AEI 2013: Building Solutions for Architectural Engineering

This paper is the result of a qualitative case study which investigated the influence of building information modelling (BIM) collaboration on the learning of student architectural technologists based around a studio group project. The purpose of the paper is to disseminate knowledge gained into a new learning environment facilitated by the collaborative properties of a BIM application. A qualitative case study approach has been used to undertake the examination of the learners' experiences during the project. This approach allowed the author to map the complex interaction between the participants during the stages of the collaborative design project. The paper provides evidence of a new learning environment created in the studio setting. This learning is facilitated by the collaboration tools and work-set methodology of the BIM application. This case study will support higher education institutions proposing to introduce collaborative BIM applications into a built environment curriculum and also may act as a catalyst to encourage educators to adopt a similar approach to teaching in a range of other professions. This research supports a need in higher education to provide for transition from theory to workplace practice and identifies a potential for higher level learning facilitated by collaborative BIM technologies and methodologies.

Structural integration in a building project involves technical, design, and communication skills. A free exchange of ideas happens when team members trust one another and when the various priorities are respected. The appreciation of collaboration methods can take years of work as a practitioner to develop. Can some of these experiences start at the university level? And by what means? Can a participatory learning opportunity be devised that will allow students to explore multiple perspectives on the same project? This paper will examine a course developed to try to answer these questions through the use of an architectural design project within a structural planning course. By beginning with an architectural concept and ending with structural analysis, students were able to see the various demands on the project. This course allowed each student to assume the ‘role' of the structural engineer and architect within the same project, a daunting task for a sixteen-week course. This paper will discuss the framework, educational goals, and tools for the class. The work of the students will illustrate the various stages of the semester and their reflections will provide an insight into their struggles in an interdisciplinary learning environment. The presentation will conclude with an evaluation of the course that, for the most part, successfully engaged the students in two of the main fields in the industry and increased their appreciation of both.

The Nigerian government has a mandate to create five million jobs annually within the next three years and establish more skills acquisition centres. Although the existing universities in Nigeria can influence the development of entrepreneurial skills, entrepreneurship had been considered a subject mainly for students with predominantly business background. Nowadays, entrepreneurship is gaining much ground even among other disciplines with a non-business background. The aim of this research is to compare the entrepreneurial characteristics of architecture and building students of Covenant University. A sample of 115 Covenant University students comprising of 59 architecture students and 56 Building students responded to a 10-item questionnaire. Data was analyzed using Mann-Whitney test. The findings revealed that there is no statistically significant difference between the entrepreneurial characteristics of creativity, self confidence/awareness, risk-taking propensity and need for achievement of architecture and building students. A different finding was however revealed under the entrepreneurial characteristic of market knowledge. Although Covenant University is already empowering all its graduates entrepreneurially to contribute significantly to the socio-economic development of the country, other educators should incorporate into their curriculum elements that enhance the development of entrepreneurial characteristics because it is imperative for self employment and employment career path.

This research examines the benefits and challenges associated with largely self-guided learning as a method for encouraging students to deepen their understanding of sustainable building design principles. This work builds off of prior work related to this topic in which first-year architectural engineering students were tasked with redesigning an existing curtain wall design to make the building perform more sustainably. In this follow-up research, students were given a list of several possible building materials to be used on a curtain wall design and several photographs of the existing building with the curtain wall digitally removed and also with it faded in the images so that students could document their ideas on the photos in the context of the surrounding built space. Pre-tests and post-tests, reflection questions, and focus group assessments were used to better understand the implications of this activity. It was found that, while students' understanding of sustainable building topics was not significantly enhanced from this activity, they did show improvement in the design processes that were employed as compared to the prior work where the additional materials and provided photographs were not included. The students who participated in this activity experimented with creating more design iterations as compared to prior students who were not given the images and material list to guide their decisions. The designs submitted by students during this activity were also more focused on the building element in question and did not deviate to other building elements as often. The findings from this work will serve as a point of comparison for future efforts related to better understanding the educational value of augmented reality technology in improving sustainable design skills in first year engineering students.

In August of 2009, the Department of Architectural Engineering (AE) at Penn State University launched a three-year, multidisciplinary, Building Information Modeling (BIM) enhanced Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) Capstone Project Pilot Program under industry and institutional sponsorship. Consisting of a year-long, two-course sequence, this capstone initiative was organized and managed around multidisciplinary teams of architectural engineering students incorporating IPD/BIM concepts as an alternative to the traditional (individual student projects) Penn State AE Capstone Program known as AE Senior Thesis.

The construction industry in the Middle-East in general and in Egypt in particular has an important role in the economic growth of these countries. However, time overruns are a repetitive phenomenon in these construction industries. Very few studies addressed the causes of construction delays for construction projects in this area. This paper focuses on the causes of construction delays in the Egyptian construction industry. The first main objective of the research is to identify and rank the major causes of delays for engineering projects. The second main objective is to determine the party responsible for the main causes of delays. The research was conducted in three phases. The first phase included unstructured interviews with practitioners involved in the Egyptian construction industry. The second phase consisted of a survey for a sample of thirty-five (35) professional experts using a customized questionnaire. These experts represented the different parties of the construction industry; namely, the Contractor, the Employer, and the Consultant/ Project Manager. The third phase of the research covered the analysis of the data collected, in order to determine the frequency and ranking of the causes of delays. The analysis of the results also included the party responsible of the different causes. The results revealed that the causes of delays can be grouped into five (5) main categories: 1) Construction related causes 2) Managerial related causes 3) Political related causes 4) Financial related causes 5) Technical related causes. The top 12 causes included 3 construction, 7 managerial, 1 political and 1 financial related causes. The contractor and the Employer were found to be responsible each of 5 of the top 12 causes. The remaining two were found to be the responsibility of a third party

Several Lean construction tools have been developed based on Lean principles to help improve productivity and minimise resources utilisation in building construction. Though Lean construction practice is centred around the same Lean principles, companies have tended to develop and adopt different tools. The study is aimed at identifying the different tools applied and the rationale behind the variation in the tools' selection and application. An exploratory qualitative study was undertaken using semi-structured telephone interviews with 7 key personnel from 7 contracting firms in the United Kingdom to investigate the Lean construction tools they apply and the rationale behind selecting and applying such tools. The interviews were transcribed verbatim, coded based on emerging themes and analysed using a thematic analysis approach. It was found that the tools selected were found to differ among the companies due to variations in the drivers for adopting Lean construction in the organisations. The analysis revealed 18 Lean tools and 19 drivers for adoption of Lean construction principles in these organisations. The main drivers were time and cost reduction, clients' satisfaction, efficiency, quality, health and safety, and process improvement. The study concludes that the drivers to Lean practise in an organisation play a role in determining what tools are selected and applied in the organisation. The findings reported will be of interest to companies in helping them to select the appropriate tools when adopting Lean construction in their organisations.

Adherence to clear and equitable contract documents does not guarantee project success. Many other contributors such as attitudes of the contracting parties and their relationships are also considered important. Hitherto, it is not known if relationships among contracting parties in public construction projects in China have a significant effect on project performance. This study aims to investigate relationship quality among contracting parties and their effects on project performance in China's public construction projects. Using a questionnaire survey, 59 sets of data of completed projects were collected from public owners and private contractors and consultants in Beijing. The data were analysed using correlation analysis and one-sample t test. The results show that public construction projects to have achieved significantly good quality performance and client satisfaction but not in budget nor schedule performance. The results also that higher quality of relationships during project implementation stage always leads to significantly good project quality and client satisfaction with the project. In addition, the results show that relationships among contracting parties play an important role in successful project outcomes. It is suggested that concerted effort should be taken to improve relationships in publically funded construction projects, as this will lead to better project outcomes.

Construction sector in Northern Cyprus (TRNC) proved its potential of being locomotive in the economy after 2005. Increasing expectations to solve Cyprus problem, the positive reflections of the Annan Plan and the hypothetical abundance of liquidity in the world caused the construction sector to play the leading role in the economy of TRNC. However, these conditions have been reversed in a negative way today. Furthermore, internal problems such as high production costs, lack of international workshops, absence of development plan, lack of internationally certified construction firms, weak institutional and financial structure of contractors, low level of Value Management (VM) awareness among related authorities and private sectors, absence of country physical plan and less number of VM practitioners and consultants combined with uncontrollable external factors create negative impact on the sector's productivity and hence the competitiveness of the building industry. The aim of this study is to review the gaps that exist, particularly on how VM is being practiced in to comparison with the published VM body of knowledge. Therefore, the unclear description of current applications and the level of VM practice in the country were investigated. This research includes a comprehensive literature study, a structured questionnaire among construction management experts, interviews with building construction companies and related firms on the challenge of VM knowledge level and practice in building industry, analysis of this information to develop findings, and extending these to appraise the critical issues that could be targeted for building construction sector. The result of the survey, were further analyzed in details and guidelines were proposed to enhance an improved environment. Moreover, strategies were suggested to develop VM adoption and awareness level among construction industry practitioners in TRNC.

In the construction industry, since differences in perceptions among the participants of the projects, conflicts are inevitable. If conflicts are not well managed, they are quickly turn into disputes. Disputes are one of the main factors which prevent the successfully completion of the construction project. Thus, it is important to be aware of the causes of disputes in order to complete the construction project in the desired time, budget and quality. This paper aims to analyze the main causes of disputes which occur in the construction industry. In order to reach this aim, a literature review was undertaken to identify the common construction disputes. The disputes derived from a cross-section of the literature, were classified into main categories and the main causes of construction disputes were determined. Finally, an analysis was carried out using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) approach to determine their relative importance.

The degradation of the temperature difference between supply and return flow (known as ΔT degradation) in chilled water systems has been widely observed and documented over the last 25 years. High pumping energy consumption as well as reduced efficiency of the chillers operating under part-load conditions, lead to a decrease of overall system efficiency of chilled water plants. This article describes a field study conducted on two university campuses in Massachusetts and Colorado during the cooling season of 2011. The purpose of this experimental study was to alleviate ΔT degradation problems on both campuses through the use of intelligent pressure-independent control valves, and to quantify the improvements achieved. The MA field results revealed that the intelligent control valves when coupled with a ΔT management strategy have allowed the campus to serve additional cooling load on its campus with the same distribution and central plant system.

Energy efficiency programs, such as Better Building Initiative, assume that our knowledge is adequate to understand and assess energy savings and productions, in order to guide investment decisions so that energy savings goals are achieved. However, energy savings and productions following the implementation of energy improvements, such as Photovoltaic (PV) systems, are subject to significant short- and long-term variations over time. Understanding the longitudinal variations of energy savings and productions is critical to achieve energy savings goals. The objective of this paper is to identify and characterize main properties of longitudinal energy productions following the implementation of photovoltaic (PV) systems. Graphical and statistical time series methods are used to directly extract knowledge from the actual longitudinal energy productions. The data about longitudinal energy productions of forty five PV systems were used in this study. The data were provided by Florida Solar Energy Center. The identified properties of longitudinal energy productions are outliers, level shifts, seasonalities, long-term trends, and short-term variations. It is expected that the knowledge about longitudinal variations of energy productions improve maintenance, design and investment analysis of PV systems in order to achieve energy productions goals. It is also anticipated that the proposed methods can be used for identifying and characterizing longitudinal energy productions following the implementation of other energy improvements.

Four and a half million non-residential buildings in the U.S are estimated to be suitable candidates for energy retrofits (McGraw Hill, 2009). The current process of evaluating design alternatives for energy efficient retrofit projects uses drawings and 3D renderings together with documents to share energy simulation results and associated assumptions. Due to document-based information exchange, it is challenging for collaborative design teams to interpret energy implications of every design option, perform integrated analyses of design information with energy model results, and compare these energy implications with those of other design options. Immersive and interactive workspaces could improve the process by allowing teams to easily visualize assumptions and energy simulation results integrated with 3D models. Various parties are involved in collaborative design teams and each has a unique role, necessitating communication of task-specific assumptions and information requirements. Hence, there is a need to first identify what engineered information that collaborative teams should share in enabling design alternative evaluation and what visualization forms design teams would need. This paper presents an approach for capturing the information/visualization requirements of collaborative design teams as they implement and leverage immersive and interactive visualization settings. An iterative approach was taken within which virtual mockups were created using information requirements identified through brainstorming with energy modeling experts and then presented to collaborative design teams in order to acquire more information/visualization requirements. This research is part of a larger effort in the Energy Efficient Buildings (EEB) Hub at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and uses Building 661, currently undergoing retrofit, as a case study. This paper presents the initial use case, information requirements identified, and virtual prototypes developed.

