Adding new floors to old timber-framed buildings:An assessment of demolished and preserved courtyard houses in the historic centre of Madrid

The constructive analysis of Madrid's old timber-framed collective courtyard build-ings,whether demolished,preserved intact,or enlarged,has achieved the dating ...     

旧瓶新洒：浅谈掩土建筑的复兴

论文对掩土建筑进行了历史回顾,分析了人类社会的飞速发展对生态环境的影响,探讨了这种建筑形式的优点,引入了可持续发展的建筑概念,由此得出结论:掩土建筑是满足可持续发展要求的独特建筑形式。     

毗邻新旧建筑物基础变形缝的处理方法

指出处理好与旧建筑物毗邻的新建工程的基础是一个较重要的问题,对新建工程为砖混结构房屋的基础变形缝提出了两种简单实用的处理方法,即挑梁处理法和桩基处理法,并对具体的工程做法进行了详细介绍,以供类似工程参考.     

Urban design considerations in the environmental assessment of vernacular buildings with timber projections(sachnisi):The case of Nicosia's historic center

In this study,the environmental responsiveness of built heritage is closely con-nected with the aspects of building typology and urban canyon geometry.The focus of this study is on two-story adobe buildings with lightweight timber projections,locally called sach-nisi,which are located on the first floor,above the pass-through space on the ground floor,locally known as portico.The field study reveals and maps a total of 246 sachnisi projections across the walled city of Nicosia,Cyprus,a typical Mediterranean area.This research is the first systematic attempt to integrate cultural,historical,and environmental factors and the ur-ban-and building-scale environmental characteristics of vernacular heritage.The findings highlight thermal adaptive opportunities and passive cooling strategies,i.e.,natural ventila-tion,enhanced by aligning the portico axis with the prime wind direction and operating various openings of the sachnisis.The research also demonstrates that the building orientation and the proportions of sachnisis and porticos are insensitive to the street geometry.Thus,functional and morphological parameters(in addition to climatic parameters)are also significant in the configuration of these architectural elements.The originality and academic contribution of this study lie within the systematic and comprehensive methodology followed,which can be applied to other urban heritage sites.The use of innovative,multidisciplinary methods and tools in heritage studies is also recommended.     

Urban design considerations in the environmental assessment of vernacular buildings with timber projections (sachnisi): The case of Nicosia’s historic center

In this study, the environmental responsiveness of built heritage is closely connected with the aspects of building typology and urban canyon geometry. The focus of this study is on two-story adobe buildings with lightweight timber projections, locally called sachnisi, which are located on the first floor, above the pass-through space on the ground floor, locally known as portico. The field study reveals and maps a total of 246 sachnisi projections across the walled city of Nicosia, Cyprus, a typical Mediterranean area. This research is the first systematic attempt to integrate cultural, historical, and environmental factors and the urban-and building-scale environmental characteristics of vernacular heritage. The findings highlight thermal adaptive opportunities and passive cooling strategies, i.e., natural ventilation, enhanced by aligning the portico axis with the prime wind direction and operating various openings of the sachnisis. The research also demonstrates that the building orientation and the proportions of sachnisis and porticos are insensitive to the street geometry. Thus, functional and morphological parameters (in addition to climatic parameters) are also significant in the configuration of these architectural elements. The originality and academic contribution of this study lie within the systematic and comprehensive methodology followed, which can be applied to other urban heritage sites. The use of innovative, multidisciplinary methods and tools in heritage studies is also recommended.     

Performance-based firefighting in dense historic settlements: An exploration of a firefighting approach combining value and risk assessment with numerical simulation

In view of the fire problems left in dense historical settlements in China, such as fire hazards that are prone to fires, difficulties in fighting fires, and the incomplete applicability of current fire codes due to the high historical value of buildings, this paper proposes a scientific and systematic performance-based fire protection method that gives priority to value preservation. This method is applied to dense historical settlements, and the effectiveness of this method is verified by evaluating the results of fire protection planning and renovation through multiple rounds of computer numerical simulation. The results show that in a connected cluster of buildings, one of the fire retrofitting requirements in the horizontal or vertical direction needs to be met between two adjacent buildings to ensure that the fire does not spread, and the retrofitting direction has to be selected based on the value and risk assessment results. When dense historical clusters are renovated for fire prevention planning, the optimal renovation path to meet fire safety can be effectively selected based on the method proposed in this paper.     

