Construction Of New Buildings Research Articles

A simple device to simulate the radon vertical migration in soil

The knowledge of the soil radon levels is important for the planning and construction of new buildings in order to estimate the radon risk and to classify the ground for construction purposes. A simple device was developed to simulate the vertical migration of radon in soil. The device simulates the vertical migration of radon in two different cases. The first case: simulates radon vertical migration in soil in a natural environment. The top of the device is open, while the around and bottom are sealed. The second case: simulates the vertical migration of radon in soil under the surface of a concrete floor. The device is sealed all around, including the top and bottom. A total of two sets of experiments were conducted in this study, each set of experiments simulated the migration of radon under two different cases. According to the research results, the potential radon concentration under the concrete floor is much higher than the natural potential radon concentration. Therefore, this factor must be fully considered when selecting the building materials and designing radon protection materials.

Сharacteristics of demolition waste management in the regions of Ukraine

The volume of waste left from war-related destruction amounts to 10-12 million tons per year. Such volume is comparable to the annual volume of municipal solid waste generated in Ukraine. This situation led to formation of unauthorized landfills and complicated the existing problem of industrial, consumer, construction and demolition waste management. Consequently, the issue of destruction waste management became a pressing environmental and socio-economic problem. The objective of this research is to assess the characteristics of destruction waste management in the regions of Ukraine. Destruction waste is generated during construction of new buildings and public structures, as well as during renovation or demolition of existing buildings and structures; including general-use facilities. It is estimated that, before the war, nearly 7 million tons of construction and demolition waste was generated annually, with more than 50% being transported to municipal solid waste landfills. Specialized landfills for its disposal were virtually non-existent in the regions of Ukraine, so this waste, despite its resource value, was taken to municipal solid waste landfills or unauthorized dumps. Some components of construction and demolition waste are toxic. Destruction waste includes parts (fragments) of damaged (destroyed) objects, as well as materials and items that were inside or next to such objects at the time of damage (destruction) and/or during disassembly activities, including those that fully or partially lost their consumer properties and cannot be reused at the place of their origin or discovery. Destruction waste pollutes the environment, so one of the ways to reduce environmental risks is to develop an effective waste management system to stop chaotic processes during disassembly activities. Destruction waste differs from construction and demolition waste by the presence of accompanying hazardous components, complicating the development of a waste management system. The main components of destruction waste should be used as secondary raw materials for construction, production of building materials and other purposes. Provided that appropriate physical-geographic, engineering-geological, hydrogeological, technical, and socio-economic conditions are available, it is advisable to create temporary waste storage sites, with their subsequent use as secondary raw materials in the post-war period for restoration of civil, industrial, and transport infrastructure in the regions of Ukraine.

New Zero-Carbon Wooden Building Concepts: A Review of Selected Criteria

A Carbon Footprint (CF) is defined as the total emissions of greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, and is a specific type of Environmental Footprint that measures human impact on the environment. Carbon dioxide emissions are a major contributor to anthropogenic greenhouse gases driving climate change. Wood, as a renewable and ecological material, has relatively low carbon emissions. The study aimed to review and analyze the criteria influencing the feasibility of constructing modern zero-carbon wooden buildings. The review was conducted in two phases: (i) a literature review and (ii) an assessment of existing buildings. The preliminary research led to (i) narrowing the focus to the years 2020–2024 and (ii) identifying key criteria for analysis: sustainable material sourcing, carbon sequestration, energy efficiency, life cycle assessment (LCA), and innovative construction practices. The study’s findings indicate that all these criteria play a vital role in the design and construction of new zero-carbon wooden buildings. They highlight the significant potential of wood as a renewable material in achieving zero-carbon buildings (ZCBs), positioning it as a compelling alternative to traditional construction materials. However, the research also underscores that despite wood’s numerous potential benefits, its implementation in ZCBs faces several challenges, including social, regulatory, and financial barriers.

