Integrated Environmental Solutions Research Articles

The impact of a kinetic façade on the lighting performance and energy efficiency of a public building: the case of Dubai frame

ABSTRACT This paper proposes a novel framework for selecting a kinetic system strategy to enhance the performance of the building while preserving its architectural concepts. Dubai Frame, which is one of the most iconic buildings in Dubai, was chosen to act as a case study. A parametric model was developed for adjusting the opening ratios of the panel’s solid parts in the façade geometrics using the Grasshopper plugin in Rhino. Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES) simulation software was used and validated by calibration of the actual monthly electricity bills and real measurement of lux value against the predicted readings. The simulation assessed the total energy savings in terms of electricity and cooling loads and cost savings in terms of the KW per hour of electricity generated. In addition, it examined daylight illuminance levels for nine scenarios of the proposed kinetic system. The research has revealed several important results that include the finding that the optimal kinetic system results in 20% energy savings and 31% reduction in daylight illuminance levels while taking into account the current situation of the building and its aesthetic values. Abbreviations: UAE, United Arab Emirates; IEQ, Indoor Environmental Quality; PCM, Phase change materials; ASHRAE, The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers; LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design system; HVAC, Heating, ventilation and air conditioning; RH, Relative Humidity; WWR, Window Wall Ratio; LR, Literature Review; RSMF, Room Surface maintenance factor; LMF, Luminaire maintenance factor; VAT, Value added tax; IHG, Internal Heat Gains

An intelligent HVAC control strategy for supplying comfortable and energy-efficient school environment

In South Korea, school buildings require significant energy inputs for heating and air-conditioning, and the majority of the occupants are adolescent students, whose health and cognitive performance are vulnerable to poor indoor air quality (IAQ) and thermal discomfort. Using field measurements, some previous studies have reported that some Korean schools have poor IAQ and thermal conditions. Thus, it is necessary to develop effective heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) control strategies to improve the indoor environment and reduce energy consumption. Therefore, this study proposes an intelligent HVAC integrated control strategy that can improve indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and reduce energy consumption in school buildings. The proposed strategy utilizes an integrated neural network prediction model for IEQ and a heuristic method that can optimize control objectives (i.e., the predicted mean vote [PMV], carbon dioxide [CO2], particulate matter with diameters of 10 and 2.5 μm [PM10 and PM2.5, respectively], and HVAC energy consumption). To evaluate the control performance of the proposed strategy, the present study employs two base algorithms (i.e., a rule-based and a non-adaptive control approach) under non-disturbance and forcing disturbance scenarios. The control failure period for PMV is found to be 1.6420% and 9.4773% of the total occupancy period under the non-disturbance and forcing disturbance scenarios, respectively, while CO2 control failure does not occur under either scenario. The control failure periods for PM10 and PM2.5 were 5.1676%, and 7.1844%, respectively, under forcing disturbance. Under the non-disturbance scenario, the proposed strategy consumed 2,467.07 kWh and 870,26 kWh for heating and cooling, respectively, representing 91.1% and 84.08% of that for the rule-based algorithm. The proposed strategy can thus effectively improve the IEQ of a building and has the potential for use in the development of integrated environmental management solutions for buildings.

Relationship of shading devices and its effects on daylight in Commercial buildings in Pune

Day lighting is a critical part of visual environment in workspaces. It creates a sense of well-being and contributes to the efficiency of the occupants. Research has established that solar radiation admitted through the windows have serious effects on visual comfort of the occupants in the indoor spaces. Use of solar shading devices can address glare problems. This signifies the need for design of optimal shading devices that increase daylight levels with desirable control on excessive sunlight with an aim to reduce glare and discomfort for the occupants. In this research various configurations of conventional shading devices used for commercial buildings located in Pune, India was examined. A typical commercial building is modelled using the simulation program Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES) where existing as well as different identified configuration of shading devices was analysed for daylight performance and visual comfort with respect to amount and uniformity of illumination with Radiance rendering tool. The analysis indicated that use of appropriate shading device result in improved visual comfort for occupants. The performance of different shading device presented aimed to help architects to select suitable shading device in order to contribute to sustainability aspects of office buildings in warm and humid climatic regions.

