Assessment of solar shading strategies in low-income tropical housing: the case of Uganda

Developing countries in tropical and subtropical areas will be the worst hit by climate change. Very little research has been done to assess the impact of climate change on thermal comfort in low-income housing in these regions. The effects of solar shading strategies and solar absorptance properties of walls and roofs on thermal comfort in Ugandan low-income housing are studied in this paper. Various shading strategies including curtains, roof and window overhangs, veranda and trees as well as effects of painting on solar heat gain and thermal comfort are modelled using EnergyPlus software. An adaptive approach for naturally ventilated buildings defined by the European Committee for Standardization standard BS EN 15251:2007 is used to assess the conditions. According to the results, solar shading is less effective in meeting thermal comfort requirements and it should be used in conjunction with other strategies to achieve desirable results. White painting, in contrast, significantly improved the conditions and significantly reduced the risk of overheating. Solar shading proved to be effective during the hottest periods of the year, reducing the risk of extreme overheating by up to 52%

ICBBM2019 - 3rd International Conference on Bio-Based Building Materials

This paper measures the variation of thermal transmittance of solid brick walls triggered by the application of hemp-lime renders in an effort to enhance the insulating properties of buildings. Six renders with different proportions of hemp and lime were fabricated and two selected based on their workability and adhesion. They were applied to the walls and their thermal transmittance measured using the hot box method. Thermal imaging was used to control thermal bridges in the masonry assemblies. When compared to commercial mixes such diathomite and expanded polystyrene, the hemp-lime renders display similar thermal properties that qualify them as good insulators. It was evidenced that the application of a hemp-lime render can halve the thermal transmittance of a solid brick wall. The renders notably increased the resistance to heat transfer of the brick wall. Render 5 [a 1.25: 1 - hemp: NHL3.5 mix applied in a 21 mm depth] nearly doubles the thermal resistance and halves the thermal transmittance of the wall, reducing the U-value from 6.99 to 3.65 W/m2K therefore doubling the insulation provided by the solid brick wall. It was also noted that the 21 mm hemp-lime renders improved the thermal properties of stone walls, but the improvement is not as notable as in the brick walls. However, a thicker render [40 mm] would greatly improve the thermal performance of the stone walls reducing U-values by c.40%. The outstanding insulating ability of air gaps was exposed when the hemp-lime renders were applied on a metal lath/mesh set with a 20 mm gap off the wall: here, the U-values lowered by over 30%. Also, it was demonstrated that the hemp-lime renders improve the thermal performance of solid walls to a much greater extent than cavity walls

Overheating calculation methods, criteria, and indicators in European regulation for residential buildings

With the ongoing significance of overheating calculations in the residential building sector, building codes such as the European Energy Performance of Building Directive (EPBD) are essential for harmonizing the indicators and performance thresholds. This paper investigates Europe's overheating calculation methods, indicators, and thresholds and evaluates their ability to address climate change and heat events. e study aims to identify the suitability of existing overheating calculation methods and propose recommendations for the EPBD. The study results provide a cross-sectional overview of twenty-six European countries. The most influential overheating calculation criteria are listed the best approaches are ranked. The paper provides a thorough comparative assessment and recommendations to align current calculations with climate-sensitive metrics. The results suggest a framework and key performance indicators that are comfort-based, multi-zonal, and time-integrated to calculate overheating and modify the EU's next building energy efficiency regulations. The results can help policymakers and building professionals to develop the next overheating calculation framework and approach for the future development of climate-proof and resilient residential buildings

Finding Ivan Vladislavić - Writing the city

The work of Ivan Vladislavić is well established in his native South Africa, and increasingly recognized on the larger world stage of writing, editing and publishing. If his work nevertheless eludes scrutiny in some quarters, this may also have to do with its nature, and not only with its origin. The works differ and vary; there is no formula or project which proceeds neatly by sequence. No single work can be second-guessed from any other. This is a project full of surprises, connecting variously to art, photography, architecture and to urban studies, setting to work images and practices at once realist and surreal, absurdist and layering, and given to time and place and the universal. How then do we read it, and how does he write? For the purposes of this paper, we explain and locate our enthusiasm with reference to two works, The Restless Supermarket (2001) and Portrait with Keys (2006). We seek to identify some key tropes about place and place-writing and cities and city-writing with reference to Johannesburg and the way in which Vladislavic plays his subjects and his readers, placing not only fiction (or realism) under question but placing writing itself closer to the editor's deletion mark. This may be, we suggest, a kind of writing sideways. © Thesis Eleven Pty, Ltd., SAGE Publications