High-rise Commercial Buildings Research Articles

Harvesting condensate wastewater from commercial buildings air handling unit (AHU) drainage: An opportunity for water conservation

Water wastage is a matter of great concern, especially in this era of rapid development. Water consumption in high-rise and large-sized buildings is very high. Furthermore, high-rise buildings use a lot of water to generate the use of HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) machines. However, the waste of water from this machine is also very disturbing. Therefore, it is important for us to realize that various ways and technologies can be used and utilized to prevent waste from happening. This research focuses on the wastage of water and waste water from air handling unit machines in high-rise commercial buildings around Penang, Malaysia. To make this study a success, several methods have been used, including interviews, observation at the study site, and conducting research through newspapers, journals, reports, and so on. Through this method, data to be analyzed can be collected. In this study, several factors lead to the waste of water from the Air Handling Unit machine, which will have adverse effects on the machine, the building, and also the environment such as condensate and drainage. To overcome the problem, it is important to implement proactive routine maintenance practices for the HVAC system to reduce the AHU wastewater. The finding incorporation of water-saving methods, such as using AHU wastewater for other non-potable purposes, is a practical and ecologically appropriate approach. This research emphasizes the potential for large water savings and environmental advantages in commercial buildings, calling for greater adoption of such methods in facility management and building operations.

Developing a dynamic life cycle assessment framework for buildings through integrating building information modeling and building energy modeling program

The construction and building sector is one of the largest contributors to the global carbon emissions. Therefore, it is imperative to accurately assess the carbon emissions of buildings throughout the life cycle. Many studies conducted life cycle assessment (LCA) of buildings to evaluate carbon emissions. However, due to the lack of dynamic data, most studies adopted the static LCA methodology, which neglected the dynamic variations during life cycle stages of a building. Unlike previous studies that collected static data from questionnaires and documents, the present study aims to establish a novel dynamic life cycle assessment (D-LCA) framework for buildings by incorporating the building information modeling (BIM) and the building energy modeling program (BEMP) into the static LCA. First, a static LCA is established as the baseline scenario that covers the “cradle-to-grave” life cycle stages. A BIM model is established using Revit to obtain the inventory of building materials. The Designer Simulation Toolkit (DeST) is used as a BEMP to simulate the operating energy consumption of the studied building, taking into account changes in energy mix, climate change, and occupant behavior. At the same time, the DeST results are further used as a data input for dynamic scenarios. The D-LCA framework is applied to a high-rise commercial building in China. This study found that the difference between static and dynamic scenarios was up to 66.7 %, mainly reflected in the dynamic energy consumption during the operation phase, indicating the inaccuracy of traditional static LCA. Therefore, a D-LCA by integrating BIM and BEMP can facilitate dynamic modeling and improve the accuracy and reliability of LCA for buildings.

Impact of insulation on energy consumption and CO2 emissions in high-rise commercial buildings at various climate zones

Abstract This study investigates the impact of insulation on energy consumption and CO2 emissions in high-rise commercial buildings across various climate zones. Through a simulation-based approach using the Hourly Analysis Program (HAP), the effectiveness of insulation in reducing energy demand and carbon emissions are evaluated. The research includes multiple climatic regions of Afghanistan, including arid, semi-arid, and mountainous zones. Methodologically, detailed building characteristics, climatic data, and insulation materials are considered, with energy modeling techniques applied to assess the performance of insulation measures. Results indicate varying degrees of energy savings and CO2 emissions reduction associated with insulation across different climate zones, in cities such as Kabul, Herat, Mazar, and Kandahar. Furthermore, the study calculates CO2 emissions reduction resulting from insulation addition, emphasizing the importance of sustainable building practices in mitigating environmental impacts. By underscoring the scientific value of this research in addressing a pressing global challenge and providing actionable insights for building design and energy policy, this study contributes to the advancement of knowledge in the field of sustainable construction and environmental engineering.

