Building Integration Research Articles

An Eight-Core 1.44-GHz RISC-V Vector Processor in 16-nm FinFET

This work presents a RISC-V system-on-chip (SoC) with eight application cores containing programmable-precision vector accelerators. The SoC is built by using a generator-based design methodology, which enables the integration of open-source and project-specific building blocks to develop differentiated functionality. The digital component generators use Chisel, the analog component generators use the Berkeley Analog Generator (BAG), and the physical design flow is implemented with Hammer. The chip totals 125 M gates and is implemented in a 16-nm finFET process. The vector accelerator achieves peak energy efficiency per task of 209 half-precision, 92 single-precision, and 56 double-precision GFLOPs/W for a matrix multiplication kernel at 0.55 V and 339 MHz.

The Development and Implementation of ALIGN: A Multidimensional Program Designed to Enhance the Success of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Graduate Students in Communication Sciences and Disorders

The critical lack of racially and ethnically diverse healthcare professionals in the field of Communication Sciences & Disorders (CSD) in contrast to the increasing diversity of the U.S. population may contribute to healthcare disparities and negatively impact healthcare outcomes. It is therefore imperative for transformational programs and practices to be enacted to substantially increase the number of CSD professionals representing Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). As training institutions that graduate and contribute to the certification of CSD professionals, universities are fundamental for contributing to this change. Numerous barriers have been identified that limit the number of underrepresented minority students who matriculate in and graduate from speech-language pathology and audiology graduate programs. At Syracuse University, a group of academic and clinical CSD faculty developed a program to specifically address these barriers: the Academic Skill Building and Networking (ALIGN) program. ALIGN implements a multifaceted approach toward facilitating the success of CSD BIPOC graduate students through the integration of academic and professional skill building, peer mentoring and networking, and professional mentoring and networking into the program curriculum. This study described the rationale and development of the ALIGN program, and reported quantitative and qualitative survey results to determine the preliminary effects of this program on an inaugural cohort of ALIGN participants. Overall, quantitative and qualitative data indicated that ALIGN had a substantial, positive impact on academic skills relative to study habits, understanding difficult course concepts, and general learning, and provided crucial support and connection opportunities with fellow BIPOC students.

Aesthetic Analysis of Building and Equipment Integration Design

Aesthetic Analysis of Building and Equipment Integration Design

Effect of roost management on populations trends of Rhinolophus hipposideros and Rhinolophus ferrumequinum in Britain and Ireland

After a significant population decline during the 20th century, populations of both greater and lesser horseshoe bats have increased over recent decades in Britain and populations of lesser horseshoe bats have increased in Ireland. Vincent Wildlife Trust (VWT) acquired 37 bat reserves since the 1980s with the aim to safeguard the sites and enhance the roosting and hibernation conditions in buildings that were often derelict and sub-optimal for bats. These measures have resulted in a strong population size increase of all colonies. However, populations have also been increasing throughout Britain and Ireland as a consequence of legal protection and milder winters resulting in higher survival rates. Therefore, it is not clear whether the measures that have taken place in VWT reserves have led to a greater increase than roosts that have not benefited from the same type of management. We aimed to compare population trends of horseshoe bat roosts under VWT management and non-VWT management from 1999 to 2020 in order to assess its effectiveness. For this, we analysed population trends at sites under different management types (VWT and non-VWT) for lesser horseshoe bats in Britain and Ireland and greater horseshoe bats in Britain. Our results indicated that populations in Britain under VWT management have increased by 366% (CI 225% - 580%) for greater horseshoe bats and 188% (CI 125% - 283%) for lesser horseshoe bats. Roosts that did not benefit from the same levels of management increased respectively by 164% (CI 132% - 199%) and 51% (CI 40% - 60%). In Ireland, populations of lesser horseshoe bats in VWT managed roosts increased by 217% (CI 118% - 364%) while non-VWT managed roosts remained stable (-0.44%; CI -23% - 29%). We conclude that management actions carried out by VWT of greater and lesser horseshoe bat roosts have helped populations recover at a faster rate by securing the integrity of buildings, improving access points and by providing optimal microclimatic conditions within the buildings.