Validating integrated environmental solutions software for air temperature of a typical Malaysian recessed wall façade office building

Technological advances have assisted in the development of modern software tools which can be used to assess and improve the energy efficiency of a building at the early stage of conceptual design. However, this study aims at validating the accuracy of one of the paramount building simulation software Integrated Environmental Solutions - Virtual Environment (IES-VE), widely used today. The methodology of this study involves physical measurements and simulation exercises. A longitudinal physical measurement was carried out using HOBO ware U-12 in 5 different points of the room space from 18th October to 4th December 2016. But, for validation, a critical atmospheric day (21st November 2016) was selected for the comparison. The room air temperature was first measured before comparing it to the simulated air temperature obtained from IES<VE>. After several analyses, the comparison of the measured room air temperature and simulation results showed similarity, discrepancy, closeness, significance, and accuracy. The investigation findings revealed a percentage discrepancy of 11.03%, which is less than the threshold of 20% between the measured and simulated air temperature of the case study model. Other findings show that: R2 = 0.98, MBE = 0.8, °C and RMSE = 1.70°C are all within the acceptable values of significance between the two data. These results signify that IES-VE is valid, accurate, and applicable for this study’s further Building Performance Simulation (BPS)

To what extent can solar control be effective in enhancing indoor comfort in a fully glazed office building?

It is acknowledged that people spend almost 90 percent of their time in indoor spaces. Therefore, achieving a comfortable indoor environment that encourages productivity is crucial, particularly in office buildings. This paper investigates the design and performance of a modern office building in London characterized by fully glazed facades of open plan office spaces with no natural ventilation. The purpose of the research is to investigate the correlations between the control of direct solar radiation access and the effect on occupants’ thermal comfort in the summer followed by assessing the potential effect of the application of passive solar shading on thermal comfort levels in the office spaces. The research methodology involves a survey questionnaire undertaken with employees of the office building, followed by dynamic thermal modelling of the building using Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES) software. The questionnaire has been designed to understand occupants’ experiences within their office spaces and their strategies to improve the indoor environment. Furthermore, IES modelling and simulation provide in depth understanding of the building thermal performance and investigating the solar shading strategies. Overall, 66 questionnaire forms were completed where preliminary results demonstrated that most employees relied heavily on secondary cooling and heating systems to adjust the indoor air temperature for more satisfactory thermal comfort levels in their office spaces. The building modelling and simulation is used to quantify the direct solar radiation accessing the office space, the risks of overheating and the potential impact of solar control on occupants’ indoor comfort. The findings from this study demonstrate the potentially high hours of discomfort in the summer within the office spaces mainly due to the lack of control of direct solar access through the extensive area of glazed facades. In order to maintain the thermal environment within the comfort level threshold in the warmer seasons a solar shading strategy should be considered.

Assessing different glazing to achieve better lighting performance of office buildings in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

The aim of this paper is to assess different glazing types and in order to achieve better illuminance levels. A real office building in Dubai was chosen to act as a case study. Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES) simulation software was used and was validated by calibration of the real measurement of air temperature and lux value against the predicted readings. The simulation assessed the performance of many strategies including krypton, xenon gas filled double glazing, reflective coating glazing, photovoltaics glazing, white powder glazing, 400 MM projection shade, begonia panels, human eye panels, mirrored begonia panels, insect-eye panel and Mashrabiya. The paper revealed many interesting findings, for instance, single glazing provides a lux value of 300–500 in the UAE which is considered visually comfortable. It was also concluded that the use of Mashrabiya as tinted glazing could lower the cooling load by 23%. Filling the glazing with gases such as krypton or xenon can help to improve the lux value and lower the U-value for office buildings in the UAE. The results will inspire architects and designers not only in UAE, but similar countries share environmental and climatically contexts.

