SPATIAL AUTONOMY: Exploring Industry 4.0/5.0 Trends on Architectural Design

The rise of Industry 4.0 and 5.0 presents significant opportunities for the architecture industry to incorporate advanced technologies into its design and construction processes. However, the full potential of these technologies in architectural design has yet to be fully explored. This thesis, ‘Spatial Autonomy: Exploring Industry 4.0 and 5.0 Trends in Architectural Design,’ aims to investigate the ability of buildings to function autonomously through the integration of smart technologies. This exploration focuses on how Industry 4.0 and 5.0 trends can optimize building performance, creating more comfortable and enjoyable experiences for users, while also enhancing efficiency and sustainability. It examines the emerging questions: How to design in response to these technologies? What constitutes a design framework for integrating Industry 4.0 and 5.0 into architectural design, and how can this framework be applied to future projects? As digital, cloud, and AI computing demands increase globally, current data centers, which contribute to 0.3% of global CO2 emissions, are primarily designed to meet existing demands rather than anticipating and creating a more balanced relationship between demand and environmental sustainability. This thesis challenges this norm by proposing the design of a data center integrated within a mixed-use complex that adheres to the principles of Industry 5.0, emphasizing environmental and social health. This approach advocates for the integration of systems at the onset of the design process, proposing that early incorporation can significantly enhance the benefits of these advanced technologies. The research seeks to redefine the data center not just as a static structure but as a dynamic, responsive, and sustainable architectural form that functions as a closed feedback loop with its urban environment, dynamically interacting with and adapting to its human and ecological context. In conclusion, ‘Spatial Autonomy’ not only explores but also aims to redefine the process of designing in the digital age, setting a precedent for a more harmonious integration of cutting-edge technologies into architectural design. This thesis illustrates the potential for buildings to be not merely static structures but dynamic environments that intelligently respond to user needs and contribute actively to environmental sustainability

Usage and control of solid-state lighting for plant growth

The work begins with an introductory part in which the basic aspects related to the photosynthetic radiation, the photobiology of plants and the technology of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are overviewed. It is followed by a review of related research works that have been conducted during the last two decades, and by the main design issues of LED luminaires for plant growth. The following part of the work reports the experimental growth tests performed. The effects of the radiation emitted by spectrally tailored LED luminaires on plant growth have been investigated. A total of four growth tests using lettuce and radish cultivars were performed. Two basic approaches were used to investigate the effects and the future possibilities of the usage of solid-state lighting (SSL) in plant growth. The first approach evaluates the growth development of lettuce plants in real greenhouse conditions using LEDs as supplementary light sources to natural daylight. In the second approach the evaluation was carried out with a total absence of natural daylight by growing lettuce and radish plants in phytotron-chamber conditions. The effects of SSL treatments on the growth development and quality of crops were compared with reference lighting systems composed of conventional and well-established light-source technologies, such as fluorescent and high-pressure sodium lamps. During the process of the investigation, the need to coherently quantify and evaluate the spectral quality of the radiation in terms of its photosynthetic appetence arose. Different metrics are still been used indiscriminately to quantify radiation used by plants to perform photosynthesis. Therefore, the existing metrics are discussed and a new proposal for coherent systematization is presented. The proposed system is referred to phyllophotometric and it is developed using the average photosynthetic spectral quantum yield response curve of plants. The results of the growth tests showed that the usage of SSL in plant growth offers an unprecedented possibility to optimise the morphogenesis, the photosynthesis and the nutritional quality of crops. This can be done by controlling the quantity and the spectral composition of the radiation provided, areas where LED-based luminaires excel. These possibilities can contribute to respond to the increasing demand for high-quality horticultural products by the consumers and to the conservation of global natural environment and resources

A Multidimensional Continuous Contextual Lighting Control System Using Google Glass

An increasing number of internet-connected LED lighting fixtures and bulbs have recently become available. This development, in combination with emerging hardware and software solutions for activity recognition, establish an infrastructure for context-aware lighting. Automated lighting control could potentially provide a better user experience, increased comfort, higher productivity, and energy savings compared to static uniform illumination. The first question that comes to mind when thinking about context-aware lighting is how to determine the relevant activities and contexts. Do we need different lighting for reading a magazine and reading a book, or maybe just different lighting for reading versus talking on the phone? How do we identify the relevant situations, and what are the preferred lighting settings? In this paper we present three steps we took to answer these questions and demonstrate them via an adaptive five-channel solid-state lighting system with continuous contextual control. We implemented a multidimensional user interface for manual control as well as an autonomous solution using wearable sensors. We enable a simple set of sensors to manipulate complicated lighting scenarios by indirectly simplifying and reducing the complexity of the sensor-lighting control space using human-derived criteria. In a preliminary user study, we estimated significant energy savings of up to 52% and showed multiple future research directions, including behavioral feedback

Literature review - Energy saving potential of user-centered integrated lighting solutions

Measures for the reduction of electric energy loads for lighting have predominantly focussed on increasing the efficiency of lighting systems. This efficiency has now reached levels unthinkable a few decades ago. However, a focus on mere efficiency is physically limiting, and does not necessarily ensure that the anticipated energy savings actually materialize. There are technical and non-technical reasons because of which effective integration of lighting solutions and their controls, and thus a reduction in energy use, does not happen. This literature review aims to assess the energy saving potential of integrated daylight and electric lighting design and controls, especially with respect to user preferences and behaviour. It does so by collecting available scientific knowledge and experience on daylighting, electric lighting, and related control systems, as well as on effective strategies for their integration. Based on this knowledge, the review suggests design processes, innovative design strategies and design solutions which – if implemented appropriately – could improve user comfort, health, well-being and productivity, while saving energy as well as the operation and maintenance of lighting systems. The review highlights also regulatory, technical, and design challenges hindering energy savings. Potential energy savings are reported from the retrieved studies. However, these savings derived from separate studies are dependent on their specific contexts, which lowers the ecological validity of the findings. Studies on strategies based on behavioural interventions, like information, feedback, and social norms, did not report energy saving performance. This is an interesting conclusion, since the papers indicate high potentials that deserve further exploration. Quantifying potential savings is fundamental to fostering large scale adoption of user-driven strategies, since this would allow at least a rough estimation of returns for the investors. However, such quantification requires that studies are designed with an inter-disciplinary approach. The literature also shows that strategies, where there is more communication between façade and lighting designers, are more successful in integrated design, which calls for more communication between stakeholders in future building processes

Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Lighting

The lighting of both exteriors and interiors is a field within electrical and lighting engineering, where important technological changes have been taking place oriented towards environmental sustainability and energy efficiency. LED technology has been gradually gaining ground in the world of lighting over other technologies due to its high lighting and energy efficiency and savings. However, some problems related to overheating or associated regulation are emerging. This has prompted the search for new, more efficient, and sustainable forms of lighting. This book presents successful cases related to energy efficiency and lighting that may be of great interest to those trying to enter the world of scientific research