Changes are inevitable in construction projects and through the life of a building. In many cases, each change triggers a chain of other events which need to be managed. This makes change and dependency management one of the most critical activities in construction project and operations management. This is particularly important in retrofit projects, which are typically complex due to the constraints in the availability of information (such as original owner requirements, design and specifications and associated decisions) and limited or lack of access to the project team involved in the original design and construction of the building. This paper aims to highlight the need for managing changes and dependencies in energy efficient retrofit projects. A review of theoretical and practical issues in change and dependency is presented; including basic definitions. Insights from ongoing research in construction and other industries are used to discuss the context for change and dependency management in construction projects. The paper further examines change and dependency management issues in four case studies. Critical problems originating from poor change and dependency management, which resulted in project failures and, in some cases, catastrophic incidents, are identified from the cases. Analyses of the case study findings are informative and indicative of the importance and benefits of good change and dependency management, which need to be adopted in retrofit projects. The paper concludes by identifying critical issues in energy efficient retrofit projects which make change and dependency management vital to their success. The initial efforts in developing and implementing appropriate processes and systems for energy efficient building retrofit projects are briefly outlined. Recommendations for broader research in this area are also provided.

The materials selected in finishing the surfaces of operating rooms can have an effect on performance. They must be suitable and supportive to the functions of these specialized spaces. Also, they must withstand the various demands resulting from the intensive use. This is especially important with the strict aseptic techniques that are typically observed in these spaces. This can also result in increased hospital operation and maintenance costs. This paper reports on the results of two surveys on the finish materials used in the floor, walls and ceiling surfaces of operating rooms. The study covered more than 546 operating rooms in more than 86 hospitals. The first survey was conducted for hospitals built -or renovated in the USA between 1980 and 2003. The second survey was conducted in Egypt for hospitals built, renovated, or under design between 2008 and 2012. The time difference between the two surveys was of little concern, since the performance of finish materials does not become apparent except after long term use that extends for years. The surveys identified the materials that were most commonly used in finishing the operating rooms in both countries. Also, views of the facility managers of the USA hospitals in regards to the actual performance of these materials were collected. These were compared with previous studies in Egypt and the USA. The paper draws useful conclusions to architects, administrators and facility managers on the most popular finish materials used in these specialized spaces. Also, views of the facility managers on the performance-in-use of these materials were identified. This included performance of the most popular materials in regards to their sterile properties, durability, maintenance, aesthetics, comfort, safety and cost.

The tools outlined in this paper show how inadequate repairs impact masonry performance and how good quality repairs can reduce unnecessary expenditure and increase the service life of masonry buildings. This discussion focuses on identification of poor quality mortar joint repairs, understanding what constitutes proper and improper repairs, and the structural ramifications of poor maintenance. The authors have combined structural and architectural engineering experience drawing from evaluation and repair work on hundreds of projects to generate the field research for this paper. The maintenance of mortar joints in existing structures is critical to the long-term durability of the masonry wall system. Unfortunately, the maintenance of mortar joints is often overlooked until irreversible damage to the walls has occurred and serious structural concerns arise. The masonry degradation process has several stages, which if identified early can avoid more costly and extensive future repairs. Professionals may have limited preservation expertise to identify poor quality repair techniques during assessments that assist in generation of repair plans. Proving the value and performance of mortar repair is critical in validating the quality and cost of work. The intent of this paper is to disseminate compiled practical knowledge for the reader to understand and be able to identify less than desirable methods of mortar joint maintenance, understand why poor quality mortar joints do not perform over the long-term, and see the steps required to implement good quality, long-term, mortar joint repointing.

The process of designing high rise buildings is demanding. In addition to being technically complex, high rise buildings must respond to the functional and psychological needs of the building users. As with other complex building types, an adequate design process suggests looking backward and forward simultaneously. Utilizing feedback from past users and projecting into the future are critical techniques when producing a successful building product. What are the psychological differences between forms generated by formula and regular forms in high rise building? How can high rise buildings forms affect its environment, and people's attitude? What is the relationship between people's preferences and parametric high rise building form? This research attempts to answer these questions. Nowadays, architects are using BIM (building information modeling) in designing high-rise buildings, especially where BIM design tools can reduce design errors significantly. In addition, generating the forms through scripting with BIM tools is used for the form design of high rise buildings. What remain to be addressed is the psychological effects of generating high rise building forms digitally. In fact, this research can be considered as a pre-occupancy evaluation. Three groups of individuals were asked to participate in this survey. Individuals who were living in small cities, individuals who were living in big cities, but not in the downtown area, and individuals who were living in the downtown of big cities comprised the three groups. Different simulated high-rise building forms were demonstrated on the BIM Cave (a three dimensional room located in College of Architecture, Texas A&M University) for these three groups. The quantitative data generated indicates that individuals who have the experience of living in the high rise urban areas strongly support generating forms digitally in comparison with individuals who do not have the experience of living in the downtown of big cities. In general, the results suggest that designers should consider generating high rise buildings form digitally, especially where parametric design combines modularity with rhythm in the high rise building skin, in order to meet the needs of future users of their designs.

The clamour for sustainable buildings in the construction industry is on the rise. Sustainable buildings reduce building energy consumption, support health, comfort, and wellbeing of building inhabitants without compromising the wellbeing of the earth. Studies have also shown that sustainable buildings make money sense. However, issues relating to process of achieving sustainable buildings goals have not been receiving the attention it requires. Process management is an essential tool which most architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) professionals overlook or do not pay much attention to. If the process is wrong or inadequate, sustainable buildings goals may not be achieved effectively, if achieved at all. This may have significant impacts on future acceptance of sustainable building practices. With the use of existing data in the literature and our research in this field, this paper proposes a holistic approach for achieving the intended benefits of sustainable construction.

Building performance is governed by physical processes, which are dynamically coupled in time and space, and whose degrees of interactions are often difficult to measure and appreciate. As a result, suboptimal performance and failures often occur. The goal of high-performance buildings is to optimize major aspects such as energy efficiency, life-cycle costs, and lighting, which are tightly coupled by the underlying physical processes. The premise behind this research project is that building integration/optimization can only be achieved when grounded on a shared understanding and communication of the underlying physical principles governing building performance, which can then enable the transformation of these principles into meaningful performance metrics. This paper proposes a methodology for building systems integration through building science principles. At the core of the methodology, a vocabulary of building science concepts, principles, and metrics enables using existing knowledge to increase understanding and gain insights on the systems involved in a particular design (including degrees of coupling, redundancies, and behaviours), which in turn facilitates the creation of new knowledge that may be needed to integrate new systems and technologies. A set of generic building science rules implemented using systems theory will enable such knowledge creation while preserving systems integrity at all times. The goal of this research is not to create a knowledge-base to replace building science professionals but to leverage an explicit vocabulary to increase understanding, learning, and communication of building performance for improved building integration. Furthermore, it is envisioned that the knowledge-base will serve as a bridge between building simulation, decision analysis, and optimization. This paper presents the initial attempt to organize a wealth of building science knowledge into a structured vocabulary. The power of generality and usability of the methodology will be tested with a case study. The expected benefits of the approach are three-fold: 1) to promote a more systematic approach to optimize building systems, 2) to facilitate the integration of new systems and technologies in buildings, and 3) to improve the education and dissemination of building science knowledge for improved building integration.

The nation's Construction Engineering (ConE) degree programs place a large number of their graduates into the commercial/architectural construction industry. ConE programs are often collocated with Architectural Engineering (ArchE) degree programs, a closely related discipline. Allegorically, ConE and ArchE are like brother and sister, sharing a common curricular foundation. The study's objective is to explore improving the preparation of ConE graduates for the commercial industry by adding an option to minor in ArchE. This paper reports the result of a comparative content analysis of the similarities and differences in ArchE and ConE curricula and quantifies the additional coursework necessary to add an ArchE concentration. The findings are based on a curriculum survey of every ABET accredited ArchE degree program. The study's findings are validated by a case study comparative analysis of ArchE and ConE programs at the University of Nebraska and the ConE program at Iowa State University. The paper finds a significant degree of overlap in each discipline's accreditation requirements and, depending on a given programs' existing curriculum, that adding an ArchE minor to a ConE degree program can be accomplished by including an average of nine additional credits.

While close collaboration between architects and engineers in building design is a well-recognized necessity, we still educate students in each of these professions separately (and generally in isolation). This paper describes the experience of integrating teams of architecture and engineering students as they progress through the design and construction of a home for the 2013 Solar Decathlon competition. This competition requires that engineering and architecture students, in addition to other disciplines, design, build, and operate a net-zero energy solar house prototype. The Solar Decathlon experience has identified three critical aspects for interdisciplinary collaboration: project logistics, the design process, and the collective values of the design team. Among the three, the design process is the aspect that seems to offer the greatest opportunity for innovation, especially as it relates to information technologies and building information modeling (BIM). BIM, required as a Solar Decathlon deliverable by the U.S. Department of Energy, provides an excellent conceptual framework for organizing teamwork and interdisciplinary collaboration. This paper describes how a BIM management system was used by students as a design tool and how it was used to support a collaborative interdisciplinary team approach. Also described are how the students' design processes were impacted by the use of BIM and how this facilitated an early collaboration with engineers. Our experience shows that the collaborative design process and the effectiveness of the teamwork still depend on conventional design review methods, such as face-to-face interactions, which enable the students to understand and appreciate different professional philosophies and values. Such coordination is greatly augmented by a BIM methodology, which allows the productive participation of different disciplines while ensuring that the responsible team members maintain control of the design in their area of expertise.

This paper describes the design, construction, and use of an apparatus created to enhance building electrical systems education in a junior level Architectural Engineering (AE) course at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Electrical systems are a critical part of any building and one of the four major areas in AE education. This hands-on apparatus provides students the opportunity to learn how parts of the electrical system are connected together through the use of three interactive laboratory assignments. Electrical labs were developed to strengthen the technical knowledge of buildings, the engineered systems within, and the integration of these systems in a total building context. Five electrical boards were created, consisting of a three phase load center, junction boxes, and conduit permanently mounted to a portable board. In order to power the load center, a cord and plug were hard-wired to the lugs of the load center. At the start of each lab, the groups are given circuit breakers, pre-cut wire, receptacles, light switches, light sockets and adequate tools to complete each assignment. The voltage connection assignment consists of installing 1-pole, 2-pole, and 3-pole breakers for different types of loads. The objective is to reinforce the understanding of how different voltages are connected within a 3-phase power distribution system. In the next two assignments the students learn how to properly wire receptacles, a single pole light switch controlling 1 light, and a 3-way/ 4-way switch combination to control multiple lights. The paper includes assignments and a website link to equipment lists. The reaction to the hands-on electrical labs has been exceptionally positive. The students enjoy applying class learning to actual electrical installations. The electrical labs are flexible and could be used in a variety of ways to reinforce many topics.

Beginning architecture students have traditionally been taught structural design using an engineering-based educational model. Often, information is presented in formula-rich lectures filled with abstract representations of architectural space. In other words, when structural design is presented as a series of calculations instead of a series of design explorations, educators miss a great opportunity to develop a better integration between structural information and other architectural coursework—and integration that would enhance design development by balancing technical resolution and exploration. A new educational model for teaching structural design to architects is needed. Architecture students should be given a series of exercises that help to develop their understanding about the relationship between structural form and forces, structural behavior, and the array of potentially responsive architectural forms. This paper will demonstrate how a curriculum based on experiential exercises, haptic learning methodologies and project-based design exercises in a laboratory setting can provide a more effective way forward in educating architects about building structures. Because initial exposure to complex topics can often make a significant difference in long-term learning efficacy, this paper will primarily discuss the very first lab project in the sequence, an ergonomic lab in which the students use their bodies to explore basic structural principles related to the relationship between form and forces.

As systems in high performance buildings become more complex and manually operable windows and shading devices are incorporated into advanced buildings, it is imperative that building engineers understand and account for the impacts that occupant behavior may have on building performance. By coupling building energy simulation models with stochastic occupant behavior models, the magnitude and distribution of impacts that occupants have on building energy consumption are demonstrated via a simulation study. The results show that occupant actions can increase or decrease energy consumption depending on the HVAC control strategy implemented. For a single month during the cooling season, the range of HVAC electricity consumption predicted by a set of simulations that included stochastic models of occupant window, blind, and lighting use varied by approximately 20% for each of 25 different control scenarios.