Assessing overheating risk and thermal comfort in state-of-the-art prototype houses that combat exacerbated climate change in UK

There is growing evidence that terraced houses—thermally lightweight, well insulated, naturally ventilated with three exposed wall surfaces—are at risk of overheating, especially in south-eastern England. The aim of this study is to evaluate the building performance and develop a reliable building simulation, which will be employed in the second phase of the study: developing affordable and feasible passive design strategies to support the energy-efficient building systems of the construction industry. This paper reports on the results from the first phase of the study where a quantitative methodology, including indoor and outdoor environmental monitoring, in-situ measurements and building simulation modelling, was adopted. The performance of a case study was modelled and simulated via employing Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES) software suite.The results from the base-case were analysed according to the adaptive thermal comfort of Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) Technical Memorandum 52 guidelines: The Limits of Thermal Comfort—Avoiding Overheating in European Buildings. The spaces studied within the case study house were observed to exceed the acceptable limits of thermal comfort; particularly, the large bedroom within this zone exceeded the upper limit for overheating up to 11 h daily. Furthermore, the results from the monitoring study indicate a high risk of summertime overheating across all the case study settings, especially during short-term peaks in outdoor temperatures. The main reasons for the problematic thermal performance were identified as well-insulated and fully air-tight building fabric, the lack of sufficient ventilation through the living spaces and excessive heat gains through the composite cladding material.

Simulation study using building-design energy analysis to estimate energy consumption of refrigerated container

Refrigerated containers account for half of the total electricity consumption by storage yards and that this is expected to increase continuously each year. A refrigerated container is a special cargo container equipped with an integral refrigeration unit. The amount of power consumption of the refrigerated container will change depending on many external variables. Environmental factors mainly solar radiation received on the container walls caused surface temperatures increase will then affect the power consumption. This paper provides a simulation study on the estimation of energy consumption of refrigerated container. The simulation model performed on the building-design energy analysis used Integrated Environmental Solution (IES) software packages. The geometry of simulation model considers the actual dimension of refrigerated container consists of insulation walls in the three-dimensional analysis. Physical properties of the insulation walls and environmental factors used weather data are applied to the simulation model as parameter inputs. Estimation of energy consumption of the model based on the calculation of cooling load from the object considers the thermal effect from the sun energy. The measurement data from the experimentation was conducted by Shinoda and Budiyanto (2016) used as validation of simulation model. The comparison of energy consumption from simulation and measurement shows in shows in good agreement.

Study of an integrated personalized ventilation and local fan-induced active chilled beam air conditioning system in hot and humid climate

A novel integrated personalized ventilation and local fan-induced active chilled beam (PV-ACB) air conditioning system is proposed and analyzed through energy and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation methods. Energy performance and indoor environmental conditions of this system are investigated via Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES) and ANSYS Fluent respectively. Energy simulation results illustrate that PV-ACB system, compared with the conventional variable air volume (VAV) system, could achieve 16% energy savings at 100% peak cooling load. A maximum 42% energy savings is obtained at 25% part cooling load, indicating the superior energy saving potential under part load conditions. Vertical thermal stratification is observed in CFD simulation results, 23–24 °C at the occupant level (0–2 m) and 26–27 °C in the upper zone (2–4 m). Horizontally, temperature around occupants is 22–23 °C, lower than the temperature of 26–27 °C in other areas, demonstrating the horizontal temperature difference caused by the conditioned outdoor air from personalized ventilation. Both energy and CFD simulation results illustrate that this novel PV-ACB air conditioning system is able to achieve considerable energy savings, superior occupant thermal comfort and enhanced indoor air quality (IAQ).

Harvesting 3D Multiphysics Modeling Techniques for Smart and Sustainable University Campus

The EcoCampus Initiative is a novel flagship RD&D programme built on applied research and test-bedding of innovative technologies. The initiative covers the whole of Nanyang Technological University’s (NTU) 200-hectare campus and adjoining 50 hectares JTC Corporation’s CleanTech Park. The initiative was launched with a mission to achieve an impactful target of a 35% reduction in energy, water and waste intensity by 2020 (baseline, 2011), while leading the development and adoption of innovative technologies.The initiative has successfully collaborated with more than 20 industries and provided them the campus as testbed. The challenge ahead is to scrutinize the tested technologies, determine the best performing ones and find out the most optimum scale and location for their deployment.To aid such decision making, EcoCampus has collaborated with IES (Integrated Environmental Solutions) to exploit their IESVE™ technology. The project aims at developing a Multiphysics 3D Virtual Model of the campus that can virtually simulate the technologies through advanced Multiphysics modelling techniques. In addition to the technology performance analysis, IES’ innovative process solution, Ci2 (Collect, Investigate, Compare, Invest), is deployed to optimize the building performance in NTU Campus. The process focusses on Collecting historical data and identifying data gaps. This is followed by Investigating data using advanced IESVE™ analytics. This stage provides insights that may be hidden within the existing data. Once the story behind the data is known, the data is Compared against a calibrated model. Benchmarking analysis, decisions on refurbishing etc. are made during this stage. ROI, payback periods, NPV etc., prediction is also made in ‘Compare’ stage. Lastly, the Invest stage helps the decision makers to determine and prioritise the most attractive investment solutions for a sustainable and energy efficient operational building. This paper focuses on requirements for setting up a design model and modifying it to understand building behaviour.

