Limiting Nuisance for Traffic during the Refurbishment of the Heinenoord Tunnel in The Netherlands:In Search of Resilience Possibilities

The Heinenoord Tunnel in The Netherlands connects the Hoeksche Waard Island with the city of Rotterdam.The tunnel is 614 m long,consists of two unidirectional tubes(3 lanes each)and has an average daily traffic load of 92,100 vehicles.The tunnel was opened for traffic in 1969.The structure is basically still sound,but a full refurbishment of the installations and systems is required,because they are end of life.A long closure of the tunnel(or even one tube)is not possible,because alternative routes are scarce and require significant extra travel time,not suitable for the high traffic load.Thus,various scenarios were considered to assure the accessibility of the Hoeksche Waard during the works,scheduled for 2023-2024.Multi-criteria analyses were performed for each scenario,taking into account the total project cost,societal cost(due to extra travel time)and the total required time span for the works.Refurbishment through“parallel assembly”proved to be optimal.This concept means that the new installations and systems are installed next to the current ones,that will remain in service until the end phase of the refurbishment.The existing installations and systems are only dismantled after integral testing has shown that the completed new ones work properly.This approach allows most of the works to be carried out during a series of night and weekend closures of just one tube.This limits nuisance,because one driving direction is always left undisturbed,while the closure for the other driving direction takes place in low-traffic periods.This paper describes the applied method to select the optimal refurbishment approach,as well as the(partly unconventional)measures that are implemented to enhance the resilience of the tunnel system to assure as much availability for traffic as possible,also during future maintenance works.

A Study on the Impact of Urban River Refurbishment to the Thermal Environment of Surrounding Residential Area

In this study, a simulation was conducted targeting Beomeo stream of Daegu, for the purpose of the quantitative determination of the changes in thermal environment of surrounding residential areas according to the urban river refurbishment. For the study method, the reviews of literature and model verification were conducted, and then the results were derived through the process of comparing and analyzing the thermal environment resulting from the river refurbishment of the target area. As a result of the model verification, the accuracy of modeling was 95%. As a result of a simulation of the target area, in respect of the fluctuation of temperature, the temperature decreased by 1.33°C more in the daytime than in the night time, due to the river refurbishment. In respect of the positions, the decrease of the temperature was 1.33°C at 2 pm at position 1, the position of river refurbishment, and the highest in the entire time slots. Also, the changes in temperature increasingly decreased from position 1 to position 4. It seemed that it was because there was the highest radiant heat at position 1 with the biggest gap between artificial mulching and natural mulching, and the effect of the gap in the radiant heat influenced successively over position 2, 3 and 4. Lastly, in respect of the effect of river refurbishment on the surrounding area, the effect reached to position 3, in other word, 60 meters from the river.

Refurbishment of Significant Timber Structures in Slovakia

The paper presents an analysis and a subsequent refurbishment of significant buildings in Slovakia. The analysis focuses on the load-bearing timber roof-structures. There are three sacral objects and one long-span sporting hall presented. The paper tries to introduce the background of difficult refurbishment process. Before the refurbishment, a thorough process of investigation is required This process includes four basic steps. General information about the load-bearing structure is obtained from the geodetic survey that foregoes the process of diagnostic inspection. The diagnostic survey focuses on the defects of the structure, their degree and possible origin. Modem methods of computer modelling help to understand the structural operation and help to find reserves of carrying capacity. Structural analysis should take into account all detected defects and the joint types, which can influence the transfer of forces. The refurbishment project is usually a brief, but clear summary for fulfilling the needs of Monument Board and building process. All the steps require knowledge from different fields and require professional approach.

The Economic Effect of the Housing Refurbishment in Urban Regeneration

With the increasing ratio of self-owned housing, the demand for new building as gradually reduced. In other words, the demand of refurbishment becomes more urgent. The major objective of this paper is to explore and investigate the consumer behavior of housing renovation. We plan to explore the direct effects of housing refurbishment or restoration on the housing prices, and then the indirect effects of an externality spilled over to the neighbor. We will understand the overall effects to provide a preliminary estimate of the changing in the economic value resulting from the change in the housing refurbishment or restoration of buildings. This research also dig into how the effects in the housing refurbishment or restoration in Taipei city ＆ Kaohsiung city. The purpose is to investigate the driving force on the housing restoration. This study will be the empirical study on the economic values by using hedonic price model. The result will be useful on the decision-making on the urban regeneration by the way of housing restoration and suggests that property owners of a housing estate will benefit from participating on refurbishment in Taiwan.