Probabilistic and nonlinear least squares parameter estimation methods are evaluated for inverse gray box model identification of a retail building. A detailed building energy simulation program is used to generate surrogate data for estimation of parameters. The most probable or optimal parameters from each method are compared through simulation of building zone temperature and thermal loads. The least squares method generally found solutions near probable regions of the posterior from the probabilistic approach, and simulation performance was very similar between best parameter sets. A brief overview of probabilistic estimation techniques is provided, along with potential improvements to the approach presented and brief discussion on its applicability for uncertainty quantification within the building science domain.

Interior roller shades are widely used in office buildings to control solar heat gain and glare. Automated operation can result in energy savings depending on the control strategy used. This paper investigates the impact of shading control modes on office space energy performance using year-round transient integrated thermal and lighting simulation. For office spaces, the most important function of interior roller shades is to block direct sunlight so that the occupants are not disturbed by glare. In this paper, four shading control modes, all of which are developed to settle glare problems, are analyzed and compared. In the first control mode, the roller shades automatically close completely when direct solar radiation is incident on the façade. The second shading control algorithm improved the first by closing shades when daylight illuminance transmitted through glazing exceeds a certain value, which can be determined by real-time full scale measurements or simulation. In the third control mode, the shades do not close completely but move to a position to just prevent direct sunlight from projecting on the work plane surface at pre-defined distances from the facade. When daylight illuminance is extremely low/high, the shades completely open/close respectively. These extreme values for daylight illuminance can also be obtained from experiments or simulation. In the fourth control mode, thermal considerations are included: on the premise of no glare, the shades close completely when the outdoor temperature is higher than a pre-defined value (in cooling season) and transmitted solar heat gains through the glazing are much higher than the respective value if the shades were closed. After developing the shading control modes, a transient lighting and thermal simulation model, validated by experimental measurements, was used to estimate the annual lighting, heating and cooling demand for a typical private office space with different window size and shading properties. The results show the effects of interior roller shade controls on office space daylight performance and energy consumption.

The paper presents a transient multi-zone thermal model and anticipatory control strategies for a building with mixed-mode cooling. The model is based on the thermal network representation with advective heat transfer for modeling the heat exchange due to air flow between thermal zones. It is developed in Matlab, which is coupled with GenOpt as an optimizer. The paper presents results of simulations which model the performance of night cooling using "offline" predictive control strategies. Results show that the cooling load can be efficiently reduced by following the sequences based on anticipatory control techniques. The impact of building design parameters on the development of model-predictive control (MPC) strategies and the decisions made by the MPC controller are also discussed.

In spite of a virtual epidemic of nonstructural failure (leaking roofs, delaminating finishes, etc.), there is no method for architects to assess the reliability of nonstructural elements within the buildings they design. Structural elements and systems within buildings, on the other hand, are designed so that the probability of failure is acknowledged. The analysis of nonstructural building elements and assemblies is more complex, and raises different issues, than that of structural elements and systems. This paper suggests areas for future research into the probabilistic design of nonstructural building elements by examining the limit states and performance requirements for nonstructural failure (risk assessment); the boundaries of sites within which failure might occur (probabilistic analysis); whether a probabilistic approach to nonstructural failure makes sense; and the consequences of peculiarity and redundancy.

The use of substandard and steel reinforcement rods in the construction of structural steel concrete elements of a building, most especially in floor slabs, has been identified as one of the most important causes of structural failures in buildings in Nigeria. This research investigated the mechanical properties (yield strength, ductility and the ultimate tensile strength) of 12-mm diameter steel bars commonly used in reinforcing floor slabs using an extensometer. Results obtained from the tests showed that only three (3) brands out of a total of nine (9) tested most commonly used brands of sampled rods showed yield strengths greater than 460N/mm². The yield strengths obtained range between 337.72 N/mm² and 569.71 N/mm². The study confirmed that the wide usage of substandard steel reinforcement bars in the Nigerian market is a major contributing factor to increasing incidences of structural building failures in the country when viewed from the angle of variability in material quality.

There are many reasons that architects, engineers, contractors, and others may require access to the exterior of a building or to the underside of a bridge structure. Often times suspended scaffolding, supported scaffolding, mast climbers, aerial work platforms, or snooper trucks provide access adequate to perform the necessary tasks. Occasionally, conditions are encountered where the use of traditional means of access is not feasible or economical. Under such conditions, the use of rope access techniques can provide an efficient alternative. This paper will present the advantages and disadvantages of each of these systems and describe how utilizing rope access can provide access to areas many would think inaccessible, or at least extremely difficult and costly to access. What is rope access? What is required to be certified to perform this work? What is the Society of Professional Rope Access Technicians (SPRAT)? What types of structures can you access from ropes? These questions will be answered and the following case studies presented: the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.; the Bridge of the Americas in Panama City, Panama; the Bank of America Building in Providence, Rhode Island; and others to demonstrate the capabilities rope access can provide and how incorporating rope access into survey, inspection, and repair programs may better serve the Client.

This paper focuses on the potential for developing an interactive Virtual Reality (VR) environment that exploits new concepts such as parametric design and genetic algorithm as methods of computational architecture through the conceptual design process. Existing tools and decision support mechanisms are investigated as part of this process. The proposed system introduces the potential of combining different concepts under the chamber of a single VR environment. Influential factors in this area are: form generation, change management, conceptual design illustration, and collaboration throughout the whole design process. First part of this paper introduces the basics of conceptual design, then critically reviews design thinking parallel with the design process; thereafter provides a roadmap for conceptual design and computational support, with a specific focus on the early conceptual design stage (including computational methods for sketching and collaboration throughout conceptual design). Extant literature on the characteristics of collaborative behaviour within the initial conceptual architectural design processes performed through virtual environments are examined. Extant literature highlights the importance of computational design in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry. However, there is a significant knowledge gap in literature concerning the veracity of findings to date which explicitly identify the congruent links and support mechanisms needed to overtly exploit the opportunities presented with new computational design methods. This research is the first of the kind to purposefully endeavour to uncover new insight and understanding into virtual generative workspaces, especially though new social interactions and decision-making criteria. Research findings to date have identified new insight into how AEC designers think during the early conceptual design stages. These issues are used to satiate the pivotal drivers, priorities, and critical success factors needed for effective operationalisation through a conceptual design support tool and possible future directions within computational design strategy. The outcomes and intervention of this research will be used to develop a ‘proof of concept' prototype to reveal the role of generative design methods integrated into a single dynamic and flexible VR environment which supports early conceptual AEC design process.

The conceptual design stage often involves a compound set of objectives and constraints such as abstract notions of function and aesthetic, performance, project requirements, site constrains and construction costs. To respond to these complexities, a number of design instances and alternatives need to be developed and assessed against predefined criteria. While this process requires human imagination, computational generative systems are increasingly being used in this stage of the design process. However, some of these approaches have limitations in the ability to make modifications within an interactive environment, requiring a model to be recreated with different attributes and parameters if changing geometry configuration or topology are needed. This research introduces a new approach - Parametric Design Procedures (PDPs) - which combines the techniques of Design Procedures and Parametric Modeling to address the limitations of existing systems. PDPs offer possibilities to explore a particular design instance after a model is constrained through the generation of an infinite number of design instances which can be considered in the evolution of parametric design instances. The rational for, and features of PDPs are described. The viability of this approach is explored through a prototype implementation in Grasshopper. The brief for an architectural design competition is used as the basis for the prototype development. The paper concludes with suggestions for further research and development, for example in the use of other software and other design phases to test the implementation and viability of PDPs.

This paper presents a fuzzy risk management framework which enables project management teams to detect and assess critical risk events in Egyptian Real Estate Development projects. The framework introduces three models that include: 1) Fuzzy Expert System (FES), 2) Fuzzy consensus-based model, and 3) Fuzzy Fault and Event Tree analysis model. The Fuzzy Expert System (FES) determines the importance weight factor for the experts, participating in the risk evaluation process, based on their qualifications. The Fuzzy consensus-based model is applied to aggregate experts' opinions in evaluating risks in a linguistic framework. The Fuzzy Fault, and Event tree model is used to support the decision-makers by identifying the critical root causes of the identified risks and hence develop a mitigation strategy to respond to the risks. Literature review and experts interviews identify risk events in order to determine risk categories relevant to real estate development projects. A Fuzzy Consensus Measurement approach integrates experts' opinion in a linguistic framework by computing a consensus weight factor for experts based on the proximity of their opinions on a linguistic scale. Experts' opinions are integrated using both the importance weight factor and the consensus weight factor of experts. Based on the aggregated opinions of experts, a Three-Dimensional Matrix Ranking Approach and preset experts' rules are used to prioritize different risk factors according to their importance to real estate development projects. After detecting critical risk events, a fault and event trees analysis is conducted to calculate the probability of failure of critical risk events as well as the probability of failure of mitigation strategies. Moreover, the event tree analysis computes the cost of success of the mitigation strategy.

Material management of construction projects is very important in view of cost control. Up to now, information systems that are operated on desktop computers are not so effective for the material management on construction sites. Though some mobile systems have been developed, they are not yet practical. This study aims to develop an integrated mobile material management system to improve this situation. QR code (Quick Response code) is used on mobile terminals for quick input of material data with a special tagging method reducing extra work, and both online and offline operations on mobile terminals on construction sites are supported. A framework is first established to integrate a mobile system with an existing information system. Then a mobile material management system is developed and integrated with an existing ERP (Enterprise Resources Planning) system through the Internet. The major part of the system is verified in an actual construction project.

There have been several approaches to tracking the position and status of components using RFID tags. Some of these approaches still involve manually embedding status information in the tags. As such, access to real-time information depends on workers motivation and this can affect decision making. Other approaches also involve the use multiple radio frequency identification (RFID) readers on the job site which could be costly. However, opportunities exist for tracking the position and status of components by spatially mapping the job site using real-time location sensing (RTLS) system. The spatially mapped locations could be linked to building information models for automatic real-time position and status update. This paper describes experiments geared towards real-time tracking of tagged components by spatially mapping the job site. RTLS tags were used for tracking the position and status of components from on-site entry to installation. The experiments showed that these RTLS tags were more effective than standard RFID tags for position sensing and for automatically updating the virtual model. This approach also showed significant opportunities for enhancing real-time monitoring with minimal manual effort, which will aid proactive decision making and control. The key benefits of this approach are also highlighted in the paper.

In this paper we present a healthcare case study that leveraged Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), Building Information Modeling (BIM) and lean construction (Lean). With this project, we aim to investigate organizational alignment and focus on how team building facilitated innovation in the design and construction processes and had significant positive impact on the operational efficiencies of the building. Through structured interviews, we found that a unique proposal process, which was focused on "building team chemistry and understanding", lead to the team's development of a culture of open communication and teamwork that set the ground work for designers and builders to work closely together, blending teams and blurring boundaries throughout the execution of design and construction. In this paper, we explore how "The IPD allowed the overlaps to occur in a productive way". In doing so, we build on previous finding that the antecedents of effective integration were the development of the team's orientation and culture as well as the processes of working together. The tools, IPD, lean and BIM, supported the integrated teamwork, but did not create the integrated team; however, the contract, lean and BIM tools did reinforce the project team's integration and facilitated better results in terms of design and construction products. In this paper, we focus on how the drive for efficiencies in construction and operations influenced design processes and outcomes, and how team alignment overcame technological and logistical challenges throughout their project process.

Predicting construction duration is a challenging effort because construction schedules are dynamic and uncertain. Various studies have developed mathematical models to predict construction duration based on regression analysis, Monte Carlo method (MCM), and so forth. Yet, regression analysis cannot capture duration uncertainties. Studies normally employ Monte Carlo methods to simulate hundreds to thousands of activities in a project schedule. This can be complicated, time-consuming and unrealistic because the statistical properties of all the activities cannot be readily determined in practice. This research first identified typical construction sequence(s) in condo building construction and then surveyed the statistical distributions of controlling activities on the sequence(s). Two-stage questionnaire surveys and goodness-of-fit statistical tests were conducted to achieve the above objectives. Subsequently a model for predicting the duration of building construction was proposed and applied to a high-rise building project. Results showed that the model reasonably predicts the construction duration for this apartment building. This research is beneficial for practitioners to estimate an overall construction schedule of building projects, especially in pre-construction phases.

