The Structural Behavior of Low/Medium/High Rise Concrete Office Buildings in Kuwait

The main concern of this paper is to provide an extensive study for the structural behavior of low/medium/high rise office buildings aiming to deepen structure and architect designers understanding for such type of buildings. The study is performed on reinforced concrete and emphasized only on Kuwait city conditions for wind. Regular layout plan building with different heights ranging from five to fifty typical office stories are investigated in this study. Three dimensional finite element techniques through ETABS software are used in conducting analysis for structures presented here-in. A serviceability study is performed to ensure that buildings have sufficient stability to limit lateral drift and peak acceleration within the acceptable range of occupancy comfort. In addition, an ultimate strength study is carried out to design and verify that all the structural elements are designed to withstand factored gravity and lateral loadings in a safe manner according to the international building codes. The building slenderness ratio and the building core size and location are the studied parameters since they are the key drivers for the efficient structural design. Analysis results are presented and discussed and finally conclusions are summarized as guidelines for designers of concrete office buildings in Kuwait.

Sensibility Analysis of the Brazilian Standards for Energy Efficiency Regarding the Variation of Internal Load Density in Office Buildings in Brazilian Bioclimatic Zones 1 and 7

The RTQ-C （Technical Requirements of Quality for the Energy Performance Level of Commercial Buildings） publication classified the buildings in five efficiency levels. In RTQ-C, the evaluation can be done with two methods： a prescriptive method and a simulation one. This paper aims to identify the sensibility of the prescriptive method RTQ-C regarding the variation of equipment internal load density in office buildings in bioclimatic Zones I and 7 of the Brazilian bioclimatic zoning. The research results show that the building with walls and roof configured to meet specific prerequisites for energy efficiency Levels B and C had a lower consumption than buildings that meet the prerequisites to Level A. The study also showed that buildings with high internal load density of equipment, maximum shape factor and high, with walls and roofs with higher thermal transmittance, have lower power consumption than constructions with an envelope with greater thermal resistance. The increase in internal load density causes an increase in the internal heat generated by the large amount of equipment. In buildings with higher thermal insulation （Level A）, the internal heat is maintained in the environment, causing overheating and the need for an air conditioning system.

Faults and Claims about Thermal Environments in Relation to Energy Saving Measures in Smaller Office Buildings

Building equipment, energy-saving systems, and claims of inappropriate indoor thermal environments were analyzed in relation to the floor area using responses to a questionnaire survey of service managers of 157 buildings built in Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures in Kinki area of Japan. Results show the following： （1） In smaller buildings （〈 5,000 m2）, setting temperatures are higher in summer and lower in winter, effects of ＂uncomfortable radiation from windows＂ are greater, energy-saving systems decrease indoor thermal comfort, but claims of ＂hot＂ and ＂cold＂ are fewer; （2） Claims of ＂hot＂ and ＂cold＂ are unrelated to the setting temperature and whether the air-conditioning control system is central or local; （3） The adoption rates of mitigation of dress codes （＂COOL-BIZ＂ and ＂WARM-BIZ＂） are higher than those of temperature mitigation of air conditioning.

Consumer Central Energy Flexibility in Office Buildings

Energy flexibility in buildings will play an important role in the smart energy system. Office buildings have more potentials to provide energy flexibility to the grid compared to other types of buildings, due to the existing building management, control systems and large energy consumption. Consumers in office buildings （building owners/managers and occupants） take a main role for adopting and engaging in building energy flexibility. This paper provides a systematic review of consumer central energy flexibility in office buildings with the discussion of social, technical and business aspects. This paper clarifies the correlations of consumers＇ concems, external influential factors, energy flexibility resources and technology with eight hypotheses. This paper suggests that technical solutions with the integration of distributed energy resources, building management and control system can boost energy flexibility in the office buildings.