Assessment of the impact of a high-rise building on the stress-strain state of the foundation and structures of existing buildings in dense development

One of the most progressive problems of modern urban planning is the gradual decrease in areas suitable for construction, especially within the historical districts of cities. This prompts developers to increasingly develop sites in difficult engineering and geological conditions, which are often located within dense buildings.
 Today, the construction of multifunctional residential complexes combines the construction of high-rise residential sections and commercial real estate buildings with multi-level parking lots, which are often located in close proximity to each other. Often, the sequence of construction of these buildings is stretched over years or even decades, for example, due to an unfavorable economic climate or the instability of the political situation in the country, which leads to the commissioning of only certain stages of construction. The subsequent resumption of construction work requires taking into account the mutual impact of new construction and observations of previously constructed buildings during the construction of new structures.
 The execution of deep pits at the stage of laying the foundations of new buildings, as well as the substantial weight of high-rise buildings, causes a change in the stress-strain state of the adjacent soil massif, so designers face the task of determining the impact of such construction on the adjacent buildings.
 This article presents the results of a study of the change in the stress-strain state of load-bearing structures and foundations an existing building, taking into account the mutual impact of an adjacent high-rise section of a residential complex.
 The calculations were performed in two independent software systems Plaxis 3D and LIRA-FEM, in the spatial formulation of tasks, for a comprehensive assessment of the SSS of the system "soil base-foundation-superstructure".
 The zone of impact of new construction on the adjacent buildings, the values and character of additional displacements of foundations of adjacent structures are determined. The regularities of changes in the calculated forces in piles are shown, which indicate a decrease in axial forces in piles up to two times at the interface with the foundations of the new building and an increase in the load on the piles of the central zone by up to 17%. The obtained results show a tendency to redistribute stresses in the foundation slab from the bearing zones to the span zones, as well as in the bearing vertical structures of the lower floor of the existing building.

Simulation study on fire and evacuation of super high-rise commercial building

The construction of high-rise and multi-functional commercial buildings has emerged as a global trend, but it also introduces significant fire hazards. Consequently, there is a pressing need to examine the fire development trends in super high-rise commercial buildings and establish logical evacuation strategies. This study utilizes the Pyrosim program to simulate a typical fire scenario at the Yangtze River International Conference Center, allowing for the acquisition of essential fire parameters and available evacuation time. Subsequently, based on the complex functional zones and personnel distribution within the building, appropriate evacuation plans are devised and simulated using the Pathfinder software. The results reveal that by effectively utilizing stairs, elevators, and refuge floors in accordance with personnel distribution, evacuation efficiency can be substantially enhanced. Furthermore, the required evacuation time during nighttime fires is merely 36.6%–55.3% compared to unorganized evacuation. The findings of this study offer valuable theoretical guidance for the evacuation of super high-rise commercial buildings, holding immense significance in minimizing fire-related casualties within such structures.

Predicting uncertainty of a chiller plant power consumption using quantile random forest: A commercial building case study

Selecting an appropriate confidence level for chillers models could lead to better prediction of the peak electricity load, to more efficiently participate in demand response programs, and to manage the operation and performance of chiller plants. Therefore, this study aims to predict the power consumption of a chiller plant in a high-rise commercial building based on Quantile Random Forest (QRF). This study proposed a simplified data-driven approach to compute the lower and upper bounds of the prediction intervals (PIs) of power consumption for a chiller plant, consisting of four chillers. An evaluation of the proposed data-driven approach using measured datasets and computed PIs metrics demonstrates that the PI coverage probability for the samples in test datasets for all chiller models with the confidence level of 80% and 90%, are above 80% and 90%, respectively. Also, the results show that by increasing the confidence level from 80% to 90%, the upper and lower bounds of the demand charge differ from the actual value by a factor of 3.3 and 1.7 times greater, respectively. This approach has implications for developing sequences of operations for chiller plants in building automation systems for evaluating past performance and for achieving future optimization of these plants.

Simulation case study of stack pressure impact on thermal load in high-rise buildings

The reference building models in the EnergyPlus tool do not consider the stack effect. This is not an issue for small and low-rise buildings. However, this is significant in evaluating the heating and cooling load of high-rise buildings. This study evaluates and quantifies this stack effect in building energy simulation, EnergyPlus. The high-rise commercial building model in the EnergyPlus reference building set was used as a simulation test bed. The vertical multi-stories shaft zones were added inside the core zone in the existing building model. Then, the airflow network model was set in EnergyPlus so the internal airflow including the vertical and horizontal directions through the shaft zone as well as the core and perimeter zones were configured. The simulation model was calibrated against the actual pressure distribution between the core and perimeter zones in all floors of high-rise buildings from the literature. This model calibration was conducted manually by changing the discharge coefficient of the openings between thermal zones. The heating and cooling load of the proposed model were compared to the existing model which does not consider the vertical airflow through the shaft zones. The quantification with relative load mismatch was analyzed by floors and environment including the temperature difference between indoor and outdoor, and wind speed. Moreover, the impact of the air mixing and infiltration on the heating and cooling load was quantified. The result of this study reveals the significance of the stack effect in calculating the heating and cooling load.

