Genetic-algorithm based approach to optimize building envelope design for residential buildings

A simulation–optimization tool is developed and applied to optimize building shape and building envelope features. The simulation–optimization tool couples a genetic algorithm to a building energy simulation engine to select optimal values of a comprehensive list of parameters associated with the envelope to minimize energy use for residential buildings. Different building shapes were investigated as part of the envelope optimization, including rectangle, L, T, cross, U, H, and trapezoid. Moreover, building envelope features were considered in the optimization analysis including wall and roof constructions, foundation types, insulation levels, and window types and areas. The results of the optimization indicate rectangular and trapezoidal shaped buildings consistently have the best performance (lowest life-cycle cost) across five different climates. It was also found that rectangle and trapezoid exhibit the least variability from best to worst within the shape.     

Commonly encountered seismic design faults due to the architectural design of residential buildings in Turkey

The 17 August 1999 and 12 November 1999 earthquakes in Western Anatolia provided undesirable field evidence that most of the low story residential reinforced concrete buildings have very poor earthquake resistance. Architectural design faults negatively affect the structural behavior of buildings. In Turkey, earthquake-resistant design is considered to be exclusively within the field of responsibility of structural engineers. As a result, architects and especially students of architecture are not well informed about the effect of their design decisions on the seismic performance of the buildings. Structural damages in collapsed buildings demonstrate that most of the design faults that lead to destruction of buildings are due to architectural decisions. This paper intends to present the concept of earthquake-resistant design in a comprehensible format for the architects and builders, therefore aims to contribute to the efforts of creating a better awareness of earthquake resistant building design.     

Epistemic water consumption benchmarks for residential buildings

Identified as one of the key issues in sustainable building designs, freshwater consumption is of primary importance to the design of water systems in buildings. Various benchmarks of water consumption have been developed for the indication and promotion of building sustainability; however, a simple normalization might require precise regional and timing adaptation while a complicated benchmarking model could impose extra adaptation difficulties. In this study, a simple epistemic benchmarking model for residential buildings was formed from existing domestic water consumption patterns and the latest regional survey results. In particular, with various prior estimates from reported water consumption worldwide, a water consumption survey of 60 apartments in Hong Kong was used to formulate a likelihood function for assessing the model validity. The posterior average consumption was compared with the Hong Kong global freshwater consumption patterns to derive the water consumption benchmarks for residential buildings in the region. This epistemic approach would be useful for evaluating the benchmarks of water consumption that is under continuous monitoring. The study also presented a template for formulating epistemic water consumption benchmarks for residential premises elsewhere.     

Inherent variability of heat consumption in residential buildings

The paper concerns thermal energy consumption in residential buildings. Heat consumption data of 2280 buildings are compared. Special attention is given to compare heat consumption in identical buildings. Heat consumption variability analysis enables to evaluate inherent heat consumption for space heating dissipation which exists even if design and construction requirements are met. The attempt is made to find the numeral value of heat consumption dissipation caused by design and construction allowances. The analysis of multiflat panel sister-buildings annual heat consumption reveals that minimal value of maximal and minimal heat consumption ratio in identical panel buildings reaches 1.22 (95% confidence level). Data scatter testify erratic quality of construction works, in other words, maximal and minimal heat consumption ratio trend reflects quality of construction works as a whole. On the other hand awareness of inherent unavoidable heat consumption difference in similar houses may strengthen residents’ and policy makers’ confidence in energy saving tools and enhance thermal renovation of residential buildings.     

Evaluation of the impact of internal partitions on energy conservation for residential buildings in Serbia

In Serbia, around 50% of energy is used in built environment and most of it for 6-month heating in residential buildings. Because of actual international efforts to protect environment, energy conservation in heating in residential buildings is an issue of permanent research interest. In this paper, we tried to determine how type of partitions inside a residential building influences energy consumption and demand for houses in cold climate and consequently energy conservation. For a typical house in Serbia, by using software HTB2, it was evaluated how its heating depends on six applied types of partitions. It was found that (1) the house with glass-wool partitions would have the minimum yearly heat consumption, (2) the house with masonry partitions would require heaters of minimum size, (3) the house with siporex partitions would require the lowest investment in partitions and heaters, and (4) the house with glass-wool partitions would yield the highest net savings during the life cycle of the house.     

