Dissertations / Theses: 'Reduction of performance of buildings'

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Duran, Ozlem. "Evaluation of retrofitting strategies for post-war office buildings." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2018. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/32268.

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The energy used in non-domestic buildings accounts for 18 % of the energy use in the UK. Within the non-domestic building stock, 11 % of office buildings have a very high influence on the energy use. Thus, the retrofit of office buildings has a significant potential for energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions reduction within the non-domestic building stock. However, the replacement rate of existing buildings by new-build is only around 1-3 % per annum. Post-war office buildings, (built between 1945 and 1985) represent a promising sector for retrofit and energy demand reduction. They have disproportionately high energy consumption because many were built before the building regulations addressed thermal performance. The aim of the research is to evaluate the retrofit strategies for post-war office buildings accounting for the improved energy efficiency, thermal comfort and hence, productivity, capital and the running costs. The research seeks to provide the optimal generic retrofit strategies and illustrate sophisticated methods which will be the basis for guidelines about post-war office building retrofit. For this, multiple combinations of heating and cooling retrofit measures were applied to representative models (Exemplar) of post-war office buildings using dynamic thermal simulation modelling. The retrofit strategies include; applying envelope retrofit to UK Building Regulations Part L2B and The Passivhaus Institue EnerPHit standards for heating demand reduction and winter comfort. Passive cooling interventions such as shading devices and night ventilation and active cooling intervention such as mixed-mode ventilation were applied to overcome summer overheating. All retrofit combinations were evaluated considering future climate, inner and outer city locations and different orientations. In summary, the results showed that under current weather conditions Part L2B standard retrofit with passive cooling provided the optimum solution. In 2050, however, both Part L2B retrofit naturally ventilated cases with the passive cooling measures and EnerPHit retrofit mixed-mode ventilation cases provide the requisite thermal comfort and result in a similar range of energy consumption. It was concluded that to create generic retrofit solutions which could be applied to a given typology within the building stock is possible. The methodology and the Exemplar model could be used in future projects by decision-makers and the findings and analysis of the simulations could be taken as guidance for the widespread retrofit of post-war office buildings.

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Geyser, Martinus Fredrik. "A new integrated procedure for energy audits and analyses of buildings / M.F. Geyser." Thesis, North-West University, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10394/414.

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A rapid growth in the national electricity demand is placing an ever-increasing demand on the national electricity supply utility, Eskom. Projections show that the load demand in South Africa may exceed the installed capacity by as early as 2007. This is mainly due to the increase in demand in the residential sector as a result of the electrification of rural and previously disadvantaged communities. However, the industrial and commercial sectors also have a role in this increase. In an attempt to reduce the demand for electricity Eskom has adopted its Demand Side Management (DSM) initiative. This initiative is aimed at lowering the electricity demand in peak times through energy efficiency (EE) or load shift, out of peak demand times. Eskom is implementing the DSM strategy by financing Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) to reduce the demand load of major electricity end-users during peak times. Buildings consume a large percentage of the total energy supply in the world. Most of the energy consumed in buildings is used by the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems, as well as lighting. However, a large potential for energy savings exists in buildings. Studies have shown that up to 70% of the electricity consumption of a building can be saved through retrofit studies. However, to capitalise on these opportunities, the ESCOs require tools and procedures that would enable them to accomplish energy savings studies quickly and efficiently. It should be a holistic approach to the typical ESCO building audit. A study of current available software programs showed the lack of holistic tools aimed specifically at retrofit audits, and therefore also the need for such a program. The building simulation program most suited to the retrofit study was chosen and it was used in a retrofit audit. By emulating a retrofit audit with this software, its performance in the field, both positive and negative, could be established. With the experience gained from the retrofit study, as well as input from ESCOs in the industry, a need for such a retrofit tool was established. The simulation program that was tested in the retrofit study is the tool Quickcontrol, as well as the newer version of the program, entitled QEC. The case study showed that even though these packages are well suited to ESCO work, they have certain drawbacks in view of the holistic project approach. The ESCOs require a simple, fast, and integrated procedure for energy audits. This procedure should be embodied in a software program. This study proposes a new integrated procedure for energy audits and the analyses of buildings, in the form of a software tool. This new tool is geared towards the ESCO building audit, in both South A6ica and internationally. It is designed to enable a diplomate engineer to accomplish a building energy and retrofit analysis in two weeks, leading the user through all the main project steps, from data acquisition to writing of the final project report. This is a significant improvement, since it normally takes 50 man-days for an experienced and trained engineering team to complete a full building audit. This tool was used in a case study to test its validity and accuracy. It was found that certain situations would arise in which the criteria that were set for the program would not be adequate. The results from the case study were favourable and satisfied the criteria that were set for the procedure.
Thesis (Ph.D. (Mechanical Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

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Ferreira, Vasco Guedes. "The analysis of primary metered half-hourly electricity and gas consumption in municipal buildings." Thesis, De Montfort University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/2086/3268.

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This thesis addressed the need for improved analysis and interpretation of primary meter half-hourly energy consumption data. The current work offers a novel benchmarking technique that was tested for 6 types of municipal buildings. This approach is different from conventional annual benchmarking mainly because it uses electricity and gas data in half-hourly periods, together with outside temperature data. A survey to European local authorities’ metering and monitoring practices was conducted in order to assess municipal energy managers' current procedures and needs in terms of data analysis to assess building energy performance and to identify potential energy saving opportunities. The benchmarking approach was developed considering the energy managers’ needs, but also the state-of the art in terms of building energy monitoring techniques, particularly building energy signatures, and the analysis techniques used on electricity grid demand forecasting. The benchmarking approach is based on the use of a metric composed of several indicators that are related to the load demand shape profile and the building energy signature. The comparison of indicators for buildings of the same type using standard scores identifies uncommon load demand profile characteristics and/or gas dependency on outside temperature in specific buildings. The metric is able to support the identification of potential energy wastage, which is linked to the detection of opportunities to save energy. The benchmarking technique was tested in 81 municipal building owned by Leicester City Council. This methodology can be applied to any non-domestic building equipped with primary meters for registering half-hourly electricity and gas consumption. In theory, this approach can also be applied to residential buildings, and to other short time series data types, for example quarter-hourly or 10 minutes interval data. The main contribution of this thesis is to improve the objectivity of building primary meter half-hourly electricity and gas consumption data analysis and interpretation by using quantitative parameters, instead of subjective visualisation techniques. The interpretation of building consumption data in short time series periods can now be streamlined, automated and perhaps incorporated in existing energy analysis software. This thesis raises questions that can lead to future research projects aiming to improve the metric and also to enlarge the scope of its application to national and European scale, to other building types and to other utilities.

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Bučko, Ondrej. "Efektivní řízení technologií budov s důrazem na měření vlhkosti a koncentrace CO2." Master's thesis, Vysoké učení technické v Brně. Fakulta elektrotechniky a komunikačních technologií, 2021. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-442540.

