Buildings In Bangkok Research Articles

Visually Estimating and Forecasting PM2.5 Levels Using Hybrid Architecture Deep Neural Network

Air pollutants, particularly particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns (PM2.5), have been linked to a number of negative climatic and health effects, including irritation and damage to internal organs in the short and long term. Knowing current and future levels of PM2.5 is therefore crucial for both public health and environmental management. Photos of the sky and buildings can aid in assessing visibility and air quality because PM2.5 alters the appearance of the sky and its surroundings. This research proposes a method that employs digital images to not only estimate but also forecast PM2.5 concentration levels using deep learning technologies. A convolutional neural network (CNN) was used as the base layer to automatically extract image features, while a long short-term memory (LSTM) network was used as the output layer to analyze the sequence of features. The sky and its surroundings were captured hourly from a high-rise building in Bangkok, Thailand, and the ground-truth PM2.5 data were obtained from the nearest monitoring station facing the same direction. The experimental results show that the hybrid CNN and LSTM model outperformed conventional CNN models in estimating and forecasting PM2.5 levels by 5% and 30%, respectively.

Preliminary analysis of amplified ground motion in Bangkok basin using HVSR curves from recent moderate to large earthquakes

BackgroundThe Bangkok Basin has been known from non-instrumental observations of the local population to be subject to ground motion amplification due to the deep alluvial sediments and basin geometry. This study analyzes available seismic data to confirm that basin effects are significant in the Bangkok Basin. The paper contributes to the evaluation of basin effects by characterizing the engineering ground motion parameters and HVSR curves for the Bangkok basin which produce lengthening of ground motion duration with respect to nearby rock sites, albeit with very low ground motions. For this purpose, we analyzed ground motion records from seismic stations located within the Bangkok alluvial basin from 2007 to 2021. Recorded peak horizontal ground acceleration (PGA) for seismic stations inside the basin always exceeded 1 cm/s2 during eight earthquakes with Mw ≥ 5.5. Of these, two were intraslab events and six were shallow crustal earthquakes. These recorded ground motions shook high-rise buildings in Bangkok even though their epicentral distance exceeded 600 km.MethodsSeveral time and frequency domain analyses (such as analysis of residual, HVSR, Hodogram plots, etc.) are used on the ground motion records in the Bangkok basin to determine the frequency content of recorded ground motion and to demonstrate the significance of surface waves induced by the deep basin in altering the engineering ground motion amplitudes. In addition, centerless circular array microtremor analysis is used to determine the depth of sedimentary basin to the bedrock.ResultsBased on comparisons from those stations located outside the Bangkok basin, we observed the capability of alluvial deposits in the Bangkok basin to amplify ground motion records by about 3 times. We observed that there is a unique site amplification effect between 0.3 and 0.1 Hz due to local surface waves and other moderate amplifications between 2 and 0.5 Hz due to a soft layer like other deep alluvial basins in other metropolitan areas.ConclusionWe noticed that there is a unique site amplification effect between 0.1 and 0.3 Hz and smaller peaks around 2 and 0.5 Hz consistent with expectations for site amplification effects associated with deep basins. Moreover, we noticed the presence of low frequencies content of the surface wave generated within the basin which deserved further studies using the 2D/3D ground motion modelling through basin topography and velocity models.

Vertical Transportation System Power Usage: Behavioural Case Study of Regulated Buildings in Bangkok

Sustainable urban development worldwide is crucial for the development of living spaces in high-rise buildings and infrastructures, which leads to the inevitability of increased energy consumption and demand of vertical transportation systems. The evaluation of the energy consumption of transportation systems is needed to verify and analyse the power usage related to traffic demands and patterns. In addition, efficient vertical transportation systems are central to the formulation of more sustainable cities. Therefore, this trend represents a substantial portion of the overall energy consumption of the building types. The benchmarking of the energy needs of the vertical transportation systems in five different building types via the comparison of granular load profile patterns (in conjunction with population densities) to the energy consumed was conducted, and it will be used to infer some impactful design strategies for the future. This study demonstrated a systematic approach to determine the power usage patterns in vertical transportation systems by actual measurement and traffic data collection from elevator monitoring. This may be used to develop a prediction for other cases in different types of installed vertical transportation systems. Therefore, the power usage of the vertical transportation systems can be used to determine the correlation between energy consumption and load pattern based on building characteristics and the overall energy consumption of each presented system.

