Various Types Of Buildings Research Articles

Application of modular construction technologies in the design of hotel and hostel buildings

The construction of modular hotels is part of a new construction trend that has been gaining momentum over the past few decades. Due to the relative novelty of this trend, there is an insufficient number of scientific studies in the scientific space that consider the use of modular technologies. This article discusses the features of modular construction technology in general and in particular for hotel construction; traces the history and development of modular construction, presents a brief analysis of research by scientists, considers the experience of using modular technology in hotel design, identifies the main advantages of modular technology, and explores the role of modular construction in the development of the hotel industry. Modular construction technology is gaining popularity in the modern world and is becoming an increasingly common alternative to other conventional construction methods due to the ability to create a simple alternative to brick buildings without the need for heavy machinery. This construction method is successfully used for the construction of buildings of various types and purposes. The essence of this technology lies in the process of erecting buildings from prefabricated blocks - modules. Since these blocks are manufactured in factories and transported to the construction site for assembly, the construction process using this construction method is much faster than others, and this is despite the fact that the technology ensures all design and construction standards, and the cost can be significantly lower. Modular construction is a construction technology that involves the assembly of elements manufactured off-site by producing bulk modular units. This technology involves the use of various structural systems and building materials. The main advantages of modular hotel construction include increased productivity and safety at work, reduced overall construction schedule, environmental friendliness, cost optimization, and quick commissioning. These advantages ensure high profits for investors and construction companies. However, if the implementation of a modular project is subject to significant delays due to unforeseen circumstances, on-site construction may be a more efficient solution. Today, the use of modular technologies in hotel construction can be called a necessary evolutionary step for the development and efficiency of the hotel industry.

From Nature to Art: Some Examples of Button Buildings in the Villages of Akseki

Bu çalışmada, Antalya’nın Akseki ilçesinde görülen ve yöreye özgü geleneksel bir inşa tekniği olan “düğmeli duvar” ile inşa edilmiş farklı yapı türlerinden örnekler incelenmiştir. Batı Toros Dağları’nın güney yamacına kurulu olan Akseki, dağlık ve ormanlık bir coğrafyaya sahiptir. Bu sebeple ilçe genelinde inşa malzemesini ağırlıklı olarak ahşap ve moloz taş oluşturmaktadır. Arada bağlayıcı başka bir malzeme olmadan ahşap ve moloz taşın birlikte kullanımı ilk bakışta pek mümkün görünmemektedir. Ancak yöre sakinleri, birbiriyle uyumsuz bu iki malzemeyi olağanüstü bir işçilikle sanata dönüştürmeyi bilmişlerdir. Düğmeli duvar olarak adlandırılan bu sistem, boyuna ve dikine ahşap hatıllarla takviyeli, moloz taş malzemeli kuru yığma duvar olarak tanımlanabilir. Hatılların uçları dışarıya doğru 20-25 cm taşıntı yaptığı için bu teknik yöre halkı tarafından “düğmeli duvar” olarak adlandırılmıştır. Akseki ve çevresinin geleneksel konut mimarisinde genellikle bu duvar örgü sisteminin uygulanması, söz konusu yapıların “düğmeli evler” olarak adlandırılması sonucunu doğurmuştur. Akseki’de yürütülen arazi çalışması sonucunda, geleneksel konut mimarisi dışında dokuz köy odası, altı cami, dört okul, iki değirmen, iki han ve bir medrese olmak üzere altı farklı yapı türünde toplam 24 eserin düğmeli duvar ile inşa edildiği tespit edilmiştir. Ancak çalışmanın asıl amacı düğmeli duvarın yöredeki farklı yapı grupları üzerindeki kullanımına dikkat çekmek olduğu için her bir yapı grubundan birer örnek olmak üzere altı yapı kataloğa dâhil edilmiştir. Diğer 18 yapı ise değerlendirme bölümünde zikredilmiştir. Bununla birlikte düğmeli duvarla inşa edilmiş çok sayıda yapının yıkılarak yerine yenilerinin yapıldığı bilgisine ulaşılmıştır. Günümüze ulaşan yapıların ise çoğunluğu yıkılmaya yüz tutmuştur. Söz konusu yapılar bir an önce geleneksel yöntemlerle aslına uygun şekilde onarılarak koruma altına alınmalıdır.

