The Study of Thermal Mass as a Passive Design Technique for Building Comfort and Energy Efficiency

The day/night （diurnal） changes in temperature and solar radiation pose challenges for maintaining human thermal comfort in buildings. Passive and energy-conserving buildings seek to manage the available thermal energy by lowering peaks and dampening the fluctuations in order to maintain conditions for human comfort. Appropriate use of thermal mass moderates the internal temperatures by averaging diurnal extremes. Thermal mass is one of the powerful tools which architects and designers can use to control temperature. It can be used to optimize the performance of energy-conserving buildings that rely primarily on mechanical heating and cooling strategies. Massive building envelopes-such as masonry, concrete, earth, and insulating concrete forms （ICFs） can be utilized as one of the simplest ways of reducing building heating and cooling loads. This article analyses the role and effectiveness of thermal mass as a strategy for providing indoor thermal comfort for passive solar and energy conserving buildings.

A COMPARATIVE STUDY:DESIGN STRATEGIES FOR ENERGY-EFFICIENCY OF HIGH-RISE OFFICE BUILDINGS

Tall buildings are being designed and built across a wide range of cities.A poorly designed tall building can tremendously increase the building’s appetite for energy.Therefore,this paper aims to determine the design strategies that help a high-rise office building to be more energy efficient.For this purpose,a comparative study on twelve case buildings in three climate groups(temperate,sub-tropical&tropical)was performed.The exterior envelope,building form and orientation,service core placement,plan layout,and special design elements like atria and sky gardens were the subject of investigation.effectiveness of different design strategies for reducing the cooling,heating,ventilation and electric lighting energy usage.Finally,lessons from these buildings’were defined for the three climates.Furthermore,a compari-son of building energy performance data with international benchmarks confirmed that in temperate and sub-tropical climates sustainable design strategies for high-rise buildings were performing well,as a result leading to lower energy consump-tion.However,for the tropics the design of high-rise buildings needs additional consideration.

A MODEL OF A NEAR-ZERO ENERGY HOME(NZEH)USING PASSIVE DESIGN STRATEGIES AND PV TECHNOLOGY IN HOT CLIMATES

INTRODUCTION Recent development has seen a drastic increase in energy use trends in Saudi Arabian buildings leading to a demand for an effective course of action for energy conservation and production.A case study-based research initiative explor-ing near-zero energy potential in Saudi Arabia was undertaken.A 4-bedroom detached single-family faculty residence at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals(KFUPM)representing common regional housing design trends was utilized.A base case simulation model of the house was developed and val-idated using short-term and real-time energy consumption data.Three sets of strategies:passive design strategies,representative codes and standards,and renewable technology were employed in the new design of the house.Passive strategies com-prised a green roof,a ventilated wall system,a sloped roof,and insulation for thermal bridges.These alternatives helped reduce the annual energy consumption of the house by 17.2%.The most recent version of the International Energy Conserva-tion Code(IECC 2012)was also incorporated along with ASHRAE Standard 62.2 for ventilation.The code and standard together reduced the annual energy consumption by 31.1%.Solar PV was then utilized to reduce grid utilization for the remainder of the house energy loads.This strategy provided 24.7%of the total energy consumed annually.A combination of strategies showed a 70.7%energy consumption reduction,thereby decreasing the energy index of the house from 162.9 to 47.7 kWh/m^(2)/yr.The Zero Energy Building(ZEB)concepts and strategies utilized in this study demonstrate a socially responsible approach to achieving near-zero energy performance for an existing house.

Discussion on the Intelligent Design of Ultra-Low Energy Consumption Passive Buildings

With the continuous development of science and technology and the gradual improvement of modem building technology, people pay more and more attention to the introduction of advanced technology in architectural design, such as the application of intelligent technology. With the increasingly severe environmental situation, people are increasingly demanding the environmental performance and green performance of buildings. The establishment of ultra-low energy consumption passive buildings has become one of the key construction contents of construction projects. This paper mainly analyzes the design points and architectural forms of related buildings from the perspective of intelligent control.

