteorological conditions. The results show that the natural ventilation of outer corridor dormitory is better than the natural ventilation of interior corridor dormitory. And based on these analyses, this paper puts forward a design strategy and optimization method of natural ventilation in the dormitory. Through the discussing of natural ventilation design in college students’ dormitory in this paper, hoping that the natural ventilation design in the design of the college dorms is valued, so as to attach importance to students’ dormitory, a particular type of building which is closely related to students’ daily life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultra-low-energy buildings in China are still in the early stage of development. In the guide documents of the 13th plan of five-year national development published by Science and Technology Ministry, an energy consumption limit of 15kWh/m2 for heating, cooling and ventilation throughout the year was pointed out for residential buildings in hot summer and cold winter region. In this paper, current situation of winter heating in Shanghai was investigated, including analysis of heating energy consumption of more than 40,000 households, a large number of questionnaires about heating status, and the actual indoor heating environment monitoring. This paper also investigated the indoor ventilation environment under real living conditions, taking a typical residence in Shanghai as the research subject via continuous field measurements. The indoor CO2 concentration, air temperature and relative humidity were monitored and two behavior-related parameters, the electricity consumption of air conditioner and the open/closed state of the window/door were recorded from summer to spring. Based on the investigation, the questionnaires and the monitored data for winter heating, heating strategies in winter for residential buildings in Shanghai will be discussed, from the perspective of gap analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]