Scope Of Building Research Articles

Potential use of rainwater as a tool for fire stations and firefighting: Literature review, environmental and cost assessments

Few studies in the literature integrate rainwater harvesting and firefighting. Thus, the general objective of this paper was to evaluate the potential use of rainwater as a source of water for firefighting. To do so, two approaches were proposed for the assessment. The first approach was the analysis of the existing literature. Two databases were evaluated as references in engineering fields, of which 32 articles mentioned rainwater as an alternative for firefighting. The main result of the review was the scarcity of articles in the area under study, with some of the existing articles focusing on forest fires. In contrast, others analysed the use of rainwater within the scope of buildings or fire stations. The second approach involved a case study that started by analysing the fire statistics provided by the Military Fire Department of the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. It was observed that, between 2017 and 2020, building fires represented 25 % of the state's fires and 50 % of the water consumption in firefighting, while the rest of the fire occurrences represented the other half of water consumption. Rainwater can be used not only to reduce the total consumption of potable water but also as a logistics tool towards better response time in the event of a fire. With the firefighting water demand obtained, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach was performed to assess the potential environmental optimisation in a simplified scope. It was performed in a cradle-to-gate approach, leaving the potential optimisations in transport and logistics apart. Also, a cost assessment was carried out, obtaining a much lower cost for firefighting and providing financial savings for fire stations. As a result, rainwater is expected to decrease environmental impacts, help logistics in fire and save money for fire supression.

Recruiting, training and managing a sensory panel in odor nuisance testing.

A growing level of environmental awareness in societies has led to an increased interest in the odor nuisance. Residents' complaints have ultimately revealed the need to develop adequate research methods that would ensure objective measurements, thus shedding more light on this complex problem. One of the possible ways to conduct an objective odor assessment is to use a sensory panel in the tests. This paper presents the procedure for selecting and training the sensory analysis team especially for the purposes of odor nuisance testing. Several useful suggestions for conducting studies that involve a sensory panel are also provided. This in turn can prove a useful tool, supplementing the EN 13725 standard within the scope of building and convening a sensory panel. In this paper a performance comparison of two sensory panels is also discussed: one that received a basic training of 20h, solely based on the guidelines of the EN 13725 standard and another, whose members completed an extended training of 60h, based on the standards and guidelines used in the field of sensory analysis. It has been shown that acquiring more knowledge and developing certain competences in the field of sensory analysis may contribute to an increase in the overall and individual precision of determinations as adequate sensory training improves the panel's performance.

Scientific-technical progress and transport as essential factors of territorial organization of building-industrial complexes

Industrialization calls significant changes into traditional methods of building and precondition the transfer of some portion of the process of building from building sites to steady-state plant conditions. It is now due to assemblable parts, prefabricated structures and plant production of ready-to-use oversize blocks and parts that that the scope of works on building sites is essentially resuced. The process of building is characteristic for different forms of its organization that manifests itself in specialization, concentration, cooperation and combination. Development of these forms results in deeper specialization of labor, as well as in deepening of sectoral and technological specialization supported by transport means. A scope of building and assembly within specific territory leads to concentration of big number of building organizations. Concentration of building-related companies and organizations predefines the necessity of coordination of their efforts. The speed of construction requires still deeper specialization. The stage-based process of building rooted in by the technologies requires strict organization between inter-unit attachments that produce building materials, parts and constructions, and those that build. The pre-planned organization between the participants of the process of building is reached by way of cooperation. Coordination of the scope of building between the companies and organizations is executed by the general contraction organization that is responsible for the whole construction. Cooperation of contracting and subcontracting general building and special organizations is helpful in such coordination and timely completion of works. It is due to transport that cooperation involves local and remote companies and organizations. In the aspect of territory, these companies and organizations form district inter-district, regional, inter-regional, and international links that make up the basis for the formation of building-industrial complexes. Development of the levels and forms of territorial organization of building-industrial complexes depends on the scope of building, natural and economic specificities of the area, and the level of provision with material-technical and industrial-material bases, etc. Carpathian administrative oblasts are the territories with sufficiently developed material-technical and industrial-material bases. This means that they possess highly qualified staff and may use the systems of special highly productive building machines and mechanisms, implement automation of some technological operations, and, with well-organized transport system, therefore improve territorial forms of the process of building. Transport within the system of productions in building industry has internal and external functions. The internal function of transport lies in provision of technological processes of building (technological transport). The material-technical basis of this kind of transport is predominantly concentrated in building-related companies and organizations. The external function is performed by transport means that provide the process of building with necessary material resources. It is, as a rule, the transport of different companies and organizations that specialize in distant transportations. Their material base has no relation to the same of the building industry. The level of development of internal transport depends on equipment status of building companies and organizations, and building technological achievements on the level of country and some of its regions. The level of development of external transport is provided by the level of development of the whole transport system of the state and its each separate region in particular. In both cases, transport represents an important factor that effects on the formation of building-industrial complexes of every level of development. The division into internal and external transport is conventional, since each of them can perform both functions. The work of the transport system significantly depends on the development of transport network, which is too far in Ukraine from the present-day world standards. However, the transport means themselves used in this country are in the majority of cases the production of known world companies. Geographical disposition and specificities of economic development have predefined the formation of practically all types of transport on the territory of Ukraine. Railway and automobile transport are the leading types in all economic rayons of the country, while pipeline, water and air kinds of transport are well developed in some other rayons. The total length of public road network in Ukraine was 169,5 thousand km in 2019, railway lines – 22,0 thousand km, river navigable waterways – 2,3 thousand km. Automobile roads and railway constitute the basis of the transport network in the Carpathian oblasts. The highest density of roads is found in the Lviv Oblast (over 60 km/1000 km2. The best provision with auto-roads is observed in the Chernivtsi and the Lviv oblasts. It is only natural that mountain regions suffer from worse provision with communications than those in plain and pre-mountain territories. Automobile and railway transport play the key role in provision of the process of building.