Passive Cooling Strategies in Greening Existing Residential Building in Hot Dry Climate： Case Study in Bahrain

This paper will present several passive-cooling technologies and design features that can be adopted to reduce building heat gain without the need of excess energy consumption. A typical residential unit will be selected as case study and a three basic passive cooling strategies were selected to enhance the building envelop, as well as using appropriate shading devices and green roofing system that prove to be a good environment quality improver. IES energy simulation software will be used to evaluate the performance of the building. The study revealed a number of significant findings in reducing the energy consumption and enhancing the tenants＇ thermal comfort. American Society of Heating Refrigerating and Airconditioning Engineer （ASHRAE） standards specially via improving the performance of building envelop because it is the interface between internal and external environment. Moreover, improving the building envelope has recorded that overall energy and chiller energy consumption can be reduced up to 10.8% and 21.6% respectively, Therefore, it is anticipated that further reductions can be achieved via applying more passive cooling strategies. Finally, it could argue that the results of this paper will not only be applicable to Bahrain but also many countries that have similar climatic and environmental context.

Passive Design and Building Renovation in the Mediterranean Area： New Sensitive Approach for Sustainability

The criteria of sustainable design have been already received for reducing heating energy consumption （i.e. Passivhaus standard and first fulfillment of the EPDB Directive）. Nowadays, many research are being involved to extend the passive standard to buildings in mild climate areas. Compared to building efficiency in the middle European area, the requirements for sustainable development of construction in the Mediterranean area imply an higher and more articulated passive control of outside/inside energy flows in order to extend energy efficiency measures to the whole year. This is based on an intense interaction between external climatic conditions and the building whole performance, with a dynamic behavior according to climate seasonal changes and inside comfort. Consequently, the integrated design of building fabrics, conceived not as separated components but as complex organism and system of interaction, increases its potential and strategic aim for reducing building consumptions of whole year in the mild climate. This paper demonstrates, both in new constructions and in the renovation of existing buildings, that the whole performance approach is the most suitable for sustainable design in a typical Mediterranean climate in order to increase the efficiency with controlled investments. The aim of this research is to show, through some case studies in Sardinia, that this sensitive and performance approach could optimize the ratio between economic costs and energy and environmental benefits. Only through an integrated and intelligent design of the architectural organism it is possible to achieve the new targets for sustainable building development, even for mild climate areas, required by European Directive 2002/91/EC.

Evaluation of Radon Indoor Pollution Risk in High Efficiency Energy Buildings

The target of achieving high energy efficiency standard in order to comply with the EU Directives is leading to remarkable efforts to improve the performance of the building envelope. Excellent thermal insulation and airtight sealing of leakages are of the utmost importance to fulfil the expected targets. Unfortunately, airtightness produces the negative effect of increasing the indoor concentration of air pollutants like radon. Despite the seriousness of the problem is generally misconceived, long-term exposition to radon is acknowledged to be the second cause of lung cancer after smoke. The paper outlines the implications for the building sector and focuses on design and preventive criteria as well as on mitigation and remedial techniques.

Smart Building Design to Improve the Energy Consumption at an Office Room

Buildings are becoming smarter as a result of a variety of advanced technologies that enable energy management, optimal space utilization, and smart surveillance for safety, among other things. Energy-efficient smart building ideas and execution are of great interest and top priority due to the building’s occupants’ misused and high-power consumption. This paper addresses the design and execution of an energy management system that includes a solar power system for generating power for the building’s needs and a PIR-based automation system for efficient power use. This project was carried out at the Military Technological College (MTC) in Muscat, in the system engineering department’s offices. This project seeks to generate power for the building’s energy needs using solar photovoltaic panels and reduce energy consumption within the office using a PIR-based automation system. The results demonstrate that after the breakeven point (the time it takes to recoup the initial investment), it can provide power to the building for another 17 years. The calculations and practical results presented in this study approve that the system is extremely helpful.