Enhancing Energy Consumption Prediction in Smart Homes: A Convergence-Aware Federated Transfer Learning Approach

Achieving accurate energy consumption prediction can be challenging, particularly in residential buildings, which experience highly variable consumption behavior due to changes in occupants and the construction of new buildings. This variability, combined with the potential for privacy breaches through conventional data collection methods, underscores the need for novel approaches to energy consumption forecasting. The proposed study suggests a new approach to predict energy consumption, utilizing Federated Learning (FL) to train a global model while ensuring local data privacy and transferring knowledge from information-rich to information-poor buildings. The proposed method learns the transferable knowledge from the source building without any privacy leakage and utilizes it for target buildings. Since the performance of the global model could be negatively affected by some participating nodes with poor performance due to noisy or limited data, we propose a client selection strategy on the server based on the normal distribution for choosing the best possible participants for the global model. Our method enables clients to participate selectively in the aggregation procedure to avoid model divergence due to poor performance. The proposed model is evaluated and conducts in-depth analyses of energy consumption patterns. We validate the performance by comparing its MAE, MSE, and R2 values to those of existing traditional and ensemble models. Our findings indicate that the proposed FL-based model with selective client participation outperforms its counterpart methods regarding predictive accuracy and robustness. The source code is available on Github

Streamlining Construction Operations: A Holistic Approach with A3 Methodology and Lean Principles

With the growing trend of urbanisation and the growing number of people migrating to cities, the demand for the development and construction of new buildings and infrastructure has risen, meaning that the construction industry must adapt to these trends. Growing demands with shorter deadlines for an industry already known for its high costs and late delivery means that productivity must be increased without increasing costs. The solution for this might lie in the application of the Lean philosophy to the construction industry. This paper analyses the application of the Lean philosophy in order to increase the productivity of construction work for an airport project. This paper highlights the potential for enhancing productivity in construction workplaces by concurrently fostering continuous improvement and sustainability through the implementation of the A3 methodology and Lean principles, resulting in waste reduction and increased value.

DEFINITION OF THE RECONSTRUCTION METHOD OF A PUBLIC BUILDING OR STRUCTURE

A systematic approach to the organization and management of various types of work within a particular industry is what makes the research relevant, including the creation of a well-established method for selecting methodological solutions. The various industries that make up the structure of the national economy have certain distinctive features. Construction, as one of the most complex industries from an organizational and technological point of view, is of particular interest to study. The various types and areas of activity in its composition define narrow areas of research. The definition of the reconstruction method as an integral part of the organizational and technological system is a serious and urgent task of urban planning. The construction of new buildings and structures for cultural, educational purposes and spiritual and ethical education is currently carried out much less frequently than residential buildings. Accordingly, it is often necessary to reconstruct buildings and structures that have already been built. The reconstruction process includes a significant number of types of work, has its own specifics that distinguish it from new construction. The choice of the method of reconstruction of a public building or structure involves making decisions based on the established tasks for each specific object of reconstruction. The article considers the concept of reconstruction, systematizes the tasks of reconstruction of public buildings and structures, develops an algorithm for choosing a reconstruction method, and considers the factors that determine decision-making at certain stages of work.

Mapping of uncontrolled dumpsites in arid regions through remote sensing and image processing.

Due to increased urbanization, the development of new areas, construction of new houses and buildings and uncontrolled dumpsites (UDSs) are becoming a challenge facing local authorities in Saudi Arabia. UDSs pose health risks to the public, potentially deteriorating the environment around them and reducing the value of ongoing development areas. The local municipalities rely on field surveys and citizen reports. This can be inefficient because UDSs are often discovered too late, and remediating them can be costly. This study aimed to assess the conditions of UDSs in two cities in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, Dammam and Hafer Al-Batin, using satellite image classification assessment techniques. The assessment included mapping the UDS locations and studying the spectral reflectance of the materials found in these dumpsites. The study provided a mapping of 62 UDS locations totalling around 13.01 km2 in the broader study area. UDS detections using remote sensing were followed by ground truthing and in situ measurements using a spectroradiometer. In addition, the spectral reflectance of 21 commonly deposited UDS materials was studied, and a spectral library was created for these materials for future use by local authorities.