Stochastic and Distributed Optimal Energy Management of Active Distribution Networks Within Integrated Office Buildings

This paper proposes a stochastic and distributed optimal energy management approach for active distribution networks(ADNs)within office buildings.The proposed approach aims at scheduling office buildings fitted with heating ventilation and air conditioning(HVAC)systems,and electric vehicle(EV)charging piles,to participate in the ADN optimization.First,an energy management approach for the ADN with aggregated office buildings is proposed.And the ADN optimization model is formulated considering the detailed building thermal dynamics and the mobile behaviors of workers.Then,to consider un-certainties of photovoltaic(PV)power,scenario-based stochastic programming is integrated into the ADN optimization model.To further realize the stochastic energy management of the ADN within office buildings in a distributed manner,the alternating direction method of multipliers(ADMM)is used to solve the ADN optimization model.The original ADN optimization problem is divided into the network-side and the building-side sub-problems to effectively protect the privacy of the ADN and the office buildings.Finally,the ADN optimization model incorporating office buildings is validated in the winter by numerical studies.In addition,the impacts of comfort temperature range and expected state of charge(SOC)at departure are analyzed.Index Terms—ADN,EV,HVAC system,Office building,Stochastic and distributed energy management.

Quantification of how mechanical ventilation influences the airborne infection risk of COVID-19 and HVAC energy consumption in office buildings

This paper presents an EnergyPlus-based parametric analysis to investigate the infection risk of Coronavirus Disease 2019(COVID-19)under different mechanical ventilation scenarios for a typical medium-sized office building in various climate zones.A Wells-Riley(WR)based Gammaitoni-Nucci(GN)model was employed to quantitatively calculate the airborne infection risk.The selected parameters for the parametric analysis include the climate zone,outdoor air fraction,fraction of infectors,quanta generation rate,and exposure time.The loss and deposition of particles are not considered.The results suggest that the COVID-19 infection risk varies significantly with climate and season under different outdoor air fraction scenarios since the building heating and cooling load fundamentally impacts the supply airflow rate and thus directly influences the amount of mechanical ventilation,which determines the dilution ratio of contaminants.This risk assessment identified the climate zones that benefit the most and the least from increasing the outdoor air fraction.The climate zones such as 1A(Honolulu,HI),2B(Tucson,AZ),3A(Atlanta,GA),and 7(International Falls,MN)are the most energy-efficient locations when it comes to increasing the outdoor air fraction to reduce the COVID-19 infection risk.In contrast,the climate zones such as 6A(Rochester,MN)and 6B(Great Falls,MT)are the least energy-efficient ones.This paper facilitates understanding a widely recommended COVID-19 risk mitigation strategy(i.e.,increase the outdoor airflow rate)from the perspective of energy consumption.

Survey and analysis of energy consumption in office buildings in Tianjin

An energy audit of 24 office buildings was conducted in Tianjin, including basic information of buildings, building energy system and energy bills. The investigation results showed that the average intensity of energy consumption in office buildings in Tianjin accounts for 161.51 kW-h/（mZ.a）. By breaking the energy consumption down into detailed items, it was found that the heating system consumed the highest amount of energy （46.6%）, followed by equipment （35.9%）, cooling system （11%） and lighting system （6.69%）. The main factors for office building energy consumption were found and some feasible measures to save energy were proposed.

Multiple regression models for energy consumption of office buildings in different climates in China

The energy consumption of office buildings in China has been growing significantly in recent years. Obviously, there are significant relationships between building envelope and the energy consumption of office buildings. The 8 key building envelope influencing factors were found in this paper to evaluate their effects on the energy consumption of the air-conditioning system. The typical combinations of the key influencing factors were performed in Trnsy simulation. Then on the basis of the simulated results, the multiple regression models were developed respectively for the four climates of China--hot summer and warm winter, hot summer and cold winter, cold, and severely cold. According to the analysis of regression coefficients, the appropriate building envelope design schemes were discussed in different climates. At last, the regression model evaluations consisting of the simulation evaluations and the actual case evaluations were performed to verify the feasibility and accuracy of the regression models. The error rates are within i5% in the simulation evaluations and within ＋ 15% in the actual case evaluations. It is believed that the regression models developed in this paper can be used to estimate the energy consumption of office buildings in different climates when various building envelope designs are considered.

Investigation and analysis on indoor air quality of large commercial office building in summer

To study the indoor air qualities（IAQ）of large commercial office buildings in Hunan province of China and the corresponding improvement methods,the IAQ of a large commercial office building in Changsha in July,2008,is investigated.A questionnaire survey and field tests are used to collect data.According to the data of twelve rooms in this building,objective evaluation and the subjective evaluation of the IAQ are obtained.Almost all of the environmental parameters in these rooms basically meet the standards of the objective evaluation.But the average concentration of carbon dioxide in most rooms cannot reach the value of the cleanliness standards,1 255 mg/m^3.The average acceptability of the IAQ in these rooms is 71%,which is lower than the value of the ASHRAE 55—1992 standards,80%.The proper increase in the wind speed and the indoor fresh air supply can greatly improve the objective evaluation and the subjective evaluation of the IAQ.