The new research centre of the Brazilian Petroleum Company in Rio de Janeiro,Brazil: The achievements in the thermal performance of air-conditioned buildings in the tropics

The study on the thermal performance of the air-conditioned buildings of the new research centre of the Brazilian Petroleum Company, in the tropical climate of Rio de Janeiro, was part of a bigger research and consultancy project involving environmental issues. The architectural design was the subject of a national competition in 2004, encompassing over 100,000 m². According to the design brief, out of the 10 buildings of the new research centre, 7 have to be either completely or partially air-conditioned, due to specific occupation requirements. The challenge for better thermal performance was related to systems’ energy efficiency, to the introduction of natural ventilation and to the notion of adaptive comfort, which were verified with the support of thermal dynamic simulations. At the early stages of the assessments, the potential for natural ventilation in the working spaces considering the mixed-mode strategy achieved 30% of occupation hours. However, the development of the design project led to fully air-conditioned working spaces, due to users’ references regarding the conventional culture of the office environment. Nevertheless, the overall architectural approach in accordance to the climatic conditions still showed a contribution to the buildings’ energy efficiency.     

历史街区新建筑的植入及其同周边环境的整合——天津市海河意式风情区14号地办公楼项目研究报告

天津市海河意式风情区是意大利在其境外惟一的、也是保留最为完整的近代历史街区。在其更新再发展的进程中,必然要面临新建建筑的挑战。另一方面,新建建筑的风格也必须与已有历史建筑和周边环境相协调。为此,项目组以该地区14号地块办公楼设计为契机,充分探讨了历史街区新建筑如何植入并与周边环境整合的可能性与可行性。特别是引入意大利传统城市外部空间意象作为设计的突破口,以环境整合和特色设计为重点,力图营造亲切宜人的现代办公空间环境——既留存有历史的记忆,又保持有当代的痕迹。     

Experimental investigation of the influence of joint connection details between existing buildings and added new frames on failure mode of retrofitted slabs for the vertical expansion of old buildings: Part II

Dismantling entire existing buildings can be circumvented by adding additional frames to provide more residence, thus avoiding the need to reconstruct buildings. The alternatives are to construct new frames on old apartment buildings in order to avoid entirely dismantling existing buildings. The conventional wall frames for super structures added onto existing buildings are replaced by frames consisting of composite beams and steel columns to minimize beam depth and weight of the load from the added frames. This paper studied joint connection types for the rehabilitation of old buildings to withstand lateral loads. Details of the joints between newly added steel columns and existing slabs are presented in this paper. The structural behaviors of anchored joints between the new 3‐story composite frames and an existing 15‐floor building were significantly investigated through extensive experiments. Complex failure modes were identified based on the test of the wall foundation types and the anchor types connecting the base plates to existing slabs. The authors previously reported that the flexural load‐bearing capacity of slabs was the dominant load‐resisting capacity. The column–slab joint connections introduced with experimental demonstrations in this study are expected to contribute to enhancing the lateral capacity of the extended buildings.     

Evaluating the role of ivy (Hedera helix) in moderating wall surface microclimates and contributing to the bioprotection of historic buildings

The role of ivy (Hedera helix L.) on building walls is much debated, with arguments being put forward for it playing a biodeteriorative role (for example through ivy rootlets exploiting cracks and holes) as well as suggestions that it might provide some bioprotection (for example by the ivy canopy protecting the walls from other agents of deterioration such as frost). We have carried out a year-long study of the influence that ivy canopies play on wall surface microclimates at five sites across a range of climatic settings within England, using iButtons to monitor temperature and relative humidity fluctuations at the wall surface on ivy-covered and exposed walls. Hourly data illustrates a general mediating effect of ivy canopies on both temperature and relative humidity regimes. The ivy reduces extremes of temperature and relative humidity, with the most clearcut differences for temperature. Across all five sites the average daily maximum temperature was 36% higher and the average daily minimum temperature 15% lower on exposed vs ivy-covered surfaces. Differences in the exposure level of studied walls (i.e. whether they are shaded or not by trees or other walls) influenced the degree of microclimatic alteration provided by the ivy canopy. Other important factors influencing the strength of the ivy impact on microclimate were found to be thickness of the canopy and aspect of the wall. A detailed analysis of one site, Byland in North Yorkshire, illustrates the seasonal differences in impact of ivy on microclimates, with insulation against freezing being the dominant effect in January, and the removal of high temperature ‘spikes’ the dominant effect in July. The observed moderating role of ivy canopies on wall surface microclimates will reduce the likelihood of frost and salt deterioration to the building materials, thus contributing to their conservation. Further research needs to be done on other potentially deteriorative roles of ivy before an overall bioprotective role can be assumed, but the significant impact of ivy on wall surface microclimates across England is clear.     

枯木逢春--湖南工程学院南院主教学楼改造形象设计随笔

在湖南工程学院南院主教学楼整体改造形象设计的过程中，设计得通过对设计对象的现状、环境、文脉、风格、特色、细部处理的分析，指出了面临的问题和应对的理念，为改造旧建筑进行了有益的尝试。     

An hourly modelling framework for the assessment of energy sources exploitation and energy converters selection and sizing in buildings

The promotion of the exploitation of renewable sources in the built environment has led to the spread of multi-energy systems in buildings. These systems use more than one energy source in various energy converters to overcome the limitations that may be characteristic of each source. However, the design of the optimization of such systems is a complex task because the number of design variables is high and the boundary conditions (climate, operation strategies, etc.) are highly variable, so the system simulation has to be performed in the time domain. In this work an original hourly model to optimize multi-energy systems is presented and applied on a case study. It is an evaluation method to assess, in an integrated fashion, the performance of a building system as a whole and the viability of the exploitation of various energy sources. This tool is intended to take into account the variation of the conversion efficiency as a function of the design power, part load, boundary and climatic conditions. The relations that can model the energy converters of the case study (standard boiler, condensing boiler, various types of chillers and others) from the energy performance and from the financial points of view are also presented. This model represents a valuable alternative to currently available tools for hybrid systems simulation because of the optimization approach and of the detail in the thermal energy converters performance. Ultimately, the theoretical and applied knowledge of this contribution aims also at promoting a more conscious use of renewable and non-renewable energy in the built environment.     

A new approach on the strengthening of primary school buildings in Turkey: An application of external shear wall

Considerable life and property losses have occurred because of the devastation due to the earthquakes happened in Turkey during the last 10 years. Especially, the damages that occurred on the public buildings were more serious and irrevocable when compared with the damages that took place on private buildings. In Turkey, primary school buildings constitute a large portion of the public buildings. Unfortunately, these buildings faced with heavy damages during the last earthquakes. The strengthening of existing primary school buildings in accordance with new contract specifications, thereby reducing losses of life and property to a minimum in case of an earthquake, has become one of the important issues on the agenda of the Turkish government. However, the strengthening of the primary school buildings by using the available methods is so difficult, because the strengthening works take a long time, the user of these buildings are obliged to evacuate the buildings and also there occurs extra costs caused by the additional repairs and renovations within the buildings when these methods are used. In this study, a new strengthening type of reinforced concrete buildings namely “external reinforced concrete shear wall” application method is discussed. For this purpose, three typical projects, which have been built commonly, are mentioned. The structural deficiencies observed in these buildings are given. In the experimental stage of this study, an experimental programme is formed in order to evaluate the performance of the external shear wall application. In the experimental schedule, four reinforced concrete test specimens are produced by using the design and detailing data of the considered school buildings. According to these tests, the strengthening and system improvement performed through adding external reinforced concrete shear wall to the reinforced concrete buildings will add improved behaviour, strength and rigidity to the system with its low cost besides the ease of construction and application. Since these buildings are detached and located in a multi-purpose garden, constructed as typical projects and have special architectural layout, developing this method for the existing primary school buildings will be able to be implemented in most of the primary school buildings without any problems.     

Trends of legacy and new persistent organic pollutants in the circumpolar arctic: Overview, conclusions, and recommendations

This article provides an overview of key findings in the reviews in this special issue on the assessment of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) under the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP), identifies knowledge gaps, and presents conclusions and recommendations for future work. The articles in this special issue summarize the peer reviewed literature and selected technical reports on trends of concentrations and possible biological effects of POPs in the Arctic published up to early 2009.     

快速城镇化背景下的历史街区保护与更新探究--以湖北谷城县历史街区为例

在当今快速城镇化的宏观社会经济发展背景下,历史街区保护与更新面临挑战。该文以湖北谷城县历史街区为研究对象,简要介绍了其发展概况,通过其建筑特征和街巷空间两方面体现街区的历史文化价值及其保护研究意义,且进一步分析了快速城镇化背景下历史街区保护与更新所面临的问题,并尝试提出了相关策略,力求恢复街区功能与风貌,促进其可持续发展。     

An assessment of the risk to surface water ecosystems of groundwater P in the UK and Ireland

