Energy Saving Impact of Air Curtains in Commercial Buildings

This study investigates the energy saving impact replacing vestibules with air curtain doors (single doors fitted with air curtain units) has on energy usage of commercial buildings. Laboratory experiments were used to investigate the infiltration characteristics of air curtains in a small size chamber and to validate numerical simulation methods. Experimental flow and pressure as well as particle image velocimetry data confirmed that air curtains can significantly reduce air infiltration when compared to the single and vestibule doors. In addition, the results indicated that the CFD modeling methods used are valid in capturing the characteristics of the airflow at the door with air curtains. CFD simulations were conducted for a full scale door with consideration for the door operation cycle and the existence of people in the doorway. The results of the simulations were used to conduct energy simulations for two reference building models. The end use site-energy performances of the whole buildings with air curtain, vestibule and single doors are compared using two infiltration calculation methods. The energy simulations conducted show that, on a national average level, air curtain doors save energy (in comparison to code requirements). Finally, considering the space saving benefit of air curtains and their lower initial costs, air curtains are concluded to be a valid and energy saving alternative to vestibule doors in climate zones 3 to 8 and a valuable energy saving addition in climate zones 1 & 2

On the Role of Construction in Achieving the SDGs

Construction and real estate have been central to the debates on sustainable development. However, the dominant definition of sustainability in construction and real estate remain centred on the environmental dimension. The 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer new opportunities for the building sector to expand its focus. The available literature utilizes the existing green ratings, sustainability assessment tools and standards as the basis for investigating how construction and buildings can contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. However, less focus was placed on exploring the broad intersection between the building sector, on the one hand, and the SDGs and their targets on the other. This paper uses a multi-step methodology to analyze the potential role of construction and real estate in the 2030 Agenda. The paper identifies SDG targets that depend (directly or indirectly) on construction and real estate activities, and reveals that 17% of the SDG targets are directly dependent and 27% of the targets are indirectly dependent on these sectors’ activities. The identified targets are analyzed and are found to be related to all 17 goals—with the largest contributions to SDGs 11, 6, and 7. The results of the analysis are mapped and illustrated in order to provide insights to academics, practitioners and governments. This research contributes to the literature on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. It also exposes the synergistic possibilities, and the partnerships required, to make use of the potential role of construction and real estate in the implementation of the UN Agenda

Creativity, Adaptability, Transition: Advancing Sustainable Development in the Built Environment through Transdisciplinary Architectural Design

The link between creativity, design thinking, and interdisciplinarity has been explored by Darbellay et al. (2017). They proposed that the three dimensions are not contradictory, but instead, they form triadicfeedback loops that cannot be resolved in a unified synthesis. This triadic model underscores that, in fact, the creative, interdisciplinary (or transdisciplinary) design thinking is an outcome of dialectic, or even dialogical (Lybeck, 2010), processes among disciplines, stakeholders, the problem at hand, and the variety of possible design solutions. Harvey (2014) proposes that this type of creative synthesis can only generate breakthrough ideas if it integrates multiple understandings for the same problem. Specifically, in Harvey’s (2014) model, breakthrough ideas require a context where ideas are enacted, similarities are built upon, and collective attention is secured – and it is only through a sort of reflection in action (Schön, 1984) that creative synthesis can generate exemplars that are iteratively improved until breakthrough. With global population growth and urbanization trends rising (Department of Economic and Social Affairs (Population Division), 2017; United Nations - Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division, 2018), it is now imperative that we move towards a state of creative sustainability in the built environment. The publication of the 2030 Agenda and the sustainable development goals (SDGs) (United Nations, 2015) has signalled a new course for practitioners, scholars, and designers by institutionalizing a more comprehensive understanding of sustainable development, which is supported by clear targets and indicators (Pedersen, 2018). While the SDGs are global in scope, their application requires action to be taken on individual project levels, including building projects, on the local scale (T. Walker & Goubran, 2020). Most importantly, the SDGs enabled sustainability action to remain reliant on the interpretation of the problems, along with the framing of the design problem (Goubran & Cucuzzella, 2019). Thus, it can be argued that the SDGs have reframed the sustainable built environment challenge as a complex design problem, open for interpretation, judgment, and theorization and leading to multiple solutions and innovations (Nelson & Stolterman, 2012), that requires the synthesis of knowledge between a multitude of disciplines (Kroes et al., 2008). In this paper, we argue that architecture, as a field of research and practice, is both inductive and inclusive of the creative transdisciplinary approaches needed to tackle sustainable development challenges in the built environment (Goubran, 2018). The paper presents a theoretical development, followed by a synthesis supported by published case studies. In essence, the paper capitalizes on the value of architecture as a transdisciplinary field that allows for transformative sustainable practices within the building and construction industries. Thus, it establishes a scheme where architectural design, as a transdisciplinary field, is an inclusive thinking process that has the potential to push boundaries of “just building” to “building for”