Energy Saving Potential Due to Refurbishment of Federal Public Housing in the UAE

This paper, computer energy modeling is used to estimate the potential energy savings of refurbishing existing public federal housing in the United Arab Emirates. Such houses are built by the UAE Ministry of Public Works (MoPW) in five of the seven emirates that make up the UAE federation. The energy modeling was performed using the Integrated Environmental Solutions-Virtual Environment (IES-VE) commercial software. The study covered representative MoPW houses built in the period of 1974-2012. The results indicate potential energy savings upto 30.8% for the case of model 717 when refurbished to 2 Pearls standards compared to the as built configuration. The results showed little benefit in going from 1 Pearl to 2 Pearls refurbishment level. Thus 1 Pearl seems to be the most practical. This shows the high potential for energy, and thus environmental, savings should refurbishment be carried out on the homes built by the MoPW.

Inter-Organizational Conflict (IOC) in Building Refurbishment Projects;an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) approach

Over the past years,there has been an expanding intrigued in building refurbishment projects because of the alter in financial conditions and the accentuation on sustainable development.Increasing demand for building refurbishment projects will lead to an increase in organizational interactions in the construction works as building refurbishment works involve interactions among many different organizations and it can cause Inter-Organizational conflict(IOC)among organizations involved in projects.This paper adopted an Exploratory Factor Analysis(EFA)approach to analyses IOC in building refurbishment projects.For this study,a fivepoint Likert Scale was adopted to ensure the instruments of the study are reliable.The researcher ultimately sent questionnaires as a web-link and email invitation to 1050 construction firms and 733 architectural firms.The questionnaire sent to managers and professionals from construction and architectural firms in Malaysia.Finally,one-hundred-seventy-nine(179)refurbishment projects formed a database for this paper.The finding of this paper shows the IOC factors that contribute to the improve the performance of building refurbishment project can be conflict during the construction stage,conflict between the client and the consultant,task expectations,basic responsibilities,final duration,project’s goals,conflict between the client and the contractor,final cost,final quality,standards of behaviors,conflict between the contractor and the consultant,interference and conflict during the design stage.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES OF REFURBISHMENT VERSUS DEMOLITION AND RECONSTRUCTION:A COMPARATIVE LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF AN ITALIAN CASE STUDY

In the building sector,new standards for energy efficiency are reducing the energy consumption and the carbon emissions for building operation to nearly zero.As a result,the greenhouse gas emissions and related environmental impacts from mate-rials production,and especially insulation,are becoming key factors.In the near future,most of the building stock is expected to be refurbished and a great amount of construction materials will be consequently required.A relevant share of waste is generated from building construction and demolition and limiting the volume is a priority of the EU community.In this work the renovation of industrial buildings in a dismissed area located in Lecco,Italy,was considered as a case study.Five alterna-tive construction systems(EPS,WOOD,ROCK,PU,HEMP)for renovating the building envelopes were assumed,and a life cycle assessment(LCA)adopted in order to measure the environmental impact of each alternative.The results were compared with a scenario which included demolition and reconstruction of a similar building with the same net volume and thermal resistance.The results showed that timber and concrete are the most environmentally friendly materials to rebuild the structures in case of demolition,contrary to steel which leads generally to higher environmental impacts,except land use.In general,EPS,WOOD and HEMP technological alter-natives accounted for the highest scores,both in terms of burdens on the ecosystems and on depletion of resources,while ROCK accounted for the lowest scores.Finally,refurbishment scenarios generally accounted for a lower global warming potential(GWP)even if demolition,waste treatment and the benefit from recycling/reuse are taken into account.

Resilience analysis of road tunnels subject to refurbishment work

After some tragic fire events,Directive 2004/54/EC was issued to ensure a minimum safety level for tunnels belonging to the Trans-European Road Network longer than 500 m.Nowadays,most of the Italian road tunnels are still not in compliance with the minimum safety requirements,thus refurbishment works are often planned.By developing a traffic macro-simulation model,this paper aims at assessing the resilience of an existing twin-tube motorway tunnel when one of its tubes is partially or completely closed due to planned activities.Several scenarios were investigated,also considering the availability or not of an alternative itinerary in the surrounding transportation network.The average vehicles’speed was used as a functionality parameter,while the resilience metrics were the resilience loss,the recovery speed,and the resilience index.The findings showed higher resilience losses for complete closure rather than partial closure of the tube under planned refurbishment works.The implementation of digital technologies,such as variable message signs,might reduce the resilience loss of the tunnel system.This research might represent a reference for tunnel management agencies in the choice of the most appropriate traffic control strategy to improve tunnel resilience in the event of planned activities.