Construction project planning is an essential element in the management and execution of construction projects which involves the definition of work tasks and their interactions, as well as the assessment of required resources and expected activity durations. The study, therefore, examined the awareness of professionals in construction industry of the various types of planning techniques and tools used on construction sites, assessed the effectiveness of planning techniques and tools used on selected construction sites in Lagos State, Nigeria, and identified the factors affecting the choice of planning techniques and tools towards effective and efficient delivery of projects. Questionnaires were administered on selected building professionals (Project Managers, Engineers, Architects), and Contractors and Sub-contractors directly involved in construction work on sites in Lagos State with emphasis placed on planning and the use of planning tools and techniques as major tools for successful project execution. The data obtained were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Scientist for Windows (SPSS), and the results were presented by the use of statistical tools such as frequency tables and pie charts. The study shows that there is low awareness on the functional use of construction planning tools and techniques, and recommended that the use of the construction planning tools and techniques should be applied in all building projects and there should be regular adequate training of professionals on the effectiveness and improvement in Information Technology in the construction industry especially in project planning and execution.

The 2011 Building Energy Databook (DOE, 2011) reported that buildings use approximately 40% of the nation's total energy use. One method of reducing this value is to replace inefficient single glazed window units with their newer, energy efficient counterparts. This study involved the investigation of several different glazing solutions. A comparative energy investigation of numerous products on the market was performed using multiple different software packages for a model residential and commercial building in five different climates across the United States. The paper will introduce the advanced glazing technologies used in the study, present the details of the selected residential and commercial buildings modeled for energy analysis, discuss the results of the thermal property evaluation and energy analysis, and present the conclusions derived from the study.

Typically unsafe conditions are discovered while completing the field work of a façade evaluation, unless a piece of material has already fallen to the ground. Safety has to be considered immediately, but professionals often require more assessment time and owners need time to obtain funding to begin the repair project. When an unsafe masonry façade condition is observed, design professionals and owners need to know the available options and how to react so the condition can be promptly addressed. There are several options available to address an unsafe condition, but choosing the correct option requires specialized expertise and field experience. Options will be discussed based on case studies of completed projects: including masonry removal or stabilization in place, containment netting installation, isolation of the safety concern by cordoning off the pedestrian area below, and installation of overhead protection to maintain pedestrian traffic flow. In most cases, the design professional has to discuss the options with the building owner in a way that allows the owner to make a decision that works for their specific requirements and building operations. Any delay in the process puts everyone at risk. This paper will discuss a logical approach to the options a building owner has when confronted with an unsafe condition, and the advantages and disadvantages.

This research is a case study performing the air-handler fan pressurization test in a real building. The test has been performed following an existing test method (i.e. CGSB-149.15-96). The test building is a 5-story office with a square (32.4m x 32.4m) footprint built in 2001 at Daejeon, South Korea. The gross area of the building is 6,165m² and the curtain wall structure is used as the building envelope. Atrium is located at the center of the building form 1^st floor to 5^th floor, and offices are placed around the atrium in each floor. The test building has four air-handling units, but the unit located at the basement was out of order. Consequently, the 3 air-handling units installed at the 1^st floor and the 5^th floor were used to pressurize the building. To measure the whole building envelope air leakage, the SA airflow rates in each air handler, operated at the 100% outdoor air mode with closed return and exhaust air dampers, were monitored together with the building pressure. Five differential pressure gauges were installed to figure out the mean differential pressure between inside and outside of the building. This paper provides some practical information acquired in the field measurement of envelope leakage using the established air-handler fan pressurization test method.

A study has been undertaken to compare local considerations for the design and construction of building enclosures in different global markets. This ongoing study explores significant differences in building enclosures on mainstream, modern, low-to-mid-rise commercial buildings in four major global construction markets: Europe, Far East, Middle East, and North America. Experts with international experience were interviewed on what they perceived as differences in the various global markets and also completed a survey to develop a comprehensive list of weighted factors underlying observed global differences in building enclosures. Prominent factors that contribute to global differences in local considerations for the design and construction of building enclosures are presented to inform building enclosure professionals on local considerations when conducting building enclosure activities internationally. The four factors most commonly mentioned through the interviews were energy codes, climate, local capabilities, and energy. Included in this paper is how each factor was perceived to play a role in creating global differences in building enclosures.

The perspective of this paper will be from the design requirements of the State of Florida, home to arguably the strictest and most complete building code requirements for hurricane design in the country. This paper will identify and address the requirements for glazing systems in the state that can be applicable to other hurricane prone regions of the country. The paper will also identify factors that help determine the capacity of glazing systems to achieve the goal of adequately protecting our buildings from hurricane force winds and wind borne debris during a storm. The scope of this paper is to raise awareness of the many aspects of glazing system design and materials with respect to hurricane loads in order to adequately mitigate damage to the buildings. This will be done by examining materials, code and all other compliance requirements necessary to achieve the above stated goal. The basic requirements in order to achieve the goal include: design considerations for wind and windborne debris protection, code and standards compliance, testing requirements, product certification, and inspection requirements. After reading this paper the reader will have a very good understanding of the issues pertaining to design of glazing systems to meet hurricane requirements and also have a good understanding of the entire process necessary to protect the building envelope from a powerful storm. In order for the glazing systems used in our buildings today to help mitigate the effects of hurricanes, all of the necessary steps mentioned above must be adhered to in the most complete way possible.

Standardisation provides an invisible digital infrastructure within which digital design technologies support coordination by heterogeneous actors in the construction sector. Inadequate standards pose challenges to design technologies such as Building Information Modelling (BIM). In its latest strategy mandating the use of BIM, the UK government blames the construction industry's lack of collaboration and inefficiency on low levels of standardisation. This paper investigates the development of standards as invisible digital infrastructures for facilitating collaboration in construction projects in the USA and the UK. The paper draws on a) interviews with key standards development consultants in the UK and USA and b) industry publication and revisions to the British standard through the publicly available specification (PAS) 1192 and NBIMS in the USA. The literature on standardisation suggests that engagement in standard development is often motivated by self-interest; and that standards are developed through consensus building, political processes of aligning multiple standards, and end-user participation. Findings from the empirical work to date suggest a rapid process of development, excessive self-interest, minimal end user participation and incompatible processes. The study concludes with observations on how digital infrastructures develop and could be useful in shaping practice and how such artefacts are integrated in dynamic, unstructured and rapidly developing project based environments. The paper contributes to literature on evolution and proliferation of digital infrastructures in sectorial systems of innovation.

Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) has been widely adopted in Building Information Modeling (BIM) for information interchange. Actual data exchange relies heavily on the IFC support of target application. This paper introduces a generic way of accessing IFC model business data as needed. In this paper, we will present 1) a concept and a method to define tabular views of IFC data for downstream uses, 2) an algorithm to transform IFC data to defined tabular views, 3) a tool of exporting transformed results to ODBC compliant applications e.g. MS Office etc. in the context of i-model, a self-describing, read-only graphic container containing information with engineering precision, and 4) a case study to create COBie handover from IFC using this tool.

The Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) Industry is finding that "silo" barriers promote limitations within the community, as a result inhibiting effective and efficient collaboration even with the advent of new ways of thinking. The current industry, including the structural discipline, is not realizing how everything should fit together as one cohesive entity. Due to the lack of integrated design processes throughout the community, an Integrated Structural Process Model (ISPM) was chosen as a research focus for development. ISPM has the potential to be a tool to educate the community on the critical tasks and information exchanges needed by the structural discipline to provide the best product.

Building Information Models (BIM) are becoming a new design standard for storing and exchanging information about a facility. Usually, as-built information is available for new buildings whereas existing buildings, rarely, have a 3D as-built BIM model. 3D Laser Scanners offer the opportunity for faster and less error-prone creation of as-built BIM models compared with the traditional methods of surveying. The process, from scanning a facility until an as-built BIM model is created, is not fully automated yet. Several attempts towards that problem (Scan-toBIM problem) have been identified in the literature review. However most of them propose systems that are case based and cannot perform under different conditions. The need for a general description of a system upon all the stakeholders can work on, discuss and provide solutions emerges: process models were found to correspond to that need. This paper surveys how a Scan-to-BIM system can be modelled. To that end, the IDEF0 modelling methodology has been employed and the Scan-to BIM Process Model has been created. According to the generated Process Model, a general description of the Scan-to-BIM process has been given and relevant problems and areas of discussion have been identified. Finally, implementation and validation of the model are proposed for future work.

Miscellaneous electric loads comprise a growing percentage of commercial building energy use, expected to increase from 31% to 43% of total commercial building primary energy use by 2030. In building energy simulations, these loads are often poorly modelled or are outright neglected. A big box retail building with grocery was found to contain over 700 MELs. Through this study, 256 of those devices were metered. That time-series data informed the creation of 260 EnergyPlus model components. Those model components were made publicly available through the newly developed Building Component Library (BCL). The use of these BCL components was worked into a modeller workflow, resulting in accuracy equal to the best of the commonly used plug load modelling strategies for an example building. Detail and repeatability were improved.

The purpose of this paper was to introduce and investigate the energy and thermal performance of a desiccant and evaporative cooling based 100% outdoor air system. The concept of proposed system is decoupled system with dividing the sensible and latent cooling load in order to restrict the usage of vapor compression cooling system. In this point of view, sensible cooling load of process air is treated by indirect and direct evaporative cooler and latent cooling load is eliminated by liquid desiccant system. Control strategies and energy saving potentials of proposed system was also modeled and estimated using the TRNSYS 16 energy simulation program. It was assumed that 7500m² office room is served by proposed system. The annual performance of proposed system was simulated. As a result, the energy reduction effect of 87~89% was shown in the heating season compared to conventional VAV system. Energy reduction of 49~53% and 53~63% was shown in the intermediate and cooling seasons, respectively. It was conclude that the proposed system can be saved 74~77% of annual total operating energy with respect to the conventional VAV system.

The main purpose of this research is to propose a practical correlation returning the dehumidification effectiveness of a liquid desiccant system. From the existing literature, it was found that two desiccant solutions [lithium chloride (LiCl) and triethylene glycol (TEG)] are commonly used as a working fluid in two different types of absorber towers; packed bed, and spray towers. In this research, the experimental data of each absorber tower performance with two different desiccant solutions were collected from the open literature. By statistically analyzing the collected data using the 2^k factorial experiment design approach, the impact of each system operation parameters on the dehumidification effectiveness were quantitatively estimated. And then, a simplified second-order equation model was derived as a function of operation parameters showing significant impact on the dehumidification effectiveness. It was found that the operating parameters, such as inlet ambient air temperature, desiccant solution temperature, liquid-to-gas ratio(L/G), inlet air relative humidity, and solution concentration have significant impact on the system dehumidification performance. The proposed model was validated by comparing the dehumidification effectiveness values predicted by both proposed model and existing models found in the existing literature.

The main topic of this paper is to show a possibility of indoor air quality enhancement and the fan energy savings in underground parking facilities by applying the demand-controlled ventilation (DCV) strategy based on the real-time variation of the traffic load. The established ventilation rate is estimated by considering the passing distance, CO emission rate, idling time of a vehicle, and the floor area of the parking facility. However, they are hard to be integrated into the real-time DCV control. As a solution to this problem, the minimum ventilation rate per a single vehicle is derived in this research based on the actual ventilation data acquired from several existing underground parking facilities. And then its applicability to the DCV based on the real-time variation of the traffic load is verified by simulating the real-time carbon monoxide concentration variation. The energy saving potentials of the proposed DCV strategy is also checked by comparing it with those for the current underground parking facility ventilation systems found in the open literature.

Before a dynamic, whole-building energy model (BEM) can be used to evaluate proposed energy conservation measures (ECMs) with reasonable certainty, it must be constructed and calibrated with metered site data to a predetermined level of fidelity using the existing building's actual operation conditions. In practice, ASHRAE level I or II energy audits are used to initiate a building retrofit project. Recorded variables and building operation measurements, particularly energy use associated with specific end use functionalities that are subsequently used as BEM inputs, can significantly impact the model's accuracy. Therefore, to efficiently establish a precise model, it is necessary to identify the minimum instrumentation and measurements needed to calibrate the BEM to the level of fidelity required for significant ECM to be specified, prioritized and implemented. This paper describes case studies of constructing and well-tuning EnergyPlus BEMs to "as-operated" conditions for two medium size office buildings located in Mid-Atlantic region (Climate Zone 4A). Guided by a prioritized, key parameter list generated through an EnergyPlus BEM sensitivity study, information collected from the buildings "as-built" drawings, the building automation system (BAS) sequence of operation documents, screenshots of the BAS interfaces, together with hourly sub-metering data and a short two-hour site visit are used to develop the "as-operated" BEMs. The actual meteorological year (AMY) weather file is used to perform real-time simulations and the simulated building energy use is then compared to the actual building monthly utility bills and sub-metered hourly energy data.