Bridging the gap between energy consumption and the indoor environmental quality of a 1960s educational building

The fundamental purpose of a building has evolved from merely providing protection from external environmental climate to more emphasis on integrating building services through building regulations to provide the synergy of comfort, efficiency and safety to the indoor environment. This research recognizes the rising demand and increasing quality of indoor environmental quality (IEQ) in the modern society compared to the acceptable level of previous traditional buildings. Generally due to its varied operations, educational buildings, in this case University libraries have its own set of challenges and barriers such as minimizing damages and decay of books and maintaining indoor conditions with an oversight of providing good IEQ to occupants. This paper presents a detailed evaluation of a 1960s-educational library with 24-hour access at the University of Reading. Through in-situ measurements, modelling and simulations of the building’s energy consumption, IEQ parameters and occupancy patterns, investigations have been performed. Varied scenarios using the Integrated Environmental Solution (IES) software were also investigated. The findings illustrate that due to mixed façade configuration (i.e. sandstone and bricks) there is the unflinching need to balance aesthetics of the facade and functionality of a building to reduce excessive energy use via heating, without compromising on occupant comfort and well-being Although it is envisaged that refurbishing the library building will provide energy savings of up to 40%, this is farfetched and can only be achieved at the detriment of occupant comfort levels as evident in the simulation results, where these savings could not be realised. This paper further discusses the methods, scenarios, and results of ensuring good IEQ, comfort and energy efficiency are not been seen as mutually exclusive. This study forms part of ongoing research into the impact of educational buildings.

Financial Viability of Energy Conservation Using Natural Light in an Academic Building in Temperate Zone

The environment of a regularly occupied space can be extensively improved by maximum utilization of natural light/daylight, which is available in abundance. In Indian climate, availability of sufficient day light in both direct and diffused form of radiation can lead to reduction in dependency on artificial lighting thus, decreasing energy demand for artificial lighting system. In this study, an institutional building in New Delhi, India is analyzed for its daylighting characteristics. The academic block of a building comprising all categories of regularly spaces is modeled and simulated using Integrated environmental solutions - virtual environment (IES VE). The objective is to analyze the extent of penetration of natural light into these spaces of the building for reducing energy requirement for artificial lighting by studying a room, which performs the worst as per present case parameters. The conclusion puts forth the optimal solutions for utilizing maximum day light in a work space, complying with standards set forth by building construction council by utilizing the principles for increasing luminous flux level through visual light transmittance, window-to-wall ratio, and controlled usage of artificial lighting. Considering all these factors in the analysis, energy savings and carbon mitigation due to these savings in regularly occupied spaces are finally evaluated.

Investigating the effect of well geometry on the daylight performance in the adjoining spaces of vertical top-lit atrium buildings

This study investigated the impact of well geometry on the amount of daylight availability in the adjoining spaces around atria with vertical top-lit forms under overcast sky condition in Malaysia. The daylight levels in the central south office rooms were derived from scale model measurements, and predictions from the lighting simulation program Radiance in Integrated Environmental Solution <Virtual Environment>. A comparison of measured data and simulations has validated Radiance simulations of atrium daylighting. The simulations show generally good agreement with physical model measurements. More simulated data of average daylight factor for a very wide range of atrium geometries are given. Findings of this research develop an atrium with optimum geometric proportions to create office spaces with enough potential for daylight utilisation. It demonstrates that a model of atrium with atrium's plan aspect ratio 1/3, atrium's section aspect ratio 1, and 3/8 atrium clerestory to atrium height is the most proper model of atrium for providing the sufficient daylight in the adjacent spaces of vertical top-lit atrium. This research will present a demonstration and general guide for the designers to predict daylighting performance of an atrium building in the tropical climate regions.

