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The view from the window is an important parameter of living comfort. Previous studies have defined several important characteristics of views, but there are very few studies that addressed window views in dense urban environments and their influence on the perceptual elements of the view. The scope of the study was to define the influence of design elements in window views that can trigger negative reactions from viewers. In our study the questionnaire survey was used as a method for obtaining the research data. A group of architecture students who participated as respondents selected different reactions to views and reasons for such responses. Only the window views that received poor responses were further investigated. The results were statistically analyzed according to the most frequent responses and the variability of responses. The homogeneity of the groups of responses as well as the groups of reasons was tested using the Fischer-Snedercor test. The analysis showed that the negative response to a window view depends not only on the short distance between the buildings, but also on the visual aesthetics, especially the composition quality, the surface characteristics and the maintenance of the observed building. The results show that interventions, especially natural elements such as vegetation, can increase the dynamics of the window view.

This paper addresses the main challenges in climate resilience of the building sector, including climate adaptation schemes, energy efficiency, and mitigation approaches. These challenges are evaluated with regard to the state of the art, research interest, and regulatory issues, providing an assessment of the advances and defining research gaps in the literature review. The review shows that climate resilience mainly deals with larger systems, whereas the field is still developing at the building level. One of the main challenges identified is the institutional response. Many publications state that it is necessary to revise policies and develop legislation; however, this is sometimes hindered by uncertain climate change predictions. The EU legislation currently provides partial coverage of resource efficiency and climate mitigation in the building sector, while the national legislation is delayed. The current situation can impair the competitiveness of the national building sector, causing it to lag behind the goals set for achieving sustainability. From the cost perspective, immediate short-term actions are seen as more expensive, because delays can result in increased risks for major investments. The authorities are currently choosing between rapid and delayed actions, balancing the costs of early actions and the reciprocal costs of delay. Keywords: buildings, climate change, climate resilience, economy, climate change adaptation

Članek obravnava poglavitne izzive v zvezi z odpornostjo proti podnebnim spremembam z vidika stavbnega sektorja, kot so sheme prilagajanja podnebnim spremembam, energetska učinkovitost in ukrepi za blaženje teh sprememb. Izzivi so ovrednoteni glede na najnovejše stanje razvoja področja, raziskovalni interes in regulativna vprašanja, pri čemer se pri pregledu znanstvene literature presoja napredek in opredeljujejo raziskovalne vrzeli. Pregled literature nakazuje, da se odpornost proti podnebnim spremembam večinoma nanaša na večje sisteme, na ravni stavb pa se to področje šele razvija. Eden od glavnih ugotovljenih izzivov je pomanjkljiv institucionalni odziv. V številnih objavah je mogoče zaznati, da sta nujna prilagoditev politik in razvoj zakonodaje, ki ju včasih zavirajo negotova predvidevanja o podnebnih spremembah. Zakonodaja EU trenutno delno pokriva področji učinkovite rabe virov in podnebnih sprememb v stavbnem sektorju, nacionalna zakonodaja pa pri tem nekoliko zaostaja. Takšne razmere lahko zmanjšajo konkurenčnost nacionalnega stavbnega sektorja, kar lahko povzroči zaostajanje za opredeljenimi trajnostnimi cilji. S finančnega vidika so manjše kratkoročne investicije dražje, saj odlašanje s posegi v temeljito trajnostno prenovo stavb povzroča večja tveganja. Pristojni organi se trenutno odločajo med hitrimi in zapoznelimi ukrepi, uravnoteženjem stroškov zgodnjega ukrepanja in vzajemnimi stroški zamud.

The view from the window is an important parameter of living comfort. Previous studies have defined several important characteristics of views, but there are very few studies that addressed window views in dense urban environments and their influence on the perceptual elements of the view. The scope of the study was to define the influence of design elements in window views that can trigger negative reactions from viewers. In our study the questionnaire survey was used as a method for obtaining the research data. A group of architecture students who participated as respondents selected different reactions to views and reasons for such responses. Only the window views that received poor responses were further investigated. The results were statistically analyzed according to the most frequent responses and the variability of responses. The homogeneity of the groups of responses as well as the groups of reasons was tested using the Fischer-Snedercor test. The analysis showed that the negative response to a window view depends not only on the short distance between the buildings, but also on the visual aesthetics, especially the composition quality, the surface characteristics and the maintenance of the observed building. The results show that interventions, especially natural elements such as vegetation, can increase the dynamics of the window view.

During early building design stages, decisions are made regarding building's form, orientation, distribution, and size of glazing. Although these features are crucial for building energy performance, designers rarely base their decisions on elaborate energy simulations. The paper presents a study of the interconnectedness of building form, orientation and window area in regard to energy consumption for heating and cooling of a generic building in Central European climate. The study showed that for the considered climate, an elongated building form is more suitable than the compact one, because it allows larger window areas and thus more efficient solar energy harvesting. Even though this may be advantageous for the heating period, it represents a potential problem during the cooling season. Therefore, appropriate shading must be applied and thus the optimum solution is achieved in regard to the building's cumulative yearly energy consumption.