When people perceive the world, their eyes simultaneously acquire light and geometry to constitute an image that is interpreted in the brain as vision. The real-time synchronous measurement of light (in photometry) and geometry is desired in many scientific and industrial applications related to visual perception. Conventionally, meters and tools have been used for measuring light and geometry. Digital cameras can also measure light or geometry, such as recently validated high dynamic range (HDR) photography for luminance mapping a static scenario, and metric-camera-aided photogrammetry for measuring geometry. Unfortunately, existing technologies cannot measure light and geometry simultaneously. The separated measurements increase the labor, slow the data collection, and cause difficulties in follow-up data alignment. To break through these limitations, HDR photogrammetry was recently developed for synchronous acquisition of luminance of targets across a scene and their three dimensional coordinates XYZ in the field. The HDR photogrammetry deploys a single consumer grade digital camera fitted with a standard, wide-angle, or fisheye lens, mounted on a portable measurement platform. The HDR photogrammetry was validated in a laboratory experiment. The average errors of 1.8% - 6.2% for luminance mapping seven grey checkers and 12.9 - 24.3 mm for measuring their XYZ coordinates are deemed acceptable in practice. The HDR photogrammetry would supplement light and geometry measurement and stimulate many applications. This paper introduces several indoor and outdoor applications of the HDR photogrammetry, using a Canon EOS Rebel T2i fitted with a 10 mm Sigma EX DC HSM fisheye lens as the main test rig, for measuring light and geometry simultaneously.

This paper describes a field study concerning the effects of correlated color temperature (CCT) and lumen output of fluorescent lighting on office workers' perceptions and visual comfort. Four luminous conditions were created and organized as a two by two factorial design, comprising two levels of CCT (that is, 3500 and 5000 K) and lumen output (that is, 2330 and ≈ 3000 lm). Participants experienced a baseline condition followed by the four treatment conditions and then returned to the baseline condition; each treatment lasted two weeks. Twenty-six participants adapted to the luminous conditions in the first week of each treatment period. In the second week they completed brief assessment surveys three times daily using smart phones. Participants completed a more comprehensive survey on the last day of each treatment period. CCT was found to be a significant factor affecting perceptions of brightness, visual comfort, and satisfaction of color temperature. There were interaction effects between CCT and lumen output and between CCT and the presence or absence of a window. The luminous conditions with higher CCT (that is, visually cooler) or higher lumen output were rated to be brighter than those with lower CCT (that is, visually warmer) or lower lumen output. Participants judged the luminous condition with both higher CCT and higher lumen output as being too bright. CCT was the only statistically significant factor for perceived visual comfort and the satisfaction of color temperature. The luminous conditions at 5000 K were regarded as less comfortable than those at 3500 K. 5000 K was judged to be too cool when the higher lumen output lamps were in place. For the participants with daylight in their office, 5000 K was especially judged to be too cool.

A new hybrid ray-tracing and radiosity method was developed to adopt a balance between computational speed and accuracy when simulating building interior illuminance distributions. The method is able to model spaces with highly specular components, highly diffuse components (i.e., walls, floors, roller shades), as well as components with mixed properties that strongly affect the daylighting performance of the space (i.e., venetian blinds and light-shelves). The specular components are processed with a forward ray-tracing method, while the diffuse components are processed with a radiosity method. The concept of shining factors is used to separate luminous flux though components with mixed properties, while parameter settings affect both simulation speed and accuracy of results. In this paper, the amount of light rays (tracing resolution) used in the ray-tracing part and the grid size (space resolution) used in the radiosity part are investigated to analyze the impact of those parameters when predicting work plane illuminance and lighting energy consumption. Use of high numbers of generated rays and high grid density can provide detailed illuminance results. However, the penalties associated with computational time may exceed the accuracy requirements. Recommendations for best settings for different modeling cases are provided so as to balance accuracy versus computational speed. The outcomes of this study can provide useful information for modeling daylighting performance of spaces with specular, diffuse and mixed reflection components such as blinds and light-shelves.

Diagonalized grid structures - "diagrids" - have emerged as one of the most innovative and adaptable approaches to structuring buildings in this millennium. Variations of the diagrid system have evolved to the point of making its use non exclusive to the tall building. Diagrid construction is also to be found in a range of innovative mid rise steel projects. This paper will examine developments in the recent history of diagrid buildings to include the design, detailing, fabrication and erection issues. The structural and architectural design of diagrid buildings falls cleanly between the typical education or experience of the architect and engineer. The approach to the current study and design of diagrid buildings is very different if looked at through the eyes of the Architect vs. Engineer vs. Fabricator/erector. The decision to express or conceal the structure impacts the design of the building in very unique ways given the angular nature of this new geometry. It is the intention of this paper to provide a comparative understanding of the design requirements and detailing of these structures via an examination of significant recent examples.

Maintaining safety for older adults aged 65 years and older is a challenge that could be addressed by applying conscious design. Accordingly, the concept of creating a home environment which enhances safety for older adults becomes essential. Considering that staircases vary widely in their geometrical configurations, this paper presents an evidence-based assessment for geometrical staircase configurations from the perspective of reducing the risk of falling for older adults. The methodology is divided into two stages: 1) identifying the most common geometrical home staircase configurations, which include U-shape stairs, quarter turn stairs, straight stairs with landing, straight stairs without landing, helical stairs, spiral stairs, and composite stairs; 2) investigating the associated risk of falling for each geometrical staircase configuration through developing an evidence-based comparison for the proposed geometrical staircase configurations. The output of this paper is a hierarchical listing for geometrical staircase configurations which is arranged from lowest to highest reduction in risk of falling for older adults.

Sustainable Architecture relates to the creation and utilization of healthy, responsive environments based on resource-efficient design principles and practices. This study examined the adaptation of the courtyard and veranda concepts in selected buildings in South-western Nigeria, in which the authors were involved as Architects at the levels of design, construction, maintenance and management. Using a case-study research approach, the paper examined elements of space efficiency and the building envelope within urban tropical environments. The selected buildings span a range of design typologies: administrative, educational, health, institutional, and multi-use facilities. They also represent projects at different stages of the design-construction-occupancy continuum. Based on the analysis of the case studies, the paper highlights problems that may inhibit design and construction innovations in a developing country like Nigeria, while suggesting recommendations that may enhance these. It therefore contributes to the theme of Sustainable Innovations in Building Design within tropical environments. The paper concludes that: confronted with the challenges of post-colonialism and globalization, built environment professionals in Nigeria require a radical re-thinking of strategies, to embrace along with climatic considerations, broader contextual issues of culture, community, economy, emergent technologies, and sustainability. In addition, approaches to the built environment and architectural engineering education should address the unique needs of the particular society they are a part of, if they are to be relevant in envisioning and shaping the desired future.

This paper presents the insights gained by analyzing the microclimate associated with local wind patterns for the design of building-integrated wind turbines (BIWT). The wind environment around buildings is difficult to accurately predict and, as a result, can cause proposed building-integrated wind turbine designs to fall short of their expected performance. The study uses Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) data to perform site-level and microclimate-level analyses using computational fluid dynamics to analyze several proposed designs for a museum in Erie, Pennsylvania and a research facility in Philadelphia, PA. This data shows the importance of in-depth microclimatic studies of a building's site and affiliated environmental factors. These analyses can be used to lead a design team towards integrated aesthetic and functional design decisions that consider the complexities of site and building geometry and their effects on urban-level wind flow. This study explores the influence of the environment surrounding a building, with regards to BIWT performance. To improve BIWT performance, it is concluded that a symbiotic relationship between architect and building scientist should be emphasized during the architectural design process through the workflow defined in the paper. This workflow enables both the architect and engineer to create a dialogue that aides in the creation of a synergistic end result. This workflow can offer site-specific insight early in the design process that is important when working towards making well-informed design decisions, as it is important to identify necessary design changes early in order to avoid incurring expensive change-orders later on in the building's construction.

The electricity sector worldwide is facing considerable pressure arising out of climate change issues, depletion of fossil fuels and geo-political issues around the location of remaining fossil fuel reserves. Electricity systems are also facing technical issues of bi-directional power flows, increasing long-distance power flows and a growing contribution from fluctuating generation sources. There is a concern that these systems are vulnerable. Investigation of vulnerability has focussed on shocks to the system associated with weather risks, equipment failure, supply (fuel) failure and price shocks, and analysis has been primarily based on financial measures such as the value of lost load. As the UK electricity system makes the transition to a low carbon future, it is unclear what this new future will look like. Transition pathways research using a multi-level perspective has identified a general picture of the drivers in future systems architecture. In such futures, vulnerability becomes multi-dimensional, and security becomes a more complex issue than that of supply of fossil fuels. These issues are not specific to the UK. Electricity systems across the globe face the same issues of multi-dimensional vulnerability and complexity of security. Research into the transition to a low carbon electricity system has, to date, been primarily focussed on the national scale in the UK. The aim of this work is a critical analysis into the use of the resilience concept for electricity systems, applied in particular to the distribution network in a case study urban area in the north east of England. The case study shall examine the low carbon scenarios for the UK, what this means in particular for domestic buildings for the case study area, and the nature of the stress on the electricity distribution system which may result from the expected growth in electrical load.

Within the past five years, new codes, policies and recommendations for construction and landscaping have been adopted to improve the sustainability of buildings and their operations. Residential buildings are now being designed and constructed with the goal of achieving sustainability - minimal impact on the environmental, very low to zero energy usage, use of sustainable materials, etc. Many building codes and other groups are promulgating "green" building codes. These changes to the design and construction standards for buildings offer the potential to increase building performance and decrease impact on the environment, but may also include, fire and safety challenges that have unintended consequences including increased property damage compromised related to life safety. Understanding and applying both wildfire safety and sustainable or "Green" principles can be complex and often conflicting. Impacted stakeholders include residents, business, land managers, landscape architects, landscape designers, foresters, fire authorities, building industry, planners and policy-makers. This paper presents and summarizes the information collected to support the future development of a systematic method for evaluating building designs that integrates the consideration of fire hazards as well as other hazard risk factors. This includes a review of current building and development codes, and design guides, an analysis of environmental factors affecting the potential of fire for residential structures, and conclusions regarding sustainable design and construction fire strategies.

Sustainable development requires the integration of social, environmental and economic considerations into the developmental processes that impact on the environment in order to achieve equity and balanced judgments for long term sustainability. This paper explores the concept of sustainability of engineering projects from the perspectives of corporate social responsibility within the framework of collaborative planning. Corporate social responsibility which is the commitment of businesses to the sustainable economic development of their host communities and of society at large aims essentially to achieve the goal of environmental sustainability. The principle collaborative planning explores consensus-building and mediation in resolving the construction projects interest group conflicts between the project proponents and other stakeholders, in resolving pre-project, project and post-project environmental and socio-economic concerns. This paper argues that collaborative planning is a medium through which the declared fiduciary social contract (the social corporate responsibility) that exist between construction projects and indeed its business promoters and their host communities can be negotiated to ensure that as they achieves their goal of profit maximisation, the host community also benefits through investments in social capital and good environmental management to achieve sustainable building. The paper starts with explanations of the concept of corporate social responsibility and explores the conceptual imperatives of these for sustainable development through collaborative planning.

Housing is central to quality of life and consumes large amounts of resources in its construction, maintenance and use. It contributes significantly to sustainability because it consumes a substantial proportion of the global greenhouse gases. The building industry consumes a substantial percentage of the materials entering the global economy, and is responsible for the emission of almost half of the global greenhouse gases. Sustainability is achieved in housing through minimizing climate change, reducing pollution and improving air quality and health, and thus creating sustainable settlements. In Nigeria building earth is the indigenous material for construction and has been used for centuries. Extensive research has been carried out in the country, notably by the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute which has resulted in the use of stabilized blocks for walling offering low-carbon solutions. This research focuses on the development of the blocks as innovative low carbon construction materials for housing construction in Nigeria. It discusses the potentials of the blocks in minimizing negative impact on the environment and thus enhancing sustainable housing.