Comparison of the embodied and operating energy in agricultural greenhouses and in residential buildings

The increase of the energy efficiency in buildings and greenhouses is important for reducing the use of fossil fuels and the emissions of greenhouse gases. Energy efficiency evaluation requires the consideration of both the embodied and the operational energy. Many estimations regarding the embodied and the operational energy in various types of buildings have been reported so far. However, studies regarding the embodied energy in agricultural greenhouses are rare while there are many estimations regarding their operational energy. The goal of our study is the comparison of the embodied and the operational energy in residential buildings and in agricultural greenhouses. The embodied and operational energies are compared in greenhouses as well as in low-energy and in conventional residential buildings. Our results indicate that the ratio of embodied energy to life-cycle energy in low-energy residential buildings and in nearly-zero energy buildings varies in the range at 36% to 83% that is significantly higher than the ratio in conventional residential buildings which is in the range of 6% to 20%. The ratio of embodied energy to life-cycle energy in agricultural greenhouses, at 0.86% - 70.41%, varies significantly depending on many parameters. The importance of carbon emissions related to embodied energy in low-energy buildings, in net-zero energy buildings and in agricultural greenhouses is highlighted. Our work could be useful to policy makers who are willing to accelerate the green transition to a low carbon economy in the coming decades.

Compressive Behaviors of Steel Braces with Different Sectional Shapes

AbstractSteel braces are an essential structural element to resist lateral seismic forces and widely utilized in various types of buildings. The primary source of load carrying capacity in steel braced frames is through buckling and yielding of diagonal braces. Hysteretic behaviors of steel braces exhibit unsymmetric properties in tension and compression. Especially, they show significant strength degradation when loaded into the inelastic range in compression. Therefore, the governing failure modes of steel braces shall be global buckling in compression and this phenomenon shall occur prior to brittle limit states such as net section rupture or local buckling of elements. Except for effects of material properties, most of influential parameters is strongly related to the configuration and sectional shape of steel braces. Of them, the objective of this study is to investigate effects of sectional shapes on compressive behaviors of steel braces. Especially, this study focuses on the variation in the plastic hinge rotation and residual deformation of steel braces with representative sectional shapes which are typically applied on the construction field.

Quasi-static tests of squat reinforced concrete shear walls with openings

Due to the high level of stiffness and strength, Squat Reinforced Concrete Shear Walls (SRCSWs) with or without openings are frequently utilized in various types of buildings. However, the adverse effect of openings on the seismic performance of the SRCSWs has never been investigated in detail. Therefore, for truly disclosing the seismic behaviors of the SRCSWs with openings, six 1/2.7 scale SRCSW specimens are experimentally investigated through Quasi-Static Testing (QST) in this paper. The affecting factors in terms of the Shear Span Ratio (SSR), the area ratio, and the number of openings are considered. Based on the experimental results, the seismic performance in terms of failure modes, hysteretic loops, skeleton curves, ductility factors, stiffness degradations, energy dissipations, and deformation components was analyzed and discussed. It is shown that shear failure was observed on the SRCSWs without openings, while the SRCSWs with openings are prone to flexural failure, e.g., the flexural deformation ratios ranging from 49.66% to 58.99%. It is shown from the experimental results that the area ratio and the SSR significantly affect the seismic response of SRCSWs, generally speaking, with the increase of the area ratio and/or SSR the bearing capacity and the secant stiffness are reduced. It is also shown that for the case of multi-openings, the cracks are focused on the connecting areas between two openings. The results indicate that the seismic design of SRCSWs should consider the effect of openings in order to enhance the seismic performance.

Typological tree of the development of nonformal education institutions' architecture