Analysis of Solar Direct-Driven Organic Rankine Cycle Powered Vapor Compression Cooling System Combined with Electric Motor for Office Building Air-Conditioning

Solar energy powered organic Rankine cycle vapor compression cycle(ORC-VCC)is a good alternative to convert solar heat into a cooling effect.In this study,an ORC-VCC system driven by solar energy combined with electric motor is proposed to ensure smooth operation under the conditions that solar radiation is unstable and discontinuous,and an office building located in Guangzhou,China is selected as a case study.The results show that beam solar radiation and generation temperature have considerable effects on the system performance.There is an optimal generation temperature at which the system achieves optimum performance.Also,as a key indicator,the cooling power per square meter collector should be considered in the hybrid solar cooling system in design process.Compared to the vapor compression cooling system,the hybrid cooling system can save almost 68.23%of electricity consumption.

Building International Gateway Offices with ZXJ10

1 GeneralEconomic globalization is resulting inrapid development of the telecommuni-cation industry. It is now necessary formany contries to build new internationalgateway offices or expand their existing sys-tems in order to become interconnected with

An Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Daylighting Performance for an Office Building

The urgency of increasing energy efficiency in new building design and retrofits has pushed lighting simulation to play a central role in sustainable lighting design. The shape of the building and its orientation, the reflectances of building surfaces and glazed areas are important parameters in the daylighting design of buildings. Glazing systems can cut energy consumption and associated pollution sources, reduce peak demand, enhance daylighting performance and improve occupant comfort. This paper presents the results of a numerical and experimental comparison between the performances of an office building with and without external sunscreens. The aim was to analyse the illuminance distribution and some investigations have also been made with regards to the effect on daylight in rooms when sunscreens are used. The experimental results were obtained using an office building scale model and sky simulator. The numerical results were obtained through radiance, the ray-tracing program, to accurately predict the light levels and produce photo realistic images of the architectural space in all sky conditions： Illuminance values were obtained respectively through reference point measurements. The daylighting performances of the office building model with and without the sunscreens have been compared and analysed.

Zero-Energy-Buildings in Different Climates： Design Strategies, Simulation and Prognosis METHOD for Energy Demand

The European Directive 2010/31 claims that by 2020 only （nearly-） ZEB （zero-energy-buildings） may be built. To reach this goal, it is pertinent for buildings to be energetically optimized first. The remaining energy demand must then be covered by on-site renewable energies （PV, geothermal, etc.）. With the area of use （energy demand） and the size of the building envelope/estate （renewable energy supply） in competition with each other, the maximum number of building stories will be most likely limited. For 15 different climatic locations worldwide, the energy demand of optimised office rooms has been simulated and compared with the possible renewable energy production on site. For every location, a good correlation has been found between the simulated energy demand and data like heating and cooling degree hours. Correspondent linear equations are given here. As another result, the maximum numbers of possible stories for ZEBS have been derived, being between 3 and 10 depending on the location.

Cost Estimate and Input Energy of Floor Systems in Low Seismic Regions

Reinforced concrete(RC)as a material is most commonly used for buildings construction.Several floor systems are available following the structural and architectural requirements.The current research study provides cost and input energy comparisons of RC office buildings of different floor systems.Conventional solid,ribbed,flat plate and flat slab systems are considered in the study.Building models in three-dimensional using extended threedimensional analysis of building systems(ETABS)and in two-dimensional using slab analysis by the finite element(SAFE)are developed for analysis purposes.Analysis and design using both software packages and manual calculations are employed to obtain the optimum sections and reinforcements to fit cities of low seismic intensities for all the considered building systems.Two ground motion records of low peak ground acceleration(PGA)levels are used to excite the models to measure the input energies.Uniformat cost estimating system is adopted to categorize building components according to 12 divisions.Also,Microsoft(MS)Project is utilized to identify the construction cost and duration of each building system.The study shows that floor system significantly causes changes in the input energy to structures.In addition,the slight increase in the PGA increases the amount of input energy particularly flat plate system.Estimated cost of the flat plate system that the flat slab system is of higher value as compared to ribbed and conventional slab systems.The use of drop panels increases this value as well.Moreover,the estimated cost of the ribbed slab system exceeds that of conventional system.