Many new construction materials utilizing recycled or bi-product waste have recently been developed to help create "greener" construction. One of these materials utilizes recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) as a replacement for a portion of the course aggregate in concrete mixes. Previous studies on these concrete mixtures has shown that the RAP inclusion considerably lowers the compressive strength of the concrete; thus limiting its usefulness. However, the inclusion of RAP in high strength concrete mixes has yet to be studied. Additionally, most of the previous studies have replaced the course aggregate only by weight and not by weight and gradation and have taken the RAP from only one source. This study considers several factors that may affect the strength of concrete mixes that utilize RAP as course aggregate replacement. First, the variability in compression strength is studied to determine if geography and environmental conditions of the RAP harvest location affects the mechanical properties. Then, six separate RAP replacement percentages are studied to determine an ideal replacement amount and the relationship between RAP replacement to compressive and tensile strength. This study also presents the results of gradated versus non-gradated RAP replacement in high strength concrete mix.

Spent catalyst is a by-product generated by oil refineries. There are two types of spent catalysts produced from oil refineries in Oman; Zeolite catalyst generated at Sohar Refinery and Equilibrium catalyst generated at Mina Al-Fahl Refinery. Spent catalyst can be used in concrete applications due to its pozzolanic nature. This study investigates the potential use of spent catalysts in concrete as partial substitute of sand at w/c ratios of 0.5 and 0.7. Concrete mixtures with different proportions of spent catalyst (up to 25% as sand repalcement) were prepared. Concrete mixtures were evaluated for compressive strength, setting time, water absorption, and corrosion resistance. The results showed that using 25% of the Sohar refinery's spent catalyst as sand replacement gave 73% increase in the cubes compressive strength at w/c ratio of 0.7. However, using spent catalyst from Mina Al-Fahl Refinery as sand replacement decreases the compressive strength gradually with the increase of spent catalyst percentage. The results also indicated that the elapsed time decreased as the quantity of spent catalyst from both refineries increases. Negligible increase in the total water absorption was observed in concrete when both spent catalysts were used. Concrete specimens made with spent catalyst from Sohar Refinery showed good corrosion resistance than the control mixture whereas spent catalyst from Mina Al- Fahl Refinery accelerated the corrosion process.

There is an increasing interest of the usage of project data for the life-cycle with the evolution of Building Information Modelling, which promotes the incremental collection of data. This research considers the role of facilities management in developing data for handover at project completion by empirically studying the delivery of the London 2012 games. Eighteen interviews were conducted with project participants. Backgrounds of participants included project sponsors (client representative), delivery partners and facility manager professionals. Our findings suggest a number of approaches taken by a client for the transition of knowledge into the practices of facilities management. These approaches are 1) creating a culture for knowledge transfer in the project; 2) strategic knowledge transfer through guides and processes; 3) knowledge transfer through social interactions; 4) knowledge transfer through the representation of facilities management. There were a number of enablers identified that were aimed at progressing knowledge transfer into facilities management in the project to different degrees such as a transition phase for data handover of up to 6 months in projects. However, there were challenges that limited knowledge transfer as end-user links with the project came to an end with project completion. The contribution of this paper outlines how the client can involve facilities management professionals in the project through incorporating their knowledge during the data handover phase. However, this does not have to be one way and the implications of this study is that having a project representative after the data is handed over to the end user will further enable knowledge transfer from projects into facilities management practices.

With increasing frequency in the use of BIM for facility handover, organizations have to address the quality of information. Previous studies have shown the substantial impact inadequate interoperability of information has on facility operations. Since 2009, the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) has implemented Building Information Modeling (BIM) on all new projects over $5 million and major facility renovations. The BIM criterion was developed by determining facility geometry and data level of detail required to perform typical operations tasks. The success of operations also depends on the completeness and accuracy of the information received. Therefore, PSU has developed a standard process to audit model information during the lifecycle of the facility project. This paper will discuss the procedure developed by PSU to plan the validity and reliability of the model geometry and information. This includes an overview of risk forecasting and analysis procedures created as a rule set for data review, as well as highlight quality grading scales used for model acceptance. Additionally, one case study will be reviewed, depicting the developed quality control standards for both a new construction project and a major renovation. The Pennsylvania State University has ten projects implementing BIM that will be delivered over the next two years and the quality of the information received is essential to the success of operations and maintenance of these facilities.

Many facility owners are beginning to adopt Building Information Modeling (BIM) to effectively operate and maintain the facility. The BIM Planning Guide for Facility Owners helps in planning and integrating BIM throughout the organization and the life cycle of the facility. To assist owners with planning for the adoption of BIM, three procedures were developed. These procedures include BIM organizational strategic planning, BIM organizational execution planning, and BIM project procurement planning. These procedures were developed through content analysis of available industry and research documents; industry interviews; workshops; and observational case studies. As part of the validation for the procedures developed, case studies were conducted in which the procedures were implemented. To understand the effectiveness of the procedures outlined in the BIM Planning Guide for Facility Owners, a case study of a well-established real estate development firm was conducted. The case study was conducted by implementing the strategic planning and procurement planning procedures that are applicable to the organization's needs. Within the strategic planning procedure, the organization assessed their needs, targeted goals, objectives, and uses, and developed a plan for implementation. The procurement planning effort focused on developing the contract language necessary to accomplish the goals and objectives. The lessons learned from the case study will help in future planning and implementation along with the overall improvement of the procedure.

Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) are a major problem in the United Kingdom (UK) and worldwide. The UK has one of the worst rates of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) in Western Europe. One reason for such poor performance is the failure of healthcare officials to tackle the root causes of HAIs in the National Health Service (NHS). The position of healthcare officials is that HAI is mainly a clinical issue; requiring the attention of clinicians. As a result, most of the infection control policies and guidelines do not sufficiently address the non-clinical causes of HAIs in the NHS. There is strong epidemiological evidence suggesting that HAIs can also occur because of the poor performance of facilities management (FM) services. An example of an FM service that has a strong link with HAI is healthcare maintenance. Despite being linked to such infections as aspergillosis, legionnaires etc, healthcare maintenance services (HMSs) in the NHS have nonetheless failed to attract the attention of healthcare authorities. In this study therefore, we examine the methodological approach in identifying the key performance indicators and measures in HMSs in infection control. This study is divided into two main sections. In the first section, we examine different research paradigms, as well as, the rational for choosing interpretivism in this study. The second section, which is on the research design, examines the research methodology and research methods applied in this study. Addressing these methodological issues is important in identifying the key performance indicators and measures in HMSs in infection control.

This paper investigates the seismic performance of a two-column bridge bent with a primary focus on the mechanical couplers used to connect the reinforcement bars at the base of the columns. Previous research has focused on the need to properly account for at-yield and post-yield tensile behavior of these connections, but little has been done in the area of research into the use and detailing of these couplers subjected to the compressive forces in the region of plastic hinges. To study the behavior of the mechanical couplers in compression, a two-column bridge bent was tested at the University of California, San Diego. In the test, mechanical couplers were used to attach the longitudinal reinforcement bars at staggered heights in the plastic hinge zone at the base of the columns in a manner that was similar to a prototype. The results of the test indicated that current design practices are inadequate to properly develop the necessary compressive forces in the reinforcement bars in these types of connections. Moreover, while the couplers in the test performed adequately, the compression region of the column became unstable due to the buckling of the steel reinforcement around the location of the couplers. This paper describes a shortcoming of the current methodology, along with solutions to provide a plastic hinge capable of delivering additional ductility during seismic events.

Full-scale "unitized", four-sided, structural sealant glazing (4SSG) curtain wall system mockups featuring a re-entrant corner were subjected to cyclic racking displacements in accordance with the American Architectural Manufacturers Association AAMA 501.6 protocol to determine serviceability and ultimate behavior responses. Glass fallout, sealant adhesive or cohesive failure, and glass cracking were identified as limit states and corresponding drift levels were determined. This paper describes the details of the techniques developed and used for analysis and shows example applications of the method to mockups with racking test results available. The video analysis measured the changes in distances between glass and frame, which was then used to calculate an effective shear strain of the structural silicone by a linear and quadratic method. An effective shear strain of 173% and 130% was calculated from a linear method and a quadratic method for a structural silicone when failure initiated. Test data from the manufacturer indicates the ultimate shear strain of the structural silicone occurs around 200%.

Full-scale, "unitized", four-sided structural sealant glazing (4SSG) curtain wall system mockups featuring a re-entrant corner were subjected to cyclic racking displacements in accordance with the American Architectural Manufacturers Association AAMA 501.6 protocol to determine serviceability and ultimate behavior responses. Sealant cohesive failure and glass cracking were identified as limit states and corresponding drift levels were determined. The displacements obtained from the finite element modeling (FEM) were used to calculate the effective shear strain of the structural silicone and the drift capacity of the system. This paper describes the details of the techniques developed for FEM and for the analysis results and shows example application of the method to mockups with racking test results available.

WT connections are commonly used within the structural steel frame. These connections may be used as a hanger connection or as a flange connection element in a moment connection. When the flange of a WT shape is bolted to a column or a beam and the WT stem is subjected to a tensile loading, the tensile force in the bolts can increase due to prying action. Although prying action in tees is a well-studied phenomenon, current design provisions do not directly address how increasing bolt spacing parallel to the WT stem impacts prying force. This experimental study focuses on the effects of changing bolt spacing parallel to the stem when the tee is subjected to a tensile force. A total of ten tests were conducted considering WT specimens with two different flange thicknesses and five different spacing between the bolts. Bolt forces, determined from strain measurements, were compared to the applied tensile force to determine the magnitude of prying force. Displacement measurements were also taken and deformation demand was quantified and correlated to prying force. Experimental tests show that bolt spacing parallel to the WT stem affects prying force in the bolts. As bolt spacing increases, prying force decreases. As would be expected, WT flange thickness affects deformation and plays a role in the magnitude of the prying force. Trends regarding bolt spacing are consistent when comparing the WT specimens with different flange thicknesses.

For architects, the aspiration to leave a legacy manifests itself through the creation of long-standing structures. As such, permanence is a central proponent of many definitions of sustainability, including those of architect William McDonough and the Congress for New Urbanism. There are, however, issues with thinking in terms of these "permanent" solutions. The fast-pace of technological advances coupled with the desire to rush new technology to implementation engenders two of the main issues with permanence. First, the lifespan of a building often far outlasts the relevancy of its performative systems, and second, new sustainable strategies are frequently implemented before their effectiveness can be quantified. Impermanent thinking - which in architecture refers to design meant to be deployed and dismantled on a shorter timeframe - offers a solution. Impermanent structures often leave minimal to no lasting site impacts, cost less, and are made of recyclable or "waste" materials. Their temporary nature allows the utilization of rapid prototyping techniques to test highly experimental new technologies at minimal costs. Using Eastern philosophy and economic and social theories, this paper has made an argument for abandoning this restrictive nature of permanence in favor of adopting a transient approach to sustainability more in line with impermanence.

In the recent times with the increase in the population, the number of retail shopping environments has increased significantly in Dhaka city. But these shopping environments are developing into high consumption areas of electricity resulting from artificially light design approach. In this study, it was found that the energy consumption is rising because of the minimal or no use of daylight and natural ventilation. A field-based case study was conducted to review the daylight inclusion in the design of retail shopping environments representing the historical periods of 1950-70, 1971-80, 1981-90, 1991-2000, 2001-2011. In this research, in addition to field work, parametric study was done to identify the effect of design factors/parameters relating to daylight. The main focus was to develop a causal relation between the parameters of the shopping environments to maximize the use of daylight. The parameters which were considered in this study were:width, height and depth of the shops; the depth of the corridor between two rows of shops; and the height and width of the light wells. All the parametric relations were derived to the width of the shop. Daylight level were measured and compared with the given level in the Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) code. It was found that shopping environments play an important role in energy consumption in urban areas and little or no utilization of daylight contribute to this energy demand. This is of particular significance in an environment where dwindling fossil sources of energy and an increasing energy demand created by positive economic growth pose a challenge for the building industry stake holders.

