High-rise Commercial Buildings Research Articles

Evaluation of alternative water sources for commercial buildings: A case study in Brisbane, Australia

Commercial buildings are central to cities and contribute significantly to the urban demand for natural resources, including freshwater. Green building benchmarking tools include more efficient water use as key indicator of sustainability. This paper explores options for substituting mains drinking water with an alternative, non-potable water source on a fit for purpose basis. The research findings are based on a monitoring study of a commercial building in Brisbane, Australia that is harvesting rainwater for meeting non-potable water demand. The results demonstrated that the system is only achieving moderate reliability in meeting demand due to operational problems. The case study analysis has highlighted the need to include validation and monitoring to ensure the system is operating as per design intent. The paper also investigates the potential of other local, non-potable water sources for high-rise commercial buildings, in particular air conditioning condensate and groundwater inflow to a basement wet well. The paper concludes by comparing the advantages and disadvantages of different local water sources which highlights the need to undertake a site specific investigation to identify a suitable alternative water source, which considers O&M complexity and the capacity of facilities management.

무량판 슬래브와 H형강 기둥 접합부 상세 개발

The flat plate slab system have many good features, which are design flexibilities, saving of story-height and economy of construction etc. But the study of flat plate slab system for H-steel column have been rare both at home and abroad. Recently high-rise residential and commercial buildings have been constructed in urban areas in Korea. The suggested dowel connection system is more likely to adoptable because it remarkably contribute to save inter story height and also to have many advantages compared with conventional steel works such as H-Steel frame + Deck plate slab system. This study aims at developing design method and program for connection between H-Steel column and flat plate slab system, which contribute to save significantly inter-story height.

Investigation on variable flow control in existing water-cooled chiller plant of high-rise commercial building in subtropical climate

An all-variable-speed chiller plant has been advocated so that the chillers and their associated pumps can work at reduced speed during part-load conditions for energy saving purposes. In this new building project, the savings merit is certainly attractive. However, an existing chiller plant or retrofit project, which is constrained by the performance of installed equipment and the configuration of a hydronic circuit, may not benefit from the an ideal extent of savings. As such, an existing chiller plant serving a typical commercial building was used to evaluate this. Through year-round dynamic simulation, it is found that there were about 5%, 6%, and 8% energy savings of the whole chiller plant when applying variable flow control on secondary chilled water pumps only, both primary and secondary chilled water pumps, and all chilled and condenser water pumps, respectively. If constant-speed centrifugal chillers were substituted by the variable-speed ones, an additional 4% savings could be achieved, which was, however, less than that incurred from the associated pumps. The payback periods of different variable flow control strategies were well below 1 year, indicating the techno-economical feasibility for wider application in existing chiller plants in subtropical climates.

스틸 커튼월의 단열성능 및 결로방지성능 평가

Metal curtain wall systems are widely used in high-rise commercial and residential buildings. While aluminum is the most frequent used frame material, steel framing is also reemerging as a high-performance material in glazed curtain walls due to less thermal conductivity and design flexibility. The purpose of this study is to evaluate thermal performance of a steel frame curtain wall system by comparing with a aluminum frame curtain wall system. The thermal transmittance was measured according to KS 2278, and condensation resistance was calculated by the test results according to KS F 2295. The steel framing test specimen showed lower thermal transmittance and temperature descending factor compared to the aluminum framing test specimen.