Perceived Indoor Discomfort, Performance and Productivity

Even all indoor environmental standards are met the users are usually not satisfied and perceived discomfort is occurred in the smart office buildings. The most frequently cause of discomfort in smart buildings is overrun of intelligence. There are physical and psychological factors that influenced building users＇ comfort. An indoor air quality seems to be one of the main problems of smart office buildings. In Slovakia the office buildings relating to indoor environment European standard are mostly evaluated as the non-low polluting buildings. The pollution from building as well as the pollution from occupancy and using was respected. The odor intensity and indoor air acceptability were assessed by a sensory panel. The concentrations of total volatile organic compounds and carbon dioxide were measured. The odors from building materials studied under different air change rate are presented in this paper. The case study of indoor air acceptability concerning to indoor odors under occupancy and its affect on perceived air quality influenced by air change rate are also presented in this paper.

遮阳条件下的办公建筑日光眩光模拟研究

在办公建筑的使用中,天然采光可以大大降低建筑内部对人工光源的需求,对我国推进的碳达峰及碳中和工作、建筑节能等方面的实操层面具有重要意义。同时,适宜的天然采光能为建筑带来舒适的工作环境,对室内人眼的长时间聚焦有积极作用。但直接的天然采光在特定环境下极易产生眩光,强烈的光强及分布不均给人眼工作带来不适,严重影响建筑使用的光舒适度。

An improved window opening behavior model involving the division of the dummy variable’s interval level:Case study of an office building in Xi’an during summer

Window opening behavior significantly impacts indoor air quality,thermal comfort,and energy consumption.A field measurement was carried out in three typical rooms(a standard office,a meeting room and a smoking office)within an office building.The window state and the physical environment were continuously recorded during the measured periods.Three typical window opening behaviors were found in the measured samples,namely,active,moderate,and passive.The common logistic regression coefficient indicated that solar radiation exhibited the greatest effect on window opening behavior in the smoking office and standard office.Typically,window opening behavior in the meeting room was the most strongly correlated with time of the day,mainly because of the meeting schedule for occupants in the meeting room.This study discussed the dividing principles involved in setting the dummy variable interval level(discretizing continuous variables and dividing them into different intervals),and proposed a method to determine the optimal interval level of each variable.The improved model led to the increase in the prediction accuracy rate of the window being opened by 2.0%and 3.3%according to the comparison with the original model based on dummy variables and the common model based on continuous variables,respectively.This study can provide a reference value for simulating energy consumption in office buildings in the future.

Climate change induced heat stress impact on workplace productivity in a net zero-carbon timber building towards the end of the century

Changing climate intensifies heat stress,resulting in a greater risk of workplace productivity decline in timber office buildings with low internal thermal mass.The impact of climate change induced heat exposure on indoor workplace productivity in timber office buildings has not been extensively researched.Therefore,further investigation to reduce the work capacity decline towards the end of the century is needed.Here,heat exposure in a net zero-carbon timber building near Brussels,Belgium,was evaluated using a reproducible comparative approach with different internal thermal mass levels.The analysis indicated that strategies with increased thermal mass were more effective in limiting the effects of heat exposure on workplace productivity.The medium and high thermal mass strategies reduced workplace productivity loss to 0.1%in the current,0.3%and 0.2%in the midfuture,and 4.9%and 3.9%for future scenarios.In comparison,baseline with low thermal mass yielded a decline of 2.3%,3.3%,and 8.2%.The variation in maximum and minimum wet-bulb globe temperatures were also lower for medium and high thermal mass strategies than for low thermal mass baseline.The study findings lead to the formulation of design guidelines,identification of research gaps,and recommendations for future work.

Gemdale Plaza——A Premium Grade-A Office Building on Chang’an Avenue

With trading,financing and media industry forming the new industry pattern of the central business district (CBD)

Sunny Days Ahead for Office Building Market?

Although foreign investments are restricted, Chinese office building developers are still optimistic about market