Architecture as a Means of Developing Social Exchange:Learning from a Danish Case Study of Refurbishment and Urban Transformation in a Disadvantaged Housing Area

Disadvantaged housing areas from the postwar period typically consist of relatively monotonous and monofunctional multi-storey blocks and have a separate traffic system rendering the areas isolated enclaves in the urban fabric.It is argued that this spatial isolation contributes to social isolation,and current refurbishments are therefore aimed at linking the housing areas with the surrounding neighbourhoods to enable social exchange between the residents and people from the surrounding areas.Based on a case study in a Danish social housing area,this paper discusses to what extent architectural development and urban strategic transformations can contribute to enabling social exchange in disadvantaged housing areas.Do neighbours enter the disadvantaged housing area as intended?If so,how does this influence their perception of the housing area?The analysis shows that architectural development and urban transformations are interdependent in establishing a social mix in disadvantaged housing areas.It is argued that refurbishments can reduce the stigma surrounding the housing area and its residents.However,the applicability of such strategies is highly dependent on the local context of the housing area.

SCALABLE AND QUANTITATIVE DECISION SUPPORT FOR THE INITIAL BUILDING DESIGN STAGES OF REFURBISHMENT

Decision-making within the building industry often involves various criteria of very different natures.Some are qualitative,others quantitative,some are objective,others subjective,but ultimately,they should all be aggregated and handled holistically in order to support decision-making.This process can also be referred to as multi-criteria decision-making(MCDM).Some aspects of MCDM are often conducted unconsciously and non-transparently.By implementing mathematical methods that have been proved applicable for MCDM,multi-criteria decision-making processes can be handled more consciously and transparently and thus be made reproducible.The calculation method presented allows quantitative sustainability and qualitative indicator values to be accounted for with the level of importance desired.The MCDM method used is Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution(TOPSIS).As the model has already been described well in the scientific literature and is used frequently,the aim is to illustrate how TOPSIS can be applied for transparent decision-making within the building industry in the context of urban renewal and refurbishment schemes through case studies of various scales and descriptions.The case studies focused on in this paper incorporate a variety of specific pre-chosen criteria,including environmental performance,functional parameters and technical parameters.The case studies cover different parameters of refurbishment in a major hospital compound in Denmark due to be taken out of operation.One central design decision is whether to refurbish or demolish the old hospital buildings.The results reveal that decision support is first of all dependent on how the decision-making tool is applied and what choices are made in relation to the actual calculations.However,by implementing a mathematically based MCDM method like that being assessed in the case studies presented,the decisions and their argu-ments become transparent and are easily communicated within a project group.As a result,the tool is considered to be universally applicable across most decision-making contexts within the building industry.

Blockchain-based refurbishment certification system for enhancing the circular economy

As the global population continues to grow,the enormous stress on our environment and resources is becoming impossible to ignore.A focus on producing and consuming as cheaply as possible has created an economy in which objects are briefly used and then discarded as waste,featuring a linear lifecycle that creates an enormous amount of waste.The alternative to the linear economy“take-make-waste”is called the“circular economy”.Under this paradigm,materials are recycled to build new products or components that are designed and built to promote their reuse and refurbishment.This assures the continuous(re-)exploitation of existing resources,reducing the extraction of new raw materials.However,customers often reject these reused or refurbished products under the suspicion that they do not meet the same usability,safety,or performance levels of new products.In this sense,trustworthy records of historical details of refurbished products could increase consumers’confidence in products and components of the“circular economy”,prioritizing trustworthiness,reliability,and transparency.This work presents a new certification tool based on blockchain technology to guarantee trusted,accurate,transparent,and traceable lifecycle information of products and their components and to generate trustworthy certificates to probe refurbished product historical details.This tool aims to enhance refurbished product visibility by creating the basis for making the circular economy a reality in any domain.

Performance evaluation of operational energy use in refurbishment, reuse, and conservation of heritage buildings for optimum sustainability

The operational phase of a building project has increasingly gained importance with their energy performance becoming valuable and determining their operational excellence. In most heritage building projects （HBPs）, the operational energy use aspects are less considered, and a systematic way of analyzing their energy performance following project delivery is often lacking, The aim of this study is to evaluate the operational performance of refurbishment and reuse of UK listed church projects. The objective is to assess the operational energy use with a view to optimizing their sustafnabie performance. The methodology includes eight selected case study buildings refurbished and converted for multipurpose use. The case study approach provided qualitative insights into how the study contributes to a more structured requirements for energy management in HBPs with specific attention to energy-efficient building operations. The findings show the need to focus on fundamental areas of operational management （i.e. by developing and implementing more focused policy on operational energy performance of heritage buildings） to minimize the energy required to operate them. The challenges of implementing changes in operational energy performance improvement of heritage buildings are addressed in the form of recommendations that could Lead to real results. The study concludes that leveraging these areas requires commitment from all heritage building stakeholders because they all have substantial roles in harmonizing the requirement for the project＇s sustainability and not just the building operators. Meanwhile, baseline project planning, periodic updating, monitoring, and managing the energy use pattern are suggested as measures that could greatly facilitate better energy performance to optimizing their sustainable reuse compared with the traditional approach of trying to improve their thermal performance.

