Building Systems Research Articles

Design and building system analysis on the smart fisheries village (SFV) website at the banyuwangi fisheries training and counseling center

This research aims to analyze and design a smart fisheries village-based website system to facilitate back-end, front-end, and UI/UX designers in the application of website creation according to the needs desired by the agency and with an organized database so that the creation of data reports will be faster. The early stages of the research began with the identification of the the specific needs of fishing villages and involved an in-depth analysis of the system needs that supported the vision of the Smart Fisheries Village. The design began with data collection consisting of observation methods and interviews, where researchers interviewed the authorities. In this method, the author gives 5 questions to the user, data analysis, and design of the Unified Modeling Language (UML). The design of this SFV web system uses a Unified Modeling Language (UML), which involves the use of diagrams and UML notation to describe various aspects of the system visually. The results of this study include UML diagrams, which encompass activity diagrams (for users and admins), flow diagrams (for users and admins), use case diagrams (for users and admins), and class diagrams that have undergone 4-5 iterations. The design of the Smart Fisheries Village website system is necessary to improve the welfare of the fishing village. Contributions of this research include the standardization of modeling, increased productivity, improved analysis and planning, and improved understanding. Previous research might have concentrated on a single type of system or domain. However, research should be expanded to various types of systems and industries.

AERODYNAMIC HIGH-RISE BUILDING IN STRUCTURAL REVIEW AND DESIGN INTEGRATION

Tall buildings that have aerodynamic characteristics are tall buildings that can respond to wind flow and lateral loads that occur on the upper structure of the building. Obstacles in understanding the structural systems in tall buildings often become obstacles for architecture students so design integration cannot be achieved, especially in tall buildings with aerodynamic shapes. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze how the structural patterns that form aerodynamic buildings can be realized using case studies in Indonesia and abroad. The method used in this research is a literature review and analysis with a review of aerodynamic building designs and structures in three building case studies in Indonesia and abroad. It is hoped that by understanding aerodynamic building structural systems, students will be able to combine creativity with their structural systems. Conversely, understanding the structural system can produce design creativity to create an integration of the design and structural system. From the literature review and analysis, it is found that aerodynamic tall buildings have a structural system obtained from twister-shape processing with a composite structural system and a core system. As well as the diagrid system which usually uses a steel diagrid structure system and a core structure system. The core system is still the main reference because its use is more efficient in terms of costs and work methods.

Formal and Legal Analysis of the Issues Related to the Placing on the Market and using Fire Pumps and Pump Kits

Aim: The aim of this article is to present the existing formal and legal conditions related to the placing on the market and using in the national market of pumps and pump kits – both fire pumps and those intended for firefighting water supply systems. The paper also discusses other selected regulations relating to the product group in question. In addition, an issue not arising from the construction regulations, but equally important in terms of ensuring an adequate level of safety in buildings, was raised, i.e. the admittance of control panels for firefighting equipment (in this case pumps), which can form an integral part of the pump kits in question. The results of the analysis can also be applied to other selected products in the area of fire protection and the requirements that these products must meet before they can be placed on the market and put into use. Introduction: Fire water systems are among the most commonly used fire extinguishing systems in buildings. Despite their popularity, quite often investors, designers and users of buildings, as well as the manufacturers of pump kits themselves, have doubts about the requirements for placing these products on the market. The authors’ discussion of the current requirements is intended to consolidate knowledge in this area, clarify the marketing of construction products and resolve possible doubts. Methodology: The publication uses the results of the authors’ own analysis on the basis of the interpretation of the legislation, as well as available normative and literature sources. Conclusions: The analysis shows that fire pumps and pump kits are covered by the obligation to carry out national assessment and verification of constancy of performance in system 1 and to draw up a national declaration of performance as well as to mark the product with a construction mark (before placing it on the market or making it available on the national market). Moreover, from 1 January 2021, the obligation under consideration was extended to pumps for fire water supply systems, and from 1 July 2022 also to pump kits for fire water supply systems. Furthermore, it was pointed out that the sub-assembly acting as the control panel for the firefighting equipment, insofar as it is present in the pump kits in question, is also subject to admittance Keywords: fire pumps, pumps for firefighting water supply systems, “B” construction mark, national technical assessment