The Impact of Historic Building Preservation in Urban Economics: Focusing on Accommodation Prices in Jeonju Hanok Village, South Korea

The preservation of historic buildings, based on economic value, has long been discussed in developed countries. On the other hand, in Korea, where the history of preservation is relatively short, discussions have only recently started. Related to this, a discussion regarding the scope of buildings that need to be protected in relation to urban planning is needed. This study analyzes the Jeonju Hanok Village, a tourist destination where Hanok—the traditional Korean architectural type—is highly concentrated. The study provides evidence for the economic impact of historic building preservation with respect to rarity, experience and agglomeration, based on the price analysis of accommodations. As a result, the accommodation prices of Hanok were found to be higher despite being older. The relation between accommodation prices and building age was quadratic, which revealed that buildings that have become rare attained accommodation prices similar to new buildings. Also, it was found that the prices increased with the provision of traditional activities and meal services. Lastly, the price was higher in the area where Hanok was agglomerated. The results suggested that the preservation of buildings should not only be justified on cultural grounds but also economic grounds, based on market demand and the fact that such preservation could contribute meaningfully toward sustainable development.

Ekspresi puitik sakral pada bentuk arsitektur Gereja Protestan di Indonesia bagian Barat (GPIB) Paulus di Jakarta

Arsitektur Gereja menampilkan ekspresi fungsinya secara berlapis. Lapis pertama dapat ditangkap secara perseptual melalui ekspresinya yang menunjukkan fungsi sakral. Lapis selanjutnya ditangkap secara asosiatif pada ekspresinya yang terpengaruh dari tradisi dan ideologi Gereja. Pada lapis yang tertinggi ekspresi sakral ditampilkan secara puitik. Ekspresi puitik yang tampil dalam arsitektur Gereja sangat mendukung fungsi sakralnya. Sifat puitik yang menggugah perasaan dan membangkitkan imajinasi sangat sesuai dengan fungsi sakral Gereja sebagai sebuah ambang yang menandai perbedaan dunia profan dan sakral, untuk mengantarkan jemaat kepada Allah yang disembahnya. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menelusuri seluruh hubungan yang terjalin antara bentuk dan ruang arsitektur Gereja (GPIB) Paulus dengan ekspresi puitik sakral yang ditampilkan. Hasil penelitian diharapkan dapat menambah perbendaharaan konsep tentang arsitektur Gereja serta bagi penelitian-penelitian yang terkait. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah pertama, menggambar ulang bangunan GPIB Paulus, untuk mendapat pemahaman bentuk arsitektural yang tepat. Kemudian kedua, menganalisis tampilan bentuk arsitektur gereja. Analisis berlandas pada acuan membaca ekspresi puitik sakral, yang dirumuskan melalui elaborasi konsep lapis makna puitik sakral pada properti dan komposisi arsitektur di setiap lingkup arsitektur, yang meliputi lingkup lingkungan, lingkup tapak, lingkup bentuk bangunan, dan lingkup sosok bangunan. Berdasar hasil analisis dapat ditelusuri konsep lapis makna puitik sakral pada arsitektur Gereja Paulus. Hasil studi menyimpulkan bahwa arsitektur Gereja Paulus dalam lingkup tapak, bentuk, dan sosok bangunan menampilkan ekspresi sakral pada tingkat perseptual dan asosiatif. Dalam lingkup lingkungan arsitektur Gereja (GPIB) Paulus menampilkan ekspresi sakral pada tingkat yang puitik dari bentuk bangunannya. Proporsi atap berbentuk salib dengan menara yang menjulang tampil kontras dalam tatanan bentang alam yang berada di hadapannya, membangkitkan imajinasi tentang kediaman Allah di tempat maha tinggi.

Toward a European Eco-label brand for residential buildings: Holistic or by-components approaches?

The Eco-label scheme is becoming ever more important in the environmental certification of products and services, especially in light of the recent ambitious aim of containing greenhouse emissions and improving the efficiency of utilizing energy sources. A recently introduced hypothesis concerns the European Eco-label scheme relating to buildings, in the awareness that the construction industry is of primary importance to the whole economic and social life of states. This scheme should adopt an integrated approach to environmental problems and include construction, day-to-day management, and the possible disposal of building materials, throughout the life cycle of the building. In addition, in consideration of the particular scope of buildings, the main aim of this new scheme should also be to ensure enhanced conditions of comfort to the occupants of these buildings. In sight of this challenge, the building can be regarded as a summation of components (each of them characterized by a given level of environmental quality) or as a unique physical entity aimed at delivering suitable indoor condition to occupants with an assigned amount of primary energy and with a limited impact on the natural environment. In the paper, both approaches will be investigated, keeping also in mind the initiatives that are currently on the ground in the aim of establishing ecological criteria for the award of the Community Eco-label for buildings.