This paper studies the effects of energy efficiency measures on energy demand in the Krsan Castle, which is a cultural heritage complex in Istria (Croatia). The heating and cooling energy demand is calculated by means of a dynamic building energy model based on hourly weather data. The largest individual reductions are obtained with thermal insulation for the heating demand, and with external window shading and natural night ventilation for the cooling demand. Energy reductions of up to 80%, relatively to the existing state, can be achieved by energy retrofit projects which include thermal insulation, energy efficient windows, improved airtightness, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery and passive cooling techniques. The economic analysis revealed that payback periods between 10 and 16 years can be achieved by this kind of energy retrofit projects.

Indoor lighting conditions and the efficient use of solar energy are becoming increasingly important, both in terms of overall living comfort and energy-efficient buildings. Thus, the methods of achieving adequate indoor lighting conditions, by making use of daylight to save energy, while still maintaining other indoor conditions at an acceptable level, and the corresponding control algorithms, have lately become the subject of considerable attention. For this reason, a fuzzy black-box model of indoor illuminance levels is proposed. The model is able to estimate the indoor illuminance levels as its outputs, by using real external conditions as its inputs. In general, the indoor illuminance is a combination of daylighting and electric lighting. Our study has shown that by using a fuzzy illuminance model, with the solar radiation, the external illuminance, the position of the blinds and the status of the lights as its inputs, an indoor illuminance estimation comparable to the measured data can be obtained. Furthermore, the sufficiently small error measures indicate that the presented modelling approach can be incorporated into larger test environments and used for studies on indoor living comfort, energy conservation, control design or even model-based control. Whenever needed, several fuzzy-illuminance models can be used in parallel in order to obtain the illuminance levels for more than one indoor position.

Hospitals present complex indoor environment with various users, health hazards and specific activities. This paper classifies health hazards specific to the hospital environment (HE), defines their interactions and possible impacts on human health and summarizes recommendations for biological and chemical hazards. A detailed literature review clearly shows that there is no developed system or method for integral control of health hazards in HE. There is no appropriate technology available that would allow development of optimal thermal comfort conditions for individual users in HE. For integral control of physical hazards, an innovative low exergy (LowEx) system was designed and tested. The system enables individual control of thermal comfort parameters to meet the needs of various users in the same room. It enables the design of optional conditions for healthcare and treatment considering the different requirements of individual patients and thermally neutral zones for other users. The system application is presented in a model room for burns patient. The measured energy use was lower by 11–27% for space heating and by 32–73% for cooling, when using LowEx system as compared to the conventional system. Owning to its flexibility, the system can also be used for other potential users.

The paper describes detailed structure of the integral automated regulation system for the control of indoor environment (ICsIE) which harmonises occupant comfort requirements and principles of bioclimatic approach. The ICsIE regulates indoor illumination, thermal conditions and air quality. The control unit of the system is designed as a hybrid cascade system incorporating fuzzy logic and conventional PI controllers. Regulation is executed with the use of sensors, which monitor the environmental conditions and adherent actuators. The ICsIE is currently installed in an occupied office in the building of the Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. During the operation the ICsIE was able to synchronise the aspects of thermal, illuminance and ventilation control and maintain indoor environmental conditions in the desired range of the set-point values. From the occupant point of view the ICsIE performed adequately, as manual interventions into the functioning of the system were rare.

This paper presents the influence of a movable reflector on the thermal response of an atrium building. Various positions of thermal insulation in the building envelope were used to control thermal dynamics, while the atrium roof with reflector was used for solar heating. The influence of the roof reflector was calculated on a large number of cases differing with regard to wall structures, use of night insulation on the atrium roof and operational heating mode. The heating energy used in the building was assessed by the computer program KAMRA-RW using the actual weather data during typical time periods. This program had been previously tested on a scale model in real-time conditions and compared with the results obtained by the TRNSYS program. The tests showed acceptable consistency. The research proved that a reflector mounted on the atrium roof accelerates the dynamics of the thermal response of a building and substantially diminishes the quantity of the required heating energy.

In the era of informational and technological breakthrough, the automatically controlled living and working environment is expected to become a commonly used service. This paper deals with dynamically controlled thermal and illumination responses of built environment in real-time conditions. The aim is to harmonize thermal and optical behaviour of a building by coordinating energy flows that pass through the transparent part of the envelope. For this purpose, a test chamber with an opening on the southern side was built. Changeable geometry of the opening is achieved by the automated external roller blind. A fuzzy control system enables the positioning of the shading device according to the desired indoor set points and the outdoor conditions. Through the experiments, the fuzzy controllers were tuned and gradually improved. Some sets of the experiments are presented here to illustrate the process.