An approach for developing sensitive design parameter guidelines to reduce the energy requirements of low-rise apartment buildings

High levels of energy consumption in residential buildings and global warming are important issues. Thus the energy performance of buildings should be improved in the early stages of design. This article describes an approach for developing guidelines on sensitive and robust design parameters for the present, the 2020s, the 2050s and the 2080s. Such guidelines can help architects to design low-rise apartment buildings that require less energy for various purposes, such as heating or cooling. The article consists of a general literature review, interviews with architects, the generation of case-specific information and a mock-up presentation and a meeting with professionals. An example guideline that aims to reduce annual cooling energy loads under global warming in low-rise apartment buildings located in hot-humid climates is presented to demonstrate how the proposed approach can be applied. For this guideline, case-specific information was generated, and a global sensitivity analysis based on Monte Carlo Analysis and the Latin Hypercube Sampling technique was performed. The results show that the suggested approach is feasible and could be used to provide helpful information to architects during the design of low-rise apartment buildings with high energy performance. The most sensitive design parameters that affect annual cooling energy loads in low-rise apartment buildings were natural ventilation, window area, and the solar heat-gain coefficient (SHGC) of the glazing. The results are relevant for the present, the 2020s, the 2050s and the 2080s. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd

Comfort based investigation on historic libraries for user satisfaction and preservation of paper-based collections

SBE21 Sustainable Built Heritage: Renovating Historic Buildings Towards a Low-Carbon Built Heritage -- 14 April 2021 through 16 April 2021 -- -- 173384Historic libraries preserve cultural heritage values while housing rare manuscripts and paper-based collections. The collections in the libraries are deteriorated chemically, biologically and mechanically due to inappropriate indoor environment conditions such as temperature and relative humidity fluctuations and microbiological conditions. Apart from preserving vulnerable paper-based collections, accommodating of a considerable thermal comfort level for visitors is essential in historic libraries. The aim of this study is to analyse indoor environment of a historic library in terms of thermal comfort and preventive conservation of paper-based collections. Izmir National Library, built in 1933, is selected as a case study. Indoor air temperature, relative humidity and air velocity in the library were monitored with a one-year measurement campaign. Meanwhile, thermal comfort of the visitors was assessed with PMV/PPD indices and thermal sensation surveys. The results show that high chemical degradation risk is detected in the library while biological and mechanical degradations are in the low risk zone. On the other hand, 87% and 93% of the visitors feel thermally satisfied in heating and cooling seasons, respectively. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd