Behaviours, opportunities and expectations as thermal defences

Three papers were presented in this workshop. The first was on the subject of the Wintry Thermal Environment and Domestic Energy Use in Nepal. It was presented by Pokharel Ram and co-written with Hom Rijal and Masanori Shukuya from Tokyo City University (CATE 2019 Proceedings, pp. 377-382). This paper introduced several unique elements to the discussion if climate and comfort. The most glaring was that of altitude, that in Nepal dictates to a large extent the climate of a settlement. The verticality of the country offered a new insight into the impact of elevation on comfort. The second paper was on Indoor air quality, cold stress and thermal comfort in multi-family timber frame buildings by Timothy O. Adekunle, University of Hartford, Connecticut, USA (CATE 19 Proceedings, pp. 383-394). The paper provided an overview of environmental conditions measured in the homes in winter and provided an interesting contrast to the Nepalese study. The mean temperatures measured in the homes we above this measured in the Nepalese ones and there were recorded complaints about the stuffiness and the occasional smells and measurements did show theoretically high levels of humidity and CO2 in the occupied homes. However, these may seem insignificant when set against the Nepalese data where in some homes up to a dozen people may sleep in the same room. Clothing and life styles as well as expectations of what is required as a bare minimum for comfort may affect researchers thinking in such studies. The third paper in the workshop was on the surface of it very different. It was given by Kheira Anissa Tabet Aoul of the Architectural Engineering Department, United Arab Emirates University, UAE. It was on the subject of Sustainability, Literacy and Higher Education: Paradigms and Challenges in the Built Environment of the Gulf Region (CATE 19 Proceedings, pp395-406). In this paper Aoul raises the really important question of how best to transform our educational systems into high impact mechanisms for delivering to student's vital education on how they can survive and thrive in a rapidly changing world, with it changing climate. She looked at ways in which her own taught courses address this changing world and shared with the workshop her own endeavours to integrate essential and often basic sustainability and resilience lessons into her education and training programmes

The windcatchers of Yazd

Windcatchers are built on the roofs of houses of hot areas of the Middle East to ameliorate the internal summer climate. The archaeological and historical record shows them to have been used since antiquity, and although they are still widely found in the region today, and regularly mentioned in the modern works on architecture o-f the region, no detailed study of their types or operation has been published. Rather architects refer continually to an accepted stereotype of their form and performance on which modern architects have to rely as a design model. This study makes an original contribution to the published record. In it the badgirs, or windcatchers of a single region, Yazd, on the Persian plateau, are described; and the distribution o-f their types in the villages of the area, and city of Yazd are reviewed in relation to the climatic and historical influences on their design and use. The functions o-F badgirs in the houses of Yazd, as airconditioners and ventilators, are investigated. General temperature limits o-F their summer performance in the context of the life-style of the Yazdi, are established and reviewed in relation to comfort and the physiology of the human body and the climatic results used to interpret the distribution of windcatchers types in the wider area of the Middle East. The research provides a unique historical record of the badgirs of Yazd, illuminates the complexity of the climatic and historical influences in their distribution, and, through analysis of their performance, provides a general climatic guide that may assist contemporary designers wishing to incorporate windcatchers in modern houses in hot areas

Rethinking User Behaviour Comfort Patterns in the South of Spain—What Users Really Do

Although energy analysis techniques can contribute to substantial energy savings in housing stock retrofitting operations, the outcomes often deviate significantly from the predicted results, which tend to overestimate potential savings by overestimating the starting energy baselines, particularly in southern Europe. This deviation can be largely attributed to occupant practice relating to the use of air conditioning facilities and the temperatures at which occupants feel comfortable. The patterns observed differed widely from standard values. In this study environmental variables, primarily indoor air temperature both with and without HVAC, were monitored in occupied dwellings for a full year. The data gathered were supplemented with surveys on occupants’ temperature-related behaviour to define comfort patterns. The findings show that the standards in place are not consistent with actual comfort-accepted patterns in medium- to low-income housing in southern Spain, where energy consumption was observed to be lower than expected, mostly because occupants endure unsuitable, even unhealthy, conditions over long periods of time. A new user profile, better adjusted to practice in southern Europe, particularly in social housing, is proposed to reflect the current situation

