Integrating Virtual Reality and Energy Analysis with BIM to Optimize Window-to-Wall Ratio and Building’s Orientation for Age-in-Place Design at the Conceptual Stage

This study unfolds an innovative approach aiming to address the critical role of building design in global energy consumption, focusing on optimizing the Window-to-Wall Ratio (WWR), since buildings account for approximately 30% of total energy consumed worldwide. The greatest contributors to energy expenditure in buildings are internal artificial lighting and heating and cooling systems. The WWR, determined by the proportion of the building’s glazed area to its wall area, is a significant factor influencing energy efficiency and minimizing energy load. This study introduces the development of a semi-automated computer model designed to offer a real-time, interactive simulation environment, fostering improving communication and engagement between designers and owners. The said model serves to optimize both the WWR and building orientation to align with occupants’ needs and expectations, subsequently reducing annual energy consumption and enhancing the overall building energy performance. The integrated model incorporates Building Information Modeling (BIM), Virtual Reality (VR), and Energy Analysis tools deployed at the conceptual design stage, allowing for the amalgamation of owners’ inputs in the design process and facilitating the creation of more realistic and effective design strategies.

Preparation of Styrene-acrylate Latex Used in Ultralow VOC Building Internal Wall Coating

Styrene-acrylate latex with high glass transition temperature （T）, low minimum film forming temperature（MFT） and good stability was prepared via core-shell emulsion polymerization. With semicontinuous process, high conversion rate of monomer and low gel rate were achieved. The weight ratio of core monomer to shell monomer was approximately 1.35. It is found that many factors such as emulsifiers, initiators, reaction temperature, pH value and polymerization technology have influences on the permormance of styrene-acrylate latex. The prepared latex was characterized by TEM and FTIR. The obtained latex with T of 20.57 ℃, MFT or5.0 ℃, and good stability, had good stability of film forming.

Seismic behavior of slab-structural wall junction of RC building

In high seismic zone regions, slender reinforced concrete structural walls are commonly used in high-rise buildings as a main lateral load resisting element. These walls are very effective in limiting the lateral drift of the building due to their large in-plane stiffness. However, the presence of floor slabs influences the behavior of the shear wall. Also, the current design requirements do not account for the presence of floor slabs. To understand the behavior of wall-slab junctions and address the shortcomings of the current design requirements, the influence of two parameters, namely(a) aspect ratio and(b) longitudinal reinforcement ratio on the behavior is studied numerically. It is observed that the presence of floor slabs at different levels tends to partition the wall into squat wall panels between two consecutive floors. The wall-slab junctions show large stress concentrations arising from the strut action in the squat panels. It is also observed that the floor slabs can get significantly damaged near the wall-slab junction for lower vertical reinforcement ratios in the wall. Thus, the current codeprescribed minimum reinforcement in shear walls is not sufficient and needs to be revisited at for improved performance.

Comparison of the thermal properties of clay samples as potential walling material for naturally cooled building design

The thermal properties of different clay samples obtained from locations in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria were investigated and compared, and in order to establish their suitability as building material from energy conservation point of view. The results showed that stoneware clay has the highest solar radiation absorptivity of 22 32 m -1 while kaolin clay has the lowest radiation absoptivity of 14 46 m -1 A model for the prediction of temperature variation with thickness of the samples was developed. Results showed that kaolin would make the best choice for the design of a naturally cooled building.

Assessment of seismic design response factors of concrete wall buildings

To verify the seismic design response factors of high-rise buildings, five reference structures, varying in height from 20- to 60-stories, were selected and designed according to modern design codes to represent a wide range of concrete wall structures. Verified fiber-based analytical models for inelastic simulation were developed, considering the geometric nonlinearity and material inelasticity of the structural members. The ground motion uncertainty was accounted for by employing 20 earthquake records representing two seismic scenarios, consistent with the latest understanding of the tectonic setting and seismicity of the selected reference region （UAE）. A large number of Inelastic Pushover Analyses （IPAs） and Incremental Dynamic Collapse Analyses （IDCAs） were deployed for the reference structures to estimate the seismic design response factors. It is concluded that the factors adopted by the design code are adequately conservative. The results of this systematic assessment of seismic design response factors apply to a wide variety of contemporary concrete wall buildings with various characteristics.