Estimation of Effects of Air Pollution on the Corrosion of Historical Buildings in Bangkok

Historical buildings are recognized as the valuable cultural heritage of a nation. They may suffer material deterioration unavoidably because of exposure to air pollution. We used geographic information systems with dose-response functions (DRFs) to estimate the corrosion of copper and Portland limestone, and their risk of corrosion with regard to historical buildings in Bangkok, Thailand. The first step was to find a suitable spatial interpolation method considering the air pollution and meteorological measurement data for 2010-2019 from 26 monitoring stations in Bangkok and its neighborhoods. Applying multiple performance measures, the inverse distance weighting (IDW) method was found to be the most suitable. Predictions of the pollutant concentration in the spatial atmosphere showed that the concentration of all pollutants (SO2, NO2, O3, and PM10) tends to increase in 2028. Air pollution exposure time duration tends to be a key factor affecting the corrosion of material. The results of spatial corrosion estimations indicated that in 2010, the corrosion of copper and Portland limestone were at acceptable levels; however, the estimated corrosion levels for 2019 and 2028 are higher and beyond the acceptable levels. Moreover, both materials in the Rattanakosin historical area exceed their tolerable corrosion rates with considerably serious risks in 2028. The results can be further used to establish active measures to reduce the rate of corrosion of historical buildings in Bangkok.

Modified Analytic Hierarchy Process Site Selection Model for Dental Clinics in High-Rent Commercial Buildings.

ABSTRACTIntroduction:Location is a factor that highly influences a business’s ability to carry out various activities. Site selection, therefore, must take into account all the potential benefits. A dental clinic is an enterprise that should prioritize the site selection. In Thailand, many dental clinics operate in rented commercial buildings on a long-term lease basis.Objective:The objective of this research was to create a model for selecting suitable sites for dental clinic businesses in commercial buildings in Bangkok with rental fees exceeding $750 per month.Materials and Methods:The research was conducted by collecting data from a sample group consisting of 30 participants who were owners, partners, or dentists of dental clinics located in commercial buildings in Bangkok with rental fees more than $750 per month. Data were then analyzed with descriptive statistics: namely, frequency, percentage, mean, and modified analytic hierarchy process.Results:The results revealed the ranking of the main criteria, as well as their weights, for the site selection of commercial buildings in Bangkok with rents greater than $750 per unit per month to be used as a dental clinic: transportation (39.40%), neighborhood (23.61%), facilities (19.45%), parking (12.82%), and competition (4.72%), respectively, with three most important subcriteria: namely, being on a major road (19.00%), being near an electric express train station (9.10%), and being on the secondary road (8.92%), respectively.

Energy and CO2 emission reduction potential from investment in energy efficiency building retrofits in Bangkok, Thailand

ABSTRACT A major barrier to the widespread adoption of energy efficiency is the lack of understanding of the benefits - the investment opportunity (the returns), the cost savings, and environmental. We assess the potential of retrofits in commercial buildings in Bangkok using case studies and existing property information. The aim is to provide insights for policy makers, building owners, and investors on the potential to reduce energy consumption and costs, and greenhouse gas emissions. Our findings suggest that by undertaking energy efficiency retrofits in Bangkok, there is the potential to reduce energy costs by approximately US123 million and reduce over 500,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year, presenting an investment opportunity of approximately US300 million, with a payback of 3.49 years.

Estimation of Ground Profiles Based on Microtremor Survey in the Bangkok Basin

Multiple earthquakes have been felt in high-rise buildings in Bangkok despite the epicenters being far away. Seismic wave recordings in the Bangkok basin show a low-frequency peak. This study uses horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) analysis and array analysis of ambient vibration data to find the predominant period of the ground and the shear wave velocity profiles at five sites in Bangkok. The accuracy of the accelerometer used for the ambient data recording was verified by comparing results with velocity-meter results. The estimated predominant period was within 0.68–0.86 s. From the array records, dispersion curves of the Rayleigh-wave phase velocity were extracted and inverted for the deep layers. The results show that the shear-wave velocity of the top clay layer is low (82–120 m/s) at depths of 11–14.3 m. The low-frequency peak in the HVSR of the earthquake data, and the sediment layer with low shear-wave velocity implies that Bangkok is at risk of amplification of long-period earthquake waves.