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The diploma thesis deals with automated measurement of humidity and CO2 concentration inside buildings. Results of this measurement form the input parameters for the effective management of technologies reducing the energy performance of buildings. In the introduction, the issue of indoor air quality of buildings and indicators characterizing this quality are approached. The technical part of the thesis consists of making a measuring device which contains two prototype sensors provided by Teco Inc. with online access to measured data. The measurement of relative humidity, CO2 concentration and temperature in the interior of the building with the made device is compared with commercially available devices for measuring selected parameters. For unambiguous interpretation of online data, the virtual machine with an online database is configured for the created measuring device. The possibilities of using the prepared measuring device to achieve a reduction in the energy performance of buildings are discussed in the final part.

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Forsberg, Alexander, and Aras Wali. "Vibration reduction over junctions in buildings." Thesis, KTH, Marcus Wallenberg Laboratoriet MWL, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-302260.

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Structure borne sound can travel multiple paths from one office to another and choosing to sound insulate a specific building element can be difficult since all the building elements are connected together and form a coupled system. The current approach by engineers when investigating transmission paths between spaces in a building is using a computer model and assuming that the junctions are firmly clamped or free. Standardized measuring methods includes a large amount of measuring points on each side of a junction and excitation over large areas. This study intends to investigate if it is possible to gain valuable information with a small amount of measuring points in a field measurement by comparing the data with an analytical model and a finite element model. The field measurement consisted of excitation from an impulse hammer from two excitation points and three accelerometers placed on each side of the junctions and on both sides of the separating wall. The measurement took place in a office building, with no information about the structure other than length, width and thickness of the elements.The reduction over the junctions varied with frequency and no general conclusion could be made about the transmission paths. The results showed high vibration reduction over the junction in low frequencies which then decreased in higher frequencies. Measurement results in low frequencies coincided with the analytical model, that vibration reduction is high over a junction for lighter separating walls in low frequencies and decrease quickly as frequency increases. Different results over each junction was obtained depending on excitation point, which indicates that there is flanking transmission along with the fact that it is a complex coupled system.
Strukturburet ljud kan färdas flera olika vägar från ett kontor till ett annat och att ljudisolera en specifik vägg kan vara svårt då alla byggnadselement är ihopkopplade och skapar ett kopplat system. Den nuvarande metoden ingenjörer använder för att undersöka transmissionsvägar mellan rum är att skapa modeller i datorprogram där antaganden att byggnadselementen är fast inspända eller fritt upplagda är gjorda. Standardiserade mätmetoder använder sig av en stor mängd mätpunkter på båda sidor om knutpunkterna och excitationer över stora ytor. Den här studien avser att undersöka möjligheten att erhålla värdefull information med ett fåtal mätpunkter i en fältmätning genom att jämföra den samlade mätdatan med en analytisk modell och en FEM modell. Fältmätningen består av excitation med en impulshammare i två excitationspunkter och tre accelerometrar på vardera sida om knutpunkterna och båda sidor om skiljeväggen. Mätningen utfördes i en kontorsbyggnad, utan någon information om strukturen förutom längd, bredd och tjocklek på byggnadselementen.Reduktionen över knutpunkterna varierade i frekvens och inga generella slutsatser kunde göras angående transmissionsvägar. Resultaten visade hög reduktion i vibrationsskillnad över knutpunkterna i låga frekvenser vilket minskade med ökad frekvens. Mätningsresultaten stämde överens med den analytiska modellen i låga frekvenser, med avseende på att reduktionen över knutpunkter med lätt skiljevägg är hög i låga frekvenser och avtar med ökad frekvens. Resultaten över knutpunkterna var beroende på val av excitationspunkt vilket indikerar att mätresultaten innehåller flankerande transmissioner och att det är ett komplext kopplat system.

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Castilho, Gabriela Mouriño. "Energy behaviour and consumption reduction in service buildings." Master's thesis, Universidade de Aveiro, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10773/23298.

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Mestrado em Sistemas Energéticos Sustentáveis
In view of the current global scenery, in which several nations are striving against global warming, energy efficiency rises as a cost-effective prospect. As the building sector accounts for over one-fifth of the total delivered energy consumed worldwide, it has great potential for implementing rationalization and energy efficiency measures. Service buildings are expected to have the highest growth in energy consumption when compared to residential buildings and are therefore the focus of this thesis. Energy reduction efforts for service buildings are vast; however, they are concentrated mostly on technological opportunities. Behaviour changes represent a great potential for reducing energy consumption without significant financial costs, but still, they are commonly disregarded. Hence, the present dissertation aims to propose a quantitative methodology to analyze occupants’ behaviours and their impact on energy consumption in service buildings. Results are acquired through the use of dynamic simulation, namely DesignBuilder software. Energy consumption due to behaviour is determined by simulating the occupant interactions with equipment, lighting and HVAC systems. To that end, three occupancy profiles were fixed: standard occupants’ interactions are defined by Decree-Law nº 79/2006; efficient occupants have extreme efficient behaviours leading to energy savings; inefficient ones lead to extreme energy waste. Dynamic simulation results give evidence of the occupancy impact on energy consumption. Efficient behaviours were able to reduce energy consumption by over 34%. However, regardless of the rigorousness of efficient behaviours, waste potential by inefficient occupants was always higher than saving potential. This result highlights the importance of understanding occupant behaviours and its accurate consideration of dynamic simulation tools.
No atual cenário mundial, no qual diversas nações lutam contra o aquecimento global, a eficiência energética se destaca como uma opção viável. O setor de edifícios é responsável pelo consumo de mais de um quinto da energia total gerada, e por isso possui grande potencial para a implementação de medidas de racionalização e eficiência energética. Espera-se que os edifícios de serviços tenham o maior crescimento no consumo de energia quando comparados aos edifícios residenciais, e, portanto, são o foco desta tese. As possibilidades de redução de energia para os edifícios de serviços são vastas; no entanto, estas se concentram principalmente em oportunidades tecnológicas. As mudanças de comportamento representam um grande potencial para reduzir o consumo de energia sem custos financeiros significativos, no entanto ainda são geralmente desconsiderados. Dessa forma, a presente dissertação visa propor uma metodologia quantitativa para análise dos comportamentos dos ocupantes e seu impacto no consumo de energia em edifícios de serviços. Os resultados foram adquiridos através do uso da simulação dinâmica de edifícios, pelo software DesignBuilder. O consumo de energia devido ao comportamento foi determinado pela simulação das interações entre os ocupantes e os equipamentos, sistema de iluminação e de aquecimento, ar condicionado e ventilação. Para este fim, foram considerados três perfis de ocupação: o ocupante de referência teve por base as definições do Decreto-Lei nº 79/2006; os ocupantes eficientes possuem comportamentos extremos e eficientes que levam a economias de energia; ocupantes ineficientes causam um desperdício extremo de energia. Resultados da simulação dinâmica evidenciam o impacto da ocupação no consumo de energia. Comportamentos eficientes . foram capazes de reduzir o consumo em mais de 34%. No entanto, independentemente do rigor dos comportamentos eficientes, o potencial de desperdício de energia pelos ocupantes ineficientes foi, em todos os casos, superior ao potencial de economia energética pelos ocupantes eficientes.Este resultado destaca a importância de compreender os comportamentos dos ocupantes e assegurar sua análise de forma precisa sobre as ferramentas de simulação dinâmica.