Field measurements for calibration of simplified models of the stiffening effect of infill masonry walls in high-rise RC framed and shear-wall buildings

As a type of nonstructural component, infill walls play a significant role in the seismic behavior of high-rise buildings. However, the stiffness of the infill wall is generally either ignored or considered by simplified empirical criteria that lead to a period shortening. The difference can be greatly decreased by using a structural identification methodology. In this study, an ambient vibration test was performed on four on-site reinforced concrete high-rise buildings, and the design results were compared with the PKPM models using corresponding finite element(FE) models. A diagonal strut model was used to simulate the behavior of the infill wall, and the identified modal parameters measured from the on-site test were employed to calibrate the parameters of the diagonal strut in the FE models. The SAP2000 models with calibrated elastic modulus were used to evaluate the seismic response in the elastic state. Based on the load-displacement relationship of the infill wall, nonlinear dynamic analysis models were built in PERFORM-3 D and calibrated using the measured modal periods. The analysis results revealed that the structural performance under small/large earthquake records were both strengthened by infill walls, and the contribution of infill walls should be considered for better accuracy in the design process.

Wooden Wall Construction of Traditional Miao Stilted Buildings: A Case Study of Xijiang Miao Village in Guizhou

Wooden walls of traditional stilted buildings of Miao Nationality show outstanding regional characteristics. Taking the well-preserved traditional stilted buildings in Xijiang Miao Village for example, this paper focused on the construction units of the wooden wall, and the hierarchy of wooden wall construction, concluded spatial forms of the wooden wall, in order to explore the indigenous construction culture in the wooden wall system, protect and inherit the culture; seek for the ways of expressing national and regional characteristics in the modern architectural designs of relevant cultural regions.

Failure criteria of unreinforced masonry walls of rural buildings under the impact of flash floods in mountainous regions

Damage to rural buildings in mountainous regions caused by flash floods accounts for a significant proportion of economic losses from disasters.The unreinforced masonry(URM)wall is the most vulnerable structural element of rural buildings exposed to flash floods.The failure of a URM wall indicates damage to rural buildings in flash floods.Based on the yield line theory of out-of-plane damage of URM walls and the virtual work method,brittle failure criteria for URM walls under the impact of flash floods were established.According to the field investigation data of the 26 June 2020 flash flood event in Damawu Gully and the corresponding simulation results of FLO-2D,the disaster-causing process was analysed,and the failure criteria were validated.Three building parameters were identified to influence the flood-resistance of URM walls,including the mortar grade,the span-to-height ratio of the wall,and the number of floors of the rural building.The results showed that the cause of the 26June disaster was the diversion of a 50-year flash flood into the residential community on the alluvial fan.The affected buildings were constructed with hollow blocks and lacked flood-resistance reinforcement.The critical failure depth of a URM wall restrained at the top by ring beams(RBs)under hydrostatic load conditions is 1.17 to 1.20 times greater than that of a URM wall without RBs,and the difference is even more pronounced when lowerstrength mortar is used.The flood-resistance of a URM wall constructed with Mb 7.5 mortar and restrained by RBs is almost as strong as that of a URM wall constructed with Mb 20 mortar and without RBs.The span-to-height ratio of a URM wall should not be greater than 1.875 in this case.However,the flood-resistance of a URM wall with RB restraint is almost independent of the span-to-height ratio.The brittle fracture energy of masonry mortar is more crucial to the flood-resistance of 4-edge restrained URM walls if L/Z>1.875.The flood-resistance of the URM wall of the first storey increases linearly with the number of floors.Single-storey rural buildings should be given priority to the use of high-grade masonry mortar and high-density blocks to improve flood-resistance.The failure criteria and the influence laws of building parameters on the flood-resistance of URM walls can provide references for flash flood mitigation and flood-resistance reinforcement of rural buildings in mountainous regions of Southwest China.

Advanced Deterioration Diagnosis Model for Building External Wall Tiles

In 1981 Taiwan entered a period of intense construction, meaning that today many buildings are more than 30 years old. Lack of maintenance has led to frequent safety incidents involving external walls. This study focuses on a deterioration diagnostic model for external wall tiles of aged buildings, using both stage 1 and stage 2 diagnostic methods. The visual test results are categorized based on impact on public safety, and renovation strategies are proposed. Stage 1 diagnosis mainly adopted the DER visual inspection deterioration assessment method. For enhance the accuracy, this research adopted the Infrared Thermal Imaging detection method to double confirm the visual inspection results. After producing an external wall tile Condition Indicator (CI). For stage 1 diagnostic results that fall in a gray area, stage 2 diagnosis was carried out using a tap tone test, followed by fast Fourier transform and pattern recognition to analyze the tapping results. Finally, the study provides a deterioration evaluation criteria for external wall tiles replacement recommendations and a standard operating procedure for deterioration diagnosis. The study also recommends directions for future amendment of regulations, and provides a basis of reference for the government in determining urban renewal, renovation and maintenance strategies.