Evaluation of indoor air quality in high-rise residential buildings in Bangkok and factor analysis.

High-rise residential developments are rapidly increasing in urban areas. Smaller residential units in this high rise bring a reduction in windows, resulting in poor indoor air ventilation. In addition, materials used in interiors can emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can significantly affect human health. Since people spend 90% of their time indoors, an evaluation of indoor air quality is especially important for high-rise residential buildings with an analysis of determining factors. This study aims to measure the concentrations of VOCs, formaldehyde, and particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) in 9 high-rise residential buildings in Bangkok by using the accidental sampling method (n = 252) and to investigate possible important determining factors. The results show that the average concentrations of VOCs, formaldehyde, PM2.5, and PM10 in 9 high-rise residential buildings were at good to moderate levels in the indoor air quality index (IAQI) and that high pollutant concentrations were rarely found except in new constructions. Moreover, it was found that the age of buildings shows strong correlations with all pollutants (p value < 0.0001). Old buildings showed significantly lower pollutant concentrations than new and under-construction buildings at a 95% confidence level. The findings from this investigation can be used as part of sustainable well-being design guidelines for future high-rise residential developments.

Measurements and analysis of load sharing between piles and raft in a pile foundation in clay

This research presents the monitoring results and their interpretation on load sharing of the pile foundation during the construction of a high-rise (124 m in height) building in Bangkok, in soft clayey ground. Axial forces in several piles, pore water pressure and earth pressures beneath the raft in a tributary area were monitored through the construction period of the building. The raft of the pile foundation in soft clayey ground can share the load up to 10-20% even though the foundation was designed using the conventional approach in which the raft resistance is ignored. The benefit from the return of ground water table as the uplift pressure is recognized. A series of parametric study by 3D-FEA were carried out. The potential of utilizing the piled raft system for the high-rise building with underground basement in soft clayey ground was preliminarily confirmed.

A Model of the Causal Relationships between the Factors Influencing the Performance of Green Organizations Managing Energy-Saving Buildings in Bangkok and Vicinity

The objectives of the present study were (1) to develop a model of the causal relationships between the factors influencing the performance of green organizations (GPM) managing energy-saving buildings in Bangkok and vicinity and (2) to evaluate the consistency between the model constructs and empirical data. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed. For the quantitative approach, a survey questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 456 representatives of green organizations managing energy-saving buildings in Bangkok and vicinity. As regards the qualitative approach, in-depth interviews were conducted to validate the conceptual framework developed for this research. Then the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including percentage, mean, and standard deviation, and inferential statistics, including a structural equation analysis and a Chi-square test. The findings were as follows. First, environmental leadership and environmental innovations had a positive effect on the organizational culture of the green organizations. Also, the environmental management, environmental leadership, environmental innovations, and organizational culture of the green organizations exerted a positive impact on their competitive advantage. In addition, the organizational culture and competitive advantage of the green organizations wielded a positive influence on their performance. Finally, the constructs of the structural equation model were consistent with the empirical data at a satisfactory level with the 2 value of 453.977, the df value of 452, the 2/df of 1.004, the p-value of 0.465, the goodness of fit index (GFI) value of 0.946, the adjusted GFI, or AGFI, value of 0.925, and the root mean square error of estimation (RMSEA) value of 0.003.

PM2.5 reduction performance of LEED certified buildings in Thailand

Recently, Thailand has faced more severe PM2.5 problem in winter season due to crop burnings and traffic problems. Nine buildings in Bangkok were examined in order to determine their performances in preventing PM2.5 into their indoor environment. Five buildings are LEED certified buildings and some of these buildings are equipped with higher performance level of air filters. Realtime handheld indoor air meters were used to collect levels of indoor PM2.5 inside the buildings compared to the outside condition. It has been found that LEED certified buildings with high performance filter (MERV13) performed better in preventing PM2.5 comparing to other buildings. However, some non-LEED certified buildings also performed good probably because of inadequate ventilation. High traffic on the ground floors also introduce higher PM2.5 level into the buildings’ common areas.