Structural Configuration and Building Energy Performance

The civilengineering andarchitecturalcommunities arehighlyfocusedthesedays ondesigningbuildingsthatmaximizeutilization ofenergyavailablefromnaturalresourcesthroughmeanssuchaspassivesolarheatingandpassiveventilationandminimizingtheconsumption ofenergyproducedexternaltothebuildingitself.Indeed,so-callednet-zero-energybuildings,whichwouldrequirenonetenergyinputfortheir operation, have been identified as an aspirational goal for architects and engineers. It has been suggested that for each of the four major climate zones there exists an optimal building morphology,consisting offloor plan geometry and placement of the primary structural system for lateral loads, the structural core or wall, which contains major mechanical services and vertical transportation conduits. This paper presents a quanti- tative study of the effect of building morphology on energy performance in each of the four climate zones. The energy analysis is performed using Autodesk Ecotect Analysis 2011. Four building morphologies are investigated, each representing a high-rise commercial building with equivalent area, height, and material use. For comparison, results are presented in terms of annual sensible heating and cooling loads. A three- dimensional rendering of how the different building types might respond under wind loads is presented to indicate how the environmental and structural performances become coupled when the building is designed onlywith environmental performance in mind.DOI:10.1061/(ASCE) AE.1943-5568.0000103. © 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers. CE Database subject headings: Sustainable development; Energy efficiency; Building design; Solar power. Author keywords: Efficiency; Comfort; Passive solar; Skyscraper; Morphology; Sustainable.

Attitudes towards acceptance of risk to buildings from extreme winds

Economic losses from natural disasters due to extreme wind hazards, such as hurricanes or tornadoes, have been significant in recent years, and recent amendments to building design standards have been aimed at mitigating the risk from catastrophic wind storms. Public and professional attitudes regarding building performance and willingness to accept risk from wind hazards are reflected in these amended standards. In general, attitudes of decision-makers towards risk can be categorised as risk-accepting, risk-neutral and risk-averse. Recent studies of risk attitudes have suggested that individuals or small group decision-makers tend to be risk-averse when confronting low-probability, high-consequence hazards. In this paper, risk-acceptance attitudes towards extreme wind hazards are explored utilising cumulative prospect theory to establish a context for how this hazard is viewed in comparison to other hazards affecting buildings. Two case studies are considered, the first involving low-rise residential buildings designed for hurricane winds according to North and South Carolina practice in 2001 and the second related to high-rise commercial office buildings designed for wind and earthquake in Los Angeles, CA; Charleston, SC and Boston, MA. A comparison of risk attitudes towards these competing natural hazards reveals that risk-acceptance is more prevalent for wind than for seismic hazards.

가압 계단실의 방연풍속 형성에 대한 수치해석적 분석

In high-rise commercial buildings, the smoke that occurs in case of a fire tends to be spread rapidly to the horizontal and vertical direction due to the structural characteristics of the buildings. In particular, since the smoke spread to evacuation stairwells and elevator shafts results in the toll of lives, Design Guidelines for Smoke Control System of Special Evacuation Stairwell and Lobby of NFSC 501A was proposed in Korea as one of fire safety standards to prevent the penetration of the smoke into the above mentioned areas. Towards this end, the vestibule pressurization method was largely used in the past, but the stairwell pressurization method is introducing in recent years. This study attempted to analyze whether air egress velocity suitable for the standards is secured, targeting the actual buildings designed with stairwell pressurization system through numerical analysis. For this, a real-size model for numerical analysis was made by measuring the floor plan, airflow, pressure and flow area of any floor in a fire, and velocity to prevent smoke backflow was analyzed.

An investigation of design parameters that affect commercial high-rise office building energy consumption and demand

There are many factors that drive the energy consumption and demand in high-rise commercial office buildings. Understanding the effects of individual building parameters and two-factor interactions can be very useful for directing building audits and developing energy simulation models. A fractional factorial analysis was conducted to evaluate a large number of building parameters in an effort to quantify their effect on building energy consumption and demand. The analysis utilized building data collected from 22 building audits of high-rise commercial office buildings located in the downtown Chicago Loop area. Simulation results for three of the buildings show the effects of each factor and two-factor interactions on energy consumption and demand over a set of climate zones. The factors of primary importance include lighting and equipment power density, chiller efficiency, window U-value, the mass of interior furnishings and supply fan static pressure.

