Thermal performance of thermoactive continuous flight auger piles

Foundation piles are being increasingly equipped with heat exchangers to efficiently harvest shallow geothermal energy. For buildings in urban areas, continuous flight auger (CFA) piles are common owing to their speed, cost-efficiency and low noise levels. To construct a thermoactive CFA pile usually requires separate central installation of the heat exchanger. However, the energy performance of this type of pile has not been investigated systematically, with most studies focused on rotary piles where the heat exchanger is attached to the reinforcing cage. In this work, insights are provided about the main influences on the energy efficiency of thermoactive CFA piles, with a focus on the implications of using CFA construction techniques rather than rotary boring. An innovative three-dimensional numerical model, able to capture the different aspects of transient heat transfer, is employed together with analytical methods to evaluate the transient and steady-state behaviour of energy piles in a number of design situations. Attention is given to understanding the role of possible pipe-to-pipe interaction, which cannot be systematically investigated with standard methods. Finally, practical guidelines on the optimal choice of design parameters to maximise the energy efficiency of CFA piles, without altering the geotechnical arrangements, are provided

Enhancing off-site manufacturing through early contractor involvement (ECI) in New Zealand

Procurement strategies that enable early contractor involvement (ECI) in design may enhance off-site manufacturing (OSM) by overcoming previously identified barriers to its uptake. Involving constructors during the design stage can reduce the risk of design buildability issues, and standardising traditionally bespoke ECI processes may help overcome cultural resistance to unfamiliar OSM technology. Following literature review and using case studies, document analysis and legal doctrine, a two-stage ECI conceptual process model for New Zealand is proposed. This was tested and refined following feedback at a conference. The model comprises a first-stage pre-construction contract and a second-stage standard-form construction contract. Key process variables are considered with solutions to provide collaboration and transparency while maintaining competitive fixed pricing across the supply chain. Legal doctrine analysis is used to distinguish between design buildability obligations and design codes compliance. The model contributes towards the development of a standard form for pre-construction contracts

Ziezo Tool as Part of the Engineering Doctorate Thesis: Window-integrated Bifacial PV Coupled with Solar Shading: A Multi-Parameter Model and Tool to Evaluate Daylight and Energy Performance

Ziezo tool is an application that captures the daylight and energy performance of Ziezo Window systems. The tool has been developed as part of the Engineering Doctorate thesis: "Window-integrated Bifacial PV Coupled with Solar Shading: A Multi-Parameter Model and Tool to Evaluate Daylight and Energy Performance". The thesis and work have been carried out by Mina Ishac, within the Chair of Building Performance Group in the Building Physics and Services Unit at Eindhoven University of Technology. This tool captures the daylight and energy performance of Ziezo Window systems, adapted to dynamic climatic conditions, window sizes and orientations. It aims to be informative, user-friendly and interactive. The tool, furthermore, captures the momentarily and annual daylight in light of solar radiation profiles of Eindhoven in the Netherlands to better understand the dynamic climatic conditions that affect lighting levels. The tool presents monthly and annual energy consumptions, and provides insights into the optical and thermal properties of Ziezo window. The tool retrieves simulation data, performs basic analysis on the data, and then presents this data to the user. The tool was designed in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) for Pilkington Nederland B.V. as the target end-user of the tool. An overview of all Ziezo cases in the tool, explanation of detailed functions, inputs, key performance indicators of the outputs, boundary conditions of the model, use cases can be found in the resources below for: 1) Engineering Doctorate thesis, and 2) demonstration video of the tool. Resources: 1- Engineering Doctorate open-access thesis (TU Eindhoven, March 2025): [https://research.tue.nl/nl/publications/window-integrated-bifacial-pv-coupled-with-solar-shading-a-multi-]. 2- Ziezo Tool Demonstration Video: [https://youtu.be/5YQqceGKQMg]

Building Performance

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SimulationExplorer mock-up

Considering the current global urgency to design better buildings, for its users and for the environment, and the opportunities provided by Building Performance Simulation (BPS), the ultimate goal of this project is to reduce the barriers towards valuable and profitable use of BPS in the Building Consulting branch of Arup Amsterdam. The Building Services team in Arup Amsterdam is eager to find out if they are missing any opportunities to bring the best designs to their various clients. The starting hypothesis was that Building Performance Simulation could be a means to improving the design proposed to clients, but the potential of BPS was hindered by different factors emerging from current practice. Within the company, the right boundary conditions (e.g., people, software, design process, library of tools, licenses, knowledge management and exchange) are not necessarily present or efficiently used. Similarly, new approaches developed by the BPS research community do not necessarily correspond to the needs and ways of working in the practice of building design and planning. As a PDEng trainee who, by definition, has a foot in both the academic and the industrial world, my role was to develop a tool to help spreading the use of BPS that fits Arup Amsterdam’s purposes by using a design-thinking approach that empathizes with the user. This video is a demonstration of the mock-up of this tool

Building acoustics library classification system

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:8673.74148(BEPAC-RR--93/2) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo