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Structural mass timber has been used more often in buildings over the last 5 years, given its potential to be a sustainable alternative. However, concerns still exist around the fire safety of mass timber structures, and current mass timber building designers must consider a variety of fire protection strategies, including but not limited to noncombustible protection and design for sacrificial char thickness. This research focuses on better understanding how prescriptive code fire protection strategies affect the sustainability goals that have partially driven mass timber use. This paper studies how decisions during early design can reduce embodied carbon (EC), the initial energy use of a structure's construction. Five structural floor system types were modeled parametrically for various levels of fire protection. System types included timber–concrete composites, cross-laminated timber (CLT)–steel hybrids, and all-timber systems. The resulting EC data analysis reveals that all-timber systems perform the best for EC when the fully protected option is used at shorter spans, when the combined approach option is used at midrange spans, and when the fully exposed timber option is used at longer spans. Across all studied systems, the shallowest possible depth occurred for the 10-ft (3.05-m) spanning CLT–steel hybrid systems at 11.5 in. (292 mm) deep for the fully protected system, and the lowest possible EC was 10.5 lb CO2 eq/ft2 (51.3 kg CO2 eq/m2) for the fully protected 10-ft (3.05 m) all-timber system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the centuries, architects have distanced themselves from the accumulated architectural knowledge, which often provided constructive solutions highly connected to the climatic context and cultural characteristics. With utmost expression from the 20th century on, building designers have assumed a somewhat negligent attitude towards the architectural project, essentially relying on active mechanical systems, to achieve indoor environmental comfort conditions. This paper overviews the current knowledge of solar control elements adopted and developed by Brazilian architecture, tracing its origin to the influence of Arab and Moorish architecture, with the objective of valuing passive solutions. Arab influence in Brazilian architecture began in the 17th century when Portuguese settlers felt the need to adapt the colonial buildings to the climatic constraints, particularly with regard to excessive solar radiation, leading to indoor thermal discomfort and excess natural light. Arab influence in Brazilian architecture remains present until the current day with the same objectives; however, it has been reinterpreted and appropriated by the Brazilian architectural school. Among the most used construction elements during the colonial period were the muxarabis, rótulas, and gelosias. Throughout the 20th century, these elements were culturally appropriated and served as inspiration for the development of the cobogó and the pioneering use of brise-soleis in Brazilian architecture. These elements have spread throughout global architecture, accompanied by the adoption of computer-controlled dynamic solar protection systems. Therefore, it is important to promote traditional solutions and encourage new architects to adopt passive approaches, aiming for energy efficiency and reducing environmental impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The designer network is the carrier for designers to carry out product design tasks, and the study of its evolution helps to accurately identify the designer team. The uncertainty of whether the designer chooses to keep in touch with other members of the network, its nonlinearity on the overall performance of the network and the external interference of the network, etc., increase the complexity of the designer network, which is not conducive to the development of product design tasks. Therefore, it is very interesting and important to study the co-evolution mechanism of the designer's network structure and the designer's opinion. This paper analyzes the Deffuant opinion dynamics model, considers the asymmetry of nodes in the network caused by the designer's unequal relationship (the number of node links is different), and the difference in the degree of acceptance of other people's opinions by different individuals, and improves the Deffuant model. Then combining the improved Deffuant model with the BA (Barabasi–Albert) model, a DBA (Deffuant and BA Adaptive) model was proposed that integrates opinion update, broken edge and reconnection, and opinion changes. On this basis, this paper designs a virtual network through the crowdsourcing of a certain product. The adjacency matrix of this network is symmetric, and corresponding comparative experiments are carried out on this network. The analysis of test results shows that under six different deliberate attacks, the DBA model is more robust than the BA model. In addition, the average shortest path of the DBA network will vary with the parameters. The proposed integrated DBA model has important guiding significance for building a robust designer network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In addition to the advantages of asynchronous circuits, compatibility with synchronous EDA tools is another strength point of synchronous elastic circuits. Synchronous elastic circuits face some challenges, such as process variations that can compromise its performance and functionality, and the multitude of available implementations based on elastic elements' combinations, meaning that choosing the best combination could not be simple. In this paper, a novel method is introduced to model and verify synchronous elastic circuits in the presence of variations. The model is based on xMAS, which is a new formal modeling paradigm to synthesize, test, and verify circuits and networks. In this method, various elastic elements are modeled and available in the form of a library in xMAS, so the designer can build complicated elastic circuits by combining different elastic elements. Additionally, by translating a high-level xMAS model into a SAN statistical model and using its capabilities, elements' internal delays will be embedded, which makes the high-level modeling and elastic circuits' high-resolution time analysis available. Based on the obtained results, elastic circuits are highly capable of tolerating variations. However, this phenomenon could lead to a maximum of 2.35% error in synchronization control units and data in these circuits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In defining a fire scenario for residential buildings, designers may need to consider the room of origin and temporal factors such as the time of day, day of the week, etc. that a fire may occur. It is commonly accepted that statistics from fire incidents can be used to help determine these factors. This paper examines fire incident data available from the West Midlands Fire Service in England to assess the likelihood of a fire starting within different room types in dwellings, accounting for both the property type and the time of day. Results of the analysis are compared to data available from the literature and, similar to other studies, kitchen fires have been found to be the most likely place that a fire starts irrespective of the dwelling type. The paper pays particular interest to fires in flats (apartments) since these dwelling types typically have a greater relevance to fire safety designers. The paper shows that fires in flats should be treated separately from other dwelling types where the likelihood of a fire starting in a kitchen is 76% on average compared to 68% in other dwelling types. Further differences are evident when the likelihoods are considered as a function of the time of day and other room types. The paper ultimately provides analysis from previously unexamined incident data which can be used to aid designers of residential buildings that comprise of dwellings, when considering fire safety strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) are characterized with their concurrency, heterogeneity and time sensitivity. In this context, it is crucial to have self-adaptive CPS systems in order to manage changing in their internal and external environment and supporting new requirements. Also, CPS systems are known with their restricted connectivity, and consequently, they must perform a decentralized adaptation. This is added to the general complexity of modeling the adaptation process. In fact, the MAPE-K (Monitoring, Analysis, Planning, Execution and Knowledge) control loop model has been identified as a crucial element for realizing self-adaptation in software systems. To respond to the design challenge of self-adaptive CPS, we propose a set of decentralized MAPE-K design patterns to help designer in building such complex systems thanks to software design patterns which provide a general reusable solution to a commonly occurring problem. In this paper, we provide a set of decentralized patterns to model CPS using the refinement technique. For this purpose, we proposed a standard notation based on the UML modeling language to describe the different MAPE-K patterns for decentralized control in self-adaptive CPS. We illustrate our approach by modeling the smart parking application using the coordinated control pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An enormous range of building materials that is almost impossible to keep track of is available. The trend toward building densification in cities continues apace. Coupled with climate change, a situation is emerging that poses ecological as well as economic risks in terms of living comfort in public, urban spaces. Building designers need help (tools) to be able to address a wide range of requirements within their planning. The development of the Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) model BASK (engl. "Construction Materials for Cities in Climate Change") is presented. The goal of the model is to assist building designers in determining surface materials for wall, ground and roof construction and help determine the best compromise between environmental, economic, and building practice criteria. Currently available criteria are heat stress, visual reflectance, CO2 equivalents, electricity production, retrofitability, sound absorption, construction costs, and life span. The criteria can be weighted by the designer, resulting in a customized ranking of construction systems that best meets the designer's prioritized criteria. The design of BASK basically allows for an extension of the criteria. The version of BASK described in this paper includes 10 construction systems covering a wide range of construction types focused on walls. The tool requires technical data for materials considered in construction systems included, which are made available via a data base. The scope of construction systems can also be extended in the future. Based on the restricted set of construction systems the results of a sensitivity analysis and initial validation are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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With due interpretative caution and trying not to fall into simplification or cliché, it could be stated that the “rational” mind learns with “pure concepts” based mainly on the understanding of the essence and attributes of their objects of knowledge. The “logical” mind, on the other hand, learns to unravel the theoretical consequences of a formula within an abstract language. On its side, the “creative” mind of the designer acquires and achieves the object of knowledge—creativity—through a deep understanding of already completed designs. This paper aims to delve into the process of analysis of design examples, a process that could somehow resemble Alchemy, in which the alembic could be the pencil. Drawing is the analytical tool that allows the designer to distil the essence of the studied references departing from the overflow of images that arrive to the eye. With the gathering of different successful design examples, the designers build up a repository stocked in their memory that enlarges their creative capacity when facing new challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hot and humid climate conditions have always been a challenge to building designers in tropical countries. Mouldy façade can emerge within a few days due to heavy rain and a room can easily become hot and musty. These are among the major issues caused by improper ventilation. To overcome these problems, ventilation block, an ingenious building element that has a long history, is widely used in tropical countries. It provides comfort through cross ventilation, permitting daylight and offering protection fromheavy rainfall and, giving aesthetic value. This paper is part of the main research on the findings of passive design elements in Malaysia schools buildings. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate, identify and discuss on the types, the design features and the characteristics of the ventilation blocks found on the existing primary school buildings in Kuala Lumpur territory, Malaysia.A total of 85 from a list of 201 schools were visited and observation was made. The schools were selected and categorised according to the years they were founded and based on the findings of their architectural design influences. It was found that there were at least 10 different ventilation block designs among the schools sampled in the present study which were built between the 1950s and 1960s. This element can be found in various locations of the buildings. Nevertheless, the purpose of such element was clearly to provide good ventilation and comfort to the occupants. Combining architecture and cross ventilation as a design feature has led to the implication of using ventilation block may not only solve the problems identified but also add value to the building and a present a convincing strategy towards sustainable design approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the construction industry, a large amount of carbon dioxide is emitted, due to the embodied and operational carbon. RICS Guidance note shows the stages producing the most carbon dioxide is the operational stage and the second significant area is the production stage. Recent studies have investigated reducing the operational emissions, however there is limited research on the embodied carbon. To achieve climate targets by 2050, all operational emissions need to be phased out along with reductions in embodied carbon. This paper aims to analyze the carbon life cycle (LCA) of the case study building in the UK. Further implementing low carbon & clean technologies have been considered to reduce the embodied and operational carbon. Current state of the art carbon assessment is utilized incorporating methodologies such as 'Cradle to grave' from 'British standards' in conjunction with 'RICS Guidance note' and 'RICS Professional statement.' To measure the embodied and operational carbon using the 'cradle to grave' process, requires selecting a case study building and collecting related input data to process calculations such as construction materials and energy consumption. Results conclude that the operational stage is the largest CO₂ contributor of the whole lifecycle, therefore PV Solar panels were chosen to reduce CO₂ emissions. The product stage was the second most significant CO₂ contributor therefore low carbon strategies, such as use of recycled steel, light weight brick, and SCM's for mortar and concrete, were selected. Re-calculation of the embodied and operational carbon of the building after implementing the low carbon strategies and clean technology comparing to initial results show reductions in CO₂ emissions by 22% creating a low carbon building. Therefore, this paper brings awareness and guidance globally to clients, building designers, and the government to design sustainably using suitable low carbon solutions in all construction projects, leading to a low carbon future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While true, the idea that brands are defined by experiences masks a complex set of dynamics that dramatically affects the development of branded experiences. This paper explains the different evolutions of branding and experience design to show how the converged field of brand experience design inherits ideas from each former discipline in non-intuitive ways. The central shift in thinking is that experiences are defined by brands rather than the other way around. A strong brand — one with a clear and compelling purpose, one with a clear set of emotional associations — is essential for a strong brand experience; therefore, branding practitioners and designers must strengthen their brands in order to deliver powerful brand experiences. Contrary to popular opinion, experiences by themselves will do little to strengthen a weak brand. In addition, this paper presents a set of concrete tools and techniques to help brand experience designers build this new thinking into their work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a database of 34 field-measured building occupant behavior datasets collected from 15 countries and 39 institutions across 10 climatic zones covering various building types in both commercial and residential sectors. This is a comprehensive global database about building occupant behavior. The database includes occupancy patterns (i.e., presence and people count) and occupant behaviors (i.e., interactions with devices, equipment, and technical systems in buildings). Brick schema models were developed to represent sensor and room metadata information. The database is publicly available, and a website was created for the public to access, query, and download specific datasets or the whole database interactively. The database can help to advance the knowledge and understanding of realistic occupancy patterns and human-building interactions with building systems (e.g., light switching, set-point changes on thermostats, fans on/off, etc.) and envelopes (e.g., window opening/closing). With these more realistic inputs of occupants' schedules and their interactions with buildings and systems, building designers, energy modelers, and consultants can improve the accuracy of building energy simulation and building load forecasting. Measurement(s) room temperature ambient air • room relative humidity • outdoor weather • window status • door status • fan status • HVAC measurement • lighting status • occupancy measurement • plug load • shade status Technology Type(s) Temperature Sensor Device • relative humidity sensor • weather station • window status sensor • door status sensor • fan status sensor • HVAC measurement sensors • lighting sensor • occupancy sensor • power sensor • shade status sensor [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The IPCC and many others predict significant changes to our climates over the rest of this century, including average temperature increases for 2–5°C. However, we can see possible indications of change already – increasing frequency of severe storms and other weather events. However, many of the major weather data sets used around the world for building energy simulation are more than 15 years old. Does it matter? This paper compares several of the major data sets used in building performance simulation against newer data derived from the past 15 years. Ten of the past 15 years are the hottest on record and this rapidly changing climate already is evident in the temperature record. We use energy simulation to demonstrate how the various data sets impact energy use. In addition, the design conditions for heating and cooling calculations are already seeing slight changes over the past 20 years. Data for 12 locations around the world is used to demonstrate the changing climate that we already see. Practical application : This paper encourages building designers to use the most up-to-date climatic data in their design and evaluation of building performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This issue is the 2009 Special Issue of the journal developed by the Los Angeles Tall Buildings Design Council. The papers noted in this issue are all exceptional papers selected by the council. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops existing work on building design through a focus on one important yet understudied form of regulation: market standards. Market standards are agreed upon definitions of ‘necessary’ provision in buildings and are fundamental in ‘formatting’ markets and determining the value of a building in the market. The paper presents a case study of the design of 10 commercial offices in London, UK, the effects of market standards on the designs and on the potential for the development of lower energy buildings. Theoretically, the paper integrates literatures on standards, institutions and markets to argue that market standards do important ‘work’ in design processes that require closer scrutiny. In particular, we show that market standards are an important form of normative and cultural regulation in the field of commercial office design; format and act as calculative devices in property markets and result in forms of knowledge diminution that break the relationship between building design and occupiers’ practices. Together, these effects result in particular designs being legitimised and valued, and lower energy designs being delegitimised, devalued and pushed to the periphery of the attention of commercial office designers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, several earthquakes have drawn the attention of researchers to the effectiveness of antiseismic devices (AD) and structural designs. These elements certainly influence building safety, but they also impact the environment. Hence, the overall ecological footprint of a building is varied by the size of the structural elements and the inventory of construction materials used. Since both parameters (safety and environmental footprint) are currently key factors in the building sector, this paper aims to compare the ecological impact produced for each of the three most common antiseismic devices: chevron braces, shear walls and energy dissipators. For such a purpose, a 15-storey building was modelled whose structure was sized by setting a similar base shear capacity (i.e. approx. 2500 kN), regardless of the incorporated antiseismic device. Besides this, with the aim of determining the influence of reinforcement ratios, three different ratios (from 3 to 8%) were chosen for each case. Thus, four different structures (including a bare frame as a control case) were assessed in terms of the mechanical response (i.e. modal parameters, pushover curves and time history analysis) and environmental impact (i.e. life cycle impact assessment method). The results showed that the use of energy dissipators provides the most satisfactory mechanical performance and leads to minimise both ecosystem quality and resource scarcity. Although the use of shear walls certainly shows the lowest impact on the human health category, dynamic calculations demonstrate that this solution greatly increases the rigidity, which hinders the effectiveness of such antiseismic devices. The results provide comprehensive guidance for building designers, showing the main advantages of each AD, in terms of safety, damage control and environmental impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building performance optimization is a powerful technique that assists designers in identifying optimal design solutions. However, occupant-related uncertainty is considered a major challenge that can influence the credibility of the selected optimal design. This paper proposes an occupant-centric method for window and shading design optimization in office buildings that assists designers in evaluating and handling the impact of occupant-related assumptions. The method consists of three major steps: generating occupant scenarios, conducting occupant-centric mathematical optimization, and deriving rules for selecting optimal design parameters using decision trees. An office building model with numerous possible window-related parameters was used to demonstrate the proposed optimization process. Sixty-four different occupant scenarios were considered. The results of the optimization process demonstrated that occupant-related assumptions are crucial in determining optimal window and shading design, as different occupant scenarios led to different optimal solutions. The study findings also provided insights to building designers regarding classifying and selecting window and shading design parameters under varying occupant scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The successful development of projects requires, among other conditions, the ability to process requirements. In the construction literature, researchers have figured out that human difficulties was often at the root of Requirements Processing (RP) problems throughout the design phases, and that the employment of tools could be a key factor for RP implementation. To check these outcomes and to look at how current practitioners behave in relation to the RP tools, an exploratory case study was conducted with a building design team from a public university. The aim of this paper was to investigate the perception of benefits and the motivation of designers regarding the RP tools. The results indicated that 42% of the participants are highly motivated to use new tools and that they have more interest in tools that deal directly with design activities than in those focused on data. Validation tools aroused interest as the most useful tools for designers. 66,7% of the participants mentioned that the tools can make the design process clearer, and that training and adaptation are crucial to promote acceptance and commitment to RP. The main contribution is the indication of gaps for further research and for tools improvement from the designers' perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to investigate the potential of courtyards in optimizing natural ventilation and improving comfort levels in the learning spaces of a naturally ventilated educational institution with courtyards in the warm-humid climatic region of Madurai. Field measurements and experimental studies were carried out to predict the indoor and outdoor environmental conditions. The numerical study was carried out using computational fluid dynamics-based simulations using Ansys Fluent as the solver. The main aim of the simulation is to understand the airflow pattern and air velocity fields inside the classrooms surrounding the courtyards for different wind directions. The computational fluid dynamics results were validated by comparing it with the experimental results obtained in the current study and numerical results from other studies. The major findings of the current study suggest that courtyards with an aspect ratio of 1:2, orientations of openings at an angle of 0–20° to the predominant wind directions and the overall percentage of openings between 15 and 30% in buildings in Madurai region can enhance natural ventilation and thus improve thermal comfort of the occupants. Practical application : Naturally ventilated buildings in warm-humid climates have difficulty in providing thermal comfort to the occupants. CFD tools have been used to predict the ventilation performance of a naturally ventilated educational building with courtyards. The CFD results were helpful in identifying the implication of building design on the indoor air flow pattern. The recommendations given in this paper are applicable to any building type which relies on natural ventilation for thermal comfort provided they have similar building configurations, boundary conditions and weather conditions. The study is intended to help architects and building designers in the effective design of naturally ventilated buildings with respect to its climatic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do evacuees behave and what factors influence their egress selection behavior of stairs or an elevator during a high-rise building evacuation? These issues remain unclear given a paucity of research. In this paper, a series of experiments and questionnaires with 45 participants were carried out to examine the effects of non-irritant smoke and participants' knowledge of evacuation procedures (especially elevator evacuation). After each experiment, participants were asked to respond to a questionnaire. The results of evacuation times for the elevator versus stairs, the proportion of elevator users, elevator wait times, and redirect behaviors are analyzed and discussed. In experiment 1, 26.7% of 45 participants chose the elevator. In experiment 2, non-irritant smoke was released, and the proportion of participants who used the elevator decreased to 24.4% of 45 participants. Before experiment 3, we shared information about the evacuation (i.e., an explanation of evacuation procedures and elevator evacuation experience) with the participants, after which elevator use increased to 40% of 45 participants. As a result, we found that non-irritant smoke and knowledge of evacuations affected evacuees' behavior; however, the gap between the proportions of participants who reportedly preferred to use the elevator and who actually used the elevator was large. According to the questionnaire, the proportion of participants who wanted to use the elevator was 55.6%. Moreover, elevator overload, physical fatigue, and social bonds were observed in our experiments. In conclusion, several suggestions are given to building designers, and basic data (such as evacuation times and proportion of stairs or elevator use) offer insight for building safety engineers in designing evacuation strategies incorporating stairs and elevators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strengthening of concrete beams by means of external tendons has been increasingly used. Analysis of such beams is more difficult than that of beams with internal bonded tendons because the stress in external tendons depends on the deformations of the whole beam. In the current paper, a simple model based on the strut-and-tie method is presented to predict the capacity of simply supported externally prestressed concrete beams subjected to equal concentrated loads at third-points. The model defines the struts and ties that form a load transfer mechanism in the beams. It predicts the ultimate loads the beam can carry and the force in the tendons at failure using the section method and equilibrium equations. When comparing the results obtained using the proposed model with others in the literature, the model was found to be conservative. The proposed model is intended to help designers in the inspection and structural assessment of beams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive measurements of the urban heat island (UHI), where the urban areas stay warmer than rural areas, have been made for Manchester, over a year. From these adjustment factors have been derived for the new CIBSE Guide A, A2 External design data. The paper briefly outlines the theory behind the UHI and the details of the measurements. It then outlines the method of adjustment for CIBSE calculations for thermal response and plant sizing calculations. Some interesting features of the data are discussed such as the Manchester UHI being comparable to that of London and that it is increasing.Practical applications: Most buildings that building services engineers and other building designers are involved with are in urban or city centres. However, the weather data for their designs are based on near-rural weather data which does not include the urban heat island effect. This paper describes the urban heat island effects that a designer needs to consider and the adjustments that can be made, related to Manchester. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transitional spaces have been widely applied in building designs. They may account for 10–40% of total volume in different types of buildings. Maintaining an acceptable level of thermal comfort for transitional spaces poses challenges to building designers and engineers. However, there is not in general a recommended acceptable comfort range for transitional spaces, nor are there specific thermal comfort prediction methods. This paper aims to investigate the thermal environmental performance and people's adaptive comfort in transitional spaces, by conducting field studies, which include on-site questionnaire surveys and physical measurements. Field studies were carried out for three selected case study buildings in Cardiff, each having some forms of transitional space. They were the National Assembly for Wales Senedd, the Hadyn Ellis Building and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. The total responses from the questionnaire surveys were 736 and 580, for all buildings, during the summer period in 2017 and the winter period in 2018 respectively. This paper first presents the findings from the field studies, followed by in-depth analysis of human adaptability to thermal environment. Strong correlations were identified between clothing value and indoor operative temperature. People's adaptability to the thermal environment is confirmed, with nearly 80% of the respondents opting for self-adaptive actions to overcome uncomfortable situations. The identified 90% acceptability comfort band (−0.5 < TSV< +0.5) were 4.0 °C and 4.2 °C for the summer period and the winter period respectively, implying that a fine control of the indoor temperature to maintain an acceptable comfort level is not necessary. 1. Total 1316 (736 in summer and 580 in winter) valid questionnaires were collected from the building transitional spaces of three different public buildings in Cardiff, UK; 2. Indoor operative temperature was well-correlated with thermal sensation votes; 3. Acceptable temperature ranges, neutral temperature and preferred temperature were identified; 4. A fine temperature control was unnecessary; 5. People's adaptability to the thermal environment was confirmed; 6. People in cold climate was found to have higher preferred temperature than neutral temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Designing for the climate-responsive built environment is not a new concept. Local climate played a significant part in ancient city and building designs. In contrast, modern built environment professionals increasingly use climate-modifying technologies to nullify the local climatic constraints. The lack of climate considerations is often associated with limited understanding of local climate. Although detailed quantitative climate information is available for thermal performance evaluation tools, its qualitative interpretation is often too simplified to inform design decisions at early design stage. This paper addresses the issues of climate data analysis and presentation, and uses simple graphics to inform building designers about the local climate and encourages them to consider climate in their designs. This paper takes the case of Brisbane's climate, illustrates it through simple diagrams, and redefines seasonal variation into different periods based on comfort conditions. This paper also discusses application of the information in climate-responsive design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modelling occupant behaviours presents an opportunity to better predict building energy performance and comfort in real situations to support building design and operation. The implementation of such representative occupant models is achievable with the development of occupant models derived from the empirical data, which are collected in existing buildings. Collecting data of occupants' presence and behaviours can be, however, a challenging effort that requires prior knowledge, skills, and a significant investment. This paper critically reviews past, current, and potential future techniques for monitoring occupant behaviours in the context of existing buildings. The lessons learned and recommendations for future research in the field are drawn from previous experience in the literature and anecdotal evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomolecular coacervates are emerging models to understand biological systems and important building blocks for designer applications. DNA can be used to build up programmable coacervates, but often the processes and building blocks to make those are only available to specialists. Here, we report a simple approach for the formation of dynamic, multivalency-driven coacervates using long single-stranded DNA homopolymer in combination with a series of palindromic binders to serve as a synthetic coacervate droplet. We reveal details on how the length and sequence of the multivalent binders influence coacervate formation, how to introduce switching and autonomous behavior in reaction circuits, as well as how to engineer wetting, engulfment and fusion in multi-coacervate system. Our simple-to-use model DNA coacervates enhance the understanding