The article presents a final analysis of the development of nonformal education institutions (NFEI) and their architecture. The time limits of the research were analysed, established, and substantiated by the author of the article, both from the side of the branches related to the research and from the side of the development of the architecture of institutions that are similar in function to the NFEI. The development of their architecture and typology is schematically presented in Fig. 1.
 In the first stage—the second half of the 19th century — and the beginning of the 20th century, there was a period of formation and definition of the NFEI. The period had a compensatory and educational, and sometimes preventive and curative, character. Educational centres attached to churches are of great importance here. Seasonal institutions are taking shape: summer colonies and camps. Children's clubs and adult education centres, community centres, and new forms of education for adults are being created, including summer sessions that take place on the grounds of educational institutions and corporate schools. At the same time, non-academic, non-formal types of education are emerging on the basis of public associations, clubs, bureaus, publishing houses, libraries, etc.— a combined NFEI.
 The second stage is from 1917 through 1930, those years being the period of development and formation of the NFEI and its architecture. The nature of functioning remains compensatory and enlightening. 1918 was the year of the birth of out-of-school education in Ukraine, which was included in the general system of public education. A typological series of institutions of this period are folk houses and schools, clubs of various types, houses and palaces of culture, libraries, seasonal children's camps, children's theatres and cinemas, and sports and music schools, etc.
 The third stage is from 1941 through 1956, a period of intensive development and branching that already had a systematic educational character. On the territory of Ukraine, the role of folk houses is gradually lost, and their educational functions are finally transferred to clubs, cultural centres, houses and palaces of culture, cultural and leisure facilities, etc. In Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and other countries, the network of educational institutions for adults is expanding.
 The fourth stage (1957–1991) was the period during which educational concepts and models were developed. Significant changes were taking place both in the interpretation of nonformal education as a phenomenon and in the organisation of architectural objects in this direction. Universities of the Third Age were founded as a component of adult education and the concept of "lifelong education". Concepts of out-of-school education (development and care) were being formed. The activity of nonformal educational institutions expanded: circles, clubs, palaces, and houses of pioneers; stations of young technicians; naturalists; youth associations, clubs, scientific societies of students, and small academies of sciences, etc.
 Stage V: From 1992 to the present, there has been a period of ideological changes and educational reforms. The concept of "out-of-school education" is combined with the concept of "nonformal education". The nature of education is becoming much more extensive and competency-based. Youth and adults can acquire informal education in universities, clubs, educational and educational centres, public associations and unions, cultural centres, museums, libraries, studios, clubs, schools, craft workshops, etc. Adult education centres that operate as independent institutions as well as structural subdivisions of educational institutions, government agencies, and other organisations are becoming more common. Away from Ukraine, namely in the Netherlands, Germany, England, and Finland, "extended schools" are rapidly spreading. The education system tends to integrate school institutions with institutions of non-formal education and enlightenment in various directions with the involvement of a social and caring component, creating public centres.
 The author sees the prognostic directions of the development of NFEI architecture and typology in the creation of certain typological educational links for different age categories of visitors, which can be integrated into public buildings of various types. Seasonal institutions of non-formal education, institutions profiled according to educational levels, and cultural and leisure institutions (libraries, theatres, museums) will remain distinct typological series as long as non-formal educational centres are established in them. Public centres, as an architectural and typological link, will gain more popularity due to the combination of educational and various public functions. Also, there is an assumption that "extended schools" will develop rapidly, in view of the decentralisation reform and with the aim of providing various educational products to territorial communities.
 If we generalise the main prognostic directions of the development of the architectural and typological series of the NFEI, the main directions can be the cooperation of resources, on the one hand, and the integration of various centres of the NFEI into buildings belonging to other typological links.

SIMULATION OF COMPLEX EFFECTS OF THERMAL MODERNIZATION MEASURES OF THE BUILDING TAKING INTO ACCOUNT INVESTMENT LIMITATIONS

The article simulates the impact of the complex application of energy-saving measures on the energy efficiency indicators of a public brick building. During modeling, the economic factor – capital investment in energy saving measures – was taken into account. Similar simulations are carried out during energy audits of various types of buildings. Performing energy audits of residential and public buildings in the city is, in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Energy Efficiency”, an important part of Ukraine’s energy conservation policy. Energy audits are required for: a) development of an energy certificate, which is required for many new and existing buildings in accordance with current legislation; b) attraction of funds from the energy efficiency fund and other funds for the needs of thermal modernization; c) obtaining reasonable indicators that will allow building owners to make energy-efficient decisions. The energy audit report contains three stages: the stage of obtaining information, the stage of analyzing information and developing energy-saving recommendations, and the stage of technical and economic substantiation of the proposed energy-saving recommendations. At the first stage, energy auditors collect raw data about buildings. Existing buildings are often characterized by the lack of insulation of opaque enclosing structures, the presence of translucent enclosing structures, the reduced heat transfer supports of which are significantly lower than the minimum permissible values, and outdated sources of heat supply. During the second stage, mathematical models are developed that allow obtaining technical and economic indicators of energy saving measures. The third stage is the substantiation of optimal measures that must satisfy technical and economic constraints. The work analyzed the dependence of the general indicator of specific energy consumption during heating and cooling of a two-story brick public building under the condition of modernization of the gas boiler, as well as insulation of the brick facades of the building with polystyrene foam plates of different thicknesses. At the same time, an analysis of both individual and complex application of the specified measures was carried out. General capital investment in thermal modernization was adopted as an economic indicator that sets limits on energy saving measures. As a result of the modeling, it was established that in order to determine the optimal measures to increase the energy efficiency of the building, it is necessary to use optimization mathematical devices that take into account the existing restrictions and can be integrated into mathematical models that calculate the basic level of energy consumption in compliance with the normative parameters of the building’s operation.