Discussion on Electrical Design of Passive Residential Building

As the national buildings in each climate zone and passive low energy consumption building demonstration projects expand,there has been a wave of innovation across the construction industry.China is also becoming a hot zone for energy-efficient and high-performance passive buildings.Along with the traditional passive building structure,steel structure passive construction,assembled PC structure passive construction such as the emergence of various types of passive construction,as well as a variety of new building materials,doors and Windows,and air conditioning air equipment,put forward a new challenge for building electrical engineering design personnel and requirements.

PASSIVE DESIGN TECHNIQUES APPLIED TO GREEN BUILDINGS AS AN AESTHETIC AND SPATIAL DESIGN CONCEPT

1.INTRODUCTION The emergence of environmental problems as major social issues throughout the world has prompted sustainable development efforts in a wide range of areas,including industry,construction,and transportation,followed by the execution of numerous studies and policies.The concept of sustainable development has been dealt with in earnest in the construction field since the Declaration of Interdependence for a Sustainable Future at the 18th Chicago Convention of UIA in 1993.This Declaration included tasks to be implemented with respect to green buildings,such as the recycling of resources,application of energy-efficient designs,and utilization of natural energy in addition to the application of sustainable designs.As part of green building practices,countries around the world have been implementing various green building certification standards,such as LEED,GBCC,CASBEE,and BREEAM.

An Innovative Architectural Strategy for the Integration of Energy Issues into the Design Process of a Commercial Center in Switzerland

In a context of growing efforts to develop sustainability strategies, energy-related issues occupy central stage in the built environment. Thus, the energy performance of housings has improved radically over the past decades. Yet other types of buildings, in particular commercial centers, haven’t received the same level of interest. As a result, there is a need for effective and practical measures to decrease their energy consumption, both for heating and electricity. The objective of the paper is to demonstrate that it is possible, through coherent strategies, to integrate energy issues and bioclimatic principles into the design process of commercial centers. It analyzes the exemplary case study of Marin Commercial Center (Switzerland). The interdisciplinary approach, based on integrated design strategies, aimed at increasing the energy efficiency while keeping the cost comparable to the market cost. The main design principles include natural ventilation, nighttime cooling with energy recovery and natural lighting, as well as optimization of mechanical systems. The results of the simulations show that Marin Center attains the best energy performance observed so far among Swiss commercial centers. It also meets the Swiss Minergie standard. The paper thus questions traditional design processes and outlines the need for interdisciplinary evaluation and monitoring approaches tailored for commercial centers. Even though most crucial decisions are taken during the early stages, all phases of the process require systematic optimization strategies, especially operating stages. Recommendations include legal measures, in particular in the fields of ventilation and air-conditioning, education, professional development and technology transfer, and financial incentives for the replacement of energy intensive installations.

New Building Typologies for Zero Energy Mass Custom Housing(ZEMCH)in More Sustainable Patterns of Development

Conferences and publications on Smart Cities and self-styled ecological buildings such as“Vertical Forests”,“Biophilic”building complexes and other similar are multiplying.But then,in reality,we continue to design as we have always done for the last ninety years:with the consolidated rules and formal solutions of international post-modern composition,in its various forms.The only attentions are(and not always)to super-insulate the envelopes,arrange photovoltaic panels on the roofs,make the systems smart and cover the facades and roofs with appropriate green washing.Even in the awareness that human settlements and cities are extremely complex phenomena,mostly determined by economic and social factors,rather than by conscious typological-settlement choices,perhaps the time has come to acknowledge that the traditional paradigms of design must be changed.First of all,the types of settlements must be renewed,because it is through their optimization that the greatest savings in terms of energy and sustainability can be achieved.The research presented here is the application of a ten-year study that involved the development of net Zero Energy Mass Custom Housing(ZEMCH)in specific context in southern Italy.The Innovation and Transparency of Tenders Environmental Compatibility(ITACA)Assessment Protocol,derived from the Green Building Challenge’s GBTool,was used as a design guide,which is normally used for the assessment and judgment of sustainability at the building scale and not of the urban design.The result is a settlement model in which network of pedestrian,cycle and public transport is fully integrated with adjacent urban areas;effective landscaping connects public and private green and kitchen-gardens/orchards everywhere;buildings are made with new semi-underground typologies;net ZEMCHs are made with local,recyclable materials with low impact or positive energy balance;wastewater and rainwater are collected,in-loco phyto-purified and reused;renewable energies(sun,earth,wind)satisfy remaining necessities,with a minimum of plant interventions.