of coacervate dynamics, fusion, phase transition mechanisms, and wetting behavior between coacervates, forming a solid foundation for the development of innovative synthetic and programmable coacervates for fundamental studies and applications. Biomolecular coacervates are emerging model systems to understand biological processes. Here, the authors reveal details on how the length and sequence of the DNA binders influence the multivalency-driven coacervate formation, how to introduce switching and autonomous behavior in reaction circuits, as well as how to engineer wetting, engulfment, and fusion in multi-coacervate system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last two decades, the utilization of timber in construction has gained increasing attention among researchers and sustainable building designers. Therefore, studies of climate impact on timber structures have been conducted, many of them focusing on the moisture content caused changes in timber. In the present study, four-point bending tests have been performed on three testing groups, containing 30 samples each. The first group has been tested under its natural conditions, while the second and the third groups were fully saturated with water. The third group was glazed with a protection material. The results show the changes in the modulus of elasticity and the modulus of rupture caused by the moisture content increase. In the same time the material behavior changed from brittle to semi-ductile or ductile for some samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within current property markets, sustainability characteristics enhance and complement the traditional drivers of a property's economic value. However, sustainability-related information needs to be considered within the property valuation process to account for how this impacts upon a building's valuation. This requires adjusting and further developing valuation procedures. Most sustainability assessment systems coexist in isolation beside the traditional instruments and methods of the property industry, e.g. property valuation and risk analyses. This paper shows that the sustainability assessment of buildings can be adapted to serve as a key source of information for several actors in property markets (particularly valuation professionals). The information requirements of valuation professionals are explored in relation to sustainability. A structure for information is proposed that enables valuation professionals to reach an improved and more systematic description of buildings for valuation purposes combining both traditional as well as sustainability-related aspects. Several actors (sustainability assessors, designers, planners and facility managers) have a role (1) in providing an improved description of buildings along their life cycle and (2) in creating a more robust informational basis for property valuations. This would provide a competitive advantage for these actors (or for some 'early adopters' among them) by responding to the sustainability-related information requirements of valuation professional and their financial colleagues within the property industry. Dans les marches immobiliers actuels, les caracteristiques de durabilite renforcent et completent les facteurs traditionnels qui font la valeur economique d'un bien immobilier. Il est cependant necessaire de prendre en consideration les donnees relatives a la durabilite dans le processus d'evaluation des biens immobiliers de facon a tenir compte de la maniere dont ceci influe sur l'evaluation d'un batiment. Cela necessite que les procedures d'evaluation soient adaptees et encore ameliorees. La plupart des systemes d'evaluation de la durabilite coexistent separement des outils et methodes traditionnels du secteur de l'immobilier, par exemple l'evaluation des biens immobiliers et l'analyse des risques. Le present article montre que l'evaluation de la durabilite des batiments peut etre adaptee de facon a servir de source principale d'informations au benefice de plusieurs acteurs des marches de l'immobilier (et en particulier des professionnels de l'evaluation). Les exigences d'information des professionnels de l'evaluation sont examinees par rapport a la durabilite. Il est propose une structure d'information qui permet aux professionnels de l'evaluation de parvenir a une description amelioree et plus systematique des batiments aux fins d'evaluation en combinant a la fois les aspects traditionnels et ceux lies a la durabilite. Plusieurs acteurs (evaluateurs de la durabilite, concepteurs, planificateurs et responsables de site) ont un role a jouer (1) dans la fourniture d'une description amelioree des batiments tout au long de leur cycle de vie et (2) dans la creation d'une base informationnelle plus solide pour l'evaluation des biens immobiliers. Ceci assurerait un avantage concurrentiel a ces acteurs (ou a ceux d'entre eux qui adopteraient precocement cette approche) en repondant aux exigences d'informations relatives a la durabilite des professionnels de l'evaluation et de leurs collegues financiers du secteur de l'immobilier. Mots cles: informations du batiment, batiments, evaluation des biens immobiliers, estimations immobilieres, evaluation de la durabilite [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes initial research on a project designed to understand the experiences of past generations of constructors and make that knowledge accessible to future generations of engineering students and construction practitioners. Much in the same way as medical students can trace their lineage back to Hippocrates, this project aims to provide architecture, engineering, and construction students, and professionals alike, a sense of their professional history. The project was developed around five time epochs, four geographic regions, and three different project types. We investigated issues such as the flow of money, training of workers, sharing of design knowledge, and nature of contracts and agreements. The central question posed by this work is how should knowledge of the history and evolution of construction practices be incorporated in the dialog that educators have with students and with the larger professional community? This research has led to multifaceted results. On the one hand, the message to students should be pride in their professional heritage because throughout time constructors and designers have used knowledge, perseverance, and innovation to accomplish remarkable projects. On the other hand, we have shown that much of what is considered new in the industry (alternative project delivery methods, worker safety programs, public private partnerships, and globalization) have historical antecedents and are not new at all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quality of contemporary residential development, and the associated design challenge for house builders, are important current policy issues in England. Until recently, better-designed contemporary housing development was more frequently seen on smaller, more constrained urban or brownfield sites and more rarely on greenfield sites. Set against a significant shift in the prevailing planning regime during the 1990s (from greenfield development to an express policy emphasis on brownfield development), this paper attempts to explain this observation. Utilizing the concept of 'opportunity space', it develops a model of the role of design and the designer in the development