Evacuation time analysis of high-rise building by Using Pathfinder case study: Residential Occupancy

This research involves the study of evacuation time for a high-rise and extra-large building in Bangkok, which has 41 stories. The height of building is 143.7 meters and the building have usage area of 31,898 square meters. The objectives of this research are the estimate time of the building evacuation. The building occupant load of 2,461 persons was estimated according to NFPA 101 Life Safety Code. The simulation via Pathfinder was carried out for 4 cases; Case 1 fire in resident room on the 13th floor is to ensure that the type fires most likely to occur, Case 2 fire in lounge at the 35th floor that a large number of occupants in a large area and Case 3,4 from case 1 and case 2 the exit stair at the inside is not available. The building evacuation times are 2,321 seconds, 2,410.8 seconds, 2,736.3 seconds, and 2,841.8 seconds respectively. In the case where only one exit stair is available, the building evacuation time may be increase because of the congestions at the exit stair.

Establishing Energy Consumption Benchmarks of Office Buildings in Bangkok

This paper presents energy consumption benchmarks of office buildings based on the local contextof Bangkok in terms of kWh/m2/month and kWh/m2/year. The benchmark is important as a starting pointof systematic energy management in office buildings. It has potential to identify energy performance of anoffice building by comparing against others. If the building performs lower than the standard, the benchmarkoffers a realistic energy goal. Then systematic energy management—establishing action plan, implementingstrategies, monitoring energy consumption and continuous improvement—can be continued.

Green Office Building Environmental Perception and Job Satisfaction

The paper investigated the factors affecting job satisfaction in office buildings with LEED quality certification. The findings were useful information to help tenants make decision more easily when they perceive benefits from renting certified office buildings in Thailand. Also it supported investors to improved and designed to hold future sustainable innovations. This research used questionnaires as the instrument. Pre-test was completed by 10 respondents in order to evaluate the lucidity of questions, and to revise incomprehensible or unclear ones. Cronbach’s alpha was applied to examine the validity of each construct. Exploratory factor analysis was brought to group relating variables all together in the same components for fewer variables. All questions had been revised again to get the ones that cover the objectives of the research and all targeted factors before real data was collected from at least 200 samples. The valid sample size was 286. Respondents are employees working at green office buildings in Bangkok. We gathered data by directly distributing structured questionnaires at Park Venture, AIA Capital Center and Sathorn Square and via Google Docs in February 2016. After performing an exploratory factor analysis and multiple regression analysis, we found the significant direct relationship between three independent constructs, namely perceived indoor air, thermal, acoustic and visual, and job satisfaction. The study showed the importance of indoor environment, especially on perceived indoor air quality. This paper shed the light to the office building renters and/or investors in Thailand that they should select or renovate office building toward green designs. Green office buildings attract office rates, provide better human capital management, lead to better competitive advantages in doing business and attract management of corporations who are concerned with employees’ job satisfaction and environmental factors that contribute to employees’ satisfaction.

An environmental Life Cycle Assessment of rooftop solar in Bangkok, Thailand

Abstract This study quantifies the environmental burdens created by a planned rooftop photovoltaic (PV) solar installation on a university campus in Bangkok, Thailand, and models the potential of rooftop solar to meet the country’s renewable energy goals. Impacts are evaluated using Life Cycle Assessment and recommendations made for upstream purchasing decisions according to different scenarios. Results indicate that main contribution to impacts occurs in manufacturing by stage and from PV modules by component. Impacts generated by the mounting structure and inverters are also significant, and together these components constitute over 90% of environmental burdens. A climate change impact of 0.079 kg CO2-eq/kWh is produced over the lifetime of the system. Energy Payback Time is calculated as 2.5 years, and the Economic Payback Period is 7.4 years. The system is estimated to avoid 1.00E+06 kg CO2-eq over its lifetime. Installation of similar rooftop PV systems on 50% of university and government buildings in Bangkok could result in a net reduction of 4.80E+09 kg CO2-eq. Domestic production of components and recycling of materials is identified as a best-case scenario, with alleviations across all impact categories. Economic analysis suggests on-site electricity consumption paired with a net-metering policy scheme is the best way to incentivize PV solar energy installations.