Solar energy utilization for underfloor heating system in residential buildings

In this paper, the thermal performance of a solar energy system for heating a residential building is experimentally investigated. In this system, the solar thermal energy is supplied via a flat plate solar collector that provides the heated water into a small-scale chamber, that represents the residential building. The experimental setup is installed in Jouf University campus (Latitude: 29° 47′ 1.9” N, Longitude: 40° 2′ 42.2” E) located at Al-Jouf Province, Saudi Arabia. In this experiment, the hot water supplied from solar collector is mixed with water in the storage tank, then extracted from bottom of the tank to be circulated in a copper tube loop located underneath the floor tiles of the chamber and hence increases the chamber’s air temperature. Two circulation pumps are installed in the system, one to circulate the water between solar collector and storage tank and the other to circulate the water between storage tank and chamber. Measurements of several parameters were conducted to evaluate the overall thermal efficiency of the system. The experimental results showed an average efficiency of 51 %, when operating the system for eight-hours duration in the winter season. Additionally, an economic assessment was carried out to confirm the system’s feasibility. This assessment demonstrated that the constructed system is economically feasible, with an estimated benefit-cost ratio of 1.42.

Identification of Structural and Non-Structural Defects of Load-Bearing Wall Systems in Low Rise Buildings

Identification of Structural and Non-Structural Defects of Load-Bearing Wall Systems in Low Rise Buildings

Dynamics of non–identical coupled Chialvo neuron maps

We study numerically the dynamics of low–dimensional ensembles of discrete neuron models - Chialvo maps. We are focused on choosing the autonomous map parameters corresponding to the invariant curve. We consider two cases of coupling organization: (i) via a nonlinear function of models; (ii) linear coupling, which is an analog of electrical neuron interaction. For the first case, the possibility of invariant curve doublings and the emergence of quasi-periodicity within Arnold tongues as a result of the secondary Neimark-Sacker bifurcation are found. For the second case, we discover an area of three-frequency quasi-periodicity for the case of two neurons. It arises softly as a result of quasi-periodic Hopf bifurcation. We demonstrate a set of resonant two-frequency regimes tongues embedded in this area and bounded by lines of saddle-node bifurcations of invariant curves. For ensemble of three linearly coupled maps, four-frequency quasi-periodicity becomes possible with a built-in system of tongues of three-frequency regimes (tori). We discuss the effect of noise and the evolution of “noise quasi-periodic” regimes, resonant regimes of this type and bifurcations of invariant tori with increasing of noise intensity.

Process design, performance comparison and operating test of the multi-stage vertical absorption heat exchanger realizing independent heating in three zones

Absorption heat exchangers applied in district heating systems can significantly reduce the outlet water temperature of the primary network, thereby expanding the heating scale and promoting low-temperature waste heat recovery. However, nearly 50% of the existing heating systems in high-rise buildings are divided into three independent zones. At present, there is a lack of research for absorption heat exchangers in this scenario. The main task of this paper is to address this issue to expand the application range of absorption heat exchangers. Firstly, two different processes are designed in this paper. The first process is to add a plate heat exchanger in the existing two-stage process, while the second process is a novel three-stage vertical process, consisting of three absorption heat pumps with different pressures and three sets of plate heat exchangers. Then, the operating performance, self-adjustment ability and the system cost of different processes are compared based on the simulation method. Although the price of Process 2 is 26.4% higher than that of Process 1, the efficiency of Process 2 is 20.3%-27.7% higher, and the self-regulation ability is significantly better. Thus, Process 2 has better overall performance. Moreover, the system development and operating test of Process 2 are conducted. Throughout the whole heating season, the overall efficiency of the system is 1.17–1.23. Without manual intervention, the relative standard deviations of the inlet water temperature of the secondary network and the actual heat supply rate ratio are less than 5% and 16% respectively, which proves that the system has great self-adjustment ability. The conclusions in this paper can guide the design and application of the absorption heat exchanger in three-zone independent heating scenarios.