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Boffa, John. "Model reduction of large structural systems for active vibration control /." Electronic version, 2002. http://adt.lib.uts.edu.au/public/adt-NTSM20060317.113054/index.html.

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Williams, Matthew Joseph. "Performance Based Analysis of Steel Buildings." DigitalCommons@CalPoly, 2009. https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/209.

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This project investigated the performance of two separate building types, designed using ASCE 7-05, using the analysis procedures from ASCE 41-06. The results from the ASCE 41-06 analyses were compared to the expected performance level of Life Safety to determine the adequacy of the ASCE 7-05 design. ASCE 7-05 is intended to result in designs that perform to a Life Safety performance level regardless of the building type. A design using the AISC specifications for a steel Special Moment Frame and the lateral loads from ASCE 7-05 resulted in a building that slightly exceeded an Immediate Occupancy performance level for the BSE-1 Hazard Level. In comparison, a design using the AISC specifications for steel Special Concentric Braced Frame resulted in a building that performed to a Collapse Prevention performance level for the BSE-1 Hazard Level.

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Bonde, Magnus. "Green Buildings : Exploring performance and thresholds." Doctoral thesis, KTH, Bygg- och fastighetsekonomi, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-184874.

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The overall aim of this research project is to study green/energy-efficient real estate from an economic perspective. The thesis summarizes the results from five different studies with a connection to green/energy-efficient real estate.The aim of the first paper (paper A) is to study how tenants perceive the indoor environment in green-rated premises, and to compare these results with tenants’ perception of a conventional building’s indoor environment. The main result is that the tenants in the green-rated building are more satisfied with the indoor environment than the tenants in the conventional building.Papers B and C assess whether energy efficiency has an impact on buildings’ income and market values using Swedish real-estate data. The key result is that although there is a small impact on building-related income, this does not seem to translate into a higher market value.The last two papers included in this thesis study hindrances to a more energy-efficient building sector. In paper D, two office buildings are used as baseline cases to provide insights into the difficulties that can arise when trying to upgrade a building to make it more energy efficient. The results indicate that changing existing leases is a prohibitive process and that it is often difficult to evaluate the final impact of an energy upgrade. The last paper focuses on why it may be rational to postpone green refurbishments even if they are profitable. The main result is that it may be rational to postpone such refurbishments. However, by introducing different financial penalties and/or subsidies, these investments could be triggered today.To sum up, the results indicate that green buildings are preferred by tenants, but that there still appear to be economic barriers to a greener building sector.
Det övergripande syftet med denna avhandling är att studera grön/energieffektiva byggnader ur ett ekonomiskt perspektiv. Avhandlingen består av en kappa och fem separata studier, vilka belyser tre olika forskningsfrågor. Syftet med den första studien är att studera hur hyresgäster upplever inomhusmiljön i gröna byggnader. I studien jämförs inomhusmiljön i en grön byggnad med inomhusmiljön i en likvärdig konventionell byggnad. Resultatet visar, på det stora hela, att hyresgästerna är mer nöjda med inomhusmiljön i den gröna byggnaden. De nästföljande studierna, B respektive C, undersöker om byggnadens energiprestanda har någon inverkan på dess hyra respektive marknadsvärde. Resultaten visar på en liten signifikant hyrespåverkan, dock verkar denna inte ha någon effekt på byggnadernas marknadsvärdebedömningar. Skälet till detta kan vara att hyrespremien anses för liten för att ha någon signifikant inverkan på byggnadens marknadsvärde, alternativt att fastighetsvärderare inte beaktar energiprestanda när en fastighet värderas. De två sista studierna studerar varför vissa, tillsynes lönsamma, energiinvesteringar inte genomförs. Resultaten från studie D visar på svårigheterna med att ingå ett samarbetsavtal (för att eliminera felaktiga incitament) mellan hyresgäst och hyresvärd. Sådana avtal tar lång tid att förhandla fram och det uppkommer ofta svårigheter med att utvärdera de tänkta energiinvesteringarnas ekonomiska utfall. Studie E utgår ifrån en realoptionsmodell, vilken används för att utvärdera när ”gröna” renoveringar bör genomföras i en befintlig byggnad. Studien visar att det kan vara rationellt att vänta trots att investeringen idag är lönsam. Vidare visar resultaten att det är möjligt att via byggsubventioner/finansiella ”straff” påverka aktörer att tidigarelägga energieffektiviseringsåtgärder. Dock är det viktigt att dessa utformas korrekt så att det inte skapar några snedvridna incitament. Övergripande visar resultaten att gröna byggnader är att föredra ur ett brukarperspektiv men att det fortfarande finns ekonomiska hinder för en mer hållbar byggsektor. Nyckelord: gröna byggnader, energieffektiva byggnader, EPC, inomhusmiljö, Realoptioner, fastighetsekonomi.

QC 20160407

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Ming, Ruisen. "The measurement of structural wave intensity applied to buildings." Thesis, Heriot-Watt University, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/10399/1470.

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Boffa, John. "Model Reduction of Large Structural Systems for Active Vibration Control." University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Engineering, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/2100/338.

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This thesis studies the applicability of the Dynamic model reduction method that is used for direct plant order reduction in the active vibration control of large and flexible structures. A comparison of the performances between the reduced models produced by the Dynamic model reduction method and those obtained by other common model reduction methods such as the Guyan method, and the Mode-displacement method have been carried out. By using a full analytical model of a twenty storey building as the reference, each three degrees of freedom model was compared by computer simulation. The open-loop frequency response simulation, open-loop earthquake simulation, and the closed-loop earthquake simulation were all used to initially evaluate the reduced models. The accuracy of the frequency responses was assessed with sinusoidal applied forces, and for the closed-loop dynamic analysis, an active mass damper at the top storey and a recorded earthquake excitation was used. When compared with the simulation results of the Guyan method, the Dynamic method has many advantages, especially in terms of its accuracy at the high frequency range. The Mode-displacement method produces reduced models that are good for dynamic analysis of open-loop systems, but it was found to be inconvenient for use in active control. Finally, the Dynamic model reduction method and Guyan method were compared using experimental test results. A 2.5m tall building model with 20 floors was used as the plant, with a linear motor installed at the top storey for the purposes of active-damping. Although the results of simulations would suggest that both models perform sufficiently, experimental testing proved that only the Dynamic model performs adequately for this specific application of active control. The problem associated with most model reduction methods, such as the Guyan, is that they are based on full-order models that were derived from the linear elastic theory. The versatility of the Dynamic model reduction method is such that it provides the option of obtaining system parameters directly from experiment, not just from theory. The experimental procedure ensures that the Dynamic model reduction method forms an accurate description of the real system dynamics. The applicability of this method for obtaining low-order plant models was demonstrated through real-time active control testing of the model structure, while it was subject to a sinusoidal excitation. The tests have shown that the Dynamic model reduction method can be used as an alternative approach for the model reduction of structural systems for the purpose of active vibration control.

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Wang, Jinhua, and 王锦华. "Usability assessment framework for buildings : a case study of school buildings in Hong Kong." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10722/210185.