Total Building Performance Approach in Building Evaluation: Case Study of an Office Building in Singapore

Although the individual building system has been designed to meet the specific performance criteria, the way people will perceive and react to a total office environment is only known after it is in use and subjected to diagnostic. Evaluation of office space has gone beyond looking at a single building requirement. There exists the need to look at the interrelationship of performance mandates to provide healthy buildings for building occupants and most importantly, to reduce energy consumption during the construction and operation of buildings. This study aims to demonstrate the use of total building performance (TBP) evaluation and diagnostic to assess the performance of an existing office building in Singapore. Two floors of the evaluated high-rise commercial building have been evaluated by using the TBP paradigm. Objective measurements and observations (walkthrough) coupled with occupant survey (subjective measurement) has been conducted. The analysis demonstrates that there is concurrence between the objective and subjective measures, and that the holistic approach of TBP elicited the interrelationships between the performance's mandates and constitutes a sound basis for diagnostics and sustainability improvement. This study is significant because it provides an evaluation tool for ensuring sustainable buildings.

Introducing natural lighting into the enclosed lift lobbies of highrise buildings by remote source lighting system

In metropolitan cities like Hong Kong where land value is high, highrise commercial and residential buildings with “central core” design are developed. The lift lobbies in the buildings are usually located in the centre of the building to free up peripheral areas to provide valuable exterior view. The lift lobbies have no window provisions and electric lighting is switched on for 24 h continuously consuming non-renewable energy. Different types of light guides/light pipes have been proven to be capable to transfer daylight into deep floor plan during both clear sky and overcast periods. However, the thickness of light guide requires 3 m headroom clearance for installation whilst the headroom of the highrise buildings is usually limited to 2.8 m in order to build more storeys. In this research, a remote source lighting system (RSL) is introduced to illuminate the enclosed lift lobbies. The system composed of prismatic light pipe and optic fiber to address the problem of limited headroom. Simulation of the system was carried out and reported in the paper, indicating that this lighting system can solve the energy consumption problem in the lift lobby in terms of renewable energy use and natural lighting application. This research concentrates on highrise residential buildings.

Water resource management in Malaysia: legal issues and challenges

The two-wave flood incident in Malaysia in 2006 has raised concerns over the economical, sociological and psychological impact on the victims. Nevertheless, many do not realize that the tragedy has been exacerbated due to the current structure of water resource management system in the country. This paper discusses the complexities of the present legal framework with regard to water resource management in Malaysia. An examination has been made to the current Federal Constitution as well as the Federal legislations. The study proves that the problem related to water resource management in Malaysia is partly due to the unclear division of power between the Federal and the State Governments and the fragmented legislation on Malaysian water. As a developing nation, Malaysia has been experiencing rapid urbanization and development. High-rise commercial buildings have become common and the number of housing estates is rising at an unimaginable rate. These developments do come with some prices. Many of its tropical rainforests, which act as its natural storm water preservation, have been cleared to make way for development. Most of the flood storage has been reduced due to developments extending into and taking over flood plains and the drainage corridor. As a result, many cities in Malaysia like its capital Kuala Lumpur and cities in industralized states like Selangor, Penang and Johore often experience occasional flooding. Although the global change in climate may have contributed to the situation, the inefficient water resource management in the country does play some part in it. This paper aims to look at the existing legal framework of water resource management in the country and identifies problems that may hinder improvement in its water resource management. THE CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 2 IN MALAYSIA Malaysia is a federation of 13 states and three federal territories. The Federal Constitution clearly indicates that water is a state matter, and this includes rivers, lakes, streams and groundwater. This, however, is not exclusive as under the Federal List of the Constitution, the Federal Government has power over certain water-based projects in the state, such as hydropower generation, navigation within ports, marine fisheries and mining. In addition, drainage and irrigation has been stipulated under the Concurrent List, and hence fall under the jurisdiction of both Federal and State Governments. Under Article 76 of the Constitution, the Federal Government has the power to enact any law under the State List for the purpose of achieving uniformity, in compliance with an international treaty, or simply at the request of the state. Nevertheless, these regulations will not be effective unless the State Legislature approves them (1). The Federal Constitution has recently been amended in 2005 to delete the item 'water supply and services' from the State List and insert it in the Concurrent List. This will enable the Federal Govern- ment's involvement in the water services sector and to establish a regulated water services industry. Prior to the amendment, State Governments have established different types of water supply organizations, some fully privatized and some for operation and maintenance. Since privatization

