Monthly Archives: February 2012
Analysis of Seasonal Differences in Microclimate Formed in a Local Small City of Paddy Field Areas – A new approach using airborne remote sensing and CFD simulation
This paper examines the relationship between the seasonal land cover change and microclimate formed in a local small city of paddy field areas in Japan using airborne remote sensing data and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulation. The land cover maps … Continue reading
An Interactive Performance-Based Expert System for Daylighting Design
Architects are increasingly using digital tools during the design process, particularly as they approach complex problems such as designing for successful daylighting performance. However, while simulation tools may provide the designer with valuable information, they do not necessarily guide the … Continue reading
Outdoor Thermal Comfort in the Hot Arid Climate : The effect of socio-economic background and cultural différences
Climate-sensitive open spaces within cities may benefit the three dimensions of sustainability, affecting economical, social and environmental factors. Aiming to improve microclimatic conditions in urban spaces can enable people to spend more time outdoors, with the potential to influence the … Continue reading
Architectural Pride and Environmental Prejudice: The effect of personal status, historical value, and indoor décor on occupants indoor environmental quality in offices
This paper reports on an important yet unexplored area of indoor comfort studies, the relationship between historical attributes of buildings, personal values, and indoor environmental quality (IEQ) of office spaces. For this study we employed a comparative case study design … Continue reading
Double-skin façade exhaustive simulation throughout combined thermal and daylight modelling. Application to optimal control
To optimize the comfort (visual and thermal) and energy savings, the topics related to solar protection are getting more and more important. Indeed it is necessary to use the maximum of the sun in winter (avoiding the glare) and to minimize transmitted … Continue reading
High Density, Low Energy: Achieving useful solar access for Dublin’s Multi-storey Apartment Developments
Solar energy has quantitative and qualitative benefits in the city, from reducing energy consumption to improving both indoor and outdoor amenity. However, gaining access to solar energy becomes increasingly difficult in high density developments, where orientation may not be optimal and … Continue reading
Public “Living Room” Outdoor Comfort in Hot and Humid Climate
The proposed open space “living-room” is conceived as an extension of a private living space. As one of Asia’s most dense and developed cities, Hong Kong’s high-rise urban dwellings place constraints on activity within the home thus bringing a new … Continue reading
Life Cycle Inventory of Extremely Low Energy Dwellings
A global methodology is developed to optimize concepts for extremely low energy dwellings, taking into account energy use, environmental impact, and financial costs over the life cycle of the buildings. Energy simulations are executed with TRNSYS. The ecological impact is … Continue reading
Sorption Behaviour of Lime-Hemp Concrete and its Relation to Indoor Comfort and Energy Demand
Recent investigations on heat and mass flows through building materials in dynamical conditions show the importance of considering moisture transport and storage when analyzing the global performance of the building envelope. Lime-Hemp Concrete (LHC) is an insulation material made out … Continue reading
Air Ventilation Assessment System for High Density Planning and Design
In 2003, Hong Kong was hit by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) from which many people died. The Hong Kong Government subsequently set up a Team Clean Committee to investigate possible infectious disease prevention measures and policies. One of the … Continue reading