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Building performance assessment must address questions of "who", "what" and "how" to assess, it can be summarized in a formula: Context + Mechanism = Outcome, the context includes two parts, type of building and performance subject. A typical research work will choose one type of building and one subject, and develop a tool for it and do some analysis on the outcome. The research works of this kind are abundant. But in terms of mechanism, they are actually much alike, of which the two most typical ones are Professional-only model and POE process. The absence of practice to enhance the users’ capacity to conduct building performance assessment triggers the author to introduce the concept of usability, with spirit of “getting closer to users”, and to propose a usability assessment framework to fill up this gap in research field. The exploration of usability assessment is divided into two parts: theoretical construction and practical implementation. In the first part, author will review relevant theories at roots (including at least community psychology, evaluation capacity building (ECB), process in use and equal opportunity theory) and general empowerment evaluation, to come up with a tentative usability assessment framework, of which the empowerment evaluation is the key element, which is initially defined by Fetterman (1994) as “the use of evaluation concepts and techniques to foster self-determination", it takes the “give someone a fish and you feed her for one day; teach her to fish, and she will feed herself for the rest of her life” concept. The second part of practical implementation is dealing with some aspects identified in the first part. Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) is chosen as the subject and School type buildings are selected, together they form the case study for new practice’s demonstration and development. In each case, participant observation will be employed for addressing issues of “giving empowerment evaluation” and “effective empowerment settings”. Survey will be used for addressing the aspect of “user interpretation of performance assessment”. It must be emphasized that theoretical construction is the crux of the study, the second implementation part will serve to address certain aspects identified in part one and help to refine the framework in addition to demonstrate it in reality. The results are analyzed and the lessons learned are discussed in chapter 6 and the tentative framework was refined correspondingly. This study breaks the routine of current typical researches only focus on results and pays attention to evaluation process as well. It tempers the ethos of the generalization from building performance assessment results by professionals with a fresh emphasis on specificity of each particular building through a generalizable mechanism by users so that the usability could be enhanced. The new roles for building professionals and users were created. This study constructs the theoretical foundation for further development, which would enrich or complement current practices in many aspects.
published_or_final_version
Real Estate and Construction
Doctoral
Doctor of Philosophy

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Fumagalli, Benjamin. "Energy performance assessment of collective housing buildings." Thesis, KTH, Tillämpad termodynamik och kylteknik, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-129240.

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This project has been carried out for the ALEC (Agence Locale de l'Energie et du Climat) of Grenoble urban area, a French energy and climate agency. It has been composed of several missions, all related to energy management in residential buildings. First, an annual energy use assessment have been conducted for two different building samples: the eco-district of De Bonne in Grenoble and a sample of about 25 social housing buildings over the region. These two assessments showed that the average energy performance of newly built buildings is improving every year, notably under the stimulation of innovative projects such as De Bonne. Then, a more precise follow-up of construction and renovation social housing projects enabled to learn more about how to maintain energy facilities and to detect some common technical issues. The global conclusion of this project is that, although buildings are better designed today, energy performance remains fragile notably during construction and operation. To cope with that, some solutions exist and should be more systematically applied in future construction or renovation projects.

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Stuart, Graeme. "Monitoring energy performance in local authority buildings." Thesis, De Montfort University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/2086/4964.

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Energy management has been an important function of organisations since the oil crisis of the mid 1970’s led to hugely increased costs of energy. Although the financial costs of energy are still important, the growing recognition of the environmental costs of fossil-fuel energy is becoming more important. Legislation is also a key driver. The UK has set an ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target of 80% of 1990 levels by 2050 in response to a strong international commitment to reduce GHG emissions globally. This work is concerned with the management of energy consumption in buildings through the analysis of energy consumption data. Buildings are a key source of emissions with a wide range of energy-consuming equipment, such as photocopiers or refrigerators, boilers, air-conditioning plant and lighting, delivering services to the building occupants. Energy wastage can be identified through an understanding of consumption patterns and in particular, of changes in these patterns over time. Changes in consumption patterns may have any number of causes; a fault in heating controls; a boiler or lighting replacement scheme; or a change in working practice entirely unrelated to energy management. Standard data analysis techniques such as degree-day modelling and CUSUM provide a means to measure and monitor consumption patterns. These techniques were designed for use with monthly billing data. Modern energy metering systems automatically generate data at half-hourly or better resolution. Standard techniques are not designed to capture the detailed information contained in this comparatively high-resolution data. The introduction of automated metering also introduces the need for automated analysis. This work assumes that consumption patterns are generally consistent in the short-term but will inevitably change. A novel statistical method is developed which builds automated event detection into a novel consumption modelling algorithm. Understanding these changes to consumption patterns is critical to energy management. Leicester City Council has provided half-hourly data from over 300 buildings covering up to seven years of consumption (a total of nearly 50 million meter readings). Automatic event detection pinpoints and quantifies over 5,000 statistically significant events in the Leicester dataset. It is shown that the total impact of these events is a decrease in overall consumption. Viewing consumption patterns in this way allows for a new, event-oriented approach to energy management where large datasets are automatically and rapidly analysed to produce summary meta-data describing their salient features. These event-oriented meta-data can be used to navigate the raw data event by event and are highly complementary to strategic energy management.

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Ma, Yu. "A semiotic framework for buildings performance assessment." Thesis, University of Reading, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.559259.

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Human beings are facing the unprecedented challenges of energy sustainability. A major part of the challenge is due to increasingly demands of an improved built environment arising from both the construction industry and building users. An increasing number of countries and organizations have a strong desire to find solutions for the construction industry to mitigate the negative impact on the built environment and to provide a higher quality of workplace. Many construction concepts have emerged, e.g. Intelligent Buildings (IBs), Green Buildings (GBs), Bio-Hornes, which intend to offer human beings enlightening methods and a passport to getting through the new construction generation in new buildings and refurbishments. All of these construction concepts focusing on improved energy efficiency for buildings, whilst improving the built environment's effect on well-being, are commonly recognized across the world as 'sustainable development' or 'sustainability'. To measure the degree of the 'performance' of buildings, various building assessment methods have been developed as the building environmental performance assessment methods. Building environmental performance assessment methods can provide good ways to reach the improvements in the building energy efficiency and environmental sustainability, to benefit the building users' productivities, as well as the business performance of the organizations. Building performance has to be measured and compared against best performing practices in the construction industry. However, most current building performance assessment methods are pre-defined environmental standards with the perspective of limited stakeholders. It is doubtful that the existing building assessment methods can have a comprehensive and objective set of Performance Indicators (PIs), to present the changing built environment and changing building stakeholders' expectations and requirements. This leads to failing to address identification and integration of multiple perspectives. Therefore the performance assessment method increasingly requires a comprehensive and objective approach, which is geared to both the stakeholders' requirements and sustainable development. In the construction industry, the understanding and selection of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in building environmental performance assessment has a significant III impact on the assessment result and improvement practices. There are many environmental assessment methods currently being used globally, most of them address certain pre-defined environmental standards and requirements, which have inevitably been developed with some constraints and limitations. However, many questions are raised on how these performance indicators were selected and how these indicators were used to measure the rate of building performance improvement. The KPIs to be used in existing building performance assessment are usually decided upon by senior managers and building experts (designers, developers, contractors, etc.), and this leads to a subjective assessment result. Thus KPIs should be determined for each building process area and given weightings by expert groups to display their importance and relevance within construction organisations. A semiotics-based framework for assessing building performance is established in this research, which aims to provide an innovative approach for generating construction project KPIs from listed PIs, that deal with an increasing number of requirements from the construction industry and building users. This research will use the semiotics six layers framework and lead to the use of affordances as a method of generating KPls according to the built environment and stakeholders' requirements. It will define the PIs from building's affordances in the six semiotic layers, then range from physical properties and functions to social value. The proposed framework takes a more scientific and systematic approach to the building performance assessment. This research is an attempt that has been made to the semiotics theory for generating KPls in building environment performance assessment methods. Further practical implementations will be suggested by describing each PI using affordances as the application of the method of semiotics. IV.