城市高层住宅环境及其空间设计

介绍了城市高层住宅室内外公共环境设计技巧,从平面功能设计、环境设计等几个方面加以论述,并给出一些常用的设计手法,以期为城市高层住宅环境与空间设计提供指导。     

居民楼火灾原因分析及预防工作研究

中国城镇化发展进程加快,居民楼火灾事故发生率增加,严重威胁了人们的生命安全,而且产生了极大的社会负面影响.居民楼有火灾事故发生的时候,一定会有引发火灾的因素,这是判定火灾发生原因的重要依据.对火灾实发原因进行研究的过程中,需要将火灾现场的各种信息进行整理,形成一个脉络,明确火灾发生的原因,以此为鉴做好火灾预防工作.同时还要做好居民楼火灾应急准备工作,以对居民楼火灾有较高的应对能力,维护社会稳定有序运行.文章着重于研究居民楼火灾发生原因分析及预防工作.     

Analysis of indoor humidity environment in Chinese residential buildings

A high or low humidity environment is related closely to not only many health problems, but also has great influence on the construction durability and energy consumption. It is very important to control humidity level, in order to achieve a healthy and comfortable indoor environment. However, various problems of the air humidity in inhabited dwellings are not yet taken serious consideration in China. Moreover, there is hardly any information available regarding the actual humidity environment in Chinese residential houses. For this reason, it is difficult to select appropriate moderate moisture strategies to maintain a harmonious indoor humidity level.     

Benchmarking Hong Kong and China energy codes for residential buildings

Mandatory energy codes to curb energy use of residential buildings have been formally launched in China for more than two decades but little has been publicized in literature. Similar codes are not available for residential buildings in Hong Kong, but most residential buildings in Hong Kong, especially public housing estates, are HK-BEAM certified to demonstrate their compliance with regulatory and basic design requirements. Given HK-BEAM is internationally recognized and there are doubts about the effectiveness of the China codes, how the energy efficiency of the HK-BEAM certified buildings compare with buildings in compliance with the China codes is of interest to most building designers and policy makers. This paper describes how the energy efficiency of a case study building in compliance with the China codes compare with the one in compliance with HK-BEAM. The energy simulation by HTB2 and BECRES reveal that the case study building in compliance with the China codes is 51.1% better in energy use. In the study, the relative impact of each compliance criterion on energy use and cooling load has been quantified by sensitivity analysis. The sensitivity values indicate that energy use is most sensitive to air-conditioning operation hours, indoor design temperature, coefficient of performance (COP) of the room air-conditioners (RAC) units, and the envelop characteristics. The results of this study indicate that a HK-BEAM certified building cannot satisfy the China codes requirements. This provides good reference to the policy makers, the building owners, and to the China and Hong Kong Governments when considering reciprocal recognition of building energy codes.     

住宅建筑节能优化设计

从屋顶保温隔热的节能设计、外墙节能设计、门窗节能设计、户型空间节能设计四个方面探讨了住宅建筑设计技巧,指出建筑节能是缓解能源紧缺矛盾,减轻环境污染,促进经济持续发展的最直接最廉价的措施,有利于推广建筑节能技术在工程设计中的应用。     

Environmental impact of acoustic materials in residential buildings

This study examines the differences in environmental impact between various architectural acoustic materials in residential buildings, considering both embodied and operational Ecopoints using Envest. Five building types were compared, including bungalow, detached, semi-detached, terraced, and apartments. For each building type, two typical wall materials (brick and stone) which have a similar sound transmission loss, and three levels of glazing ratio were compared. For the apartment building, further analysis was made considering three wall types (brick, concrete and glass curtain), two roof types (pitched and flat) and different numbers of storeys (2–4). More detailed analysis was then carried out for two typical rooms, a living room and a bedroom, considering different combinations of interior finishing materials, but with the same reverberation time and sound transmission loss. The results of this study demonstrate the importance of considering the environmental sustainability of various acoustic materials. Although individual components may not affect the total Ecopoints greatly, when every acoustics-related component in a building is taken into account, significant differences in Ecopoints could be made with a better selection of architectural acoustic materials/components from the viewpoint of environmental sustainability, so that the environmental impact could be reduced to the minimum while the acoustic performance is kept the same.     