Review on Advanced Storage Control Applied to Optimized Operation of Energy Systems for Buildings and Districts: Insights and Perspectives

In the context of increasing energy demands and the integration of renewable energy sources, this review focuses on recent advancements in energy storage control strategies from 2016 to the present, evaluating both experimental and simulation studies at component, system, building, and district scales. Out of 426 papers screened, 147 were assessed for eligibility, with 56 included in the final review. As a first outcome, this work proposes a novel classification and taxonomy update for advanced storage control systems, aiming to bridge the gap between theoretical research and practical implementation. Furthermore, the study emphasizes experimental case studies, moving beyond numerical analyses to provide practical insights. It investigates how the literature on energy storage is enhancing building flexibility and resilience, highlighting the application of advanced algorithms and artificial intelligence methods and their impact on energy and financial savings. By exploring the correlation between control algorithms and the resulting benefits, this review provides a comprehensive analysis of the current state and future perspectives of energy storage control in smart grids and buildings.

Forest dynamics in LCA: Integrating carbon fluxes from forest management systems into the life cycle assessment of a building

The urgent issue of climate change has sparked increasing interest in using wood to reduce buildings' greenhouse gas emissions (GHGe). While attributional life cycle assessment (LCA) methods are commonly employed to estimate GHGe from buildings, they lack a temporal distribution of carbon fluxes from biogenic materials, overlooking forest management impacts on emissions and sequestration. Consequently, we investigated the integration of forest and building systems, examining emissions associated with three different forest management scenarios at stand and landscape levels. Our findings suggest a 6 % to 81 % lower GHGe for the building using this study's approach compared to the static methodology recommended by the European Standard EN16485 in a 50 year perspective. However, the accumulated impact over the building's lifetime remains similar. Hence, both methods incentivize building designers’ to use wood to lower GHGe, although the dynamic integration postpones benefits from the forests' carbon sequestration to later stages of the building's lifetime.

A review of occupancy sensing technologies and approaches in smart buildings

Comprehensive occupancy information in smart buildings has become more imperative in order to develop new control strategies in energy management systems. Several techniques can be used to collect occupancy information considering accurate sensing techniques, such as passive infrared (PIR), carbon dioxide (CO2) and different types of cameras (i.e., thermal, or optical cameras). Recent studies show the usefulness of integrating occupancy information into energy management systems to reduce energy consumption while maintaining the occupants’ comfort. The purpose of this work is to elaborate a comprehensive review on occupancy detection systems in smart buildings. This study presents a set of comparison standards including methods, occupancy resolution, type of buildings and sensors. A classification of different approaches, which can be implemented and integrated into the building management system for detecting indoor occupancy, is introduced. Summary and discussions are given by highlighting the usefulness of machine learning for enabling predictive control of active systems in smart buildings.

Development of a DNN model using calibrated simulation for the optimal control of HVAC systems

Acquiring actual data for developing data-based prediction models for the optimization of control setpoints (hereinafter referred to as optimal control (OC)) in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems is challenging, especially when changing control setpoints while considering all possible boundary conditions. Thus, considering the scalability of OC, it is a promising solution to generate sufficient learning data according to the control settings using a highly accurate simulation model, build a source model, and expand the learning model based on the actual data of the target system. This is the first study to improve the scalability of OC aiming to develop a deep neural network (DNN) model to predict the power consumption of a heat source system. First, this study will construct a calibrated heat source system simulation model and then use the generated learning data to train a DNN model. The actual operation conditions of the target building and heating system located in Vietnam were analyzed using operation data. A physics-based simulation model of the target heat source system was developed and calibrated using actual operation data to improve accuracy. By using the calibrated simulation, sufficient learning data was generated for all control settings allowing for the development of a learning model based on DNN that predicted the power consumption of the heat source system. In addition, a highly accurate prediction model through hyperparameter optimization was secured.

