EVALUATING THE TRANSFORMATION OF LAND USE AND MORPHOLOGY ON THE MICROCLIMATE: THE CASE OF GEMMAYZEH NEIGHBOURHOOD – BEIRUT

This paper investigates the effect of urban areas on local climate by examining the correlation between urban morphology, land use and urban thermal climates. It focuses on Gemmayzeh area in Beirut. Urban parameters were evaluated by developing an energy balance model with the aim of understanding how heterogeneous geometry, height, and finishing material can change the mechanical and thermal structure of the urban atmosphere. It simulates the current urban condition in order to compare it with other scenarios using ENVI-met 4.The results from the numerical simulation reveal that a network of green infrastructure connecting the existing green patches can ameliorate heat extraction and improve the outdoor thermal comfort level. The PMV value at the pedestrian level is reduced from extreme heat stress to moderate heat stress near the green areas. The study concludes that Beirut city center can mitigate the urban heat island by using vegetation and especially green roofs and densification of high trees in the left over spaces

Developing an archetype building stock model for new cities in Egypt

In Egypt, the development of the residential building sector is growing robustly increasing urban electrification which urges the need to improve the energy efficiency of the building stock. This study describes the development of ENCEM (Egyptian New Cities Energy Model), a residential bottom-up building stock model for the new cities in Egypt based on a proposed methodology of five steps that classified the building stock into 9 archetypes. An energy model was developed and simulated using EnergyPlus to identify the electricity demand, bills, and CO2 emissions for each archetype. The results showed that the end-use demand of the buildings varied depending on the housing typology, floor level, and building attachment type

Life Cycle Optimisation Study for Retrofitting an Archetype Building in New Cities in Egypt

This study aims to assess the potential environmental and economic benefits of retrofitting a residential archetype building under different scenarios. The study uses life cycle performance approaches to carry on a retrofitting scenario for an attached villa archetype in new cities in Egypt. After identifying three levels of energy retrofit measures (ERMs), a multi-objective optimisation framework was developed and carried out upon the case study model to optimise the Life Cycle Cost (LCC) and the Life Cycle Carbon Footprint (LCCF). The results of the study presented 4 different retrofitting scenarios with various investment costs and significantly improved operational costs and emissions

Indoor Thermal Performance in Vernacular Dwellings in Alentejo, Portugal

Understanding the indoor environmental conditions of liveable architectural heritage such as vernacular dwellings is a key step towards its conservation. Yet, there is a lack of large-sample studies that assess indoor conditions using long-term quantitative and qualitative data complying with monitoring standards. This paper addresses this gap in Portuguese vernacular dwellings using long-term mixed methods, by analysing the thermal performance, indoor air quality, and illuminance of 22 case studies. Key findings highlight the role of thermal mass in damping the outdoor thermal wave and providing thermal stability, night ventilation, and lack of windows. Summer thermal performance bettered that of winter, but occupant control strategies negatively impacted thermal stability and overheating. In winter, the most prevalent heating system, electric, performed less efficiently than radiant heating, leaving occupants exposed to thermal discomfort and health risks from cold, mould, and toxins from wood-burning and cooking. Important discrepancies were found between the illuminance monitored and survey data, indicating the significance of cultural practices in indoor environment acceptability and expectations

THE IMPACT OF CHANGES IN BEIRUT URBAN PATTERNS ON THE MICROCLIMATE: A REVIEW OF URBAN POLICY AND BUILDING REGULATIONS

Previous studies conducted on Beirut have historically overlooked research in the field of urban microclimate. A better understanding of how Beirut urban development, including zoning and building regulations, has affected the current urban thermal climate is crucial in order to analyse how different factors have led to the structure of the city, including the quality of urban space and the degradation of its natural environment. Within the context of limited government capability to set out strategies for sustainable urban development, this paper examines the historical evolution of the Lebanese building regulations specifically in Beirut and investigates the impact of changes in building regulations on the city’s urban microclimate. The review highlights the historical urban growth of the city and identifies the dynamics that have contributed to the uncontrolled expansion of the built up areas. Analyses linked to the direct effects of the urban morphological features forming a different local microclimate in Beirut. Initial findings highlight the correlations between building regulations and the different urban design factors and how they affect Beirut local climate, resulting in the formulation and adaption of the necessary strategies to alleviate unhealthy urban conditions

IMPACT OF BIM ON BUILDING DESIGN QUALITY

During last decades, the aim of new technologies was to develop new information systems to automate manual processes. Large-scale projects in the field of construction industry need a different approach to organize and analyze data creating a database without any duplication or redundancy. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a teamwork process using advanced technologies to generate data modeling. Based on a literature review, the present research proposes a set of hypotheses that links BIM implementation with the enhancement of information sharing capability (ISC) and collaborative decision capability (CDC) in the construction sector of the building industry. Consequently, it relates the degree of BIM use to the design quality enhancement using ISC and CDC as mediators. Towards this end, the research adopts three sets of criteria namely, functionality, form and aesthetic values, and building construction quality as indicators to design quality improvement. Finally, the research proposes a new conceptual model to set the potential relations between the different variables included in the study. Hence it offers several implications for practitioners and decision makers concerning the importance of BIM to enhance the design quality

On the robustness of thermal comfort against uncertain future climate: A Bayesian bootstrap method

Climate change mitigation and adaptation warrants their synergetic consideration in the building design process, yet past decades have witnessed an unbalanced focus on the mitigation of energy and carbon. In redressing the imbalance, the major challenge lies in the accurate prediction of future building performance via building energy modelling, which is considerably hindered by uncertainties in future climate data. Robustness analysis is a promising technique to inform uncertainty-based decision-making, but its application to future thermal comfort has yet to be sufficiently explored in the built environment. From the perspective of domestic overheating, this paper represents an initial investigation into the implementation of the Bayesian bootstrap method, to quantitatively evaluate the robustness of thermal comfort against uncertain future climate. This is demonstrated using a case study of two typical post-retrofit dwellings in England, where the Bayesian bootstrap also enables the statistical comparison of their expected future overheating risk with climate uncertainty considered. The main findings reveal the magnitude of both overheating risk and its variability experienced during nocturnal occupancy in regulation-compliant dwellings, respectively comprising nearly 15 and 12 times greater than during daytime in extreme cases. Results also imply that adaptive ventilation is potentially the key measure to enhance the robustness of thermal comfort against climate uncertainty. Overall, the Bayesian bootstrap is shown to provide a systematically consistent approach to the robustness assessment of future thermal comfort, which can facilitate the comparability of design alternatives that is vital to the building design decision-making process integrating both mitigation and adaptation strategies