Conventional Building Technologies Research Articles

Comparative study of embodied energy of affordable houses made using GFRG and conventional building technologies in India

The present situation vis-á-vis increased energy use and environmental emissions has urged the building sector to contribute more towards sustainable construction. This is possible only through appropriate choice of building materials and technologies that minimize the environmental impacts. Nevertheless, the adoption of the same need to necessarily satisfy the user in terms of aesthetics, utility and cost. This paper presents the comparison of embodied energy of a two-storey residential building, made using, i) GFRG (glass fibre reinforced gypsum), and, ii) load-bearing brick masonry, building technologies. GFRG technology uses load-bearing walls and slabs that are manufactured using gypsum waste, and consumes reduced quantity of reinforced concrete in comparison with conventional construction. It has been found in this study that the embodied energy related to building materials of the GFRG building is 16% less, and that associated with transport of resources is twice, compared to the conventional brick masonry building. The major advantages of the GFRG building construction are found to be about – reduction in structural weight and construction cost, – savings in construction time and – savings in total man power requirement for construction. Further, the use of cement, steel rebar and sand is reduced by 25%, 36% and 44% respectively.

Energy Performance of Vertical Extensions on Old Buildings: Comparison between Architectural Membranes and Conventional Building Technologies

This research aims evaluating in what measure the proposed refurbishment solutions with architectural membranes can benefit an existing building and provide an energy efficient alternative to conventional reference building technologies for vertical extensions. In order to do it, an old building from the 19th century, located in Porto (Portugal) is taken as case study. Both solutions are compared regarding thermal comfort, energy consumption for heating/cooling needs using numerical simulation, which allowed evaluating the project from the environmental point of view, based on the energy consumption. The proposed membrane alternatives include conventional and non-conventional thermal/acoustic insulation and a membrane envelope option with vegetation on its external skin. The paper argues that architectural membrane refurbishment solutions can constitute an energy efficient alternative to lightweight conventional ones.

Review and Mapping of Parameters for the Early Stage Design of Adaptive Building Technologies through Life Cycle Assessment Tools

Adaptive Building Technologies have opened up a growing field of architectural research aimed at improving the overall building performance, ensuring comfort while reducing operational energy consumption. Focusing on flexibility over short timeframes, these new technologies are however rarely designed within the broader frame of sustainability over their entire lifecycle. How sustainable these zero energy technologies really are is yet to be established. The purpose of the research is to develop a flexible easy-to-use Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool to support creative innovation and sustainable design choices in the early concept and design stages of Adaptive Building Technologies. This paper reports on the results of the first step of the research, providing a mapping in terms of structure and contents of the parameters involved in the design of these technologies. Addressed from a holistic point of view, the elements of the system were defined though a qualitative approach: relevant parameters were collected through document analysis, reviewing the state-of-the-art technology through online databases as ScienceDirect, Scopus, MDPI, ResearchGate, and organized according to hierarchy and relevance in the different life cycle stages. As a result, the paper identifies (1) relevant parameters defining the design of Adaptive Building Technologies; (2) materials, processes and concepts specific to the design of these technologies, as compared to conventional building technologies; (3) issues and knowledge gaps to enable successive research phases; (4) specific actions in each life cycle stage for designers and producers to optimize the design of the technology. The mapping graphically and hierarchically organizes the elements of the system within a flexible structure to be implemented and integrated over time, as the technology evolves, to support parametric design and enable alternative design concepts to arise within a cradle-to-cradle perspective.

Water-flow Gazing Curtain-wall and Ground Source Heat Pump as an Energy Saving Strategy in Buildings

Background: The thermal challenge raised by the use of traditional air-chamber glazing in contemporary architecture is not coherent with the current goals for buildings in terms of energy efficiency Methods: This paper explores the possibilities of the active water-flow glazing technology in the form of a curtain-wall, and its integration with a geothermal heat exchanger. A simulation is carried out in order to evaluate such installation, and the results of this simulation are then compared to real data collected from a built and functioning example in Spain. Findings: In order to evaluate the energy savings resulted from this installation, the two studies (simulation and real data) are followed by two parallel estimations of energy savings when compared to a theoretical electric energy expense in HVAC of a building with a more conventional building technology. The active water-flow glazing tackles the problem by flowing water through the chamber between glass panes; the windows become solar energy collectors, and a closed water circuit provides the building with the thermal inertia needed to prevent high temperature oscillations. Combining this emerging technology of active waterflow glazing with low-cost heating and cooling strategies such as geothermal exchangers, free cooling and seasonal heat storage would enable maximum use of daylight by a transparent glass facade and, at the same time, achieve Zero Energy Building performance. Applications: When compared to a traditional double-pane curtain-wall connected to an air-water heat pump, a combination of water-flow glazing and ground source heat pump proves to entail substantial energy savings (close to 40%) in a building’s overall cooling costs.

AUTMOD3: The Integration of Design and Planning Tools for Automatic Modular Construction

Europe is facing a fast growing need for affordable, high quality housing, which can not be solved by means of traditional or conventional building technology and its associated methods of construction. One of the solutions to this problem is the application of high quality modular construction, which defines a new building process as the assembly of pre-fabricated modules in the construction site. As part of this philosophy, AUTMOD3 is an automatic modular construction software environment, developed in the frame of the EU project FutureHome. The system seamlessly integrates architectural design, planning and simulation tools in a well-known CAD program commonly used by designers. Architectural design using previously defined 3D and 2D modules or modularisation of the traditional building design are the main objectives of the AUTMOD3 design tool. The production planning and the on-site modular assembly planning are the main task to be performed by the planning tool. The AUTMOD3 assembly planning tool generates the trajectories, which can be applied directly to a robotized crane develop in the project FutureHome.

The 3-year follow-up study in a block of flats - experiences in the use of the Finnish indoor climate classification.

Indoor climate of two new blocks of flats was investigated. The case building was built for people with respiratory diseases by following the instructions of the Finnish Classification of Indoor Climate, Construction and Finishing Materials, while the control building was built using conventional building technology. The main indoor air parameters (temperature, relative humidity and levels of CO, CO2, ammonia, total volatile organic compounds, total suspended particles, fungal spores, bacteria and cat, dog and house dust mite allergens) were measured in six apartments of both the buildings on five occasions during the 3-year occupancy. In addition, a questionnaire to evaluate symptoms of the occupants and their satisfaction with their home environment was conducted in connection with indoor air quality (IAQ) measurements. The levels of indoor air pollutants in the case building were, in general, lower than those in the control building. In addition, the asthmatic occupants informed that their symptoms had decreased during the occupancy in the case building. This case study showed that high IAQ is possible to reach by careful design, proper materials and equipment and on high-quality construction with reasonable additional costs. In addition, the study indicated that good IAQ can also be maintained during the occupancy, if sufficient information on factors affecting IAQ and guidance on proper use and care of equipment are available for occupants.

Building Systems Innovations in Urban Housing Production: a Planning Application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process

The use of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is proposed and illustrated for the planning of Systems Buildings and evaluation of alternative building systems components in the production of urban housing. A comparative analysis and evaluation of “industrial” (Systems Building) and conventional building technology is made via AHP in planning for an appropriate typology of housing production for the hypothetical conditions of a developing country. AHP renders a holistic methodological framework for the characteristically multidimensional design and planning problems involving multiple criteria, and measurement of trade-offs, in the process of optimizing or choosing among alternative technological innovations.