Application Assessment of Electrical Cables during Smoldering and Flaming Combustion

Electrical cables are a potential source of ignition and fire hazards in various types of buildings and industrial installations, as well as in all modes of transportation, including aircraft. Fires in buildings pose the greatest threat to human life and health. The composition of thermal degradation products depends mainly on the type of combustible materials and the type of combustion process—flaming or smoldering. The purpose of this paper was to determine, based on experimental studies, the effects of flaming and smoldering combustion on the response times of fire smoke detectors. In addition, the concentrations of fire gases formed in the process of duct combustion, including CO, SO2, NO2, NO, HCN, HCl, HBr and HF, were measured using an FTIR spectrometer. The results presented confirm the significant effect of the way the cable samples burned on detector tripping time. The highest concentration of smoke (Y) in the test chamber was obtained during flame combustion. It was further found that the characteristics of the cable insulation material used, such as the type of PVC, had a significant effect on the toxicity of the emitted gases. The largest amounts of toxic gases were emitted during the smoldering combustion of a cable with a plasticized PVC sheath.

Seismic vulnerability and risk assessment at the urban scale using support vector machine and GIScience technology: a case study of the Lixia District in Jinan City, China

The increase in the number and severity of seismic disasters has put communities in danger, especially in rapidly developing and densely populated areas. Traditional seismic vulnerability and risk assessment methods, including field investigation, are accurate at the building scale; however, their low-efficiency and high-cost characteristics limit the application of these methods in urban-scale regions with high-speed development and risk exposure. To address this issue, multisource remote sensing interpretation, support vector machine (SVM) and geographic information science (GIScience) technologies are combined to test the performance and efficiency of a urban-scale macroscopic seismic vulnerability and risk assessment method in the Lixia District of Jinan City, Shandong Province, China, which is characterized by rapid development, a variety of building types, and moderate-to-low seismic risk. First, a traditional field survey was conducted in Lixia District, and a building attribute information database was constructed. Second, the vulnerability proxies of building attribute information and building seismic vulnerability were estimated based on the EMS-98 standard and the SVM. Finally, vulnerability proxies established based on the RISK-UE model were applied to the Lixia database, and the vulnerability and risk assessment under different seismic intensities were estimated with the experimental accuracy verified. The results showed that the SVM method can obtain stable and accurate results in urban scale vulnerability assessment. The mean building vulnerability index in Lixia District is 0.43, which indicates that the overall seismic performance is good. Most of the area falls within the seismic intensity range of VII-X degrees and would experience slight to moderate damage. The results of the study contribute to enhancing the precision and efficacy of large-scale seismic risk assessment, and they can be used by relevant departments to create tailored emergency plans and reduce seismic hazard losses. Additionally, these results can aid in achieving the climate action goal (SDG13) of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Isovists compactness and stairs as predictors of evacuation route choice

The building design is a crucial factor that can be actively adjusted and optimized to prevent human and property threats in emergency scenarios. Previous research suggests that specific building layouts may significantly influence human behaviour during evacuation. However, detailed empirical data about human behaviour in various types of buildings with different layouts are still missing and only marginal recommendations from this field are reflected in actual construction practice. In this study, desktop VR technologies were employed to study human decision-making in problematic T-intersections in the context of an emergency evacuation. More specifically, we studied fundamental attributes of buildings such as the width and length of the corridors and the presence of stairs to explore how they influence the choice of the evacuation route. The space-syntax isovist method was used to describe spatial parameters of corridors, which makes the results applicable to all buildings. Behavioural data from 208 respondents were analysed using multilevel regression models. Our results support previous claims concerning the importance of specific spatial layouts of evacuation corridors because respondents systematically chose wider and shorter corridors with visible staircases as the preferred evacuation route. The present findings further promote the ongoing discussion on the design of marked evacuation routes and building design that takes human factors into consideration.