Metamodeling and multicriteria analysis for sustainable and passive residential building refurbishment: A case study of French housing stock

For the energy-related issues that the world is facing nowadays,the renovation of the building stock is one of the major challenges.The objective of this study is to present an approach that helps to develop a multi-criteria decision support tool dedicated to the rehabilitation of sustainable and passive energy housing by integrating heating energy needs,economic,social and environmental criteria throughout the life cycle stages of the building.The methodology consists of developing metamodels to predict heating energy needs from polynomial regression,design of experiments method and thermo-aeraulic simulations of building behavior.This metamodel is used to carry out a combinatorial study of real technical solutions.The methodology was applied to a real-life existing building located in La Rochelle city(France)based on an in-situ energy diagnosis.Three multicriteria analysis methods were studied and compared:weighted sum,Min-Max and Pareto concept.Furthermore,technical constraints as well as owner preferences and performance constraints have been studied.Optimal technical solutions have been obtained in order to meet the various criteria studied.In addition,window shading and natural ventilation have been proposed to reduce the thermal discomfort rate in summer.This study was extended to all French regions.Finally,this method can be transformed into a decision support tool which will be useful for architects,engineers and stockholders.

An optimisation process to motivate effective adoption of BIM for refurbishment of complex buildings in New Zealand

Despite the multidisciplinary networks involved in refurbishment of complex building projects,the lack of BIM adoption signifies lack of real BIM benefits towards acceptance of BIM within Architecture,Engineering and Construction(AEC).To this end,this study empirically examines the potential real benefits between traditional network and BIM network for a real-time refurbishment case study project,through agentbased simulation modelling.A social network analysis theory is adapted to model the project interaction networks and a BIM prototype network.An assessment of the main stakeholders for BIM perception is carried out.We offered three prototype interaction networks for comparison of real BIM benefit.An agent-based Bayesian network model is used to simulate the propagation of design error within the project networks.The result of the analysis show that BIM project diffuses error efficiently,while stakeholders recovers faster and nearly at the same time than traditional network.The optimised network shows better performance to the traditional network,when there is early involvement of subcontractors.The main contribution of this study is providing a novel approach to compare real benefits for traditional method to BIM method for refurbishment project and to provide avenue for project stakeholders to optimise their interaction through adoption of BIM.

The Italian Construction Sector Scenario between Economic Crisis and the Need for More Energy Efficiency

The paper presents the main aspects of contemporary Italian scenario of construction sector,underlying the importance of renoval in the next years,especially concerning energy efficiency retrofit.Moreover,the paper includes two important case studies in Italy,housing and schools buildings,which both present great needs of refurbishment.

Existing Building Challenge and CONCERTO Project

If Europe is to achieve the planned transition to a low carbon economy by 2050, succeeding in improving the energy efficiency of the largely inefficient existing building stock will be pivotal. Certain energy efficiency retrofitting obligations have now emerged as part of the EU＇s Energy Performance in Buildings Directive and the Energy Efficiency Directive. Challenges for retrofitting currently include gaps in technical skills both amongst building trades and professionals, a lack of awareness of building owners and users, concerns about compromising cultural heritage as well as a lack of viable business models, comparatively high cost and resulting long pay-back periods currently hamper the progress. Lessons can be drawn here form the EU-funded initiative CONCERTO, which helped 58 communities in 23 countries to reduce their dependence on conventional energy supply by implementing energy efficiency measures and integrating renewable energy sources not at single building scale but community scale. Almost all of these entailed retrofitting activities bad to find solutions to the issues mentioned. This paper presents a selection of conclusions regarding retrofitting to be drawn from the analysis undertaken under the project CONCERTO premium, which analysed outcomes across the 58 projects on behalf of the European Commission and focuses in particular on the political relevance of outcomes.