Calibrated building energy simulation and its application in a high-rise commercial building in Shanghai

The method of calibrated computer simulation is summarized on the basis of related literatures and guidelines. It is used to analyze the energy performance of a high-rise commercial building in Shanghai, China. DOE-2 energy model is built up with the detailed data of building and system that are collected on as-built drawings, specifications, operating records and site surveys. Model calibration is conducted on the comparison between simulation output and measured energy use. Energy model is adjusted until statistics indices are met in compliance to applicable standards and guidelines. Calibrated model is used in the performance analysis for energy conservation measures (ECMs) that are about to be implemented in the retrofitting project of the high-rise, including using variable speed chilled water pumps instead of constant variable speed ones, using free cooling during winter and mild seasons, decreasing lighting power densities. Energy saving performance is simulated and calculated to find out which ECM is the best option for the building.

Far-Field Motions in Singapore during the December 2004 and March 2005 Great Sumatra Earthquake and the March 2005 Nias-Simeulue Earthquake

The frequency content of accelerograms, recorded at the basement of the Singapore Republic Plaza (RP) high-rise commercial building during the 26 December 2004 earthquake, was concentrated within a frequency band of 0.04–0.1 Hz. This observation explains why the ground motions did not cause much response in the buildings or by the citizens in Singapore. Occupants of only a few high-rise buildings in Singapore felt the vibrations. A finite element model (FEM) of the RP building computed displacement time histories at the roof level that were similar to the displacement traces obtained by integrating the accelerograms recorded at that level. However, the computed velocity and acceleration responses were not similar to the recorded motions. Ground motions recorded during the 28 March 2005 event were generally larger than the motions recorded during all other previous events, including the 26 December event.

Profitability versus safety of high-rise office buildings

The paper applies a computer-based method involving evolutionary search, Pareto optimization, and color filtering to investigate the tradeoff between the life-cycle profitability of high-rise commercial office buildings and their load-path safety against progressive collapse under abnormal loading. The study was motivated by the progressive-collapse failure of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001. The assessment of life-cycle profitability is based on annual lease rates for office space that reflect the amounts of natural window lighting and open floor area that a building has. The assessment of load-path safety against progressive collapse is based on the degree of force redundancy that the structural system of a building has. For a particular office building project, a multi-criteria genetic algorithm is applied to find a relatively large number of cost-revenue Pareto designs that together form an optimal tradeoff surface in the 3D-space of capital cost, operating cost, and income revenue. Computer color filtering of the cost-revenue tradeoff surface is employed to highlight the relative profitability and safety of the different building designs. It is shown that designs with the most profit potential and those with the most safety potential correspond to buildings that also are the least safe and the least profitable, respectively. Finally, several good compromise building designs having profit and safety potentials that are both reasonable are identified from among a small number of profit-safety Pareto designs. The paper concludes with some general discussion and remarks concerning the design of buildings to withstand or delay progressive collapse under abnormal loading.