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Roohi, Milad. "Performance-Based Seismic Monitoring of Instrumented Buildings." ScholarWorks @ UVM, 2019. https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis/1140.

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This dissertation develops a new concept for performance-based monitoring (PBM) of instrumented buildings subjected to earthquakes. This concept is achieved by simultaneously combining and advancing existing knowledge from structural mechanics, signal processing, and performance-based earthquake engineering paradigms. The PBM concept consists of 1) optimal sensor placement, 2) dynamic response reconstruction, 3) damage estimation, and 4) loss analysis. Within the proposed concept, the main theoretical contribution is the derivation of a nonlinear model-based observer (NMBO) for state estimation in nonlinear structural systems. The NMBO employs an efficient iterative algorithm to combine a nonlinear model and limited noise-contaminated response measurements to estimate the complete nonlinear dynamic response of the structural system of interest, in the particular case of this research, a building subject to an earthquake. The main advantage of the proposed observer over existing nonlinear recursive state estimators is that it is specifically designed to be physically realizable as a nonlinear structural model. This results in many desirable properties, such as improved stability and efficiency. Additionally, a practical methodology is presented to implement the proposed PBM concept in the case of instrumented steel, wood-frame, and reinforced concrete buildings as the three main types of structural systems used for construction in the United States. The proposed methodology is validated using three case studies of experimental and real-world large-scale instrumented buildings. The first case study is an extensively instrumented six-story wood frame building tested in a series of full-scale seismic tests in the final phase of the NEESWood project at the E-Defense facility in Japan. The second case study is a 6-story steel moment resisting frame building located in Burbank, CA, and uses the recorded acceleration data from the 1991 Sierra Madre and 1994 Northridge earthquakes. The third case is a seven-story reinforced concrete structure in Van Nuys, CA, which was severely damaged during the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The results presented in this dissertation constitute the most accurate and the highest resolution seismic response and damage measure estimates obtained for instrumented buildings. The proposed PBM concept will help structural engineers make more informed and swift decisions regarding post-earthquake assessment of critical instrumented building structures, thus improving earthquake resiliency of seismic-prone communities.

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Mwafy, Aman Allah Mohamed Abdel-Rahman. "Seismic performance of code designed RC buildings." Thesis, Imperial College London, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/7285.

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Aksoy, Gokhan. "The Building Performance Of The Metro Station Buildings." Master's thesis, METU, 2004. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/2/1136043/index.pdf.

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Station buildings are the most significant components of metro systems that combine underground facilities to the outer world, and include public life in itself. Thus, it is the main objective of that research, to put forward an acknowledgement documentation, which identifies the main design and construction problems of existing and under construction metro station buildings&trade
entrances, and which comes up with solutions to these problems. In the scope of thesis, foremost, basic terminology about station buildings are given and historical development of these buildings in abroad and Turkey are explained briefly. Then, observed problems of metro station entrances are put forward in detail. These problems are mainly categorized as design, construction, material and application related problems. Design part is investigated under following sub-titles: Psychological effects, lighting conditions, space requirements, relationship with city, navigation and disabled accessibility of stations. The affect of recent construction techniques and technological developments on design are also explained. Lastly, material choice and application related problems are investigated through such components of station as wall, floor, ceiling and details. All these problems are assessed by making comparisons with examples both from abroad and from Turkey. Finally, it is comprehended that, because of having weak connections to outer world, the entrances of the stations have adequate contributions neither to the station nor to the city. Assessment of building performance is made under the light of predefined problems and proposals are made in order to be used in design studies to get station entrances free from those problems.

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Weber, Tim. "Energy performance of buildings / methodologies for experimental verification." Doctoral thesis, KTH, Byggvetenskap, 2004. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-3753.

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Li, Minghao. "Seismic performance of post-and-beam wood buildings." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/7570.

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This thesis presents a study to evaluate the seismic performance of post-and-beam (P&B) wood assemblies and buildings of Japanese style using computer modeling, experimental studies and probabilistic-based approaches. A numerical model called “PB3D” is proposed to predict the lateral response of the P&B buildings under static or dynamic loads. Special techniques are used to reduce the problem size and improve computational efficiency with reasonable prediction accuracy. This model simplifies a P&B building into a combination of 2D assemblies (e.g. shear walls, floor/roof diaphragms) while capturing the global structural responses of interest (e.g., inter-story drift and floor/roof acceleration). A mechanics-based wood shear wall model is implemented to represent the hysteretic properties of symmetric/nonsymmetric P&B walls. Roof/floor diaphragms are modeled as structural frames with calibrated equivalent diagonal braces in order to consider the influence of the diaphragm in-plane stiffness on the building performance. Experimental studies have been conducted to study the behavior of 2D assemblies and buildings. The engineering characteristics of single-brace P&B walls have been evaluated by monotonic and reversed cyclic tests. The contribution of additional gypsum wallboards to the wall lateral resistance has also been studied. An in-plane pushover test has been conducted to study the in-plane stiffness of a floor diaphragm. Two one-story P&B buildings have been tested under biaxial static loads and one-directional seismic loads, respectively. The established test database as well as a test database of a two-story P&B building provided by a research institute in Japan has been used to verify the “PB3D” model. Using the response surface method with importance sampling and considering the uncertainties involved in seismic ground motions, structural mass, and response surface fitting errors, seismic reliability analyses have been conducted to estimate the seismic reliabilities of a series of shear walls, a one-story building and a two-story building. System effect on the shear wall reliability has also been studied. The framework presented in this thesis provides a useful tool to assess the seismic performance of the P&B wood buildings and to aid the performance-based seismic design of these structural systems.

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Dupuis, Michael Robert Leo. "Seismic performance of buildings with permanent lateral demands." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/43742.