Numerical Study on the Dynamic Behaviors of Masonry Wall under Far-Range Explosions

As a common enclosure structure, masonry walls are widely used in various types of buildings. However, due to the weak out-of-plane resistance of masonry walls and the generally brittle properties of the materials used for blocks, they are highly susceptible to collapse under blast loads and produce high-speed splash fragments, which seriously threatens the safety of personnel and equipment inside buildings. In this paper, based on the existing tests, a refined numerical simulation model was established to carry out numerical studies of clay tile walls and grouted CMU masonry infill walls under far-range blast loads, and the applicability of the finite element model and parameters were verified. Further, the effects of wall boundary configuration, constraints and dimensions on the dynamic response of the walls were carried out. The results show that: the load distribution on the wall is relatively uniform under the far-range explosion and can be considered as uniform load; the blast-resistant performance of the wall can be enhanced by increasing the grouting rate and the uniformity of grout hole distribution; the boundary configuration of the wall has little effect on the blast resistance, while the boundary constraints and the length and width are the main factors affecting the blast resistance of the wall.

Soil-Foundation Interaction and Its Influences on Some Geotechnical Properties of Sulaimaniyah, Northern Iraq Fine-Grained Soils Utilizing Plaxis 3D

Foundations of various construction projects usually can be either shallow or deep foundations. A mat foundation is one of the common shallow foundations typically utilized for various types of buildings. Foundations construct on various types of soils, which might be essential to understand the interaction scenario between them as they are two different types of materials. This study aims to discover the characteristics of the soil-foundation interaction for the suitable areas for the resettlement process in focus on a certain foundation type with a dimension of 10m x 10m x 0.5m, applied on twelve areas rich with fine-grained soil types in Sulaimaniyah governorate, northern Iraq, which suffer from some geotechnical problems such as building cracks. Application of loads was conducted in three stages; 35 tons, 70 tons, and 140 tons were directly applied on the utilized soils. The obtained results of the study prove that the 3D Plaxis is quite capable to predict the settlement of each foundation modeled on each utilized soil type. In addition, the modeling work achieved that the utilized foundation center stresses are notably smaller than the obtained foundation corner stresses. The obtained soil settlement values are not dependent on the soil-bearing capacity.

Progress and prospects in crowd safety evacuation research in China

China has a population of 1.4 billion, ranking first in the world. With the increase in China's economic development and population, the construction of various types of buildings in China is also increasing, and associated safety hazards are gradually increasing. Therefore, it is necessary to study the safe evacuation of people inside and outside the building in emergency situations. In recent years, some scholars have used the traditional statistical method of literature review to analyze the research frontiers in the field of safety evacuation, but few scholars have used bibliometric methods to analyze and review the current situation of research in this field. Therefore, this paper adopts the analysis method combining bibliometrics and traditional literature review to summarize the research status of crowd evacuation published by Chinese scholars in the Web of Science core database, and uses VOSviewer to analyze the authors, institutions, and keywords of the literature search results, so as to identify their research hotspots. The results show that the last three years have been the peak period of crowd evacuation studies, with many disciplines involved in this field and they are closely related, led by the number of papers related to architecture. Simulation, model, behavior, among others, have been the most used keywords in this research field, and the research on path planning and exit selection behavior has also increased significantly. According to the keyword analysis, three hot spots of safety evacuation research, namely large-scale group evacuation, evacuation path planning and evacuation exit selection are analyzed in detail.