Static Requirement and Type＇s Complexity in the Diagnostics Phase

The preservation of a historical building, whatever its architectural and/or artistic value, is more successful when undertaken with a deep understanding of the building＇s history, development, materials and construction techniques. The preliminary phase of any restoration intervention must start with data acquisition regarding the characteristics and conditions of the building, including a survey of significant alterations. In a great number of cases, restorations are not respectful of the building＇s static efficiency, so its static requirement is weakened. In fact, a very high percentage of instances in which a restoration effort results in building damage is attributable to such modification＇s indifference to the structural balance of a structure, as consolidated over time. This study focuses on the restoration intervention on two trilobate pillars that separate the central space from the presbytery in the Cathedral of Matera, located in southern Italy. Through the use of sonic tests - carried out despite the complexity of the shape of the building and constructive elements that characterize these pillars -- it was possible to show the effectiveness of the implemented intervention, highlighting critical points and weaknesses. The research aims to show how -- despite the complexity of some structural elements of a building -- in-depth knowledge of a structure＇s structure and history is essential to for the success of restoration interventions, which are respectful of a building＇s type and material peculiarities.

Refurbishing Faestningens Materialgard： A Heritage Complex

F estningens Materialgard is a listed complex located in downtown Copenhagen. The refurbishment of the listed complex was studied to provide knowledge on how a process for refurbishing heritage buildings can be carried out successfully, as refurbishment of heritage buildings is often a complicated process. The process shows how to choose, evaluate and implement measures creating synergy between the interests of preserving heritage values and to develop affordable refurbishment that meets the requirements for the future use of the building. The refurbishment followed included restoration, energy upgrading and refurbishment of the individual buildings that make up the listed complex. The process focuses on the cooperation and dialogue between the parties involved. F estningens Materialgard is a case study where the Heritage Agency, the Danish Working Environment Authority and the owner as a team cooperated in identifying feasible refurbishment measures. Through the process the owner was supported by architects and engineers. Focus is put on how, to identify potential energy savings and, to decide on energy upgrading measures when refurbishing and restoring listed buildings. The refurbished Faestningens Materialgard is visualized in photos.

A DEMONSTRATION BUILDING PROJECT:PROMOTING SUSTAINABILITY VALUES

This article explores the relevance of the demonstration project as a strategy for inspir-ing contemporary building practice in a process towards sustainable building and as a tool for influencing environmental values in the community.The Log Cabin Project in Napier,New Zealand,is a demonstration facility for displaying sustainable build-ing and living practices situated on the campus of the Eastern Institute of Technology(EIT).The project is the refurbishment of an existing structure designed to showcase the sustainable use of material resources,energy and water conservation,and waste-water management.The aim was to investigate the effect visiting a demonstration sustainable building might have on people’s knowledge of and attitude towards sus-tainability issues,and more specifically whether the methods for making a building more sustainable displayed in the building affected how people thought about their own living environments.In February 2016,five visitor groups,three of EIT students not previously connected with the project,one of EIT staff,and a local environment group were invited to view the project and surveys were conducted both before and after the visit with 126 participants completing both pre-and post-surveys.The research found improved scores after the visit in six of the seven survey measures of environmental knowledge,motives,and intentions,especially in the case of student visitor groups.The results also indicated promising increases in envi-ronmental values and concerns for environmental quality after the visit.Correlation between gender and sustainable action was not significant,however there was sig-nificant correlation between age and actions intended in the future where engagement was higher among young participant groups.Moreover,although many visitors had previously engaged with at least one pro-environmental activity before visiting the project(90%),42% made at least one change as a result of the visit.These findings suggest the project was a catalyst for behaviour change.Discussions are centred on the usefulness of demonstration sustainable buildings as tools for fostering environ-mental protection practices.

STRATEGIES FOR PRACTICAL GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTIONS IN THE EXISTING BUILDING STOCK

The Stern Report found that Climate Change is the world’s greatest market failure,and the United Nations concluded it is likely to be the most significant environmental challenge of our time.This paper aims to illustrate building Greenhouse Gas(GHG)and energy trends,and to provide practical strategies and best practice examples in international low-and high-rise building refurbishments to lower GHG emissions,energy use and operating costs,across building types and Australian Climate Zones.These can be adopted by policy-makers,owners,investors and occupiers.It also aims to provide examples of government policies and important stakeholder behaviour to reduce GHGs,and evaluates one recent project for strategies that proved successful and those that could be improved.The method used was to review international strategies that lower building GHG emissions in countries with more advanced building regulations than Australia,and to discover affordable and effective strategies from associations that publicise case studies.This paper shows that the operational phase of buildings is a significant contributor to global GHG emissions;that Passive building refurbishments are current best practice strategies;and that occupant behaviour is another surprisingly significant contributor to GHG emissions.The paper forms part of the author’s higher research degree literature review.