A Review of the E-learning Resources on Building Physics for Architects

This paper discusses about e-learning resources for supporting the implementation of sustainable environmental design (SED) in the architecture discipline. The research has identified from the literature that organisation of learning materials, visualisation of information and enabling interdisciplinary communication are the key factors of designing an effective e-learning tool for this task. The review found the available e-learning resources being very limited in number with respect to building physics. The EDUCATE Portal and Autodesk Sustainability Workshop website can be considered good examples of the e-learning tools reviewed in this paper

An update of the UK’s test reference year: The implications of a revised climate on building design

Copyright © 2015 SAGE PublicationsAverage weather years have been used around the world for testing buildings to ascertain their likely energy use using thermal modelling software. In the UK, the Test Reference Years which are in current use were released in 2006 but generally consisted of data from 1983 to 2004. In this work, revised test reference years will be proposed which are based on a new climatic period from 1984 to 2013. The differences between the two years will be highlighted and the implications for building design will be discussed.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)CIBS

Investigating the overheating risk in refurbished social housing

Global average surface temperatures are predicted to rise from 1 to 5°C by 2100. Also, extreme events such as heat waves are expected to increase in intensity, frequency and duration. In most of Europe and other developed countries, existing buildings are projected to form from 70% to 80% of the built stock by 2050. Investigating the risk of overheating in the existing building stock is therefore crucial in order to adopt measures which can help to mitigate what it can be a lethal effect of global warming: prolonged exposure to high temperatures in buildings. By collecting measured data, this study investigates indoor temperatures and thermal comfort in bedrooms, kitchens and living rooms of 46 newly-retrofitted free-running social houses in Exeter, UK during the summer 2014. The overheating risk was evaluated using the CIBSE TM52 adaptive benchmark. It was seen evidence of 10 out of 86 rooms overheating in 9 dwellings. It was found that kitchens and bedrooms are the rooms with the greater overheating risk among the monitored spaces. It was also found that old and vulnerable occupants are at a higher risk of being exposed to high indoor temperatures due to fact that they spent most of their time indoor and also because of poor indoor ventilation

Effects of Aggressive Energy Efficiency Regulations on an Unprepared Building Sector using Uncertainty Analysis

Building Assessment Tools (BATs) are widely used to estimate the performance of building and to assist designers in making decisions. As building codes and rating systems move from prescriptive to performance-based metrics, BATs are increasingly used to show compliance. BATs use computational methods and the results are mostly in a single annualised metric. However, the scientific community has shown that aleatory factors such as occupant behaviour and weather make the potential energy use of a building far from being a single deterministic value. Also, it is known that there is a significant deviation between predicted (at design stage) and actual energy use in buildings. These variations reduce the credibility of the predictions, questioning the acceptance of BATs results without considering underlying errors. This problem is amplified in developing nations because of under-policed construction sector. To address this, our work analyses uncertainty in a typical air-conditioned multi-storey residential building’s performance in Delhi and shows implications of variable inputs in the results.The paper first reviews the use of BATs and existing studies on simulation uncertainty. Then uncertainty is evaluated in energy simulation of a sample building, including effects of inconsistent and construction practices. EnergyPlus is then fed values sampled (by Monte-Carlo method) from probability distribution functions of inputs (building fabric and operational parameters). Further sensitivity and uncertainty analysis of the results is performed. From the 3500 simulations, the most sensitive inputs found were internal gains; cooling setpoints and infiltration. The variation in cooling demand and discomfort hours is more than double between the best and worst case

A Review of the E-learning Resources on Building Physics for Architects

This paper discusses about e-learning resources for supporting the implementation of sustainable environmental design (SED) in the architecture discipline. The research has identified from the literature that organisation of learning materials, visualisation of information and enabling interdisciplinary communication are the key factors of designing an effective e-learning tool for this task. The review found the available e-learning resources being very limited in number with respect to building physics. The EDUCATE Portal and Autodesk Sustainability Workshop website can be considered good examples of the e-learning tools reviewed in this paper