Impact of the COVID-19 on electricity consumption of open university campus buildings – The case of Twente University in the Netherlands

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the restrictive policies enacted by countries in response to the epidemic have led to changes in the movement of people in public places, which has had a direct impact on the use and energy consumption of various public buildings. This study was based on electricity consumption data for 25 on-campus public buildings at 1-hour intervals between January 2020 and June 2022 at Tewnte University in the Netherlands, and after the data were climate-corrected by multiple regression analysis, the changes in EU and EUI for various types of buildings were compared for different restriction periods using ANOVA, LSD and t-tests. And additionally, further analyzed the changes and reasons for the electricity consumption of various public buildings on campus and customers' electricity consumption behavior in a period of time after the lifting of the epidemic restriction policy. The results of ANOVA analysis show that the restriction policy has a significant effect on teaching, sports, and cultural buildings, and the electricity intensity of the three types of buildings is reduced by 0.28, 0.09, and 0.07 kwh/m2/day respectively under the strict restriction policy; The t-test results show that during the restriction period, all building types, except for living and academic buildings, show a significant decreasing trend, with the teaching buildings having the greatest energy saving potential, with an average daily EU reduction of 1088kwh/day and an EUI reduction of 0.075kwh/ m2/day. The above findings provide a case study of a complete cycle of energy consumption changes in university buildings under similar epidemic restriction policies before and after the epidemic restriction, and inform the electricity allocation policies of university and government energy management authorities.

Diachronic quantitative snow avalanche risk assessment as a function of forest cover changes

This work proposes a holistic quantitative snow avalanche risk assessment that evaluates, at reasonable computational costs and for various types of buildings, the impact of forest cover changes on the probability distribution of runout distances, impact pressures and subsequent risk estimates. A typical case study of the French Alps shows that, from a completely deforested to a completely forested path, avalanche risk for a building located downslope decreases by 53–99%, depending on how forest cover is accounted for in avalanche statistical–dynamical modeling. Local forest cover data inferred from old maps and photographs further demonstrates that a 20–60% risk reduction actually occurred between 1825 and 2017 at the site because of the afforestation dynamics, with significant modulations according to the considered building technology. These results (1) assert the protective role of forests against snow avalanches, (2) highlight the potential of combining nature-based solutions with traditional structural measures to reduce risk to acceptable levels at reasonable costs, (3) suggest a significant decrease in risk to settlements in areas that encountered similar forest cover changes and (4) open the door to the quantification of long-term avalanche risk changes as a function of changes of all its hazard, vulnerability and exposure drivers in various mountain context.

ИМИТАЦИОННОЕ МОДЕЛИРОВАНИЕ ЭНЕРГОПОТРЕБЛЕНИЯ КЛАСТЕРОМ ЗДАНИЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТСКОГО КАМПУСА

Представлена система имитационного моделирования для прогнозирования потребления электроэнергии кластером зданий на основе поведения потребителей. Модель основана на алгоритмах, моделирующих энергопотребление зданий, и статистических моделях, представляющих поведение пользователей. Over the past decades, the urgency of improving energy efficiency and therefore reducing the energy consumption of buildings has increased markedly for many reasons. In addition to economic considerations, an important circumstance is the provision and maintenance of comfortable conditions inside buildings. Studying the consumption of electricity by people indoors is a key to provide a comfortable environment, and this factor cannot be excluded when determining energy saving measures. To achieve this goal, this article presents a computer simulation system for predicting the electricity consumption of a cluster of buildings based on consumer behavior. The model is based on algorithms that model the energy consumption of buildings and statistical models that represent user behavior. The simulated energy consumption data can be used to train recurrent neural networks, which can then be used based on real energy consumption data to generate better electricity consumption predictions. University campuses, consisting of buildings of various types, are taken by us as a reference version of the system, as an example of an energy cluster of buildings.

Urban Land Use Changes: Effect of Green Urban Spaces Transformation on Urban Heat Islands in Baghdad