Integrating the Sustainable Development Goals in Building Projects

Building designers are struggling to deeply integrate the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in projects. The review of the literature revealed that the available research is focused on linking the current practices, including sustainable building practices, with the SDGs. This has, in turn, limited the development of novel approaches as well as new building design methodologies that specifically aim at attaining the agenda’s targets. To help building design teams achieve the meaningful integration of the agenda’s five Ps, this paper proposes two analytical mapping tools which can be used during the integrated design process to track the integration of SDGs in the building projects, and to analyze the building design approaches and visions in reference to the topics of the goals. The research uses a case study for an energy-positive building in Quebec to test the proposed tools. The analysis focuses on the integration of 8 of 17 SDGs, discusses the specific building features which were used to achieve this integration, and analyzes the team’s design visions regarding the goals. The results reveal that in the case studied, the integration of the 8 SDGs moves beyond the current standards by mostly applying design approaches which are future-driven and focused on products and technologies. This research provides important practical tools that can inform building practices in the private and the public sector and contributes to the theory and practice of sustainable building design. It also supports the current effort towards the implementation and localization of the SDGs

Sustainable Real Estate: Transitioning Beyond Cost Savings

In recent years, sustainability considerations in the real estate sector have moved from being a niche market phenomenon to a mainstream trend. The movement has been accompanied by a shift in the industry’s perception of sustainable buildings. Traditional cost-saving goals are now complemented by a growing interest in the potential for sustainable buildings to tackle broader economic and social sustainability challenges as well as issues related to health and well-being. The real estate industry is increasingly expected to adapt its strategies to incorporate new and more stringent environmental and urban development requirements, to cater to shifting demographics, and to utilize new advancements in construction processes and materials. This chapter explores recent research on sustainable real estate and highlights some of the newest trends in the market. The chapter then examines how policy and technological advancements can enable real estate developers to tackle environmental, social, and economic sustainability challenges. This will be exemplified through a focus on carbon taxation and timber construction. Based on these case studies, the chapter illustrates how today’s sustainable real estate sector – marked by its move beyond a focus on cost savings – requires for building practices to be strongly rooted in global, sustainable development policies

Infrastructure as a Deeply Integrated Sustainable Urban Project

This paper explores infrastructure projects that present a conscious merging between urban transformation, community development, culture, and technology through sustainable design. When urban projects successfully and meaningfully include all these dimensions, we refer to them as “blended infrastructure” projects, since they offer much more than just infrastructure. A literature review pertaining to the rejuvenation and renewal of cities reveals that infrastructure projects have the potential to be at once, smart and ecological as well as cultural and deeply integrated urban interventions. We, therefore, propose that ‘blended infrastructure’ projects are those that profoundly integrate anthropological and technological dimensions. These two poles are the basis of our analysis method. Our methodology, which includes a mapping tool, is used to cartograph a series of design projects. We select two sets of projects for analysis. First, we select “light infrastructure” projects that are not yet built, still in an imaginary phase, which have a common underlying positive intention of bringing sustainability to the city. Second, we select heavier, already built, infrastructure projects, those subjected to real-world constraints, i.e., economic, political, etc. These polarities (light and imagined vs. heavy and realized) will help test the applicability of this mapping approach on different types of infrastructures. By studying projects on either side of a spatial design spectrum, we aim to understand which types of projects have a potential to be “blended infrastructure” projects—and therefore, deeply integrated sustainable urban interventions, as key contributions to the future of our cities

The Consequences of COVID-19 Instigated Recommendations for Indoor Air Quality: A Literature Review