Behavior of reinforcing bar connections of hollow-core slabs to masonry walls under in-plane forces

Integrity ties are necessary in hollow-core slab floors as connections to prevent floor displacements under lateral loads and maintain the overall structural integrity of buildings. In Eastern Canada, the integrity tie for hollow-core slabs on masonry walls usually consists of a 10M (no. 3), L-shaped steel bar that is hammered into the supporting wall and grouted to the slabs. However, current North American design codes do not offer sufficient provisions to determine the capacity or predict the mode of failure of these ties and connections. This paper introduces the results of testing nine full-scale reinforcing bar connection assemblies under monotonic in-plane forces (compression, tension, and shear) until failure. Test parameters in this study included direction and orientation of the in-plane loading, the bearing type of the hollow-core slabs, and the use of adhesive. Test results showed that connections with dry-fit bars tested under compression failed by bar yielding followed by masonry beam crushing. In addition, the mode of failure under tension forces was governed by the loss of bearing of the slabs due to bar pullout and cover spalling. Under shear forces, the connection failed by bar yielding. Finally, the connections with adhesive had a similar mode of failure compared to their counterparts with dry-fit bars, but these did not show bar pullout from the masonry beam, therefore demonstrating higher stiffness.

Dynamic simulation and thermal investigation of a PTC for building integration under the climatic conditions of South eastern MOROCCO

This paper aims to report a detailed study of a Parabolic Trough Collector (PTC) prototype’s thermal system that requires a sizing and dimensioning investigation of its main parts. This PTC system possesses a field-type evacuated tube solar collector with U-shaped. Furthermore, a simulation study developed with TRNSYS is carried out to evaluate the validity and the feasibility of this system, in particular, for the low-temperature range. The solar collector is oriented to the south and follows the sun from east to west through a single-axis tracking system under real weather conditions. From the simulation results we noticed that for the operating configuration considered in this study, the solar fraction is significantly large throughout the year. During the summer, needs are covered almost 100 %. Whereas, it is necessary to integrate an auxiliary system for the winter period. The tank temperature reached a maximum of around 90 °C during the summer period. The system constantly ensures a heated floor temperature of around 28 °C. This reported simulation and analysis may enable to design and estimate of the region potential and the system productivity over the year, for different applications such as heating domestic water and underfloor systems.

Long-Term Outdoor Study of Organic Photovoltaics for Building Integration

Long-Term Outdoor Study of Organic Photovoltaics for Building Integration

Development Trend Analysis and Prediction of Photovoltaic Building Integration Plate Index

The thesis focuses on how to find a probability local optimal solution that maximizes relative benefits in the ever-changing stock market, and establishes a stock model for future expected trends and an investment analysis model that optimizes returns. First of all, the background and error analysis at that time should be obtained through the establishment of each stock market value and sector index, and the relevant information should be inquired, and the functional relationship between the corrected value and the original value should be obtained, to build three different models of related moving averages. For different model analysis and data processing, use ARIMA model and grey model to simulate its future expected trend, and use third-order difference to improve images and data, and compare some major events that have occurred recently to make an artificial background. Correction, and finally get a time-dependent model of it. For the establishment of the investment model, the relevant knowledge of probability theory is used to carry out continuous linear combination of high-quality solutions, the high-temperature annealing model is used to narrow the scope, and lingo is used to solve the local optimal solution, so that the risks and benefits can be optimized.

Analysis of the Deformation Characteristics of Loess Based on Thermal–Mechanical Coupling under an Energy Internet

In response to the major challenges faced by China’s transition to green low-carbon energy under the dual-carbon goal, the use of energy Internet cross-boundary thinking will help to develop research on the integration of renewable clean energy and buildings. Energy piles are a new building-energy-saving technology that uses geothermal energy in the shallow soil of the Earth’s surface as a source of cold (heat) to achieve heating in winter and cooling in summer. It is a complex thermomechanical working process that changes the temperature of the rock and soil around the pile, and the temperature change significantly influences the mechanical properties of natural loess. Although the soil temperature can be easily and quickly obtained by using sensors connected to the Internet of Things, the mechanical properties of natural loess will change greatly under the influence of temperature. To explore the influence of temperature on the stress–strain relationship of structural loess, the undrained triaxial consolidation tests were carried out under different temperatures (5, 20, 50 and 70∘C) and different confining pressures (50, 100, 200 and 400[Formula: see text]kPa), and a binary-medium model was introduced to simulate the stress–strain relationship. By introducing the damage rate under temperature change conditions, a binary-medium model of structural loess under variable temperature conditions was established, and the calculation method of the model parameters was proposed. Finally, the calculated results were compared with the test results. The calculation results showed that the established model has good applicability.

Enhancing the aesthetic aspect of the solar systems used as facades for building by designing multi-layer optical coatings

The design of zero-energy buildings can be depending on the effective integration of solar energy systems with building envelopes, where these systems save heat and electricity as well as enhance the aesthetic aspect of the facades. In this paper, the aspects related to the effective integration of buildings with solar energy systems (solar cells and collectors) will be discussed, as well as enhancing the aesthetic aspect of the facades, and since solar energy systems are visible to everyone, their design must adapt to the building structure and the surrounding environment. Solar energy system designers, architects, physicists and other contributors to building energy envelopes must consider the comprehensive concept of it, where buildings are part of the human and social environment and in close relationship with the natural environment, through the use of thin films technology through the design of multi-layers colored optical coatings covering solar panels for building facades. Accordingly, the energy sector should be seen as an area of aesthetic creativity. Two dielectric materials were used, the first is ThF4 with a high refractive index (1.5143) and the second is LiF with a low refractive index (1.393) and for several odd layers, starting from 3 layers and up to 21 layers and for a thicknesses of a quarter wavelength. The design Air/L/H/Glass was applied by the Mat Lab program for the seven colors of the spectrum, So, the aim of this research is determined in designing colored optical coatings for solar systems that enhance the aesthetic aspect of building facades, as well as generating thermal and electrical energy needed to operate the buildings and to find out which color has the best visible reflectivity and solar transmittance better than the rest of the spectrum, all the results exhibit that yellow color has the higher visible reflectivity and higher merit factor, so it is consider the most efficient color for coloring the solar systems than the rest of colors spectrum.

WAYS OF ARCHITECTURAL REVALUATION OF ARCHITECTURAL SUBSTANCE IN THE HISTORICAL ENVIRONMENT OF THE CITY

Abstract. The multifaceted problem of the relationship between the old and the new in the structure of cities subject to reconstructive transformation covers not only the range of tasks for the integration of historically composed and new buildings, but also a number of ambiguous issues of architectural revaluation of historical architectural and urban planning substance. lost elements to improve the aesthetic value of the urban environment and further preserve its integrity. If the solution of issues of urban coherence of historical and new buildings is based on the variability of the respective location in the urban structure of urban formation, the ways of architectural revaluation are based on the principles of volumetric and tectonic perfection of historical substance. ensembles, often by means of finely tempered harmonization of old and new architectural solutions (Hereditary development of compositional and spatial features of the city center). European urbanism of the twentieth century. He also knows cases of architectural revaluation of large urban complexes, such as in the process of restoration after the military destruction of the historic areas of Warsaw and Gdansk, where the problem of restoring the architectural integrity of buildings was combined with issues of restoration, reconstruction, modernization and necessary rehabilitation. on the legitimacy of such revaluation measures, which were not based on the restoration of authentic historical heritage, but in fact on its reproduction "from the ground up", based not only on scientifically sound materials, but often on architectural conjecture, method of analogues, etc. The controversy over the architectural revaluation of historic buildings began in the late nineteenth century, when the issues of conservation and restoration in a set of reconstructive urban planning tasks began to require immediate resolution. Renowned British art critic John Ruskin, reacting sharply to the imperfections of restoration work that led to significant distortions and even distortions of valuable historical substance in various countries, said: «Reproduction from nothing of something that was once great and beautiful in architecture is as impossible as return to life…» (Рёскин 81–82).

Outdoor Characterization of a Plasmonic Luminescent Solar Concentrator

Plasmonic luminescent solar concentrators (PLSCs) have been shown to enhance the optical performance and power conversion efficiency of LSCs, due to added plasmonic gain in the medium. Despite the promising outlook of a PLSC through plasmonic coupling, device characterization and performance have not been verified in the real outdoor conditions, with varying direct and diffuse solar irradiation. In this work, characterization of a PLSC device of dimensions 4.5 \(\times\) 4.5 \(\times\) 0.3 cm3 embedded with Lumogen Red 305 dye and plasmonic gain medium of gold core silver shell nano cuboids was carried out in outdoor conditions of Dublin, Ireland. Optimized PLSC device power output at different solar insolation was compared to a reference photovoltaic (PV) cell and an optimized luminescent solar concentrator (LSC) device. The effect of the solar disc position, solar insolation, PV cell surface temperature, diurnal, and seasonal variation on the performance of the PLSC device is studied. The key observation was that PLSC average power conversion efficiency was 1.4 times more than the PV cell in cloudy and diffuse solar conditions. The PLSC device performed 45% better than a PV cell in December than July, as December has higher diffuse solar irradiation. Even though the PLSC device absorbs only 31% and transmits 69% incident solar irradiation in the concerned visible range of 380–750 nm. The preliminary outdoor characterization on a small-scale PLSC establishes its viability in a diffuse to direct solar radiation ratio throughout the year as well as establishing its benefits for integration in buildings.

Corrigendum to: Integration of buildings with third-generation photovoltaic solar cells: a review

Corrigendum to: Integration of buildings with third-generation photovoltaic solar cells: a review

Design and implementation of an AI-based & IoT-enabled Home Energy Management System: A case study in Benguerir — Morocco

Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS) are of great importance today and have attracted a great deal of interest from both, academic researchers, and industrial engineers. These systems are considered as the intersection point between the smart grid and the smart home. Indeed, they can communicate with the user, home appliances, on-site generation sources, storage devices, and the grid operator to make dynamic decisions enabling intelligent and efficient energy management.This work aims to design and implement a smart HEMS that ensures renewable energy integration and energy efficiency improvement in residential buildings. The system designed in this work has been implemented as part of a pilot project in a testbed house of the Smart Campus — Green & Smart Building Park, Benguerir, Morocco.The proposed HEMS framework is based on two control strategies that work jointly: the first concerns the scheduling and control of power dispatch among generation, consumption, and storage agents (Supply-Side Management), while the second concerns the scheduling and control of flexible appliances for optimal load profile modulation (Demand-Side Management). The management of energy flows is based on grid electricity price, forecasting data (PV generation and weather conditions) and user preferences. The two designed control strategies are combined into an AI-based multi-objective optimization algorithm that minimizes costs and maximizes comfort level simultaneously.The obtained results validate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm and indicate that it would significantly increase the penetration of PV energy for self-consumption and reduce electricity costs, while ensuring a proper compromise between monetary spending and comfort level. The large-scale implementation of such systems would help decarbonize residential energy sector through higher renewable energy integration and energy efficiency improvement in buildings.

Low-cost smart solutions for daylight and electric lighting integration in historical buildings

Research have shown that the correct integration of daylight and electric lighting reduces the energy use in buildings, while improving visual comfort. Smart shading systems, especially those electrically controlled, play an important role to control solar radiation. Similarly, smart and dimmable/tunable lighting can help to adjust the artificial light to the real users’ needs. This paper presents preliminary results of an ongoing living lab study investigating how artificial lighting systems can be integrated with shading systems, placing human comfort at the heart of the study and yet saving energy. A manually controlled, commercial and low-cost smart system integrating two motorized shading devices and six dimmable LED luminaires with a different selection of CCT were installed in a private office in a historical building. Indoor and outdoor lighting conditions and energy consumption associated to the lighting system are constantly monitored to assess how the people use shading and lighting upon varying the boundary conditions.. Preliminary results highlight that users prefer to maximise daylight on the work plane as well as they generally use both shading and electric lighting systems in response to boundary conditions that cause serious discomfort.

Passive evaporative cooling through water-filled bricks: a preliminary investigation

Direct evaporative cooling is widely known to be an energy efficient air-conditioning option for arid and semi-arid climates. However, care must be taken on humidity ranges achieved indoors. Existing literature presents several options for integrating evaporative cooling within buildings for passive cooling applications. This work aims at expanding the current knowledge by focusing on the use of water-filled hollow bricks to implement evaporative cooling of air in contact with the brick’s surfaces. A prototype is built and experimentally characterized under controlled air velocity, air temperature and relative humidity conditions. Results on the psychrometric conditions achieved under different geometric arrangements (i.e., with one, two or three rows of four bricks each) are presented and discussed. Insights on likely building integration of the system for passive cooling purposes in farms and agriculture applications are eventually given.

The impact of passive design strategies on cooling loads of buildings in temperate climate

Residential and commercial buildings consume over a third of the world's total energy. The residential sector accounts for most energy use in the Gaza Strip, necessitating the development of feasible energy-saving techniques. Herein, a simulation-based study has been prepared to examine the integration of some practical passive design strategies into a generic residence. The study aims to optimize thermal performance by minimizing the building's cooling loads. A detailed examination is conducted for the literature on similar research and passive design techniques to investigate a city's state and climate. Three passive parameters, namely, shading devices, natural ventilation, and thermal insulation, were investigated using Climate Consultant and IESve as assessment software. Accordingly, their impacts on the building's indoor temperature and cooling load were evaluated. The findings suggest that the implementation of such passive design parameters can reduce energy consumption by 9.89 kW, representing 59% of the total energy consumption of the building. Such integration in residential buildings could be significant in cities with limited natural resources and would guide architects, designers, engineers towards the potential of passive measures in building design.