process, which is then used to account for differences in the quality of development on greenfield and brownfield sites. It is suggested that the development of greenfield and brownfield sites displays significant contrasts and that, as a consequence, successful brownfield developers yield opportunity space in their business strategies to designers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the enormous groundswell of interest in partnering and alliancing in recent years, there has been comparatively little research that has set out to investigate systematically the nature, feasibility, benefits and limitations of forms of client-contractor collaboration. This is despite the growing recognition that conditions conducive to partnering may well vary considerably and that partnering may not be the solution for problems within the industry that many commentators have taken it to be. This paper sets out to add to the growing literature and empirical database on partnering by reporting the findings of a research project designed to explore the economic, organizational and technological factors that encourage or inhibit collaboration in practice. The paper follows on from an earlier review and critique of the literature on partnering (Bresnen, M. and Marshall, N. 2000, Construction Management and Economics, 18 (2) 229-37). It includes as its database nine case studies of medium-to-large-scale projects, selected from across the industry, on which processes of collaboration are examined from the viewpoints of clients, contractors, designers and subcontractors. In contrast to much of the prescriptive work in this area, the analysis of the data and the paper's conclusions stress some of the practical problems, limitations and paradoxes of partnering and alliancing when the effects of important economic, organizational and psychological factors are taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noise control is required to provide an indoor environment free from the stress of unwanted noise and to provide a measure of speech privacy. There is a need for the development of guidelines to be used by building designers to ensure that user comfort is taken into consideration. The focus of this paper is on the development of guidelines as advice to designers to facilitate systems replacement in new buildings and the introduction of new systems in the future. Some aspects of noise control and speech privacy in various locations in office buildings have been addressed. Responses from 92 design professionals (architects and engineers) in nine countries to a questionnaire on noise control and speech privacy in office buildings have been summarized in the form of guidelines for use by building designers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new virtual reality (VR)-based approach to advanced learnings and experiences of the circular economy (CE) in the construction industry. The approach involves incorporating game design and a building information modelling (BIM) digital twin of a purposed CE prototype building. Our novel approach introduces VR environments designed to provide a visual representation of materials and components that can be reintroduced into the supply chain at the end of life and their removal procedures and material provenance. A case study methodology was applied to a purposely designed CE building, namely the Legacy Living Lab (L3). To reflect the real-life building, L3's BIM model was combined with Unify game software to advance the literature in three key areas. First, the research investigates VR tools that will allow building designers to view and implement their strategies to advance CE design. Second, this research proposes an advanced VR tool to visualise the bill of quantities (BoQ) and material stock embedded in the studied building, further understanding concepts such as buildings as material banks. Finally, the proposed VR environment defines CE techniques implemented within the case study to be disseminated across the vast construction industry. This VR research identifies three key pillars in reducing the waste generated by the construction industry: education, documentation and visualisation. Furthermore, this paper provides a visual link between the BIM, BoQ and resiliency of the selected materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • CFS assessment is a complicated process that building designers tend to avoid using. • A simple CFS assessment framework is developed using a new tool CFStrace. • It introduces metrics to predict light uniformity ensuring adequate visual comfort. • The new framework generates fast daylight analysis results to select a suitable CFS. Complex fenestration systems (CFS) have proven to enhance the daylight quality inside spaces when designed correctly. While research in this area focuses on assessing CFS performance accurately, the number of CFS daylight analysis frameworks are too complex for the building designer to use for selecting a suitable CFS. Also, some CFS design frameworks focus only on light redirection efficiency without considering the spatial or environmental context. The paper demonstrates a new framework to analyse CFS considering both architectural and environmental conditions. The framework is presented as a computational tool (CFStrace), which accepts parametric geometric input and uses forward raytracing to simulate the complex optical behaviour of CFS. The framework also introduces new metrics for the assessment of CFS, which are developed to suit the forward raytracing simulation technique, that predicts the uniformity of redirected sunlight in the built environment and ensures adequate visual comfort to the occupants. A comparison study is carried out to state the effectiveness of the metrics where various CFS designs from previous literature are tested. The comparative case study revealed which CFS designs would be more suitable at the specific setting and location and provided insight on metrics that can be used to assess the feasibility of one design over the other in terms of daylight performance. The new framework will involve less technical and modelling capabilities making it "architect-friendly" encouraging building designers to include CFS in their design process, especially in the early design phase, and pave the way for new CFS designs possibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buildings consume significant energy worldwide and account for a substantial proportion of greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, building energy management has become critical with the increasing demand for sustainable buildings and energy-efficient systems. Simulation tools have become crucial in assessing the effectiveness of buildings and their energy systems, and they are widely used in building energy management. These simulation tools can be categorized into white-box and black-box models based on the level of detail and transparency of the model's inputs and outputs. This review publication comprehensively analyzes the white-box, black-box, and web tool models for building energy simulation tools. We also examine the different simulation scales, ranging from single-family homes to districts and cities, and the various modelling approaches, such as steady-state, quasi-steady-state, and dynamic. This review aims to pinpoint the advantages and drawbacks of various simulation tools, offering guidance for upcoming research in the