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Architectural features and other irregularities in the gravity system which apply permanent lateral demands to the seismic force resisting system are being incorporated in new buildings. There permanent lateral demands raised concerns within the Standing Committee on Earthquake Design due to the perceived potential for a seismic ratcheting effect to occur during seismic loading. Nonlinear, parametric analyses were conducted in OpenSees to investigate the inelastic response of cantilevered and coupled shear wall buildings. The sensitivity of these buildings to permanent lateral demands was investigated across a domain of structural parameters including building height, building strength, and permanent lateral demands. Additional case studies considered the effect of vertical ground motions, subduction ground motions, coupling ratio, seismic demands, and investigated the behaviour of steel-braced frame buildings. The results demonstrate that a seismic ratcheting effect can develop and amplify inelastic deformation demands. The extent of ratcheting increases with the permanent lateral demands and is also highly dependent upon the hysteretic behaviour exhibited by the structural system. Systems with fat hysteresis - such as coupled shear walls and steel braced frames - demonstrate greater ratcheting than systems with flag-shaped hysteresis - such as cantilevered shear walls. An irregularity class is proposed for the National Building Code of Canada which will limit the allowable permanent lateral demands when IEFaSa(0.2) ≥ 0.50. It is suggested to limit permanent lateral demands in coupled shear wall buildings and steel braced frame buildings to 10% of the yield strength required to resist earthquake loads. Cantilevered shear-wall buildings may be subjected to larger permanent lateral demands corresponding to 40% of the yield strength required to resist earthquake loads. The more conservative limit of 10% is recommended for seismic force resisting systems, such as moment frames, which were not considered in this study. Within these limits, it is recommended that an amplification factor of 1.5 - accounting for the increased inelastic deformation demands - be applied to design deformations. The extent of ratcheting in buildings with permanent lateral demands exceeding the proposed limits is large and variable; therefore, the performance of such buildings should be validated with nonlinear dynamic analysis.

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Costello, Reuben Shaun. "The Fire Performance of Post-Tensioned Timber Buildings." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Civil and Natural Resources Engineeirng, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/9975.

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Post-tensioned timber buildings utilise a new construction technique developed largely as part of research undertaken at the University of Canterbury. Timber buildings are constructed using an engineered timber product, such as laminated veneer lumber (LVL), and then stressed with post-tensioned unbonded high-strength steel tendons. The tendons apply a compressive stress to timber members to create a ductile moment resisting connection between adjacent timber members. The major benefit of post-tensioned timber buildings is a significantly improved structural performance. As timber is a combustible material there is a perceived high fire risk in timber buildings. While timber buildings can be designed to perform very well in fire, a design guide for the fire safety design of post-tensioned timber buildings has not been previously developed. Furthermore, previous research has found that post-tensioned timber box beams may be susceptible to shear failure in fire conditions. This research investigated the fire performance of post-tensioned timber buildings. A design strategy for the fire performance of post-tensioned timber buildings was developed in conjunction with a simplified calculation method for determining the fire resistance of post-tensioned timber structural members. The fire performance and failure behaviour of post-tensioned timber box beam was also specifically investigated, with special focus given to the shear performance of box beams. A full scale furnace test of a LVL post-tensioned LVL box beam was conducted at the Building Research Association of New Zealand (BRANZ). Four further full scale tests of LVL box beams were conducted at ambient temperature at the University of Canterbury structural laboratory. Through this research two distinct strategies for the fire design of post-tensioned timber structures were developed. The first strategy is to rely on the residual timber of the members only. The second strategy considers specific fire protection of the post-tensioning system, which can then be used to contribute to the fire resistance of the member. The results of the full scale tests showed good agreement with the proposed the simplified calculation method. It was also determined that shear failure does not need to be specifically considered other than performing strength checks as for other design actions.

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Howell, P. J. L. "Modelling the thermal performance of intensive pig buildings." Thesis, University of Reading, 1985. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.356233.

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Selva, Francesco. "Seismic performance of rooftop cooling towers in buildings." Master's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2012. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/4884/.

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Negli ultimi anni la ricerca ha fatto grandi passi avanti riguardo ai metodi di progetto e realizzazione delle strutture portanti degli edifici, a tal punto da renderle fortemente sicure sotto tutti i punti di vista. La nuova frontiera della ricerca sta quindi virando su aspetti che non erano mai stati in primo piano finora: gli elementi non-strutturali. Considerati fino ad oggi semplicemente carico accessorio, ci si rende sempre più conto della loro capacità di influire sui comportamenti delle strutture e sulla sicurezza di chi le occupa. Da qui nasce l’esigenza di questo grande progetto chiamato BNCs (Building Non-structural Component System), ideato dall’Università della California - San Diego e sponsorizzato dalle maggiori industrie impegnate nel campo delle costruzioni. Questo progetto, a cui ho preso parte, ha effettuato test su tavola vibrante di un edificio di cinque piani in scala reale, completamente arredato ed allestito dei più svariati elementi non-strutturali. Lo scopo della tesi in questione, ovviamente, riguarda l’identificazione strutturale e la verifica della sicurezza di uno di questi elementi non-strutturali: precisamente la torre di raffreddamento posta sul tetto dell’edificio (del peso di circa 3 tonnellate). Partendo da una verifica delle regole e calcoli di progetto, si è passato ad una fase di test sismici ed ispezioni post-test della torre stessa, infine tramite l’analisi dei dati raccolti durante i test e si è arrivati alla stesura di conclusioni.

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Murray, Joseph Francis. "The environmental performance of NHS Scotland smaller buildings." Thesis, Glasgow Caledonian University, 2008. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.486490.

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The environmental performance of National Health Service Scotland's (NHSScotiand) smaller healthcare buildings were investigated with a view to identifYing ways .of reducing the environmental impacts ofenergy, waste, water and transport. Energy emerged as one ofthe prominent issues. This was based on data taken from an energy audit of 180 buildings randomly selected from all NHSScotiand health boards. A wide variance in energy consumption throughout the sample was discovered, which could not be explained by variations in fabric, structure, elevation and orientation ofthe buildings. It was believed a benchmark or similar suitable energy target could be an appropriate tool to help lower energy use in buildings ofthis class. Therefore, based on Building Research Establishment (BRE) baseline and good practice data for similar buildings, and including an allowance for patients' needs, an energy target was developed. Research into waste and water issues showed that the disposal ofprescription, and over the counter, medicines is highlighted as a problem area in Scotland. The research showed there could be over 300 tonnes of medicines being disposed of in Scotland every year with over 40% of these flushed into sewerage systems where sewage treatment plants have no means of removing them before emitting them into surface water systems. The impacts of these pharmaceuticals alone can have serious adverse affects on non-target species but there is little known about the effects cocktail mixtures ofthese chemicals may have on the environment. Further research was carried out on the awareness ofmanagement and staffofenvironmental issues and their behaviour towards such issues while at their place of work. Results from a randomly selected group of71 health centres and clinics showed that many healthcare workers who responded believe that climate change is happening with the majority of those blaming human society as the main cause; many also believe the trend can be reversed. A high proportion of respondents believe that power generation contributes to impacts on human health. Given that NHSScotland's negative impacts on the environment are substantial, due mainly to poor environmental performance, investigation was carried out into how best to approach changing the culture within the organisation to help reach environmental targets and become sustainable in the long term.

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Mohammadi, Alireza. "Wind Performance Based Design for High-Rise Buildings." FIU Digital Commons, 2016. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3032.