Energy and daylighting performance of building integrated spirooxazine photochromic films

The study of chromogenic materials and systems is particularly promising for innovative, transparent building envelopes, with thermo-optical properties adaptable to surrounding environmental conditions. This work spots light on the multiple effects of photochromic glazing on the energy consumption of buildings and on the impact that such technologies would have on the visual comfort of occupants. To our knowledge, this is the first work dealing with building integration of spirooxazine-based photochromic films. This experimental and theoretical work aims helping to fill this gap by reporting the results of a study concerning the spirooxazine photochromic molecules, integrated in transparent matrices of polymethylmethacrylate. This work discloses the potential of specific photochromic materials, especially as a function of spectral peculiarities. The figures of merit of this technology have been studied by assuming its integration in an ideal multi-storey office building, and by studying the effects in terms of energy consumption and visual comfort and proposing a comparison with several static commercial glazing technologies. The photochromic glazing demonstrated to offer significant reduction of energy use for cooling, compared to a clear glass (with yearly saving of 4079 kWh, on the Southern facade), and for artificial lighting (with a saving of 3711 kWh), if compared to the commercial solar control glazing. Furthermore, the dynamic behaviour of the photochromic glazing represented the best choice in terms of visual comfort.

High temperature resistant restoration mortar with fly ash and GGBFS

Nowadays, the development of sustainable building materials is of loom large in for the preserve resources and reducing CO2 emission and environmental pollution effects. Exposure to fire or other high temperatures of mortars produced with calcium-based binders (cement or hydraulic lime) adversely affects their mechanical properties. In addition, the effect of high temperature may cause a change in the pore structures, causing cracking and spalling. Protecting the integrity of historical buildings exposed to high temperatures is important for cultural sustainability. In this study, natural hydraulic lime (NHL) used as a binder in mortars was replaced with 15, 30 and 60% fly ash (FA) and granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS). In the mixtures, 1.5% (by volume) polypropylene fiber (PF) was also used. Test results reveal that while the mortars’ workability increased as the FA and GBFS content increased, PF decreased the flow diameters of the mortars. It has been determined that the paste content affects the porosity and water absorption rates of mortars. With the addition of FA content, paste content increased and porosity reduced. Compressive strength over 10 MPa was obtained by using 30% FA in 90-day lime mortars. As the addition of GBFS, the compressive and flexural strength were negatively affected. PF has reduced the porosity and water penetration depth of the mortars thanks to its micro filler effect. FA-based mixtures were more resistant to high temperatures than GBFS-based mixtures. Compressive strength was measured between 4.3 and 8.6 MPa after 600 °C temperature in FA-based mixtures. In fibrous mixtures, increment of mass loss was more with high temperature. C-S-H gels were observed in XRD and SEM analyzes of mortars exposed to high temperatures. PF was observed in stereomicroscope images of mixtures exposed to 200 °C. Since the porosity of the mortars is relatively high (19.7%–30.8%), the PF in the mixtures exposed to 200 °C did not melt completely but was damaged. As a result, it would be more appropriate to use 30% of FA and 15% of GBFS in NHL mortars.

In vivo human retinal swept source optical coherence tomography and angiography at 830\xa0nm with a CMOS compatible photonic integrated circuit

Photonic integrated circuits (PIC) provide promising functionalities to significantly reduce the size and costs of optical coherence tomography (OCT) systems. This paper presents an imaging platform operating at a center wavelength of 830 nm for ophthalmic application using PIC-based swept source OCT. An on-chip Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) configuration, which comprises an input power splitter, polarization beam splitters in the sample and the reference arm, and a 50/50 coupler for signal interference represents the core element of the system with a footprint of only (12 times 5);{text {mm}}^2. The system achieves 94 dB imaging sensitivity with 750 upmu W on the sample, 50 kHz imaging speed and 5.5 upmu m axial resolution (in soft tissue). With this setup, in vivo human retinal imaging of healthy subjects was performed producing B-scans, three-dimensional renderings as well as OCT angiography. These promising results are significant prerequisites for further integration of optical and electronic building blocks on a single swept source-OCT PIC.