Decision-making under uncertainty for buildings exposed to environmental hazards

Buildings are exposed to risks from environmental hazards such as earthquakes, windstorms and floods. Substantial uncertainties from various sources are inevitably involved in the risk estimation and decision-making for activities such as design and disaster risk mitigation for buildings. Decision makers seek to achieve economic efficiency while ensure building safety by managing the extreme tail risk that is typically a concern when facing low-probability, high-consequence events. Thus, risk preferences and tolerances play an important role in the decision process, which often vary among different decision makers. The conventionally used minimum expected life-cycle cost criterion (MELC) fails to adequately cope with large uncertainty and risk preferences. To this end, this paper presents the application of a set of decision models beyond the MELC to support decision-making under uncertainty for buildings exposed to environmental hazards. The objective is to provide risk-informed decision support for decision-makers with a wide range of risk appetites while taking into account uncertainties involved in the life-cycle cost. The features, strengths and weaknesses of these decision models are discussed from a practical point of view. The application and selection of the decision models are demonstrated by two practical decision problems: (i) seismic design of a high-rise commercial building, and (ii) wind hazard mitigation for a low-rise residential building. These examples illustrate how the decisions for choosing seismic design levels and wind mitigation measures vary when different decision models and model settings are applied.

Spatiotemporal Changes in Vertical Heterogeneity: High-Rise Office Building Floor Space in Sydney, Australia

Mixed-use development is increasingly popular in land use planning and zoning, fostering a combination of residential, commercial, and cultural uses into one space. However, there is a lack of understanding of the vertical mix office space within a high-rise commercial building and the dynamics of the industry mix between buildings. This paper examines the spatiotemporal patterns of industry mix between and within office buildings in Sydney CBD from 2006 to 2017, using the data obtained from the City of Sydney floor space and employment surveys. This is the first study that identifies the dynamics of an industrial ecosystem in central Sydney, which has transformed to homophily land blocks, with increasing vertically heterogeneous office buildings, over the past decade. In addition, the study found that the significant clustering of anchor tenants, such as finances, hospitalities, and knowledge-based industries, are apparent.

Integrating Novel Microchannel-Based Solar Collectors with a Water-to-Water Heat Pump for Cold-Climate Domestic Hot Water Supply, Including Related Solar Systems Comparisons

In Canada, more than 80% of energy in the residential sector is used for space heating and domestic hot water (DHW) production. This study aimed to model and compare the performance of four different systems, using solar energy as a renewable energy source for DHW production. A novel microchannel (MC) solar thermal collector and a microchannel-based hybrid photovoltaic/thermal collector (PVT) were fabricated (utilizing a microchannel heat exchanger in both cases), mathematical models were created, and performance was simulated in TRNSYS software. A water-to-water heat pump (HP) was integrated with these two collector-based solar systems, namely MCPVT-HP and MCST-HP, to improve the total solar fraction. System performance was then compared with that of a conventional solar-thermal-collector-based system and that of a PV-resistance (PV-R) system, using a monocrystalline PV collector. The heat pump was added to the systems to improve the systems’ efficiency and provide the required DHW temperatures when solar irradiance was insufficient. Comparisons were performed based on the temperature of the preheated water storage tank, the PV panel efficiency, overall system efficiency, and the achieved solar fraction. The microchannel PVT-heat pump (MCPVT-HP) system has the highest annual solar fraction among all the compared systems, at 76.7%. It was observed that this system had 10% to 35% higher solar fraction than the conventional single-tank solar-thermal-collector-based system during the wintertime in a cold climate. The performance of the two proposed MC-based systems is less sensitive than the two conventional systems to collector tilt angle in the range of 45 degrees to 90 degrees. If roof space is limited, the MCPVT-HP system is the best choice, as the MCPVT collector can perform effectively when mounted vertically on the facades of high-rise residential and commercial buildings. A comparison among five Canadian cities was also performed, and we found that direct beam radiation has a great effect on overall system solar faction.