Adaptability of buildings: a systematic review of current research

The construction industry and associated processes emit about 40%–50% of greenhouse gasses globally, making buildings’ lifelong impact on the environment inevitable. Although research and development stakeholders have directed their focus on various sustainable, recycled, and upcycled building materials, as well as circular designs and construction methods to reduce the adverse effects of environmental challenges, researchers have not yet fully addressed a building’s post-use treatment. Considering that the gap still remains in knowledge concerning how to fully achieve net-zero waste and emissions from construction materials, designs, and processes at the end of a building’s life, this study contributes a concise definition of the concept of adaptability with a holistic review to understand Design for Adaptability (DfA) and its potential to reduce the need for unnecessary new construction and eliminate potential waste. This review used the PRISMA guidelines approach to gather key insights from various articles on the concept of adaptability that are relevant to the scope of buildings. Moreover, this review identifies potential areas of further research that could boost confidence in the use of adaptable strategies in the future. A total of 50 articles out of 170 articles were chosen through a selection process involving a new set of inclusion and exclusion criteria based on PRISMA guidelines. The findings show that demographical, technological, and economic motivations drive adaptability’s functional, environmental, economic, and social benefits. However, the regulatory, technical, economic, and social barriers hinder its implementation in construction processes. The findings also demonstrate that various promising frameworks for assessing adaptability still lack comprehensive guidelines, assessment, and validation methods for the overall implementation of adaptable strategies. Existing frameworks are mostly limited to spatial assessment of the reuse of spaces and do not account for the structural flexibility and performance of load-bearing building elements despite the fact that most assessed papers were from the engineering field. Nevertheless, this paper concludes that adaptability strategies can be implemented early during the construction of new buildings or during the repurposing of existing buildings, with the end goal being to increase the longevity of the use of structures, prevent premature demolition, and minimize unnecessary construction waste.

LAJOS FEKETE, HUNGARIAN ROYAL MINISTER COUNCELLAR, DIRECTOR OF THE HUNGARIAN ROYAL ACADEMY OF MINING AND FORESTRY

Lajos Fekete, Hungarian Royal Minister Counsellor, Forestry Academy professor is a leading figure in higher forestry education, who achieved indefeasible results in creating Hungarian language education and the Hungarian forestry language. Between 1872 and 1891, he headed the Department of Phytology and Silviculture at the Royal Hungarian Academy of Mining and Forestry in Selmecbánya, and from 1891 until his retirement he headed the Department of Forest Management. He played an important role in the organisation of the Academy campus, the construction of new educational buildings and the development and furnishing of the botanical gardens, as well as in the compilation and development of collections related to the subjects he taught (zoology, entomology, botany, climatology and soil science). Hungarian experiments in forestry began to take institutional form in 1897/98, and Lajos Fekete was responsible for this, as well as for the idea of establishing forestry education on a secondary level. Although he had already exceeded the possible age of retirement in 1894, his tireless work ethic kept him in the Academy. He enjoyed the confidence of the Academy's teaching staff and served as vice-principal in the academic year 1892/93, then as director in the academic years 1897/98, 1898/1899 and 1899/1900, and was also head of the forestry department. At the age of 69, on 1 October 1906, he was retired at his own request, because of his failing eyesight towards the end of his life. Thus, the last serving teacher of the first faculty of the Forestry Academy left the academy chair. On this occasion, he was awarded the title of Minister Counsellor in recognition of his services. In 1910, six years before his death, he received the highest recognition for his work, being accepted as a corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. There is no branch of forestry science in which his work has not left a lasting mark. Despite this extremely productive and diversified career, which produced outstanding achievements in all fields, posterity has treated and still treats Lajos Fekete, whose work and human behaviour can stand as an example to us all, rather cruel.