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The rapid growth of high-rise high-density urban areas in coastal and near coastal, hurricane-prone cities has been observed globally and in the United States in recent decades. Favored by modern urban growth and planning policies, this trend is expected to accelerate in future. Recent climate change studies suggest a significant increase in the destructiveness of hurricanes in past 30 years by both increases in lifetime and intensity of hurricanes. Current prescriptive wind design approach does not provide transparent methods and criteria to reliably quantify the performance of buildings as well as the functional requirements necessary to accommodate large populations during extreme wind. Since this approach primarily intends to keep the structural system essentially elastic, the more efficient design may be achievable by allowing controlled inelasticity in structural components. All these facts put a great emphasis on using a reliable wind design and assessment approach evidently describing the performance of high-rise building to wind loads beyond the current design wind loads. This dissertation presents the development of a wind performance-based engineering approach and its practical implementation for three, 47-, 40- and 30-story steel moment frame high-rise buildings. In this study, the nonlinear dynamic responses of the buildings to different wind hazard levels were evaluated by developing 3D nonlinear finite element models and utilizing a wind incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) approach. The wind loading for the 47-story building was measured by conducting wind pressure testing on a scaled rigid model at the Wall of Wind (WOW) facility at Florida International University. For two other buildings wind loads were acquired using TPU Aerodynamic Database. Using the IDA results and adopting available wind performance criteria, a wind performance assessment approach was developed representing the estimated performance levels as a function of the basic wind speed. Three types of wind performance were evaluated: structural component performance; cladding performance to wind-induced shear deformation; and serviceability motion comfort performance. This evaluation indicated remarkable lateral capacity associated with allowing controlled structural nonlinearity, in contrast to considerations required to assure acceptable serviceability and non-structural (e.g. cladding) performances.

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Kwok-hip, Ngan. "Building energy conservation : an overview of building energy performance in Hong Kong /." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 1995. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B14723098.

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Chang, Hsu-huan Sharon. "The impact of building design on environmental performance of property management company." Click to view the E-thesis via HKUTO, 2002. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record/B42576933.

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Cheung, King-chung Alex. "Assessing and explaining the health and hygiene performance of apartment buildings." Click to view the E-thesis via HKUTO, 2006. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record/B36723812.

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Chaulagain, Hemchandra. "Assessment of response reduction factor of RC buildings in Kathmandu Valley using non-linear pushover analysis." Master's thesis, Purbanchal University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10773/12681.

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Master of Engineering in Earthquake
This study addresses the issue of response reduction factor which is used in modern codes to scale down the elastic response of the structure. The level of ductility and overstrength of RC buildings in Kathmandu valley are investigated. The ductility and overstrength factors are estimated by analyzing the buildings using non-linear pushover analysis for 12 engineered designed RC buildings of various characteristics representing a wide range of RC buildings in Kathmandu valley. Finally, the response reduction factor of RC building in Kathmandu valley is evaluated by using the relation of ductility and overstrength factor.

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Robinson, Darren. "Integrated building environmental performance monitoring." Thesis, Anglia Ruskin University, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.263988.

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Bedair, Hatem. "Improvement of inelastic performance for friction-damped asymmetric buildings." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1998. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/tape17/PQDD_0006/MQ39472.pdf.

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Bagchi, Ashutosh. "Evaluation of the seismic performance of reinforced concrete buildings." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2001. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk3/ftp04/NQ60949.pdf.

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Fedeski, Michael H. "The environmental performance of buildings : design aid for architects." Thesis, Cardiff University, 1991. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.260148.

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Zou, Xiaokang. "Optimal seismic performance-based design of reinforced concrete buildings /." View Abstract or Full-Text, 2002. http://library.ust.hk/cgi/db/thesis.pl?CIVL%202002%20ZOU.

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Aksoy, Gökhan. "The building performance of the metro station buildings' entrances." Ankara : METU, 2003. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/1136043/index.pdf.

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Takagi, Jirō. "Collapse performance assessment of steel-framed buildings under fires /." May be available electronically:, 2007. http://proquest.umi.com/login?COPT=REJTPTU1MTUmSU5UPTAmVkVSPTI=&clientId=12498.

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Batista, Yolanda Maria Baez. "Financial Feasibility of High Performance Low Rise Steel Buildings." DigitalCommons@USU, 2010. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/4343.

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Comparative performance evaluation including life cycle cost is currently being conducted on a series of conventional and base-isolated case study buildings. Alternative design approaches and their influence in cost were to be evaluated . This investigation is intended to contribute in the development of isolated structures by allowing engineers to communicate the cost of higher performance systems to their clients. The reported effort is part of a larger cost-benefit study for isolated steel buildings, and the purpose of this thesis is to compare initial investment of 3-story conventional and isolated steel buildings and determine how isolation affects the cost of the structure. The relative cost of seismic isolation, as a percentage of the total cost, may be higher in this study than for typical U.S. isolation applications because the relative premium is greater for a short building than a tall building. The cost of isolation layer for this building is in the order of 11.7% to 12.4% of the total cost. Such a large cost premium may be a huge restraint for most owners; therefore, strategies to reduce the isolation premium cost need to be investigated in detail.

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Dacanay, Thomas Christian. "Ultra-High Performance Concrete Shear Walls in Tall Buildings." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/65161.

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This thesis presents the results of an effort to quantify the implications of using ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) for shear walls in tall buildings considering structural efficiency and environmental sustainability. The Lattice Discrete Particle Model (LDPM) was used to simulate the response to failure of concrete shear walls without web steel bar reinforcement under lateral loading and constant axial compressive loading. The structural efficiency of UHPC with simulated compressive strength of f'c = 231 MPa was compared to that of a high-performance concrete (HPC) with f'c = 51.7 MPa simulated compressive strength. UHPC shear walls were found to have equal uncracked stiffness and superior post-cracking capacity at a thickness 58% of the HPC shear wall thickness, and at 59% of the HPC shear wall weight. Next, the environmental sustainability of UHPC with compressive strength f'c = 220-240 MPa was compared to that of an HPC with compressive strength f'c = 49 MPa with a life-cycle assessment (LCA) approach, using SimaPro sustainability software. At a thickness 58% of the HPC shear wall thickness, UHPC shear walls with 0% fiber by volume were found to have an environmental impact 6% to 10% worse than that of HPC shear walls, and UHPC shear walls with 2% fiber by volume were found to have an environmental impact 47% to 58% worse than that of HPC shear walls. The results detailed herein will allow for design guidelines to be developed which take advantage of UHPC response in shear. Additionally, this work may be implemented into topology optimization frameworks that incorporate the potential improvements in structural efficiency and sustainability through using UHPC.
Master of Science

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Gamalath, Isuru Madhushan. "Energy performance assessment for existing multi unit residential buildings." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/61942.