Urban sprawl has led to changes in landscaping. For instance, open areas and green urban spaces (GUSs)11GUSs: Green Urban Spaces. are replaced by buildings, streets, and infrastructure. Permeable and wet surfaces have also been transformed into non-permeable and dry surfaces. This, unfortunately, creates a major problem known as Urban Heat Islands (UHI). The rise in temperature makes the urban centres warmer when compared to their rural outlying areas. This affects the environmental goodness, energy consumption demands, quality of wellbeing. However, there is limited knowledge concerning the change in the use of GUSs, the relationship between the area of ​​these spaces, and the buildings formation on the exacerbation of the UHI in the cities. The research study aim is to assess the impact of the area of GUSs and the building s formation on the exacerbation of the (UHI) in Baghdad city.The purpose of this study is to improve the understanding of an integrated approach for open green spaces by reviewing city‘s experience with a main focus of environmental sustainability, cooler temperature, and thermal comfort. The research selected three typical GUSs in Baghdad (Ziyouna) as a case study. Those spaces were transformed into various types of buildings for different uses. The UHI impact is identified and compared in two scenarios (GUSs and added building) using computer climate simulation (ENVI-met) tool. The tool also assessed and measured surfaces and air temperature (CLUHI & SUHI) at different points in the selection of three typical models. The results demonstrated several factors combined with the change of urban land uses that are responsible for exacerbation of UHI in terms of buildings‘ height, formation, ground coverage, and construction including pavement materials and colour.

Developing a Green Building Assessment Tool for Ethiopia

Sustainable/green building rating systems are utilized by both developed and developing countries based on their local context. This paper aims to develop an assessment tool that considers the triple bottom line sustainability of buildings. In Ethiopia, buildings of various types and purposes are constructed at an alarming rate with inadequate resources and wasteful uses, so this tool is in urgent need. Developing such a tool is highly appreciated due to the diversified and complicated ecological and socio-economic issues in the building construction sector. This research has developed new green building assessment categories and criteria depending upon consensus reached with 93 experienced experts working on the construction sectors. This research reviewed a total of 10 widely and repeatedly used tools that were critically studied, for instance, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method, Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen, Sustainable Building Tool, and so on. The Analytic Hierarchy Process technique was applied for weighting and prioritizing after selecting these assessment categories and criteria. The outcomes of the research with the relative priority values were materials and resources (18.66%), sustainable sites and ecology (16.92%), energy efficiency (16.78%), indoor environmental quality (12.60%), economic aspects (10.41%), management (10.30%), water efficiency (8.06%) and location and transportation (6.27%). Thus the proposed sustainable building assessment tool that best suits Ethiopian settings was developed.

Optimizing rainwater harvesting systems for the dual purposes of water supply and runoff capture with study case in Bandung Area, West Java.

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems use runoff to meet water supply demand and may also benefit runoff reduction. We develop the Rainwater Analysis and Simulation Program (RASP) model to simulate an RWH system using storage volume, roof area, irrigated area, and water demand as inputs. A cost-benefit model of RWH was developed with subject to reliability target of water supply and runoff capture in each simulation. Near-optimal solutions were identified for each case using a constrained nonlinear programming algorithm. We apply the model to evaluate the RWH system in Bandung Area, West Java. Various types of buildings, ranging from residential houses, schools, dormitories, offices, apartments, condominiums, mosques, and hospitals, are studied to provide several optimal parameters for tank volume and number of users for various land-use scenarios. The resulting parameters are obtained through optimization to get minimal RWH’s capital costs and water purchase costs by applying several criteria related to the financial feasibility of the RWH system and by keeping the runoff coefficient not exceeding the pre-development value. The simulation results can be used as a guide for planners to consider the application of RWH in several types of buildings.

Multi-scale attention integrated hierarchical networks for high-resolution building footprint extraction

Convolutional neural networks show excellent performance in image segmentation. However, compared with natural images, remote sensing images are characterized by large coverage, multi-scale nesting, and complex geographic context. Therefore, it has been a challenging task to extract the building footprint from high-resolution remote sensing images. In this study, an end-to-end Multi-Scale Geoscience Network (MS-GeoNet) is proposed for building footprint extraction. The proposed architecture focuses on multi-scale nested characteristics and the spatial correlation between buildings and surroundings. The performance of a number of embedding modules and loss functions in extracting various types of buildings are explored in detail. Our proposed method outperforms the baseline model Fully Convolutional DenseNets (FC- DenseNet) by 7.10% for the intersection over union (IoU) and by 3.09% for F1-score. Moreover, to increase the accuracy of large area interpretation, an overlap splicing and voting mechanism is proposed. It is also an effective means to solve the edge processing task. The proposed method demonstrates approximately 1.19% IoU improvement and 0.83% F1-score improvement on our dataset, compared with the traditional splicing method. MS-GeoNet is a promising approach for automatic generation of building footprint in practical applications.