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.

ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTIVE ENERGY RETROFIT STRATEGIES AND RELATED IMPACT ON INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY A case study of an elementary school in the State of Maryland

1.0.INTRODUCTION In the United States,K-12 school buildings spend more than$8 billion each year on energy-more than they spend on computers and textbooks combined[1].Most occupied older buildings demonstrate poor operational performance-for instance,more than 30 percent of schools were built before 1960,and 53 percent of public schools need to spend money on repairs,renovations,and modernization to ensure that the schools’onsite buildings are in good overall condition.And among public schools with permanent buildings,the environmental factors in the permanent buildings have been rated as unsatisfactory or very unsatisfactory in 5 to 17 percent of them[2].Indoor environment quality(IEQ)is one of the core issues addressed in the majority of sustainable building certification and design guidelines.Children spend a significant amount of time indoors in a school environment.And poor IEA can lead to sickness and absenteeism from school and eventually cause a decrease in student performance[3].Different building types and their IEQ characteristics can be partly attributed to building age and construction materials.[4]Improving the energy performance of school buildings could result in the direct benefit of reduced utility costs and improving the indoor quality could improve the students’learning environment.Research also suggests that aging school facilities and inefficient equipment have a detrimental effect on academic performance that can be reversed when schools are upgraded.[5]Several studies have linked better lighting,thermal comfort,and air quality to higher test scores.[6,7,8]Another benefit of improving the energy efficiency of education buildings is the potential increase in market value through recognition of green building practice and labeling,such as that of a LEED or net zero energy building.In addition,because of their educational function,high-performance or energy-efficient buildings are particularly valuable for institution clients and local government.More and more high-performance buildings,net zero energy buildings,and positive energy buildings serve as living laboratories for educational purposes.Currently,educational/institutional buildings represent the largest portion of NZE(net zero energy)projects.Educational buildings comprise 36 percent of net zero buildings according to a 2014 National New Building Institute report.Of the 58 net zero energy educational buildings,32 are used for kindergarten through grade 12(K-12),21 for higher education,and 5 for general education.[9]Finally,because educational buildings account for the third largest amount of building floor space in the United States,super energy-efficient educational buildings could provide other societal and economic benefits beyond the direct energy cost savings for three reasons:1)educational buildings offer high visibility that can influence community members and the next generation of citizens,2)success stories of the use of public funds that returns lower operating costs and healthier student learning environments provide documentation that can be used by others,and 3)this sector offers national and regional forums and associations to facilitate the transfer of best design and operational practices.

Appropriate Strategies for Rural Houses In Northwest China

To avoid the old road of urban development with high consumption and high pollution,this paper took the houses in a village near Yinchuan(a typical city of Northwest China)as an exemplary project to explore the appropriate strategies in the arid cold climate for the sustainable development in rural undeveloped areas Northwest China.Firstly,all houses were designed according to the principles of passive solar heating.Secondly,optimized biomass energy technologies such as biogas pit and straw gasification stove were utilized for cooking or heating.Last but not the least important,the ecological building materials such as earth,straw bale,fly ash were used to construct houses,which improves the indoor thermal comfort and meanwhile lowers the negative impact on the environment.Low costs,easy accessibility and habitants' inclination were taken into account in the process of design.