Assessing Potential of Rainwater Harvesting: Case Study Building in Bangkok

Assessing Potential of Rainwater Harvesting: Case Study Building in Bangkok

Impacts of Adaptive Reuse of Heritage Buildings to Small Hotel Buildings in Bangkok

Adaptive reuse (AR) is the process of reusing building to new purposes. In Bangkok, the popularity of AR turned to small hotels (AR-hotel) is increasing. There are more criteria for substantial renovation, business investment and valuing of heritage buildings but no concern to the community surrounding. This study was aimed to investigate community impacts occurred from AR-hotel projects. The key variables focused on four main issues - physical, economic, value and social issues. The results indicated that there were better physical improvements, livable area, more public social interaction whereas there was a little disturbance, and not much socialization of privacy. Keywords: adaptive reuse; hotel; heritage building; community impacts;ISSN: 2398-4287© 2017. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning &amp; Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.

Seismic Evaluation of Tall Buildings Using a Simplified but Accurate Analysis Procedure

A simplified analysis procedure for evaluating the nonlinear seismic responses of tall reinforced concrete (RC) buildings is examined in this study. It is called the Uncoupled Modal Response History Analysis (UMRHA) procedure. It can be viewed as an extended version of the classical modal analysis procedure, where the nonlinear response of each vibration mode is first computed, and they are later on combined into the total response of the structure. The procedure requires the knowledge of the modal hysteretic behavior, which can be obtained from a cyclic modal pushover analysis. The responses of four tall buildings in Bangkok to distant large earthquakes are computed by this procedure and compared with those obtained from the Nonlinear Response History Analysis (NLRHA) procedure. These four buildings have different heights—varying from 20 to 44 stories, different configurations of floor plan, and different arrangement of RC walls. The comparison shows that the UMRHA procedure is able to accurately compute the story shears and story overturning moments, floor accelerations, and inter-story drifts of all these tall buildings. The required computational effort is also extremely low compared to that of the NLRHA procedure. Moreover, since the UMRHA procedure computes the response of each individual vibration mode, it provides more understanding and insight into the complex nonlinear seismic responses of these tall buildings.

UHI and Thermal Performance of Office Buildings in Bangkok

Urbanization has an impact on thermal environment of Bangkok. Besides receiving a great deal of solar radiation like other hot-humid cities, the effect of urban heat island (UHI) further adds to discomfort as well as increases the cooling loads of buildings in Bangkok. In order to keep building occupants thermally comfortable, most buildings in Bangkok rely primarily on air-conditioning systems which consume enormous amount of energy. Office buildings, in particular, are the major energy consumers of the city. Therefore, it is important to study the impact of UHI on thermal performance of office buildings and find ways to improve their conditions. Moreover, UHI intensity (UHII) in each area is influenced by local height-to-width ratio (H/W ratio). In order to study UHII of areas representing different densities and H/W ratios and their effect on thermal performance of office buildings, the research is divided into 2 parts. The first part is aimed to investigate UHII in relation to H/W ratio of medium and high density areas. The second part is aimed to investigate thermal performance of office buildings in such areas. Results from field measurement including indoor and outdoor air temperatures, surface temperatures and mean radiant temperatures (MRT) were analyzed along with energy consumption and cooling degree hours (CDH). Results show that H/W ratio has an influence on UHII. However, it is not always the case that higher H/W ratios yield higher UHI intensities. UHI intensities from the medium-density area with low H/W ratios tend to be higher than those from the high-density area with high H/W ratio as the maximum UHII difference between the two areas is 2.57 K. Even though energy consumption of each building does not show a direct relationship with UHII and H/W ratio due to incomparable building sizes, operational time, energy management, and design factors, the increase of CDH tends to follow the increase of UHI intensity.

A probabilistic study of ground motion simulation for Bangkok soil

Due to the soft soil condition, it has been found that buildings in Bangkok locating 200 km away from epicentral of an earthquake can be damaged as a result of high ground motion (e.g. earthquakes of magnitudes 5.3–5.9 in 1983). Because of rapid urban expansion and population growth in cities with soft soil condition, such as Bangkok, the assessment of seismic vulnerability of building structures becomes necessary. The purpose of this study is to quantify variability and develop attenuation and amplification models of ground motions for Bangkok sites. First, by analysing soil profile of Bangkok using Latin Hypercube sampling technique, critical attenuation and amplification characteristics, such as peak ground acceleration, ground motion intensity, frequency content and significant ground duration, were obtained. Then, the statistical information on the attenuation and amplification models of these characteristics was established and used to conduct a series of non-linear seismic analysis of a typical four storey commercial building in Bangkok. The research outcomes demonstrate that the developed models are capable of predicting the damage indices of buildings in Bangkok under different earthquake intensities and epicentral distances.