Measuring Net Zero: Carbon accounting for buildings and communities

LEGACY DOCUMENT: Brief Summary of and Reflections on the 8th International ICARB Conference on Carbon Accounting MEASURING NET ZERO: CARBON ACCOUNTING FOR BUILDINGS AND COMMUNITIESThe conference was attended by delegates from twenty-seven different countries, from all walks of life including politicians, academics, developers and those from the construction industry and the designing professions. The pathway to a Net Zero future is incredibly important not only to stabilise the climate but also to provide the best possible chance of managing the impacts of a heating world on global societies, economies and their environments. Many of the issues discussed are complex and can be divisive. We purposefully brought to the meeting people from many different sides of the debate to provide a safe and solution facing forum for discussion. To ensure that some of those debates were not lost we are producing this Legacy Document, with short overviews of the contents of each session and the deliberations that followed papers and sessions. Many of the Papers are included in the Proceedings of this Conference. Where possible the Power Point presentations of speakers are also available on the ICARB 2023 website. Six of the most telling presentations are available on YouTube and are also linked via the website and click linked to the speakers highlighted in orange below. Legacy Notes were taken by Rapporteurs in each session of the Conference giving an overview of what was said and the questions and discussions in each session. To access those notes just click link on the blue session headings for the topics you are interested in and that will take you to the reports on the talks around that subject. As well as plenary sessions there were six specialist Workshops on a range of key topics where papers were presented and discussed in more detail

Low cost, energy and impact ceramic cladding cooling system by means of evapotranspiration or ‘botijo-effect’.

A new ceramic cladding system was first applied in the house prototype named "SOLARKIT”, representing the University of Seville in the international competition Solar Decathlon Europe 2010, where its effectiveness was registered by thermographs y and the monitoring of the building. Therefore, as a result of this R+D+I experience derived from the search of a low energy and innovative cooling bioclimatic strategy, a new cladding system has been invented and patented. Consequently, the patented invention relates to an external cladding system using tiles made from a porous-ceramic material or similar, named as a façade with “botijo-effect”. Thus, the system can be applied directly as a final cladding or used in external sheets of ventilated façades. Compared to traditional claddings, this system provides de possibility of cooling its surface by means of evapotranspiration generated by supplying water through a network of canaliculi inside the tiles. An estimated superficial cooling power of over 80 W/m² can be considered, plus an 8 to 10ºC cooling effect on the air temperature Its application is particularly interesting at locations with hot-dry climates where there is a high cooling energy demand or where is intended to mitigate the "heat island" effect in urban environments

Microclimatic conditions of internal courtyards in warm climates and their influence in eco-efficient construction

A reduced shape factor of the building has become a general recommendation in order to achieve eco-efficient architecture in any climate in spite of the fact that it was made to be applied to cold climates. As a result, this pattern of compact shapes is widespread all over the world. However, it is based on a simplified model of the interaction of architecture with its environment in which the air surrounding the building is considered to be at the same temperature. Nevertheless, this paper will show that in climates such as the Mediterranean, the existence of microclimates induced by the building itself, for instance inside internal courtyards, indicate a more dynamic interaction. In spite of a higher shape factor, more complex shapes can beexplored that take advantage of these microclimates to achieve more eco-efficient buildings

El uso de la tecnología fotovoltaica en áreas urbanas de la Argentina

El área suburbana de Gran Buenos Aires esta en rápida expansión en la zona norte y sur. Las compañías eléctricas que deben proveer de energía eléctrica a los nuevos barrios enfrentan una situación problemática debido a la limitada capacidad de transmisión y distribución de la red eléctrica en regiones donde la demanda anterior era muy baja. La demanda pico de estos nuevos barrios es elevada, especialmente en verano, debido al indiscriminado uso de aire acondicionado. La curva de producción fotovoltaica coincide con el consumo simulado, permitiendo ventajas para las compañías eléctricas mediante el uso de electricidad fotovoltaica como herramienta de gestión de la demanda. En este trabajo, se analiza el potencial de electricidad fotovoltaica para proveer soluciones, así como estrategias, para el uso de esta tecnología en áreas urbanas de la Argentina.Asociación Argentina de Energías Renovables y Medio Ambiente (ASADES

Tecnología solar: una propuesta arquitectónica para el próximo milenio

En Argentina, el sector edilicio representa el 30-40% del consumo energético del país. Con el fin de revertir esta situación se necesita desarrollar estrategias para proveer de electricidad a las ciudades en expansión. Al usar fotovoltaicos como solución al problema del suministro sostenible de energía, Argentina esta en condiciones de evaluar la tecnología fotovoltaica como componente del futuro suministro energético. En este contexto, la Comisión Europea a destinado fondos del Programa Thermie-B para financiar un proyecto de dos años que incluye: • un concurso a nivel nacional para alumnos de los últimos años de arquitectura e ingeniería, para diseñar un edificio fotovoltaico, • un taller de 3 días para todos los participantes del concurso y profesores, • dos seminarios para arquitectos e ingenieros. Este proyecto contará con la participación de expertos internacionales, tanto en el dictado de los talleres y seminarios, como en la organización del concurso.Asociación Argentina de Energías Renovables y Medio Ambiente (ASADES