Daylighting is considered one of the main passive strategies for enhancing indoor spaces quality. Shading device is usually used to prevent excessive sunlight from delivering into the building, especially in clear-sunny sky environment. The use of a per-formative shading device can help in reducing both cooling and lighting loads, as well as improving the quality of the space. Nevertheless if such devices are not designed with care it may cause to admitting more sun rays than needed or result into poor daylit spaces. Sun breakers are believed to enhance the performance of southern faced spaces, as it provides protection from the excessive solar rays which have direct effect on the cooling loads. This paper investigates the effect of using sun breakers on both daylighting and energy performance. Year-round daylighting and energy simulations were conducted for a south oriented office space, located in the city of Cairo, Egypt. Diva-for-Rhino a plug-in used to interface Radiance and Daysim was used for calculating the annual Daylight Availability of the space. While Viper another plug-in for rhino and used to interface Energy-Plus was used for annual energy consumption simulations. Sun breakers with different settings and parameters were compared and the results were analyzed for achieving the needed balance. Results showed that the performance of sun breakers is tremendously related to its position, depth and rotation angle. The daylighting performance could be significantly enhanced; the ‘Daylit' area percentage can reach more than 72% of the space, while the savings in the annual energy consumed had also reached up to 34%. The results also showed that there is a satisfactory balance between the daylighting solutions and the thermal ones.

Daylight-responsive dimming systems currently considered in scientific research and commercial applications predominantly restrict themselves to the control of a single dimmed zone. This paper explores a multi-zone approach to controlling daylight-responsive dimming circuits. The conceptual basis for a generalized, optimal multi-zone dimming scenario is introduced by building on the concept of conventional single-zone dimming. Performance of an optimized multi-zone dimming system is compared with that of a single zone dimming system in the context of a daylight delivery system with sidelighting. The relevance of the two optimized, multi-zone dimming algorithms created by the authors is discussed with regards to the development of a real-world multi-zone dimming control strategy.

Unlike residential buildings, commercial and institutional buildings have a huge diversity of energy end uses and installed capacities. They also have the least amount of measured data available about occupancy profiles. This is especially the case for common university buildings. This reality poses significant challenges to improving their energy performance and informing energy management decisions and policies. University buildings differ from many other types of buildings. Their occupancy profiles have unique features such as extreme low and high occupancy within short periods of time and often very low occupancy in the evenings and during college breaks, weekends, and holidays. In addition to classrooms, these buildings house administrative services, research laboratories, catering, and other activities, meaning that all systems can be operating at full capacity even during low occupancy periods in order to maintain desired thermal comfort levels. This may result in a large consumption of energy per building occupant. Therefore, better space utilization should be a priority if any significant cost savings are to be achieved without any substantial upfront investment. With the overall target of using Texas A&M University campus in Kingsville, Texas, (TAMUK), as a test bed to examine energy efficiency in university buildings this work reports the results of an initial study of energy usage profiles during very low occupancy periods for a representative building within the TAMUK campus and presents possible solutions to improve energy usage with the potential energy savings. It is believed that the information gathered is of the foremost value to other institutions of higher education sharing similar characteristics and environmental concerns.

This study compares and analyzes residential energy use patterns of two dominant housing typologies in two sample cities in the U.S. and China (Houston, TX and Xiamen, China). The study developed four residential models to represent single-family-houses and multi-family-houses in both Houston and Xiamen using the building performance simulation tool, eQuest. The parameters of building physical characteristics and occupants' behaviors in these models were based on existing building codes, census data, government surveys, validated previous studies, and a household survey conducted in Xiamen, China. The results of the simulation show the opportunities to increase Chinese residential energy efficiency. The research outcomes indicate that the low energy efficiency of building envelopes and systems in Chinese houses are a major issue in Chinese residential buildings. Avoiding the potential increase in energy use in the Chinese residential sector requires taking steps to improve the efficiency of building envelopes, systems, and appliances. The conclusions of the research provide Chinese energy conservation policy-makers as well as developers and companies with references. The research also provides the foundation for future studies aiming to improve the energy efficiency of Chinese housing.

In hot-arid desert environments, solar radiation passing through windows increases buildings energy consumption. Shading of windows can reduce these loads. Previous research proved that external deep perforated solar screens can achieve up to 30% energy savings. Solar screen colors should be taken into consideration as the lighter the color, the more transmitted proportion of radiation due to increased reflectance, hence affecting daylighting and buildings thermal performance. This paper investigated the influence of surface reflectance on the energy saving capacity of solar screens in the hot arid desert environment. The relation between screen surface reflectance and other configuration parameters was examined. Series of experiments were performed using the EnergyPlus simulation software for a range of solar screen colors ranging from white screens having a visible reflectance of one, to black screens with a visible reflectance of zero. Simulations were conducted for a screen fixed in front of a window of a typical residential living room space in the Kharga Oasis, located in the Egyptian desert. It was found that light colored screens reduce lighting and heating energy. However, they significantly increase the cooling energy, and thus overall energy consumption. Results scientifically confirm the effectiveness of the traditionally used colors of the old "Mashrabeya" solar screens, which were typically dark. Conclusions prove that screens visible reflectance could reduce energy savings up to 14%. Optimum ranges of screen visible reflectance were recommended.

To determine the end use energy utilization profiles of major building subsystems - heating, ventilation, cooling, lighting, plug loads and/or servers - and accurately target potential energy efficiency improvement measures as well as establishing a building's performance relative to peer facilities, it is necessary to establish dynamic plug load energy use associated with occupant activity. As building façade, HVAC, and lighting component technologies improve and optimally employed in the context of the integrated design of a building, plug load related energy use becomes a more dominant component of the overall building energy utilization index. To clearly identify potential building subsystem energy efficiency improvements and develop strategies for ameliorating increases in plug load energy use via dynamic control and occupant awareness and involvement, rapid plug load measurement and assessment techniques are necessary. The current lack of measured plug load data that could be used as input for energy modelling has represented a significant gap in associating energy models with real building energy consumption. In this investigation, the circuits of multiple distribution panels were monitored to create hourly energy use plug load profiles associated with different end users within a tenant space of a medium-sized office building. The main use within the monitored space was associated with specialty conference rooms (ICON Lab and Telepresence Room), servers, workstations, copier/printer, kitchen amenities, and vacuum cleaning. Furthermore, the energy use data was further characterized according to day type (weekday and weekend). As a result of this work, hourly plug load profiles were generated based on actual measured data which will be used as input to energy models.

Air, water, and vapor barriers, collectively referred to as weather resistive barriers (WRB), are an essential component of the modern building envelope system. If water passes through the WRB to the interior of the wall assembly, a moist environment is created around framing members and interior drywall, leading to decay and mold growth. Therefore, in order to protect against the adverse structural and health effects associated with moisture entrapment in the wall assembly, the WRB must be protected against tear and puncture, maintaining a proper air and waterproofing layer. One concern that has arisen amongst engineers is the capacity of the WRB to resist tearing when the light-frame wall assembly, including sheathing, is subjected to seismic induced racking displacements. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the serviceability and ultimate performance of the WRBs, and characterize the potential failure mechanisms based on available literature and test results.

The structure of tall buildings, in addition to gravity loads, is to resist lateral loads resulting from wind, earthquake, etc. Wind produces three different types of effects on tall buildings: static, dynamic, and aerodynamic. Structurally, static effect is a term of analysis independent of time; but dynamic analysis is an attempt to take into account how the system responds to the change through the period of time; and when the building is very flexible, it interacts with the wind load and affects its response; that is called aerodynamic effect. The dynamic response of tall buildings to lateral load, particularly wind, is affected by several factors including structural stiffness, mass, damping and architectural shape and form. To control the dynamic impact, there are two main solutions: Architectural and Structural. Architects can mitigate wind effect on tall buildings by designing the form aerodynamically or at least by utilizing aerodynamic modifications, which are categorized in macro and micro modifications. Structural engineers can also reduce wind effect by choosing and designing efficient structural systems. This paper presents an overview of the impact of wind on tall buildings, along with some structural and architectural strategies to mitigate wind effects.

Antioch ad Cragum is an ancient Roman city on the southern Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Erdogmus and a team of archaeologists have been studying the collapsed, ruinous temple of the city since 2005 with the ultimate goal of reconstructing it partially as a historic site. The Temple of Antioch is designated as a Corinthian order, pro-style, platform temple based on the blocks found and studied. The super structure is dry stack masonry, while the foundation is mortared rubble masonry. Samples from mortar in the foundation walls and base were collected for laboratory analysis and findings on this were published previously. During the fieldwork season of 2011, with the consultations of Freedland, detailed assessments on the condition and deterioration of the temple's marble blocks were started. Following were among the detected deterioration causes: lichen (white, black, and orange species), algae, moss, alveolization, white residue, minor surface cracks, and major structural cracks. Furthermore, a novel, nondestructive, quantitative block assessment tool is being developed. The paper presents: methods used to identify the types and extent of damage on the marble blocks; the development of a damage identification booklet, block assessment forms, and block database specific to the project; and some experiments conducted to assess the materials and the deterioration mechanism. The project's conservation efforts are still in its early stages, therefore, future plans are also presented.

This paper investigates the tradeoffs between occupant comfort and energy savings for a wide range of control scenarios in several variations of mixed mode buildings. A series of EnergyPlus simulations were conducted for a future university campus building located in Boulder, Colorado. These simulations show that occupant comfort, as defined by ASHRAE, does not correspond to the modeled design with the highest energy savings. A variety of building shell, HVAC and mixed-mode operation schemes were tested to measure energy savings over a baseline building with the energy results juxtaposed against the predicted mean vote as well as the number of hours the cooling setpoint is not met. This paper also highlights some areas where existing standards are not clear in regards to application of adaptive comfort models and the number of hours when a cooling setpoint is not met. EnergyPlus simulations show 5-8% savings for mixed mode design over a sealed building for four types of shell and HVAC configurations. However, when a typical window opening behavior is modeled much of that savings is eroded. This results in concurrent mixed mode design buildings (buildings where HVAC systems are running while windows are open) being less prone to changes in energy use as a consequence of human interaction.

The current consumption pattern of natural resources is unsustainable. The industrial society is following the trend of overconsumption which has clearly led to depletion of natural resources and climate change. The real challenge is to provide a higher "quality of life" with limited "biocapacity" of the earth system. The UK government have implemented effective strategies and policies for sustainable development which include: transition towards a low carbon economy; establishment of a legal framework for adaptation of climate change; and place obligations on the generators to increase energy efficiency measures. Eventually, a national standard for sustainable housing, the "Code for Sustainable Homes"; and an innovative programme to make existing houses more energy efficient, the "Green Deal" has been launched. Accredited "sustainable houses" are looked upon to play a significant role in transition towards sustainability. The socio-technical sustainable transition include processes such as nurturing "niche" products in protected spaces; ‘farming' niches to build resource capacity; and finally translating niches into a sustainable socio-technical regime. Successful ‘experimental projects' for sustainable housing have already contributed towards the development of innovative technologies; and produced supporting actors with need expertise. However, consumers being the main decision maker and ultimate administrator of the ‘operational' phase of these projects' life cycles, the success of the projects would finally lie in the way they adopt the technologies and contribute in farming niches for sustainable housing regime. The paper examines the challenges faced in mainstreaming housing sustainability. It discusses sustainable housing, rating systems and sustainability indicators used in assessing housing sustainability with exemplar "the Code for Sustainable Homes" and the "Green Deal" programme in UK. The quality analysis of the extant literature explores transition processes involved in mainstreaming sustainable housing and identifies a number of barriers in the process of absolute transmission to sustainable housing regime. The paper concludes with several suggestions for farming characterised niches required for driving societal sustainability in UK.

With buildings accounting for about 39% of our total energy consumption, it is important that buildings are maintained to continuously operate as efficiently as possible. The Pennsylvania State University has 1,784 buildings which make up over 30 million gross square feet in building space and emitted approximately 550,000 MTCO₂E during the 2011-2012 year. This is a 27.5% reduction from what the University anticipated they would have emitted had it not implemented its reduction strategy plan. While Penn State has invested $40 million to re-commission and retrofit existing buildings at University Park and several of the Commonwealth campuses, there is still more work that can be done to improve the Universities energy performance. The challenge the University faces is in determining how to invest these funds to provide the greatest impact on energy savings. This paper intends to identify and capture the current energy auditing procedure at Penn State. The research presented will: 1.) Include an examination of the project selection process, availability of useful information and reliance of information in an effort to understand current limitations; 2.) Development of a structured process for future energy audits; and 3.) Identify the key information required to produce an accurate energy audit of an existing facility and determine where BIM can be implemented. The paper will conclude with how this initiative is working to integrate Penn State's Office of Physical Plant's (OPP) Energy and Engineering Group with their Virtual Construction Group to use Building Information Modeling to better track and manage energy data on new and existing facilities at Penn State.

Building energy modeling is a common procedure for the analysis of energy efficiency retrofits. Smaller retrofits of isolated systems, such as equipment motors and lighting systems, can often be made without the need for complete energy modeling; however, when the retrofit affects multiple systems, such as those involving the building envelope or the heating or cooling system, or when the retrofits of motors and lighting systems are so significant that they affect the heating and cooling load of the building, a more complete energy analysis is necessary. Because the exact inputs to building energy models are never known, and some inputs to the model are stochastic in nature (e.g., occupancy, plug-loads, lighting loads, weather), deterministic prediction of energy use is not only invariably inaccurate, it is actually inappropriate. When simple deterministic energy savings without uncertainty are used in economic analyses (e.g., return on investment), it is difficult to analyze the risk/benefit of the retrofit investment with true accuracy. A stochastic simulation, which includes the effects of input uncertainty and stochastic inputs, is a more appropriate way to predict the building energy use. In this paper, we present a method for stochastic energy simulation that propagates probability characterizations of the input values through a computational engine to create probable energy use predictions. When this probable energy use is combined with forecasts of energy and construction costs, a probable estimate of return on energy efficiency measure investment is generated, and an economic risk/benefit analysis of the investment can be made. Such information is especially important to the growing energy service company market. The computational engine is based on the CEN/ISO monthly building energy calculation standards so its accuracy is well researched and validated, and the computational simplicity allows for efficient stochastic analysis.

There is widespread recognition of the importance of the built environment in tackling the current energy and sustainability challenges. It is well known that with existing buildings constituting more than 98% of the building stock, the greatest impact on reducing building energy consumption in the US will result from retrofitting existing buildings. These need to be based on radically improving their energy efficiency and overall performance. The aim of the project, on which this paper is based, is to develop an integrated process model and decision support system (DSS) that can provide proactive guidance to facility owners/managers in undertaking high performance green retrofits of existing buildings. This is being addressed through detailed case studies of a number of high performance green retrofit projects, the modeling of the retrofitting process, the identification of key decision criteria, and the development of an appropriate decision support system (DSS). The DSS will provide guidance on technical alternatives available at each decision point along the retrofitting process, including the link to associated energy performance outcomes and cost implications. The paper presents the approach being adopted in the development of a process model for energy efficient retrofits, and an intelligent DSS that enables informed choices to be made.

Many historic buildings and areas are being lost due to population growth, spatial expansion and area improvements in countries and cities that have expanding economies. Attempts at conserving such heritage have more, often than not, used tourism as the key to preservation. Indeed tourism can help preserve built heritage and revenues from tourism can fund and sustain conservation efforts. However, attracting tourists to historic built-form requires development of new infrastructure that can comprise the historical integrity of the main draw. In other words, a sustainable approach to historic preservation is often very complex. In this paper, we present a case of sustainable conservation of a historic area in a developing country - India. Using this location - Fort Cochin/Mattancherry in the south Indian state of Kerala -- we choose to highlight the differences in the policy context in which historic preservation happens in the West and the rest of the world. Given the ongoing economic growth in China, India, Indonesia and Philippines the locus of preservation struggles to save historic heritage is shifting from the West to the East. Current knowledge about such struggles is clearly focused on the West and may not provide good guidance for effective strategies in the East. We believe this paper is a first step in filling an increasing felt void in existing literature. We employed a qualitative case study approach for the research reported in this paper, using ethnographic surveys combined with data from secondary sources. We compare historic preservation efforts in two US cities and show that the highly successful approaches used there would not serve Fort Kochi/Mattanchery very well. Instead we propose a more contextualized approach that locates historic preservation within the broader framework of sustainable regional development. We believe that this approach could serve as a model for historic preservation-through- tourism efforts in developing countries of the East.

Modeling and simulation of dynamic systems has been commonly used in the context of transportation, urban planning, and land use as being the basic tool for planners and policy makers. Vehicular movement modeling is one of the most popular models that deal with relevant aspects of urban regions and communities. This paper focuses on a particular mobility system; electric vehicles (EVs) clusters. It presents a study was conducted to simulate EVs population of the inner urban core of Newcastle-Gateshead via a developed 2D simulation model. The novelty of this study is the new approach proposed to simulate EV population in particular vicinity. This is by utilizing hybrid simulation technique (agent based modeling and discrete events) while applying space syntax theory and principles to predict the travel demand pattern of the urban system. The combination of these layers of modeling within the context of electrical mobility has proven successful in portraying the population and showed promising results. It aims at providing guidelines and recommendations to locate preliminary charging points and determine their numbers and capacities, which should be of interest for researchers, planning authorities and policy makers. This paper is a part of an EU project that focuses on simulating a part of the North Sea Region e-mobility system.

Estidama, meaning "sustainability" in Arabic, is an initiative developed and promoted by the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC). The Plan Abu Dhabi 2030 Urban Master Plan includes sustainability as a core principle. The leadership of Abu Dhabi recognizes, however, that the unique cultural, climatic and economic development needs of the region require a more localized definition of sustainability, and they are progressing the principles and imperatives for sustainable development through Estidama, launched in 2008.

Creating green neighborhood developments yet remains a problem. Real estate developers in many of the developed countries work on providing smart complexes for new generations. Green thinking and resilience approach has started to spread more and is widely applied due to the environmental and socioeconomic burden of livable communities. Green developments market is hampered by several factors, one of which is the financing capabilities and the higher capital cost the owner will invest. The go-green decision has to be made during the pre-design phase where the feasibility and preliminary concept design are set for discussion. Development's profitability and pricing strategy are correlated as the latter reflects the property competitiveness hence potentially positions the developer in the market. The study proposes a spatial assistant tool for policy makers and local and private planning authorities to better plan and price for new green communities. The development of the model provides a methodological approach to quantify some aesthetic indices.

AESS sits squarely at the juncture between architecture and engineering. Of the many structural materials used for larger, non-residential buildings, it is the one that requires the highest level of technical knowledge from the architect and the highest level of design appreciation from the engineer. The fabricator is often caught in the middle, attempting to create steel that is simultaneously correct for aesthetic and stability requirements. In some instances AESS can be priced out of a project because the finish expectations have been placed too high - for the budget or the type of project. This paper will speak to new standards that have been developed by the Canadian Institute for Steel Construction (CISC) for the design and specification of AESS that are centered around a "Matrix" that classifies AESS according to factors that include visibility, fit, finish and form. The paper looks at design for constructability as this affects the ability of the fabricator/erector to deliver the project on time and on budget. Also addressed will be issues arising from the recent influence of 3D modeling software on the generation of buildings that are more easily rendered than fabricated. This would include projects that use curved steel and non-rectilinear forms. New detailing software is discussed that greatly assists with bringing some highly challenging projects to reality.

In modern masonry wall construction, with the prevalence of cavity wall systems and decreased redundancy, the wall system's ability to manage water is more important than ever. It is impossible to keep a wall watertight without the installation of proper flashing. For a cavity wall to perform correctly, the flashings must have provisions to manage water and rapidly expel it back to the exterior of the wall assembly through weeps. Flashing must also be able to preclude unintended lateral movement of liquid water through the use of end dams. The installation of proper flashing can be achieved, at a small percentage of the overall design and construction cost, if the designer provides good details and the contractor understands how the flashing is intended to work. Too often flashing is installed poorly or omitted altogether, allowing excessive water into the wall assembly. This results in accelerated corrosion of embedded steel members, deterioration of the masonry assembly and an increased potential for mold growth. Remedially addressing these issues requires costly and disruptive repairs. Using lessons from the restoration of existing buildings, these problematic issues will be reviewed and several key flashing areas will be discussed; including copings, through-wall, parapet rain screens, window lintels and sills, rising walls, and shelf angles. Examples of incorrect flashing and the resulting damage will be used to show the role flashing plays in maintaining a properly functioning exterior wall assembly, as well as successful remediation of the same details.

Standards and codes can play a key role in the social acceptability of earthen masonry. This notwithstanding, the existing regulatory framework for earth-based masonry construction is limited to derivatives of performance standards and codes that were developed for concrete masonry units. The discussion in this paper presented work directed at contributing the development of a reliable resting regime for interlocking bricks. The different testing regimes investigated include crushing full-sized blocks (horizontally), 2-inch and 1.18-inch cubes and units with filled recesses testing in compliance with the provisions of ASTM C140-12, Standard Test Methods for Sampling and Testing Concrete Masonry Units and Related Units. The findings have revealed that the numbers obtained for compressive strength change depending on the testing regime. In addition, the recorded values for compressive strengths were much higher when the samples were tested based on the provisions of ASTM C140-12, Standard Test Methods for Sampling and Testing Concrete Masonry Units and Related Units. As this procedure accounts for the unit geometric properties of the interlocking block, the results suggest that it is a more reliable testing regime.

Full-scale, "unitized", four-sided structural sealant glazing (4SSG) curtain wall system mock-ups featuring a re-entrant corner were subjected to cyclic racking displacements in accordance with the American Architectural Manufacturers Association AAMA 501.6 protocol to determine serviceability and ultimate behavior responses. Sealant cohesive failure and glass cracking were identified as limit states and corresponding drift levels were determined. The geometry of the mock-up was used to develop equations that predicted the displacements of the glass, relative to the frame, based on the independent variable of inter-story drift. The displacements from those equations were then related to the effective shear strain of the structural silicone and the drift capacity of the system. This paper describes the concepts and results of the kinematic equations developed.

Being the human input of the construction process, construction laborers are the most dynamic elements of the construction industry. The cost of labor represents almost half of the overall construction cost. This paper proposes a framework to determine the significant factors impacting labor productivity, considering the Egyptian construction market as a case study. First, a craftsmen questionnaire is devised in light of a list of major factors affecting labor productivity that were specifically extracted from international studies on labor productivity. Second, a site-based survey is conducted with site operatives of different projects in Egypt through the craftsmen questionnaire to determine the particular factors affecting productivity in Egypt. Third, the factors that were commonly agreed upon by the surveyed sample of laborers are evaluated and ranked by industry experts through a subsequent importance factor survey. Fourth, the most important factors are plotted in a factors' matrix, which enable the quantification of their relative influences on labor productivity and their interrelated influence through a third survey. Fifth, the output of the factors' matrix is planned to model labor productivity using system dynamics. This technique permits the identification of areas where effort should be exerted to achieve maximum labor productivity by testing the different management strategies that would improve the influencing productivity factors. Validating the model's findings is proposed through a work sampling study on a real-life construction project in Egypt to measure the productivity improvement before and after applying the recommendations extracted from the model. The analogy of this research is not to assign a specific focus on a particular trade; however, the surveys are intended to depict the major factors influencing labor productivity within an entire work site. Upon applying the model findings, the work sampling study is to be repeated to measure the improvement of manpower productive time, which improves the overall site productivity. In the interim, the main outcome of this paper is the identification of the factors with the most influence on labor productivity in Egypt, those were: availability of material, respect for craft workers and foremen, availability of health and safety training, availability of power tools, availability of drawings, absenteeism, jobsite orientation program, coordination between the trades, and waiting for people and/or equipment to move material. As a future plan currently under implementation, the nine factors are to be incorporated in the factor matrix survey and in modeling productivity via system dynamics approach. The findings of the system dynamics model is expected to enable researchers and members of the construction industry to pinpoint the areas requiring more focus on improving labor productivity.

Architecture represents the art of planning, designing, building and decorating. Also it reflects the identity, culture and social realities of whole civilizations, captures and converses with the environment of its inception be it the natural climatic environment or the values, norms and belief systems. The study of a given architecture, therefore, implies extensive knowledge about the society, its system of reference and its climate to properly identify and interpret the manifestations of all these factors in the art of building. The study of the traditional Kuwaiti architecture, which is the focus of this paper, requires an understanding of both the natural and social environment of Kuwait. The traditional Kuwaiti house was conceived in a time when traditions and rules drawn from Islamic precepts had the upper hand. It was also built in a natural environment characterized by extreme temperatures, the people who built them were simple people, with very little wealth, but very resourceful. All these factors produced a vernacular architecture that is highly compatible with various aspects of its environment. However, after the discovery of oil in the Gulf region in 1930, and the financial enrichment of the country, people started to opt for more modern styles of building for their houses. Such new houses proved very unbefitting to neither the Kuwaiti climatic environment nor the Islam-informed social climate. This paper introduces the traditional Kuwaiti architecture and highlights the positive attributes it enjoys and which should be preserved and optimized rather than supplanted by the introduction of new 21st Century architectural designs, thus contributing to the preservation of the ecology of the region and the world at large and accommodating the needs of Muslim desert dwellers such as the people of Kuwait in terms of comfortable and culturally aware habitat.