Multi-objective sizing and dispatch for building thermal and battery storage towards economic and environmental synergy

The role of building thermal and battery storage is pivotal in advancing smart cities and achieving sustainability goals through effective energy management. Despite their significance, there are several limitations in the sizing approach and value stream analysis with various objectives for their widespread adoption in buildings. This work proposes a flexible and scalable multi-objective optimization framework for optimal sizing and dispatch of building thermal and battery storage, addressing multiple objectives simultaneously using mixed-integer linear programming. The weighted-sum method is adapted, combining multiple objectives into a single function. The two-stage procedure iterates over different weights, generates optimal solutions, and forms the Pareto front. Case studies are performed to assess the energy, economic, and environmental benefits of building energy storage systems for a large office building in three climate locations. The results demonstrate that the proposed framework efficiently determines optimal sizing and dispatch strategies, addressing the balance between economic viability and emission reduction. The dynamic relationship between time-of-use energy charges and emission factors leads to diverse strategies based on whether economic or environmental concerns are prioritized. This research enhances our understanding of the benefits of thermal and battery storage systems in buildings, providing valuable guidance to stakeholders.

Leadership in EU policy-making: a deep dive into the extension of the EU emissions trading system

ABSTRACT This article offers insights into how leadership can be provided to advance the EU policy-making process through a case study of the policy-making for the new EU emissions trading system for buildings, road transport and additional sectors (ETS-2). Conceptually, it contributes to the literature on leadership in the EU by developing a three-part framework for observing leadership in EU policy-making, focussing on the intentions of an actor, the effects of the actions of an actor and the perceptions of other actors. The article also contributes to the literature on interactions between leaders in EU policy-making. Empirically, we provide a process tracing analysis of leadership in the policy-making process for the ETS-2. Using our framework, we examine five key leadership moments, showing how Denmark provided cognitive leadership, Germany provided exemplary and structural leadership, and the Commission and rotating Presidencies provided cognitive and entrepreneurial leadership. Our empirical analysis shows that various types of leadership were partially simultaneously and partially consecutively provided, with some leaders following up on the leadership strategies of others. We term this dynamic ‘sequential leadership’. Our finding confirms the importance of seeing leadership as a relationship, not just between leaders and followers, but also amongst leaders.

Optimal design of a combined Power-Heating-Oxygen system for plateau hotel buildings

The Qinghai–Tibet Plateau of China is a region of low atmospheric pressure and oxygen deficiency, with a high heating demand in the winter; therefore, plateau hotel buildings have a demand for comprehensive power-heating-oxygen loads. Solar energy resources are particularly abundant in plateau areas, where a combined multi-energy system based on solar energy can be designed to meet the demand of plateau hotel buildings for multiple loads. However, currently, there is a relative lack of methods for the optimal design and performance evaluation of combined power-heating-oxygen (CPHO) systems. Thus, this study proposes a CPHO system model for plateau hotels, and provides two operation strategies, i.e., power priority and oxygen priority. Taking the minimum total annual cost of the combined system as the optimization objective, an optimized CPHO system model for plateau hotels has been proposed, followed by a case study of a hotel in Qilian County, Qinghai Province. Results showed that: 1) Compared with the conventional combined power-heating (CCPH) system, the CPHO system saw reductions of 0.8% and 1.3% in its total annual cost under the operation strategies of power priority and oxygen priority, respectively. 2) The energy self-consumption (SC) rates of the CCPH system and CPHO system under the operation strategies of power priority and oxygen priority were 84.8%, 64.2%, and 89.8%, respectively; with power self-sufficiency (PSS) rates of 8.3%, 49.9%, and 29.5%, and oxygen self-sufficiency (OSS) rates of 0.0%, 3.2%, and 4.7%, respectively. 3) The total annual cost of the CPHO system was affected slightly by the cost of photovoltaics (PVs) and energy storage devices, and significantly by the price of oxygen. When the price of oxygen was 8 yuan per normal cubic meter(Nm3) or above, the CPHO system was economically efficient under the operation strategy of oxygen priority. When the price of oxygen was 10yuan/Nm3 or above, the system was economically efficient under both operation strategies.