Effect of Eccentric Shear Stiffness of Walls on Structural Response of RC Frame Buildings

Current research study consists of determining the optimum location of the shear wall to get the maximum structural efficiency of a reinforced concrete frame building. It consists of a detailed analysis and design review of a seven-story reinforced concrete building to understand the effect of shear wall location on the response of reinforced concrete structures when subjected to different earthquake forces. Three trail locations of shear walls are selected and their performance is monitored in terms of structural response under different lateral loads. Required objectives are achieved by obtaining design and construction drawings of an existing reinforced concrete structure and modeling it on Finite Element Method (FEM) based computer software. The structure is redesigned and discussed with four different configurations (one without shear wall and three with shear walls). Main framing components (Beams, Columns and Shear walls) of the superstructure are designed using SAP 2000 V. 19.0 whereas substructure (foundation) of RC building was?designed using SAFE. American Concrete Institute (ACI) design specifications were used to calculate the cracked section stiffness or non-linear geometrical properties of the cracked section. Uniform Building Code (UBC-97) procedures were adopted to calculate the lateral earthquake loading on the structures. Structural response of the building was monitored at each story level for each earthquake force zone described by the UBC-97. The earthquake lateral forces were considered in both X and Y direction of the building. Each configuration of shear wall is carefully analyzed and effect of its location is calibrated by the displacement response of the structure. Eccentricity to the lateral stiffness of the building is imparted by changing the location of shear walls. Results of the study have shown that the location of shear wall significantly affects the lateral response of the structure under earthquake forces. It also motivates to carefully decide the center of lateral stiffness of building prior to deciding the location of shear walls.

Study on Steel Bar Construction Technology of Frameshear Wall in High-Rise Buildings

The development of the construction sector is rapidly growing,which induce competition at global level.In order to achieve the current economic development,more high-rise buildings construction projects were commenced without considering importance of the land to human and other living organism.On the other hand,the quality and safety aspect of the engineering technology used must be analyzed carefully and to be the primary aim for engineers to reduce any risk of harm in future.Many of the high-rise buildings in China consist of a frame or skeleton of reinforced concrete wall which need to be strengthened with shear walls to improve the stability and safety of the structures.According to practical work experience and relevant theoretical knowledge,the researcher introduced the reinforcement construction technology of frame-shear wall for high-rise buildings in depth from aspects like the arrangement of steel bar,construction preparation,steel bar anchorage,precautions to follow for the related work in future.

Prevention and Control Measures for Vertical Spread of Fire along the External Wall of High-rise Buildings

In the analysis and research of few cases on the characteristics of vertical"burning"and spreading of fire in high-rise buildings in China and overseas,the mechanism of vertical spreading of fire along external wall is caused by hot pressing and wind pressure existing in high-rise buildings.The use of external wall combustible materials and near-window combustible items resulted in the formation of high temperature pyrotechnics and the burning of the external wall.Besides,due to the lack of fire-fighting measurements in high-rise building,it is recommended that the external wall of the high-rise building should be equipped with vertical fire-proof partitioning and non-combustible materials by setting up an automatic fire-fighting water curtain system along the vertical section of the external wall and above the indoor window.Therefore,the automatic sprinkler can be set up to prevent the fire from spreading vertically along the external wall of the building effectively.

Research on Building Exterior Wall Decoration and Its Energy Saving Optimization

This paper mainly uses the method of numerical simulation, and study thermal insulation and energy saving characteristics on the exterior walls of the building and analyze the optimal layout scheme of building exterior wall and thermal insulation system. Finally, the paper study optimal thickness of insulation materials. The paper elaborate scheme of the existing building energy-saving for exterior wall and the scope of application, the system structure and the construction technology. The results showed that： extruded benzene board that can be used for exterior insulation, frame structure filled with wall preferred ceramsite hollow block. The paper can provides reference selection of insulation for building external wall energy-saving transformation scheme.

USE OF DISSIMILAR WALLING SYSTEMS ON RESIDENTIAL BUILDING ENVELOPES FOR IMPROVING THEIR THERMAL PERFORMANCE

This paper summarises the results of a combined numerical,statistical and experimental study concerned with the use of dissimilar walling systems on the external parts of a given building envelope.The rational behind this“hybrid wall”concept,as opposed to conventional approaches where identical walls are used in a building envelope,is to achieve a more effective distribution of thermal mass across the envelope and,hence,improve the overall thermal per-formance of the building.The effectiveness of the“hybrid wall”concept was investigated using a series of hypothetical building modules of common Australian residential constructions,namely Light Weight(LW),Brick Veneer(BV),Reverse Brick Veneer(RBV)and Cavity Brick(CB).These designs were examined numerically using a commercial energy rating tool known as“AccuRate”,statistically using JMP software and experimentally using a novel bench-scale setup developed as part of this study.The performance of each design was evaluated by its energy consumption.The numerical predictions and experimental data highlighted that the east and west walls have the most impact on the energy consumption under Australian climatic conditions.It was found that considerable reductions in the energy consumption could be achieved in cases where the hybrid wall concept was implemented through the use of high ther-mal mass insulated walls on the east and west sides of the building envelope.