谈居住建筑的阳台设计

结合阳台设计的发展演变,对居住建筑的阳台设计的发展及分类作了探讨,从生活阳台、服务阳台、阳台的栏板、阳台的进深、阳台设计与立面造型六个方面对阳台设计进行了分析,以指导实践。     

泉州浦西万达广场超高层住宅设计

本文结合工程实例,介绍在超限高层设计中,对高度及高宽比超限在设计中应注意的要点,采用PKPMPMSAPMIDASBUILDING对结构抗震进行对比分析,同时采用EPDA进行结构的静力弹塑性分析,了解结构的薄弱位置,判定结构在地震作用下能否达到预期的性能目标。希望对同类工程具有一定的参考价值和指导意义。     

住宅建筑的一些细部设计

为使居住空间更加优美、舒适,在实际工作中,应当重视细部设计。从门窗、厨房和卫生间、太阳能热水器管井、空调机搁板等方面进行了阐述,满足了住宅的节能与舒适性要求,保持了室内良好的环境,节约了面积和空间,提高了居住区的环境质量,给居民创造了更方便的条件。     

浅谈住宅区的户外空间设计

介绍了住宅户外空间类型、构成要素及构图手法,详细地阐述了住宅群体空间形态的变化,探讨了住宅区户外空间的领域性,强调了应从环境心理学的角度创造有户外领域感的空间,从而使环境设计更加以人为本。     

居住建筑设计原理课程改革初探

目前居住建筑设计教学相对滞后,课程内容、教学方法、考核策略都需要与时俱进,紧跟住宅建设的发展需求。文章以苏州科技学院建筑与城市规划学院居住建筑设计原理课程为例,以理清逻辑、突出重点、紧跟前沿、激发自主的思路,对原教学大纲和教材进行改革,合并、删减、增补了教学内容,重新分配了课程授课时间,并调整了考核方式。改革后,居住建筑设计教学逻辑更加清晰,教学重点更加突出,教学内容更加生动,考核方式更加灵活,从而更好与设计市场对接。     

北方采暖地区既有居住建筑节能改造融资方案设计

结合既有居住建筑节能改造工作的实践经验,得出地方政府支持力度不够、居民百姓出资意愿不高、其他主体投资兴趣不大是导致既有居住建筑节能改造融资困难的主要障碍。运用市场生命周期理论,按照既有居住建筑节能改造市场产生、成长、成熟三个阶段,相应提出了设置节能改造专项资金、合同能源管理,碳汇融资,BOT,信托融资、股权融资,债券融资,项目融资,商业性贷款,内源融资等既有居住建筑节能改造融资方案。     

人性化在居住建筑地下车库的表达

通过对居住建筑地下车库整体环境考量,从人性化的设计角度重点分析地下车库与外界进行物质交换的空间节点,并提出相应的设计措施。     

Climate change adaptation pathways for Australian residential buildings

Climate change can significantly impact on the total energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of residential buildings. Therefore, climate adaptation should be properly considered in both building design and operation stages to reduce the impact. This paper identified the potential adaptation pathways for existing and new residential buildings, by enhancing their adaptive capacity to accommodate the impact and maintain total energy consumption and GHG emissions no more than the current level in the period of their service life. The feasibility of adaptations was demonstrated by building energy simulations using both representative existing and new housing in eight climate zones varying from cold, temperate to hot humid in Australia. It was found that, in heating dominated climates, a proper level of adaptive capacity of residential buildings could be achieved simply by improving the energy efficiency of building envelop. However, in cooling dominated regions, it could only be achieved by introducing additional measures, such as the use of high energy efficient (EE) appliances and the adoption of renewable energy. The initial costs to implement the adaptations were assessed, suggesting that it is more cost-effective to accommodate future climate change impacts for existing and new houses by improving building envelop energy efficiency in cooling dominated regions, but installing on-site solar PVs instead in heating and cooling balanced regions.     

Energy demand for space heating through a statistical approach: application to residential buildings

This study deals with the statistical analysis of a data set of residential buildings to find simplified correlations for the assessment of the energy demand for space heating.