The significance of using local predicted temperature for cooling load simulation in the tropics

In building energy simulation, researchers commonly use weather data obtained from the software database or (meteorological) MET station. However, this method leads to disparity of urban-rural temperature condition, hence the input weather data do not characterize the on-site condition. This paper highlights the importance of generating and implementing the urbanized weather data, primarily on the ambient temperature. A parametric approach was used to create hundreds urban layouts of the hypothetical office block plan. An annual temperature profile was generated for each scenario using the Screening Tool for Estate Environment Evaluation (STEVE) tool. It was found that the local average temperature (Tavg) and peak afternoon period (Tmax) from these scenarios could differ 1–2°C and 1.2–3.5°C respectively as compared to the MET station data. Using Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES) to simulate the thermal load performance, this temperature difference can lead to an approximately 8% difference in the predicted cooling load, 20% in external conduction gain, and 17% in fresh air intake gain. These numbers can be deemed substantial in simulating building performance, especially cooling load due to changes in the external condition. Furthermore, the comparison proves to be significant in term of enhancing the simulation result and representing the studied area.

Significance of Boundary Conditions Towards Sustainable Housing Strategies: A Case Study of Mysore, India

Background : For developing nations the development of sustainable communities has to go hand in hand with the achievement of wider goals, where emphasis has to be given to the importance of lifestyle and social change. This inter- disciplinary research draws understanding from the social, cultural and economic studies to define the values and aspirations of the middle class and the associated implications for sustainable housing. Middle class mores are aspirational and aim to achieve Western living standards, moving away from a traditional communitarian social model. Methods and Results : This research presents the results of extensive field work in the Southern-Indian city of Mysore that defines the values held by the emergent middle class in respect to the built environment. Common areas and shared spaces have traditionally been very actively used and have played a crucial role in both passive cooling strategies and the maintenance of socially sustainable commu- nities. Fieldwork shows that attitudes to the built environment are polarised between well-maintained and protected housing interiors and poorly organised and main- tained external spaces and examines how these transition spaces are used to reflect these values and concerns. Possible options for the external boundary conditions are tested by generating 3D models and applying an environmental design method, Inte- grated Environmental Solutions (IES). Conclusion : The paper reflects on whether earlier traditions in sustainable building design in South Asia (Mysore) have rele- vance in a contemporary context and the importance of understanding the changing preferences and values of the newly affluent demographic..

Natural ventilation in Beirut residential buildings for extended comfort hours

This paper examines the effectiveness of natural ventilation in Beirut for the purpose of extending comfort periods within living and sleeping zones of the residential buildings. A field survey is conducted to estimate the common window opening and degree profiles. A base case model representing a typical residential apartment located in Beirut was then adopted in integrated environmental solutions (IES) software and calibrated by experimentation through monitoring simulated and measured data indoor. The calibrated IES model was used to evaluate typical wall layering and building local materials and their role in improving indoor comfort with natural ventilation. The simulation results showed that an optimal wall configuration of higher insulation and capacitance, comprised of a 5 cm layer of strawboard sandwiched between a 2 cm × 10 cm wall of masonry Hempcrete units, achieved the highest degree of thermal comfort and enhanced comfort in winter season when compared to the base case.

Energy retrofit and occupant behaviour in protected housing: A case study of the Brunswick Centre in London