Seismic design analysis of the country masonry school buildings in the meizoseismal area

Several reinforcing schemes are illustrated that are based on the loading characteristics of typical country masonry school buildings with sparsely spaced transversal walls and large depth. From the seismic damage observed following the Wenchuan Earthquake, the effects of reinforcing schemes, tie-columns and tie-beams on the seismic resistance of masonry buildings are analyzed. The concept of improving the ductility of these types of buildings is presented. Finally, some suggestions are proposed for the design of masonry buildings with sparsely spaced transversal walls and large depth.

A New Type of Paper-frame Cavernous Material and Its Application in Energy Efficiency in Buildings

This paper introduces a new type of paper-frame cavernous material, which is a made-up hollow material, by using silicate-cinder size to drench and daub. It possesses excellent performances such as light-weight, high-intensity, fire-resistance, sound-insulation, heat-insulation and no-pollution. Composed with concrete materials, a new type of bearing and energy-efficient block can be gained, which is kind of excellent wall materials and has a wide application prospect.

基于Midas Building软件的某超限结构抗震性能研究

本文采用Midas Building软件对某楼板不连续、扭转及凹凸不规则的超限框剪结构进行抗震性能研究,文中首先将Midas模型与PKPM模型得到的周期、位移及基底剪力的结果进行对比,以验证Midas模型的正确性,从而对此结构进行中震及大震下的弹塑性时程分析。分析表明:结构在中震和大震时,层间位移角最大值分别为0.00177和0.00373,满足性能目标的要求;支撑在各工况下只发生轻微开裂并未屈服,加强区首层框架柱在大震和中震下有57%和35%发生屈服但仍留有足够的安全储备,加强区首层剪力墙边缘约束构件有71.2%发生屈服,但损伤较为分散且均匀,可知各构件均满足性能目标的要求。

DETERMINING THE EFFECT OF BUILDING GEOMETRY ON ENERGY USE PATTERNS OF OFFICE BUILDINGS IN TORONTO

The project investigated the potential of building geometry to minimize energy consumption in office buildings.Five distinct geometries were modeled as mid-size office occupancies in the context of Toronto,Ontario,and examined with varied design parameters:window to wall ratio(WWR)and external static shading devices.IES VE software was used to predict the annual energy consumption of the five archetypes for 40 permutations.The outcome of this research showed that the variation of the total energy use from one shape to another was relatively small.WWR appeared to have a stronger impact on the energy pattern of a building than its shape.Overall,the energy performance of the archetypes were observed to conform to their individual building aspect ratios.The findings are thus expected to provide useful guidelines for architects on utilizing building geometry as an energy saving measure in the design of office buildings.

Seismic Evaluation and Retrofitting of Existing Hospital Building in the Sudan

Sudan is not free from earthquakes. It has experienced many earthquakes during the recent history, and the previous studies on this field demonstrated this argument. This paper focuses on the study of seismic performance of existing hospital buildings in Sudan. The paper focused on studying design of reinforced concrete columns of a hospital building considering two load cases;case one is the design load including combinations of dead, live and wind loads and case two includes dead, live and seismic loads. The building was designed according to the Regulation of Egyptian Society for Earthquake Engineering (ESEE), using the linear static method (equivalent static method). The analysis and design were performed using the SAP2000 version 14 software package. The design results obtained from the two cases of loading were compared observing that the design based on case one was unsafe to withstand the additional load came from earthquake, because the cross sections and area of steel for the most of building columns are under the required values that needed to resist the loads of case two. If the building is constructed according to the design using the loadings of case one, this situation needs remedy. This paper suggested two solutions for this problem based on strengthening the weak columns by inserting reinforced concrete shear walls in the direction of y axis affected by seismic load. Solution one suggests shear walls of length 2.5 m with different wall thicknesses (15 cm, 20 cm, 25 cm and 30 cm), whereas solution two suggests shear walls of length 4.5 m and 15 cm width. It was found that solution one solved the problem partially because some columns were still unsafe, but solution two solved the problem completely and all columns were safe.