The spread of COVID-19, as an airborne virus, opened a vast set of investigations within the realm of indoor air quality (IAQ) management and control. These investigations resulted in the publication of a series of recommendations and addenda that complement currently active IAQ standards and guidelines to meet the growing health and safety concerns of building owners, operators, and users. The hypothesis stands that the airborne transmission of the COVID-19 virus implies that more stringent indoor air quality control measures should be applied. Through a systematic review of selected recently published academic journals, this article explores the intended and non-intended consequences of the indoor air quality recommendations, guidelines, and standards. Two main approaches of classifications are induced from the review. The first categorizes the consequences based on the intentionality (i.e., intended vs. unintended consequences) and temporal scope (i.e. short-term or long-term). The second categorizes consequences based on their area, namely, (1) spatial design, (2) occupants health, comfort and well-being (3) building performance and ventilation, (4) technology and energy efficiency (5) social equity, and (6) policy as well as building standards. This is one of the first reviews make explicit the consequences of COVID related of addenda and recommendations of IAQ standards and guidelines, providing new insights regarding the planned and unplanned consequences. The review also highlights some gaps in the available literature that researchers need to swiftly address before institutionalizing the current health recommendations in IAQ practices

Eco-Nudging: Interactive Digital Design to Solicit Immediate Energy Actions in The Built Space

In the built space, building occupants, their behaviours and control actions are research areas that have gained a lot of attention. This is well justified since energy behaviours can result in differences of up to 25% in building energy consumption. Previous research recommends exploring ways to influence occupants' energy behaviour – through eco-feedback and by directly engaging occupants with building controls. Very little attention has been given to the role digital art and design can play in soliciting and changing human energy-related actions and behaviours in the built space. This paper proposes a new process that combines eco-feedback, gamification, and ecological digital art to trigger occupants to take immediate and precise control actions in the built space. We design, deploy and test this by creating an immersive human-building-interaction apparatus, which we place in a month-long exhibition. This experimental interface was informed by a novel vision for engagement-based human-building interactions deeply rooted in aesthetics, digital art and design. It also uses digital art to mediate between the occupants and energy-performance of spaces by redefining their relationship with and perception of energy – moving from metrics and quantities understanding to one that is art and emotion-based. The analysis reveals that this new type of human-engagement-based interactive building-control mechanism can add a significant layer of influence on energy-related actions – without revoking the individuals' ability to control their environment. It also highlights digital design and art's power in guiding actions and interactions with the built space

Eyes on the Goal! Exploring Interactive Artistic Real-Time Energy Interfaces for Target-Specific Actions in the Built Environment

Current research is focused on sensing and modeling occupant behavior to predict it and automate building controls. Another line of research recommends influencing the behavior of occupants through feedback mechanisms and engagement. Yet, most of the work has focused on pushing occupants to reduce energy consumption over a long time and does not explore the potential to guide users to take specific actions promptly. The study examines a new interface mechanism that aims to solicit immediate and predefined actions from occupants. Building on seminal research in the field, the study uses art visualization to reinterpret social feedback. We test this approach in an immersive interaction space where participants react to artistic visuals to attain predefined settings for three indoor devices. In the 197 interactions recorded, participants’ overall actions conformed with the predefined goals. The participants were able to reach all or some of the targets in more than 80%, within an average of less than 30 seconds. We also see that complementing the visuals with textual hints improved the interaction in terms of engagement and accuracy. We conclude that ambient, abstract, and artistic real-time goal-driven feedback is effective in influencing immediate actions. We recommend that guiding occupants didactically has a strong potential for advancing building controls

Parametric study of air curtain door aerodynamics performance based on experiments and numerical simulations

Air curtains have been widely used to reduce infiltration through door openings and save heating/cooling energy in different types of buildings. Previous studies have found that there exist three aerodynamics conditions: optimum condition (OC), inflow break-through (IB), and outflow break-through (OB) conditions, which are important for categorizing air curtain performance subject to such key parameters including supply speed and angle, and presence of a person during an actual operation. However, few studies have focused on the effects of these parameters on air curtain performance in terms of resisting infiltration and reducing exfiltration. This research presents a parametric study of air curtain performance based on reduced-scale experiments and full-scale numerical simulations. It was found that increasing air curtain supply angle improves air curtain performance when it is operated under the OC and IB conditions but creates excessive exfiltration under the OB condition. Increasing supply speed of air curtain generally improves the air curtain performance whereas this improvement deteriorates with the increase of supply angle under the OB condition. The presence of person, either directly under or below the air curtain, almost has no effect on the infiltration/exfiltration during the OC condition. Moreover, the person in the doorway can block airflow from both directions, contributing to less infiltration under the IB condition and less exfiltration under the OB condition than without the person. This study provides valuable insights into air curtain aerodynamics performance under different operational conditions and key contributing parameters