Conceptual Issues in the Qualification of Intelligent Buildings

The reality of global warming must have been settled by now while the incidence of same has in very recent times adopted unprecedented dimensions. The global community continues to look for ways to combat the impact of climate change and technology is looked upon to deliver the innovations that would ensure a better tomorrow today. Rapid advancement of Information Technology (IT), is now transforming the way we create and interact with the built environment with the notion of Intelligent Buildings (IBs) underscoring its main features. However, these IBs utilize systems that require energy, and fossil fuels are currently the world’s primary energy sources;they can also irreparably harm the environment, exacerbating climate change. What then is the true essence of IBs? This paper, through review of existing literature, attempts to explore some issues associated with the conceptualization of IBs, highlighting how they are similar with other notional options that deliver the same benefits but without the needed IT systems or the energy required in running them. It also discusses the need to focus on less energy demanding and management approaches at design or occupancy of buildings as a way to reduce the demand and thus consumption of fossil fuels across the world.

基于DeST和EnergyPlus的某被动式办公建筑能耗浅析

本文论述使用DeST软件和EnergyPlus软件对比验证河南省某园区一栋办公建筑全年逐时负荷和能耗。通过相同的工况设置及空调能效,计算建筑综合节能率,应用能耗模拟软件来分析被动式建筑相对于一般建筑的节能优势。

Passive cooling of porous tile used on external wall

The porous tiles under the dry and wet conditions were studied. The simplified mathematical model was put forward to simulate the procedure of moisture evaporating for the densely porous tile. The results show that the capability of passive cooling of the porous tile is more than 5 ℃ with moisture content of 30% in Yangtze river region. Through the comparison between the measuring and simulating data,it can be proved that the simplified math model can be fully used to the engineering application,which provides a reference to explore the thermal performance of other porous material.

USING LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT METHODS TO GUIDE ARCHITECTURAL DECISION-MAKING FOR SUSTAINABLE PREFABRICATED MODULAR BUILDINGS

Within this work,life cycle assessment modeling is used to determine top design priorities and quantitatively inform sustainable design decision-making for a prefabricated modular building.A case-study life-cycle assessment was performed for a 5,000 ft2 prefabricated commercial building constructed in San Francisco,California,and scenario analysis was run examining the life cycle environmental impacts of various energy and material design substitutions,and a structural design change.Results show that even for a highly energy-efficient modular building,the top design priority is still minimizing operational energy impacts,since this strongly dominates the building life cycle’s environmental impacts.However,as an energy-efficient building approaches net zero energy,manufacturing-phase impacts are dominant,and a new set of design priorities emerges.Transportation and end-of-life disposal impacts were of low to negligible importance in both cases.

Improving thermal comfort in mosques of hot-humid climates through passive and lowenergy design strategies

Mosques have intermittent operational schedules with short-term occupancy during the five daily prayers.The occupancy level of the daily prayers is a fraction compared to the mandatory Friday prayers with full occupancy.Usually,the same thermal control mechanism is operated within the same large prayer hall to maintain the thermal comfort of the occupants.Yet,the comfort requirements are often not met due to the short span of operation during prayer times.Nevertheless,mosques have a very high energy usage as the same energyintensive system is operated even during minimal occupancy profiles.The current research aims at using a passive approach towards design to achieve the comfort conditions during the low occupancy daily prayer times without employing mechanical intervention.Numerical simulations are carried out on a validated model of the case study building to investigate the impact of the west-facing Qiblah wall as the congregation stands in proximity to this wall.The design alternatives are tested in conjunction with ventilation strategies to holistically assess the thermal comfort of the occupants.Results show that as much as 4-6℃reduction in indoor wall surface temperature can be achieved with a suitable Qiblah wall design,which reduces the mean radiant temperature of the occupants by 2-4℃.Combined with ventilation strategies,thermal comfort can be significantly improved by at least 40%for the prayers during the hottest times of the day,and as much as 80%for night-time prayers.Results suggest that suitable comfort conditions can be achieved without the need for air-conditioning for at least two or three of the five daily prayers.