field of building energy management. We aim to help researchers, building designers, and engineers better understand the available simulation tools and make informed decisions when selecting and using them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building designers rely on predictive rendering techniques to design naturally and artificially lit environments. However, despite decades of work on the correctness of global illumination rendering techniques, our ability to accurately predict light levels in buildings-and to do so in a short time frame as part of an iterative design process-remains limited. In this paper, we present a novel approach to parallelizing construction of an irradiance cache over multiple-bounce paths. Relevant points for irradiance calculation based on one or multiple cameras are located by tracing rays through multiple-bounce paths. Irradiance values are then saved to a cache in reverse bounce order so that the irradiance calculation at each bounce samples from previously calculated values. We show by comparison to high-dynamic range photography of a moderately complex space that our method can predict luminance distribution as accurately as R adiance, the most widely validated tool used today for architectural predictive rendering of daylit spaces, and that it is faster by an order of magnitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a framework for integrating building information modelling (BIM) and object-oriented physical modelling-based building energy modelling (BEM) focusing on thermal simulation to support decision-making in the design process. The framework is made of a system interface between BIM and Modelica-based BEM and the visualization of simulation results for building designers. The interface consists of the following two major features: (1) pre-processing BIM models to add required thermal parameters into BIM and generate the building topology and (2) translating BIM to Modelica-based building energy modelling automatically and running the thermal simulation. The visualization component presents the simulation results in BIM for designers to understand the relationship between design decisions and the building performance. For the framework implementation, we have created a ModelicaBIM library and utilized the Modelica Buildings library developed by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. We conducted a case study to demonstrate and validate the framework simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There is a trend in the world to adopt low or zero carbon building design principles and technologies. However, energy performance gap is a significant barrier to the development of low or zero carbon buildings. A predominant reason of the performance gap is the insufficient consideration of residents’ needs, which may lead to subsequent inappropriate user behaviours. Previous research on energy-related occupant behaviour is built either on statistical analysis from post-occupancy evaluations or stochastic models. There is a lack of pre-occupancy measurement of the interaction between occupant behaviour and building design alternatives. This paper aims to develop an innovative analytic approach using virtual reality (VR) technology to help building designers (architects, system engineers and interior designers) to identify the design pattern which guides the occupants to behave in the most energy-efficient way, so as to closing the energy performance gap resulting from occupants’ misconduct. The paper presents a VR-assisted innovative occupant-engaged framework in building energy design based on Design with Intent (DwI) method. Then the approach is validated by a case study on lighting control design for a sample residential building project in Hong Kong. The combination with decision-making is recommended for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of past emergency events have revealed that occupants' behaviors, egress signage system, local geometry, and environmental constraints affect crowd movement and govern the building evacuation. In addition to complying with code and standards, building designers need to consider the occupants' social characteristics and the unique layout of the buildings to design occupant-centric egress systems. This paper describes an agent-based egress simulation tool, SAFEgress, which incorporates important human and social behaviors observed by researchers in safety and disaster management. Agents in SAFEgress are capable of perceiving building emergency features in the virtual environment and deciding their behaviors and navigation. In particular, we describe four agent behavioral models, namely following familiar exits, following cues from building features, navigating with social groups, and following crowds. We use SAFEgress to study how agents (mimicking building occupants) react to different signage arrangements in a modeled environment. We explore agents' reactions to cues as an emergent phenomenon, shaped by the interactions among groups and crowds. Simulation results from the prototype reveal that different designs of building emergency features and levels of group interactions can trigger different crowd flow patterns and affect overall egress performance. By considering the occupants' perception about the emergency features using the SAFEgress prototype, engineers, designers, and facility managers can study the human factors that may influence an egress situation and, thereby, improve the design of SAFEgress systems and procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Successful emergency evacuation of a large crowd depends on understanding human behaviour and its interaction with environmental stimuli in that situation. A careful study of human behaviour in these stressful and often time-bound situations can enable building designers to account for these effects to develop the most efficient evacuation strategies. One of the major roadblocks of the field has been the lack of reliable data collection techniques. Traditionally, most of the data analysed for these studies is either collected from historical events or through stated preference (SP) surveys given the challenges of conducting high-risk emergency evacuation experiments. The project is aimed at conducting emergency evacuation scenarios in a virtual reality (VR) environment. Eighty-four participants participated in multiple cases as a part of three VR scenarios to test various factors affecting their decision-making process. Participants were immersed in VR scenarios and subjected to a series of choices. Incorporation of VR technology enabled the experiment to record participants' stated preference with a much greater degree of certainty and realism as opposed to traditional pen and paper methods. The study devised a discrete choice model and calibrated it using the data obtained from the VR-based survey. When testing multiple competing factors in the VR scenarios and comparing the results with previous studies, in one VR scenario, the direction of exit signs was found more influential than crowding. In another scenario, familiarity with an exit appeared to be more influential than herding behaviour and exit distance. Overall, the VR technology is demonstrated to provide an advantage as a means to collect data and has come out as a promising tool to be incorporated in future emergency exit choice studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]