Category Archives: Conference Paper
A Novel Methodology to Assess Mean Radiant Temperature in Complex Outdoor Spaces
The increasing complexity of modern architectural geometries emphasizes the need for more accurate simplified calculations of comfort analysis in architectural design. Such computations often require to solve complicated equations, among which the calculation of Mean Radiant Temperature (MRT) is notable. … Continue reading
Is Exterior Glare Problematic? Investigation on Visual Discomfort Caused by Reflected Sunlight on Specular Building Facades
Highly reflective and specular building envelopes have been widely adopted to help maximize energy performance of buildings and to achieve occupant thermal and visual comfort. This strategy has ensured these benefits inside the building envelope while making a significant and … Continue reading
Crisis Architecture: Colonising unfinished residential structures
This paper tackles the environmental and social challenges that have emerged in the aftermath of the recent economic crisis. The acute recession that has dramatically struck Europe has had devastating consequences, not only for national economies but also for the population. In … Continue reading
Passive Town Kurobe Model – A sustainable community project in Kurobe
Passive Town Kurobe Model is conceptualised to be a sustainable community project in Kurobe City, Japan with a population of about 42000, and home to several international industries. This housing complex with 36 units will be rented to the employees’ families and other … Continue reading
A quiet revolution: Mapping energy use in low carbon communities
Recent Government funding in the UK has enabled 22 low carbon community organisations to work with the private and academic sector to understand and reduce energy consumption in domestic and non-domestic buildings. This has helped communities prepare for policy mechanisms such as … Continue reading
The Catalyst Role of School Architecture in Enhancing Children’s Environmental Behavior
The interrelationships between school design and children learning are well established. Less evident is the relationship between sustainable school design and the level of environmental behaviour of the children in attendance. Newly erected primary schools in Australia have been broadly graded as … Continue reading
Ideahaus: A Comfortable Home for the UK’S Future Climate
This paper describes the result of a project to develop climate adaptation design strategies funded by the UK’s Technology Strategy Board. The aim of the project was to look at the threats and opportunities presented by industrialised and lightweight housebuilding techniques in … Continue reading
From zero-energy building to zero-energy neighbourhood: urban form and mobility matter
“Zero-Energy” Building (ZEB) is arousing more and more interest internationally, both in policies aiming at a more sustainable built environment (such as the European Directive PEB that will require, for example, all new buildings to be “nearly Zero-Energy” Buildings (nZEB) by 2020) … Continue reading
Reanalysing the ASHRAE RP-884 Database to Determine Thermal Comfort Criteria for Naturally Ventilated Buildings in Hot-Humid Climate
The main goal of this study is to determine a suitable set of thermal comfort criteria for naturally ventilated buildings in hot-humid climate by reanalysing the ASHRAE RP-884 database. The results reveal that the regression coefficient in the adaptive algorithm for naturally … Continue reading
Building Management for a Good Indoor Climate and Low Energy Use: How much coordination is needed between facility manager and technical manager?
In the Netherlands and most European countries it is usually not the Facility Manager who is in charge of the indoor climate and energy use of a building. This task is usually delegated to a technical service manager or sup-plier. … Continue reading