HVAC Operation Schemes and Commissioning Process Resolving Stack Effect Problem and Adjusting According to Changes in the Environment: A Case Study in High-Rise Building in South Korea

Various problems often arise in high-rise buildings during the winter months due to the stack effect. In this study, the high-rise building of interest, located in South Korea, was experiencing constant loud noises in the winter due to the stack effect. Thus, we created a noise level reduction plan by creating a method for pressurizing the high-rise zones of the building according to outdoor conditions. To discover the appropriate pressurization operating modes, we applied a two-year commissioning process to the 50-story building of interest. The 1st- and 47th-floor elevator halls were identified to have the highest noise levels of all other floors. Prior to applying the reduction plan, the maximum noise level on the first floor with the HVAC system turned off was 85 dB(A) and with the HVAC system turned on it was 70 dB(A). Both values exceeded the criteria of 57 dB(A) for a lobby space of a commercial building. In the case of the 47th floor, the maximum noise level with the HVAC system turned off was 58.7 dB(A) and with the HVAC system turned off was 56.0 dB(A), despite the latter having increased airtightness performance and applying preliminary pressurization (i.e., HVAC operation mode 2). These values exceeded the criteria of 48 dB(A) for an elevator hall in a commercial building. Following this initial data, we determined to pressurize the high/mid-rise zones of the building according to the outdoor air temperature and wind velocity conditions, which we categorized into four types (i.e., HVAC operation mode 4). To this effect, the first-floor elevator hall’s maximum noise level was 56.6 dB(A), meeting the criteria, and the 47th-floor elevator hall’s maximum noise level was 49.5 dB(A), still exceeding the criteria but by an insignificant amount. Although the HVAC pressurization operation we utilized resulted in favorable results for the target building A, it may not be as effective in other new high-rise buildings, creating changes to the indoor air environment or to the energy costs in maintaining a building. However, for the purposes of resolving the stack effect, we believe that the commissioning process we took to optimize the HVAC operation that is presented here can be applied to other new and existing high-rise commercial buildings.

Assessment of the impacts of building materials on the reduction of CO2 emissions from high-rise commercial buildings in Hong Kong

Based on data collected in 20 A-level high-rise commercial concrete buildings in Hong Kong, the research successfully established a probability density function model, which is used to describe the carbon emissions profile of a commercial building. Results indicate that the superstructure of a commercial building, on average, had a footprint of 226.65 kg CO2/m2 and 10.6 kg CO2/m2 separately in the material use stage and transportation stages. It also evaluates the carbon emissions of various building elements and divides them into three levels according to the magnitude of their contribution. The results show that upper floor construction and external wall in Tier 1 contribute nearly 80% of emissions and should be of great concern. In addition to the probability density function model, a regression model was also successfully established in the study to predict carbon emissions. Research has shown that building layers and gross floor area can predict carbon emissions per unit area, and there is a positive relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable. The regression model can help building designers determine design options to reduce carbon emissions in the early stages of design.

The structural design of Kunshan Xintiandi super high-rise office building

The Kunshan urban investment project includes 1 office tower, 4 high-rise residential buildings and 1 high-rise commercial building. Each monomer shares a large basement chassis, a total of three basement floors. This design is the second phase (5# super high-rise and corresponding basement).The height of the structure is more than 140 meters, which is a concrete-filled steel tubular frame + core tube system. The selection and structure of the structural system are analyzed, and the mechanical performance of the structure is verified through calculation and analysis.