Schools history representation through the preservation of educational everyday life artifacts through the process of renovation and construction of school buildings

Introduction. The relevance of the problem of studying and preserving artifacts of educational everyday life of school buildings is due to large-scale renovation and construction of educational infrastructure in Russia. Frequently, during renovation, along with the old walls, historical artifacts of everyday educational life irrevocably go into the past, and the history of the school itself disappears with its established traditions, events and ways of life. In this regard, it is very important to preserve and integrate historical artifacts of everyday school life into new school interiors, which makes it possible to create a comfortable and emotionally safe educational environment for students without losing the historical school identity. The purpose of the research is to identify approaches to representing the history of a school through the preservation of artifacts of educational everyday life in the process of renovation and construction of new school buildings. Materials and methods. Systemic and environmental approaches were used to determine the significance of the problem of preserving and representing artifacts of educational everyday life in the process of renovation of outdated funds and new construction of school buildings to maintain the emotional connection of modern students with the historical heritage of the school, its traditions, way of life, and identity. The research methods determined: analysis of theoretical sources and existing practices of working with artifacts during major repairs and construction of schools, in-depth interviews with representatives of the administration of educational organizations, photographic fixation of artifacts available in educational organizations, expert discussions at round tables and seminars at events of various levels. Results. Based on the data obtained as a result of the conducted research, five approaches to the preservation and representation of their history by educational organizations have been identified, namely: the building is considered as an artifact of a certain historical period, there is a partial preservation of interior artifacts of the past, new artifacts are being developed, a museum of artifacts of educational everyday life is being created, artifacts are used in the educational process. Conclusion. The implementation of the research results will allow us to develop new action algorithms in the renovation and design of schools, taking into account their cultural and historical heritage through the preservation of artifacts of educational everyday life and their careful inclusion in modern and updated interiors.

Harnessing earthquake generated glass and plastic waste for sustainable construction

On February 6, 2023 Türkiye witnessed two massive earthquakes of magnitudes 7.6 and 7.8 centred near Gaziantep Province. The aftermaths of the earthquakes were devastating. Thousands of people were dead under the rubble of collapsed buildings and millions displaced. The challenge was the disposal of tons of debris generated due to the destruction of structures and roads, and the construction of new buildings for relocation of displaced people. Not only being uneconomical, the disposal and new construction also became a major environmental concern. A solution to this problem lies in the constructive disposal of earthquake wastes i.e., the utilization of waste materials from debris generated after an earthquake in order to ensure its proper and beneficial disposition. The article provides a two problems one solution technique in this regard. Research techniques and outcomes of modification of glass and plastic waste in the industries for the manufacture of good quality construction materials and the subsequent use of these materials in construction are reviewed. Further analysis is carried out to determine whether the application of this knowledge in practical field ensures that both environmental and economical requirements are met.

Multi-Scale Analysis of Surface Building Density and Land Subsidence Using a Combination of Wavelet Transform and Spatial Autocorrelation in the Plains of Beijing

Land subsidence is a major issue in the Beijing Plain in China, caused by the construction of new buildings and infrastructure combined with groundwater extraction. This study employs a multi-level two-dimensional wavelet decomposition to decompose land subsidence into high- and low-frequency components, and Moran’s I index to analyze the spatial distribution of land subsidence and its main influencing factors. By comparing the spatial distributions of the high- and low-frequency components, we estimate the correlation between land subsidence and influencing factors at different scales. Utilizing a combination of wavelet decomposition and Moran’s I analysis, our study establishes a clear spatial correlation between continuously varying factors such as groundwater and clay layer thickness, and the low-frequency components of land subsidence, allowing for a focused analysis of the relationship between surface building density and the high-frequency components of land subsidence. Quantitatively, the study identifies a significant correlation at specific granularities, particularly at 480 m and 960 m, underscoring the nuanced interaction between urban development and land subsidence patterns. These insights into the spatial distribution of land subsidence and its contributing factors can inform the development of effective strategies to address this issue.