A good quantitative understanding of phosphorus (P) delivery is essential in the design of management strategies to prevent eutrophication of terrestrial freshwaters. Most research to date has focussed on surface and near-surface hydrological pathways, under the common assumption that little P leaches to groundwater. Here we present an analysis of national patterns of groundwater phosphate concentrations in England and Wales, Scotland, and the Republic of Ireland, which shows that many groundwater bodies have median P concentrations above ecologically significant thresholds for freshwaters. The potential risk to receptor ecosystems of high observed groundwater P concentrations will depend on (1) whether the observed groundwater P concentrations are above the natural background; (2) the influence of local hydrogeological settings (pathways) on the likelihood of significant P transfers to the receptor; (3) the sensitivity of the receptor to P; and, (4) the relative magnitude of P transfers from groundwater compared to other P sources. Our research suggests that, although there is often a high degree of uncertainty in many of these factors, groundwater has the potential to trigger and/or maintain eutrophication under certain scenarios: the assumption of groundwater contribution to river flows as a ubiquitous source of dilution for P-rich surface runoff must therefore be questioned. Given the regulatory importance of P concentrations in triggering ecological quality thresholds, there is an urgent need for detailed monitoring and research to characterise the extent and magnitude of different groundwater P sources, the likelihood for P transformation and/or storage along aquifer-hyporheic zone flow paths and to identify the subsequent risk to receptor ecosystems.     

Emissions variation in urban areas resulting from the introduction of natural gas vehicles: Application to Barcelona and Madrid Greater Areas (Spain)

On-road traffic is the major contributor to pollutant emissions in urban areas. Nowadays different emission abatement strategies are being tested in order to improve urban air quality (e.g. the European Commission currently promotes the use of natural gas as an alternative fuel). Several feasible scenarios regarding the introduction of natural gas vehicles (NGV) are studied in the two main cities of Spain (Barcelona and Madrid) by using the HERMES emission model. The most suitable emission factors to NGV are selected among those available in the literature. The account of emissions in the base case scenario estimated for a typical summertime polluted day of the year 2004 reflects that in Barcelona 86% of primary pollutants come from on-road traffic compared to 93% in Madrid, because of the heavier industrial activity in the former. The introduction of NGV in urban zones would have a positive effect on emissions, whose extent largely depends on the substituted fleets and the conurbation characteristics. Maximum reductions in NO_x emissions in Madrid are attributed to the substitution of 10% of the oldest diesel and petrol cars, while in Barcelona the change of 50% of the oldest commercial light vehicles becomes more effective. PM_2.5 and SO₂ emissions can be significatively reduced with the introduction of NGV instead of the oldest commercial light vehicles. The substitution of conventional fuels by natural gas must reach around 4% to achieve significative reductions in traffic emissions (larger than 5%). This work focuses on air quality issues, therefore GHG emissions are not included, nevertheless this kind of associated impact has to be considered by the decision makers. Assessing the efficacy of environmental improvement strategies entails a realistic design of emission scenarios and their evaluation. The detailed emission account provides a fundamental basis for the air quality modelling and its comparison among scenarios.     

从新老校园的对比到设计的反思--浙大新老校区教学组团使用现状的思考

新建大学校园构思设计新颖、多样,但建成后的使用现状有时并不十分理想。而一些老校园中,却有着良好的环境氛围和使用状况。从新老对比的角度,对新校园的设计进行再分析,并加以改善,不失为一种很有效的方法,进而逐步完善新校园的环境。     

An updated weight of evidence approach to the aquatic hazard assessment of Bisphenol A and the derivation a new predicted no effect concentration (Pnec) using a non-parametric methodology

An aquatic hazard assessment establishes a derived predicted no effect concentration (PNEC) below which it is assumed that aquatic organisms will not suffer adverse effects from exposure to a chemical. An aquatic hazard assessment of the endocrine disruptor Bisphenol A [BPA; 2, 2-bis (4-hydroxyphenyl) propane] was conducted using a weight of evidence approach, using the ecotoxicological endpoints of survival, growth and development and reproduction. New evidence has emerged that suggests that the aquatic system may not be sufficiently protected from adverse effects of BPA exposure at the current PNEC value of 100 μg/L. It is with this background that; 1) An aquatic hazard assessment for BPA using a weight of evidence approach, was conducted, 2) A PNEC value was derived using a non parametric hazardous concentration for 5% of the specie (HC₅) approach and, 3) The derived BPA hazard assessment values were compared to aquatic environmental concentrations for BPA to determine, sufficient protectiveness from BPA exposure for aquatic species. A total of 61 studies yielded 94 no observed effect concentration (NOEC) and a toxicity dataset, which suggests that the aquatic effects of mortality, growth and development and reproduction are most likely to occur between the concentrations of 0.0483 μg/L and 2280 μg/L. This finding is within the range for aquatic adverse estrogenic effects reported in the literature. A PNEC of 0.06 μg/L was calculated. The 95% confidence interval was found to be (0.02, 3.40) μg/L. Thus, using the weight of evidence approach based on repeated measurements of these endpoints, the results indicate that currently observed BPA concentrations in surface waters exceed this newly derived PNEC value of 0.06 μg/L. This indicates that some aquatic receptors may be at risk for adverse effects on survival, growth and development and reproduction from BPA exposure at environmentally relevant concentrations.