A Life-cycle Cost-benefit Analysis for Rooftop Photovoltaic Systems in Lightweight Steel-structured Industrial Buildings

There is a widespread consensus that energy efficiency of buildings is an essential component of sustainable development and several kinds of renewable energy technologies have been widely used to achieve this sustainable goal. As a rapidly developing country, China’s manufacturing industry still occupies a prominent position, with a large number of industrial buildings that are also a crucial part of urban planning. Compared with multi-story and high-rise commercial buildings, large industrial sheds have a much more usable roof area, where rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems are increasingly used. However, due to the small structural margins of the lightweight steel-structured (LSS) industrial buildings and the large initial investment of the thin-film PV system, few case studies are available for this kind of industrial buildings. In this research, three representative cities in China, with varying levels of solar radiation availability, are selected as typical external design factors. Taking a typical LSS industrial building with an added thin-film rooftop PV system as an example, a life-cycle cost-benefit analysis is conducted from environmental and economic aspects. The results of the analysis demonstrate the effectiveness of the rooftop thin-film PV system as a means to increase the energy efficiency of the LSS industrial buildings.

Occupational Hazards in Building Construction

Minor injury to fatality and permanent disablement cases due to accident at the construction sites are one of the highest as compared to the other sector. Hence, there is an urgent need to mitigate this problem. The first step that should be taken is identifying the hazard to ensure a safe and conducive working condition. Therefore, this paper is intended to identify and highlight the hazards that are most commonly found at our construction sites today. The data collection was carried out through a questionnaire forms and checklist survey regarding hazards in construction. The sites include high rise commercial building projects. The study determines six major groups of hazards in relation to works at construction sites such as physical, chemical, mechanical, biological, psychological and physiological hazards. The study was conducted on 50 contractors and 5 building construction sites. The results showed that the most common hazards for the project around the study area are noise, electric shock and vibrations as the major physical hazards; cement dust and sand dust as major chemical hazard; hit by equipment as major mechanical hazard and job dissatisfaction as major psychosocial hazard in building construction projects. Thus, contractors should be responsible and accountable for documenting different types of hazards as they are implementing agent of safety during the construction and development of any project. For this, awareness level should be increased by conducting regular awareness program, along with engineering and enforcement activities.

Research on the Efficiency of Composite Beam Application in Multi-Storey Buildings

Over the past decade, several types of composite slim floor constructions have been used in multi-storey buildings in Lithuania. In order to study the efficiency of composite beam application in steel-framed multi-storey buildings, Thorbeam (A1), Deltabeam (A2), slim floor beam (A3) and asymmetric slim floor beam (A4) were chosen and evaluated according to nine assessment criteria (beam cost (K1), initial preparation on site (K2), installation time (K3), complexity of installation technology (K4), labour costs (K5), fire resistance (K6), load bearing capacity (K7), beam versatility (K8), and availability of beams (K9)). First, the significance of the rating criteria was selected and the order of the ranking criteria was obtained (K1˃K7˃K3˃K6˃K4˃K5˃K2˃K8˃K9) by means of a survey questionnaire. Second, the beams were ranked according to the points given by the questionnaire respondents as follows: 160 points were given to A2, 144 points to A1, 129 points to A4, and 111 points to A3. Deltabeam is considered to be the most rational alternative of the four beams compared. Calculations done using the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) analysis method revealed that composite beam A2 was the best slim floor structure alternative for an eight-storey high-rise commercial residential building frame, A1 ranked second, A4 ranked third, and A3 ranked fourth. In addition, the four composite beams were compared to a reinforced concrete beam (A5) according to three assessment criteria (beam cost including installation (C1), beam self-weight (C2) and fire resistance (C3)). Deltabeam was found to be efficient for use as a slim floor structure in a multi-story building due to having the lowest cost, including installation, and self-weight, and the highest fire resistance compared to other composite beams studied. Although Deltabeams are 1.4 times more expensive than reinforced concrete beams, including installation costs, they save about 2.5% of the building’s height compared to reinforced concrete beams.

How to assess ecodistrict resilience to urban heat stress under future heatwaves? A case study for the city of Paris