Test room measurements and computer simulations of the micro-light guiding shade daylight redirecting device

The micro-light guiding shade is a device that acts to both shade the façade from direct sunlight and distribute daylight deep into sub-tropical buildings. The device was created in response to the need for daylighting technologies that can utilise direct sunlight while maintaining visual and thermal comfort in sub-tropical buildings. The created device has the form of a fixed panel with similar thickness and outward appearance as existing shades, yet performs the dual purposes of shading and light redirection. Experiments and computer lighting simulations were performed to assess the device’s performance in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, implementation, cost and construction issues. Experimental results show that the device provides favourable illumination deep within a room, while reducing glare for room occupants. Computer simulations compare favourably with experimental measurements, and have been used to find the optimal configuration of the panels in various situations. Installation of the device on high rise commercial buildings will reduce reliance on artificial lighting while improving the visual performance of office workers.

A Simplified Correlation Method for Cooling Energy Calculation in High-rise Commercial Buildings

abstractFor economic evaluation of cooling plant equipment in the preliminary design stage, it is necessary to simplify energy prediction method, which should include the efficiency corrected by part-load ratio. This study proposed a simplified correlation method with regression equations of time-average partial loads and chiller capacity. DOE-2 program was used to carry out a parametric study of twelve variables. Five input variables were considered to be significant and were used in the regression equations. To test the accuracy of this method, calculated results were compared with DOE-2 simulated results. Testing showed good agreement between these two results with 5.9-7.6% error. It is hoped that this method can be used as an easy prediction tool for comparing energy use of different cooling plants during the early design stage.

An Investigation into the Construction Performance of High-Rise Commercial Office Buildings Based on Productivity and Resource Consumption

This paper considers recent findings on the comparative performance of high-rise commercial office building construction worldwide. The research comprised a survey of 78 real projects across twelve countries. The proposed hypothesis that increased unit costs, which reflect more complexity or higher quality, translate into decreased productivity rates was not proven to be a strong relationship. A number of other relationships were found to demonstrate strong correlations. The paper concludes by establishing a performance index methodology that can be used to compare construction performance across projects.

Radon mitigation by depressurization of concrete walls and slabs.

A special laboratory, the Radioisotope Unit Radon Analysis Laboratory, has been built for the study of radon mitigation in high-rise buildings. Reduction of radon exhalation rate from concrete walls as a result of depressurizing the interior of the wall was studied by embedding tunnels in a wall and pumping away the radon in the wall. The reduction in exhalation rate was quantified against the applied depressurization, the separation of the tunnels, the depth of the tunnel, and the thickness of the wall. Results show that radon exhalation rate from a wall embedded with tunnels can be reduced significantly by applying depressurization. For example, the radon exhalation rate from a wall of 20 cm thickness containing tunnels separated by 0.7 m can be reduced by 60% at a depressurization of 67 kPa (20 in Hg). This paper summarizes the effect of depressurization and suggests practical ways of applying the technique in radon mitigation in high-rise commercial buildings.

Sources of Indoor Air Contamination on the Ground Floor of a High-Rise Commercial Building

Indoor air quality is a subject of growing concern in the developed world. Many sources of indoor air contamination in commercial and office buildings are recognised and have been investigated. In addition to the usual internal sources of air contaminants, other external sources from attached facilities can find their way into the building. This report presents the results of an indoor air quality survey in a high-rise office building which demonstrated an obvious seasonal change in regard to the concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂). Furthermore, a complementary survey in the same building was carried out to identify the relevant sources of air contamination in the building and the results indicated that an attached train station and the nearby street traffic had a significant impact on indoor air quality.

Sources of Indoor Air Contamination on the Ground Floor of a High-Rise Commercial Building

Indoor air quality is a subject of growing concern in the developed world. Many sources of indoor air contamina tion in commercial and office buildings are recognised and have been investigated. In addition to the usual internal sources of air contaminants, other external sources from attached facilities can find their way into the building. This report presents the results of an indoor air quality survey in a high-rise office building which demonstrated an obvious seasonal change in regard to the concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Furthermore, a comple mentary survey in the same building was carried out to identify the relevant sources of air contamination in the building and the results indicated that an attached train station and the nearby street traffic had a significant impact on indoor air quality.