КАРТОГРАФИРОВАНИЕ ОБЕСПЕЧЕННОСТИ НАСЕЛЕНИЯ СРЕДНИМИ ОБЩЕОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНЫМИ УЧРЕЖДЕНИЯМИ ЛЕНИНСКОГО РАЙОНА ГОРОДА САРАНСКА

The Russian secondary education system is unique, both in its mass character and in the multidimensional nature of services, and today it is the most actively developing sector in the education system. For people's lives, it is socially important to have educational institutions within walking distance, which in turn determines the comfort of living of the population. Secondary education is focused on the formation of a comprehensively developed personality, with ideals and values corresponding to the culture of the Russian peoples. These educational institutions are part of general education organizations, the main purpose of which is to carry out educational activities in general education programs of primary general, basic general and (or) secondary general education.
 The relevance of this topic lies in the fact that during the construction of new residential buildings, developers ignore such social infrastructure facilities as secondary educational institutions, which causes a shortage of places. Despite a lot of research in the field of education, due attention has not been paid to the issues of providing the population with secondary educational institutions. The described author's methodology can serve as a basis for assessing the security of the population, both in other cities and in other social infrastructure facilities.
 The results of the conducted research can be used by municipal authorities in assessing the state of the city's infrastructure.

CONTEXTUAL ARCHITECTURE IN THE FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND FACULTY OF ECONOMY AND BUSINESS UNIVERSITY OF INDONESIA IN DEPOK

University of Indonesia (UI) already known by public with the peculiarities of the buildings on the campus. As the development of the times, the mass of buildings on The UI in Depok is also experiencing rapid development. One of the functions of the new building which is certainly intended to support learning activities. The construction of new buildings, necessarily have an impact on the face of the UI Campus in general which has the characteristic of the traditional buildings that has been known before. In this case, the contextual architecture present in the application of the design in the newest buildings on The UI Campus. Contextual architecture itself is divided into two types, namely the harmony and contrast. This study aims to understand and identify the application of the contextual architecture of the buildings in the Engineering Faculty (FT) and Economy & Business Faculty (FEB) University of Indonesia. Methods in this research is a descriptive qualitative method with phase-analysis based on the type of harmony and contrast of those aspects are size & scale, shape, and color in the case study area. Conclusion of the result in this study that The FT and FEB University of Indonesia in Depok discovery of the balance of the architecture of the contextual building harmony and contrast.

Are Existing LCIA Methods Related to Mineral and Metal Resources Relevant for an AESA Approach Applied to the Building Sector? Case Study on the Construction of New Buildings in France

Considering the challenges that mineral and metallic resources represent for the building sector, there is a need to propose decision-support tools to building stakeholders. One of the possibilities could be to integrate an indicator of pressure on mineral resources in an absolute environmental sustainability assessment (AESA) approach, using life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods. This paper will analyze the existing LCIA indicators that can be used to represent the impact on mineral resources of new constructions, with a case study on new buildings in France in 2015. This analysis aims to find out whether the existing LCIA methods dealing with mineral and metallic resources issues are adapted to the specific stakes of the building sector in an AESA approach. The AESA approach considered is the one proposed by Bjørn and Hauschild. Several steps are detailed in this paper. Firstly, bibliographic research was carried out to identify existing LCIA methods related to the mineral resources. Secondly, selection criteria were defined in order to select those LCIA methods relevant for the building sector. Thirdly, the scope of the case study was defined and its inventory analysis was conducted using the Ecoinvent 3.5 database, selecting only the mineral and metallic input flows. Finally, the comparison between the inventory of mineral and metallic flows issued from the inventory analysis and the substances considered in the selected LCIA methods was effected. The results show that none of the existing LCIA methods are compatible with the aim of developing an LCIA indicator for mineral and metallic resources that is compatible with an AESA approach, in particular for the building sector.

Ensuring Sustainability of Residential Buildings by using Local Materials in the Conditions of the Republic of Moldova

The study is an overview of the current situation in the Republic of Moldova regarding the sustainability of residential buildings. Advances in the building industry indicate a shift towards energy efficiency with minimal consumption. The authors aim to find a sustainable solution for implementation in the Republic of Moldova. To achieve this, they perform energy efficiency calculations for the envelope of a residential building that utilizes locally available limestone blocks, sourced from 44 quarries across the territory. Technical abbreviations will be defined upon their first use. For thermal insulation, the authors suggest using two layers of masonry enclosing 6 cm thick polyurethane foam. The purpose of this study is to highlight the importance of sustainability in the construction of new residential buildings in the Republic of Moldova. This is particularly relevant in the absence of a comprehensive regulatory framework on energy efficiency for residential buildings.