It is now well-known that the frequency, intensity and duration of heatwaves will strongly increase along the XXIth century, which introduces the urban built environment resilience as a new paradigm. In Paris, the intense 2003 heatwave demonstrated that warm urban temperatures could result in serious adverse health issues. Temperatures were particularly elevated during nighttime, due to the urban heat island effect. Since air-conditioning has not penetrated yet in residential French buildings, studying the potential of combined mitigation strategies at the district and building scale to increase the neighbourhood and buildings resilience in strong urbanized areas under future heatwaves is a key subject matter. The climate change aspect is integrated through a future heatwave weather file, re-assembled from dynamically downscaled multi-year regional climate change projections from the EURO-CORDEX project. The new ecodistrict Clichy-Batignolles in central Paris is chosen as a case study, recognized as innovative for low-energy and environmental solutions. It is composed of high-rise residential and commercial buildings, large green areas, cool surfaces, and reduced anthropogenic sources. We used an Urban Canyon Model (Urban Weather Generator) to model the neighbourhood and different design configurations (building height and density, green and cool surfaces). The designs and measures were evaluated through a sensitivity analysis to analyse their potential to mitigate the urban local microclimate air temperature during the heatwaves. We quantified the neighbourhood resilience and found that the ecodistrict is exposed to a strong urban heat stress under the future intense heatwave. These results highlight how outdoor overheating assessment can be used to evaluate the district mitigation and adaptation strategies. This approach can be used for urban planning, while the modelled future urban heatwaves can be used as an input for building simulations and evaluate the resilience of the buildings to urban heat stress.

Modular Design & Construction in Automotive and Building Structures: Eliminating ‘Show-Stoppers’ in the Use of Wood-Based Facade Cladding

The key demands on manufacturers in the modern-age markets globalisation are the following: (i) a short development cycle, (ii) cost effectiveness, (iii) excellent product quality, and (iv) in-built product variability and upgradability. Development of new products under such dynamic market conditions necessitates an integrated approach to all stages of company operations, including product design, prototyping, productionising and manufacturing, and extending it to the lifetime serviceability. Such competitive requirements cannot be dealt with by the conventional, sequential model of product development and require switching to the modular approach, which additionally enables effective accommodation of the growing needs of customers for products variety and their immediate or future customisation. This paper addresses modular product development, including design and assembly in application to building & construction industry. The focus is on paving the path for a new generation high-quality/high durability products, such as modular cladding components for low- and high-rise residential and commercial buildings with the emphasis on product sustainability and longlasting aesthetics. It also considers: (i) the identification of principal causes of diminishing market share of wood-based cladding of building facades, and (ii) highlights key aspects of the development of a breakthrough technology providing a high-quality, high-durability surface finish of painted exterior wood products offering a platform for reversal of the decades-long decline of this important segment of the building products market.

Model predictive control for thermal energy storage assisted large central cooling systems

Variable speed drivers (VSDs) are commonly used for enhancing energy efficiency in building central cooling systems. However, VSDs often consume about 4–8% of the converted energy. Moreover, the initial and maintenance costs of VSDs for extremely large and high voltage chillers could be extremely high. This study proposes to use thermal energy storage (TES) to enhance energy efficiency of extremely large constant speed chillers. A new model predictive control method is proposed to control the charging/discharging of TES and on/off of chillers to achieve high efficiency. The proposed method partially decouples the demand side and the supply side, so that the large chillers are either operated in high efficiency or turned off. The method can also solve the problem of frequent chiller tripping due to too low load in winter conditions. The proposed optimal control strategy has been validated on a dynamic platform built based on the existing chiller plant in a high-rise commercial building. Validation tests were conducted in both summer and winter conditions based on real operation data. Results show that the proposed method could improve the efficiency of chillers by 3.10% and 22.94% in summer and winter conditions, respectively.

A model-based control strategy to recover cooling energy from thermal mass in commercial buildings

Building structures and furniture have the capability of storing thermal energy and therefore could be called building thermal mass. In commercial buildings, room conditions remain in thermal comfort zone for a while after the end of office hours when the air-conditioning systems are tuned off. It is possible to recover the stored cooling energy from building thermal mass in commercial buildings. This study proposes a model-based control strategy for such purpose. A simplified building RC model and a black-box model are combined by a simple data fusion algorithm for easier implementation and more accuracy prediction. The feasibility of such energy recovery was validated on-site in a super high-rise commercial building in Hong Kong, and the proposed method was validated on a dynamic simulation platform built based on the same building. In the two on-site validations, the energy savings during the energy recovering period were 85.8% and 80.1%, respectively. In the simulation tests, by allowing indoor air temperature increase by 1 K, the proposed control strategy could save 83.8% of the cooling energy during the recovering period, which accounts for 7.23% of the total cooling energy consumption in the entire tested days.