• Behaviour change has the highest energy-saving potential in listed housing retrofit. • The impact of behaviour change can range up to 62–86% of the total energy saving. • The lower behaviour change effect is associated with a higher retrofit level. • Heating temperature has the highest impact on energy use amongst behaviour variables. This study examines the impact of behavioural and physical variables on the energy saving from retrofitting protected housing. Protected housing in England is referred to as ‘listed’ housing managed by English Heritage. The result of the study demonstrates that balanced approaches can be developed to retrofit listed housing by taking into account occupant behaviour factors, to meet the requirement of both energy efficiency and heritage conservation. A case study of the Brunswick Centre in London shows that the highest household energy use can be 2.2 times higher than average consumption. According to the modelling results from Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES) software, the impact of positive behavioural change ranges up to 62–86% of the total potential savings in the tested dwellings, where the lower behaviour change effect is associated with a higher retrofit level. However, rebound behaviour could offset estimated energy saving from physical improvement. Based on the findings, a framework of intervention measures is developed, which demonstrates that the proportion for behavioural change and building technology varies with respect to household energy use level. In summary, this study shows that in listed housing behavioural change has the potential to bring substantial energy saving far exceeding that from physical improvements, and thus tackling behavioural change plays a pivotal role in developing integrative strategies for listed housing retrofit.

Effects of Roof Insulation on the Thermal Conditions of a Medium Scaled Tropical Enclosed Giant Freshwater Prawn (<i>Macrobrachium rosenbergii</i>) Hatchery

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of roof thermal insulation on the indoor thermal environment of an existing enclosed giant freshwater prawn hatchery in relation to human thermal comfort and the thermal requirement for optimal larval growth. A typical medium scaled enclosed hatchery in Ipoh, Malaysia was chosen for this study. Thermal performances of five thermal insulation materials installed on the roof of the building were studied using Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES) Virtual Environment software. Results showed no significant differences for indoor air temperatures reduction among the insulation materials. However, the installation of roof insulation gave a cooler indoor thermal environment and provided a suitable water temperature/ improved water thermal condition for the prawn larviculture. The study also suggested the aluminium foil was the best insulation for the partially transparent roof of the building.

Thermal and Energy Performance of Pitch and Wall Insulation for Air-Conditioned Buildings in Malaysia

Thermal design of building envelope and microclimatic conditions influence the indoor thermal comfort conditions and energy consumption of buildings. This paper presents the findings of study conducted to investigate the effect of building insulation on thermal impact and energy for cooling. The study were performed via computer simulation using a whole-building thermal energy software Integrated Environmental Solution (IES) with ApacheSim 5.9.2. The results show that pitch insulation (PITCH) was more effective to reduce the attic temperature but both pitch and wall insulation (WALL) had nominal thermal improvement for the indoor. However, compared to the BASE model, WALL model gave a significant savings of 41% for cooling

Evidence-based integrated environmental solutions for secondary lead smelters: Pollution prevention and waste minimization technologies and practices

An evidence-based methodology was adopted in this research to establish strategies to increase lead recovery and recycling via a systematic review and critical appraisal of the published literature. In particular, the research examines pollution prevention and waste minimization practices and technologies that meet the following criteria: (a) reduce/recover/recycle the largest quantities of lead currently being disposed of as waste, (b) technically and economically viable, that is, ready to be diffused and easily transferable, and (c) strong industry interest (i.e., industry would consider implementing projects with higher payback periods). The following specific aims are designed to achieve the study objectives: Aim 1 – To describe the recycling process of recovering refined lead from scrap; Aim 2 – To document pollution prevention and waste management technologies and practices adopted by US stakeholders along the trajectory of LAB and lead product life cycle; Aim 3 – To explore improved practices and technologies which are employed by other organizations with an emphasis on the aforementioned criteria; Aim 4 – To demonstrate the economic and environmental costs and benefits of applying improved technologies and practices to existing US smelting operations; and Aim 5 – To evaluate improved environmental technologies and practices using an algorithm that integrates quantitative and qualitative criteria. The process of identifying relevant articles and reports was documented. The description of evidence was presented for current practices and technologies used by US smelters as well as improved practices and technologies. Options for integrated environmental solutions for secondary smelters were introduced and rank ordered on the basis of costs (i.e., capital investment) and benefits (i.e., production increases, energy and flux savings, and reduction of SO 2 and slag). An example was provided to demonstrate the utility of the algorithm by detailing the costs and benefits associated with different combinations of practices and technologies. The evidence-based methodology documented in this research reveals that it is technically and economically feasible to implement integrated environmental solutions to increase lead recovery and recycling among US smelters. The working example presented in this research can be confirmed with US stakeholders and form the basis for implementable solutions in the lead smelter and product industries to help reverse the overall trend of declining life-cycle recycling rates.