Infrastructural Development and TET Fund Participation in some Selected Higher Institutions in Anambra State – Nigeria

Purpose: This study examined TETFund interventions in the development of infrastructure in selected tertiary institutions in Anambra state using Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Federal Polytechnic Oko, and Nwafor Orizu College of Education Nsugbe as areas of study.
 Materials and Methods: It adopted adopts descriptive survey design wherein structured questionnaire was used to collect information from a sample of 125 participants. With the aid of SPSS version 20.0 tools of analysis, and public good theory, the data generated was extensively analysed and discussed.
 Findings: Results of the analysis reveal that infrastructural decay persists in the tertiary institutions in spite of the intervention. It reveals also that TETFund does not engage in the rehabilitation of existing infrastructures and focuses on the provision of up-to-date textbooks and construction of new buildings to the neglect of other infrastructures.
 Implications to Theory, Practice and Policy: Among others, the paper recommends the expansion of TETFund intervention to include rehabilitation of old infrastructures and the diversification of its interventions in new projects to include all forms of infrastructures.

UNESCO World Heritage Site Karlovy Vary and its geotourism development opportunities linked with architecture

Today’s appearance of spa towns in the country is represented by the architecture of the 19th and 20th centuries. We mainly find elements of empire, neo-renaissance, and art nouveau in them. Even Karlovy Vary, even though its history goes back to the past, presents itself with this architecture. Even though the spa was here at the very beginning of the city’s foundation, nothing was left of the original buildings due to natural disasters. If they were not natural disasters, they were also remediation that freed up space for the construction of new buildings. Apart from hotel buildings, typical objects of spa architecture are mainly spa buildings and pavilions, construction modifications of springs or colonnades. An essential part of these centres is also greenery and water supplements that balance the mass of these buildings. However, the favourable geological, especially hydrogeological and geomorphological conditions of these locations play the most important role for the development of the spa industry. From the point of view of tourism in Karlovy Vary, the aim of this work is to connect the classic spa tourism of this city, which was already supplemented by film tourism in the middle of the 20th century with geotourism.

Budget constraints in critical scenarios: A position paper on the challenges to improving building performance

This position paper aims to pave the way for a debate on a few under-explored, at least, perhaps even neglected, challenges we face when trying to improve building overall performance. Specifically, we suggest focusing on how the efforts to increase building energy efficiency, building safety, the home and workplace healthiness, and the comfort perceived by the users can be impaired by budget constraints, especially while operating in critical scenarios. On the one hand, restraints on capital expenditures by property owners and other investors affect the decision-making processes for the construction of new buildings or the renovation of existing ones. More beyond, rapidly developing demographic and other anthropological changes, as well as frequently occurred natural disasters, pose extra burdens on the players in the building industry and the real estate market. It has been a fact that the need to adapt to both budget constraints and challenging situations is seldom fully embedded in the studies focusing on improving building performance. Therefore, we call for attentions in research and publications to advocate for complementing the need.

Life Cycle Analysis of a Renovation Project for Old Housing in Tashkent to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The shift towards economic decarbonization through the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions has led to a focus on renovating and modernizing the existing buildings rather than constructing new ones. This research emphasizes the critical differences between the construction of new buildings and the modernization of the existing structures, specifically in the context of Uzbekistan. The country lacks a comprehensive methodology for accounting for the embodied carbon of building materials used in modernization projects. This research aims to bridge this gap by conducting a life cycle analysis (LCA) of a project focused on enhancing the thermal performance of the enclosing structures of a three to five-story multifamily residential building, commonly referred to as “Khrushchevka”. The analysis found that retrofitting buildings reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 13.5% through improved energy efficiency, despite the increase in initial emissions associated with the production and installation of insulation materials. The total reduction in carbon emissions over the entire life cycle of the reconstructed building was 24% (or 43.2 tons of CO₂), including emissions associated with the production of insulation. The payback period for emissions, which offsets the initial emissions during reconstruction, is 17 years.