Landscape Features and Design Elements of Earth-sheltered Buildings

Categories of earth-sheltered buildings were summarized, and it was proposed that landscape features of earth-sheltered buildings were demonstrated mainly as "ecological, landscape-like and systematic". Landscape elements such as entrance, road, water and greening were believed as major means of showing landscape features of earth-sheltered buildings. Entrance landscape design of such buildings was analyzed from the perspectives of plane-type, slope-type and step-type forms. Road design for these buildings should respect natural terrains so as to connect spaces and organize traffic routes reasonably. Waterscape design should take both landscape effects and loading capacity of roof into consideration so as to meet water-loving psychology of the public, virtual and real approaches should be combined to create waterscapes. Greening design of earth-sheltered buildings was explored from the perspectives of roof greening and vertical greening to improve the green coverage rate and show favorable ecological effects.

Potential of contemporary earth-sheltered buildings to achieve Plus Energy status in various European climates during the heating season

This study investigates the potential of contemporary Earth-Sheltered Buildings to contribute to sustainable societies by achieving Plus Energy Building status during the heating season.The buildings analyzed are intended to house a four-member family(102.5 m^(2)).The house is equipped with a ground source heat pump,geothermal vertical probes,floor heating panels,an energy recovery ventilator,and building-integrated photovoltaic panels installed on the exposed building wall.The numerical analysis(using EnergyPlus software)was carried out for nine European sites covering five different climatic zones(namely:southern,Atlantic,continental,alpine,and northern climate)and three latitude belts spanning Europe from south to north.Buildings above 65°N(northern and alpine climate)could not achieve Plus Energy status with 20% efficient BIPVs.With 15% efficient BIPVs,the building above 59°N(northern climate)was incapable of achieving this as well.Regarding the monthly time step,the buildings in the southern and Atlantic climates with 15% efficient BiPVs were able to produce an energy surplus every month,as was the building in theAlps with 20% efficientBIPVs.

Thermal comfort analysis of earth-sheltered buildings: The case of meymand village, Iran

Vernacular buildings are known for their localized passive settings to provide comfortable indoor environment without air conditioning systems.One alternative is the consistent ground temperature over the year that earth-sheltered envelopes take the benefit;however,ensuring annual indoor comfort might be challenging.Thus,this research monitors the indoor thermal indicators of 22 earth-sheltered buildings in Meymand,Iran with a warmdry climate.Furthermore,the observations are used to validate the simulation results through two outdoor and indoor environmental parameters,air temperature and relative humidity during the hottest period of the year.Findings indicated that the main thermal comfort differences among case studies were mainly due to their architectural layouts where the associated variables including length,width,height,orientation,window-to-wall ratio,and shading depth were optimized through a linkage between Ladybug-tools and Genetic Algorithm(GA)concerning adaptive thermal comfort model definition and could enhance the annual thermal comfort by 31%.

Artificiality and Naturalness:Semi-underground Houses and Their Role in the Construction of a Sustainable Urban Landscape

The contemporary interest,on one hand for a renewed relationship between city and natural landscape,on the other for settlement typologies intrinsically efficient from an energy standpoint took back the attention on the design of the dug city,or rather,almost completely excavated.This is an emblematic model of the requirement that deals with the factors of its environment,like sun,wind,ground,shadow and flora,forcing some designers to migrate from usual design methodologies,indifferent to these design parameters,and they are careful only to the“laws of form”,in search of criteria and fine calculation tools to optimize the configuration and the structure of buildings,in order to ensure that they can be managed as“passively”as possible.What it means,with the minimum contribution of plants to ensure the best satisfaction of comfort and psychological needs of users:not only lighting,sunbathing,ventilation,thermal comfort in summer and winter,acoustic comfort,but also view characteristics,quality of lighting and sociological aspects.In general dialectic between artifice and nature,the theme of dug architecture today is faced not only as one of the most interesting and rich suggestions,but also as one of those,in which the reflection on objectives,methodologies and tools is longer necessary,to the identification of a new way of urban living and effective solutions against energy consumption.

FUNDAMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AT CORNELL LAW SCHOOL’S NEW ACADEMIC CENTER

The New Academic Center achieved a LEED Platinum rating,the first for Cornell’s core campus.While the obligation to meet the University’s green building criteria was a given,the design was largely influenced by historic preservation and an interest in maintaining views of an historic quadrangle and valuable campus green space.These drivers led to a comprehensive design process in alignment with the University’s long term goals for overall campus redevelopment.The first phase initiative,a below-grade classroom addition,provides new space for Law School programs in an exceptionally energy efficient building with concurrent environmental benefits,including preservation of open space and enhanced storm-water management.In addition,as a thoughtful addition to a landmark building,the project emphasized the use of both existing and local building materials.