Comparison of different control methods on the thermally activated building system (TABS) with large energy flexibility

Thermally Activated Building Systems (TABS) has great energy flexibility potential for the effective demand response, but the inherent large thermal inertia creates challenges for the control. Model Predictive Control (MPC) can improve the control efficiency while achieving certain objectives. However, the modeling mechanism of the TABS thermal behavior can lead to the difference in the controller performances. In this study, the white-box model, grey-box model, and black-box model based MPCs (referred to as W-MPC, G-MPC, and B-MPC) are developed and analyzed in depth for a case TABS with high heat flexibility potential. The performances of MPC strategies are investigated together with the baseline Rule Based Control (RBC) strategy under normal conditions as well as a variety of uncertainty events. In general, MPC strategies show better performance compared to the RBC. The prediction-based control can effectively maintain the indoor temperature within the constraints considering the uncertain disturbances and the gradual outdoor climate change. Moreover, MPC strategies help to increase the cost savings due to the effective load shifting by 30%–50%, and enhance the flexible energy utilization by 14%–29%. In terms of the comparison among the different MPC strategies, W-MPC shows better performance in the room temperature control, which reduces the violation of the indoor temperature constraint by 30% and 15% compared to G-MPC and B-MPC, respectively. G-MPC shows slight superiority concerning the economy and flexible energy usage. The normalized cost saving of G-MPC is approximately 3% and 8% lower compared to the W-MPC and B-MPC, respectively, while the utilization efficiencies of the flexible energy are approximately 6% and 12% higher.

Energy-saving diagnosis of public buildings based on multi-objective optimization algorithm

ABSTRACT This study focuses on existing ventilation, heating, and air conditioning systems in public buildings and mainly considers three objectives: system energy consumption, indoor thermal comfort, and efficiency. A multi-objective diagnosis system is established, which correlates evaluation indicators with key equipment, forming a clear hierarchical diagnosis system. Meanwhile, particle swarm optimization algorithm is combined with linear weighting method to optimize the operating parameters of key equipment based on the diagnosis results, obtaining the optimal parameters of various operating scenes. For winter conditions, the average system energy consumption is 34.2 W/m2, the average system energy efficiency ratio is 1.5, and the average indicator for indoor thermal environment is 1.06. For summer conditions, the average energy consumption of the systems is 28.9 W/m2, the average energy efficiency ratio is 2.2, and the average indicator for indoor thermal environment is – 0.82. Compared with the measured results, most of the optimized indicators are better, but the system energy efficiency ratio is slightly lower than the measured results for winter conditions. Through the established diagnosis system and optimization method, this research evaluates and optimizes the existing the systems in public buildings. Demonstrating the effectiveness of the established diagnosis system and optimization method.

The impact of metering methods on collective self-consumption: Insights from multi-dwelling buildings in Finland

Globally, legislative reforms have significantly promoted the adoption of solar photovoltaic systems. In many European countries, updated legislation encourages the formation of energy communities and collective self-consumption in residential buildings. This study investigates the financial viability of solar photovoltaic systems in Finnish multi-dwelling buildings, focusing on the impact of recent legislative enhancements supporting collective self-consumption through virtual net-metering, known as the credit calculation model. By analyzing hourly consumption data from two properties in 2018 and 2020, and incorporating simulated photovoltaic production with electricity market prices, our findings highlight the advantages of virtual net-metering. Self-consumption ratios increased from 15% to 38 %, and annual revenue improved by 10 EUR/kWp to 29 EUR/kWp. Comparing the credit calculation model with behind-the-meter approaches using joint electricity subscriptions revealed self-consumption ratio differences of 5 % to 15 % for identical system sizes. Additionally, electricity purchasing cost savings of 16 % to 19 % were identified with behind-the-meter, increasing further compared to costs from other Finnish distribution system operators. This underscores the economic benefits of such arrangements and highlights potential savings across different regional pricing models. These insights demonstrate the financial benefits of collective self-consumption and joint electricity subscriptions in multi-dwelling contexts, signaling the need for extended research across diverse settings to validate these findings.

Model-predictive space heating control for energy flexibility – a case study using a long short-term memory neural network surrogate model and a genetic optimization algorithm

This paper presents a case study where a model predictive control (MPC) logic is developed for energy flexible operation of a space heating system in an educational building. A Long Short-Term Memory Neural Network (LSTM) surrogate model is trained on the output of an EnergyPlus building simulation model. This LSTM model is used within an MPC framework where a genetic algorithm is used to optimize setpoint sequences. The EnergyPlus model is used to validate the performance of the control logic. The MPC approach leads to a substantial reduction in energy consumption (7%) and energy costs (13%) with improved comfort performance. Additional energy costs savings are possible (7–16%) if a sacrifice in indoor thermal comfort is accepted. The presented method is useful for developing MPC systems in the design stages where measured data is typically not available. Additionally, this study illustrates that LSTM models are promising for MPC for buildings.

Contribution of Glazed Balconies as a Passive Heating System in Contemporary Buildings in Northern Portugal

To mitigate greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global warming and climate change, governments have undertaken concerted efforts and established goals to restructure production and consumption patterns within the current global economy. The construction sector, which in Europe has significant energy use and related greenhouse gas emissions, recognizes adopting passive heating and cooling systems for buildings as a viable solution. The revival of vernacular passive solar strategies emerges as opportune within this context. Through dynamic simulations, this study aims to analyze and quantify the potential contribution of glazed balconies, a traditional passive heating system, to improve contemporary constructions’ thermal behavior and comfort conditions in mild temperate climates, such as in northern Portugal. Results indicate that this system can significantly enhance a building’s energy efficiency, reducing energy needs for heating and cooling by up to 47% while extending periods of thermal comfort indoors by nearly 900 h per year compared to buildings with non-glazed balconies. Proper use of natural ventilation and shading devices is essential to ensure optimal system performance and prevent overheating. This research underscores the potential of glazed balconies as a sustainable solution for enhancing contemporary buildings’ thermal-energy performance and comfort, contributing to the transition towards carbon-neutral constructions.

The prospects of zero energy building as an alternative to the conventional building system in Bangladesh (A review)

Energy consumption in commercial and residential buildings worldwide accounts for about one-third of the world’s energy and one-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. If current trends continue, by 2025, buildings worldwide will be the largest consumers of global energy, using as much power as the transportation and industrial sectors combined. Recent studies have found that improving energy efficiency in buildings is the least costly way to reduce a large quantity of carbon emissions. By changing energy management practices and instituting technologies that enhance energy efficiency, building owners and managers can reduce energy consumption by up to 35%. However, energy efficiency efforts in buildings alone cannot address future demand for more energy by this sector. To achieve breakthrough solutions to this problem, it is evident that a coordinated effort in a whole-building systems approach that emphasizes the necessity of integrating renewable on-site or distributed generation and energy efficiency is required to design the buildings of the future. Several International Energy Agency (IEA) countries have adopted a vision of so-called ‘net zero energy buildings’ (NetZEBs) as the long-term goal of their energy policies. This NetZEB is very new in Bangladesh and it started building green buildings which will lead to NetZEB shortly. However, Bangladesh has to comply with the IEA and must accept the zero-energy building concept.