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Climate change is a major challenge in today’s world. Energy use is directly correlated to greenhouse gas emissions, resulting in climate change. As the residential sector is a major energy consumer, improving the energy performance of the residential building stock is imperative in mitigating this issue. Evaluation of building energy performance, life cycle impacts, and economic burdens of building energy use can facilitate improved decision making in operations of existing building stock. Hence, as the primary objective of this study, a life cycle thinking-based energy assessment tool was developed for multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs). A comprehensive review of popular building energy rating systems revealed the need to incorporate life cycle thinking in evaluating building energy performance. Further, based on a comprehensive review it was identified that current rating systems do not consider the uncertainty and vagueness associated with data used for performance assessments. Most of the existing energy rating systems focus only on energy consumption when assigning the rating. Energy rating systems rarely consider the factors affecting energy use and the impacts of energy use in assigning their score/rating for the building. An assessment tool with indicators representing the impacts of energy use and factors affecting operational energy use of buildings was developed to address the identified issues. A questionnaire survey was conducted to obtain expert views on the proposed assessment tool from professionals associated with MURBs. MURB owners, managers, designers, engineers, researchers, and government and other external stakeholders were the target audience of this survey. Feedback from this survey was used to refine the proposed tool and determine weights for indicators. In the proposed method, fuzzy set theory was used to consider the uncertainties and vagueness associated with qualitative and quantitative assessments of the identified indicator data. Fuzzy synthetic evaluation was used to aggregate the indicator value. The proposed approach extends the current body of knowledge on building energy ratings by integrating asset performance and operational performance through lifecycle thinking. A case study was conducted to demonstrate the application of the energy assessment tool. A java-based web tool was developed to assist the proposed assessment process.
Applied Science, Faculty of
Engineering, School of (Okanagan)
Graduate

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Danielski, Itai. "Energy performance of residential buildings : projecting, monitoring and evaluating." Doctoral thesis, Mittuniversitetet, Avdelningen för ekoteknik och hållbart byggande, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-27175.

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Energy security and climate change mitigation have been discussed in Sweden since the oil crisis in the 1970s. Sweden has since then increased its share of renewable energy resources to reach the highest level among the EU member states, but is still among the countries with the highest primary energy use per capita. Not least because of that, increasing energy efficiency is important and it is part of the Swedish long term environmental objectives. Large potential for improving energy efficiency can be found in the building sector, mainly in the existing building stock but also in new constructions. Buildings hold high costs for construction, service and maintenance. Still, their energy efficiency and thermal performance are rarely validated after construction or renovation. As energy efficiency become an important aspects in building design there is a need for accurate tools for assessing the energy performance both before and after building construction. In this thesis criteria for energy efficiency in new residential buildings are studied. Several building design aspects are discussed with regards to final energy efficiency, energy supply-demand interactions and social aspects. The results of this thesis are based on energy modelling, energy measurements and one questionnaire survey. Several existing residential buildings were used as case studies. The results show that pre-occupancy calculations of specific final energy demand in residential buildings is too rough an indicator to explicitly steer towards lower final energy use in the building sector. Even post occupancy monitoring of specific final energy demand does not always provide a representative image of the energy efficiency of buildings and may result with large variation among buildings with similar thermal efficiency. A post occupancy method of assessing thermal efficiency of building fabrics using thermography is presented. The thermal efficiency of buildings can be increased by design with low shape factor. The shape factor was found to have a significant effect on the final energy demand of buildings and on the use of primary energy. In Nordic climates, atria in multi-storey apartment buildings is a design that have a potential to increase both energy efficiency (by lower shape factor) and enhance social interactions among the occupants.

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Waara, Patric. "Wear reduction performance of rail flange lubrication." Licentiate thesis, Luleå, 2000. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-26422.

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Rail and rail wheel flange wear on the rail track has been a problem of attention for the last 30 years. The problems arise in curves and depend on increased traffic volume, heavier axle load and also higher speed. Axle loads of 22,5-25 ton is common nowadays and the trend is towards heavier axle loads where the next step is 30-35 ton. Flange wear includes both wheel and rail flanges and is therefore a problem for the operating company as well as the infrastructure owner. The flange wear depend mainly on the number of passed axles, type of traffic, speed and curve radius but also the axle load contributes. Flange lubrication on high rail is a well known way to reduce wear since the middle of 70th and a number of techniques to lubricate the rail flange are developed as grease, aerosol of oil and dry stick with solid lubricants. The trackside lubricator can not apply the grease on the rail flange when the climate is during the winter. The infrastructure owner in Sweden was interested to evaluate the effectiveness of the track side lubricator. The investment in trackside lubricators over 20 years was about 75 Mkr (7,6 USD) and also an additional yearly costs to operate 3000 apparatuses. The work to evaluate effectiveness of the lubrication started 1997 there one of the important matter concern the possibility to use environmentally adapted lubricants without hazard the rail. This licentiate thesis concern effectiveness of trackside lubricators to reduce wear in sharp railroad curves. Also the environmentally aspects have been considered and therefore natural esters synthetic esters and additives suited for those kind of lubricants have been evaluated. The research proved that environmentally adapted lubricants could lubricate as good as earlier used greases. Some amount of metal removal is probably healthy for this kind of application. Lubricants as synthetic esters can be designed get those qualities. It was also found significant difference between the seasons concerning flange wear. This difference depends on the problem to apply grease on the rail flange during the winter.

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Katrue, Srikanth. "Power reduction techniques for memory elements /." Online version of thesis, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1850/5720.

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Okolie, Kevin Chuks. "Performance evaluation of buildings in educational institutions: a case of Universities in South-East Nigeria." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1423.

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Buildings constitute a substantial percentage of most educational institutions' assets, user needs and operating costs. The performance level of this resource is therefore very critical to educational effectiveness. However, despite the crucial role of this resource in the education and construction sectors of the economy, evaluation of building performance is not a mainstream activity in Africa, particularly Nigeria. Presently, there is limited or no research/data in Nigeria to assess how extensively the use of or lack of building performance evaluation techniques affect teaching, learning spaces and overall organisational performance. The aim of this research was to develop an appropriate model for building performance evaluation in higher education institutions based on performance indicators, for improved awareness, understanding and practice. The research primarily focused on "user needs/requirements" within the organisational context. The methodology employed in the study included a review of the relevant literature and multiple case-studies conducted on four Federal Government universities in South East Nigeria. The target universities constituted the units of analyses and therefore provided opportunity for in-depth examination of the links between users, building facilities and organisational processes as established in the literature review. Epistemologically, the research is objectivist and paradigmically positivist. However, some qualitative aspects of data were relevant to the study and therefore used in a complementary manner. The case approach utilized mixed methods by applying a range of data collection techniques and evidence from multiple sources. The sampling technique was sequential involving both purposive and stratified random sampling. The study reveals apparent lack of a systematic mechanism for evaluating the success or performance of completed and occupied buildings and so the interaction between users and buildings did not add value to learning and working experiences in the target institutions. The bespoke methodology and conceptual process model developed in this research constitute an innovative and pioneering contribution to building performance evaluation as a developing field of knowledge. The study has established a basic level of awareness and understanding among construction practitioners that building performance evaluation can be used as a tool for delivering strategic objectives in the management of educational buildings. The study strongly advocates the inclusion of building performance evaluation as part of the building procurement process. The proposed model in the study provides a useful guide needed by the institutions to navigate to future competitive success in higher education built asset/facilities management.

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Sjögren, Jan-Ulric. "Energy performance of multifamily buildings : building characteristic and user influence." Licentiate thesis, Umeå University, Department of Applied Physics and Electronics, 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-35598.

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Today many professional property holders use different types of software for monthly energy analyses. The data is however often limited to energy and water use, that is paid for by the property holder. In year 2001, financed by the Swedish Energy Agency, the first steps were taken to create a national web based data base, eNyckeln. A property holder may then enter consumption data together with about 50 other building specific parameters to this data base in order to enable benchmarking and energy performance evaluations. Due to EU-regulations and the increasing awareness of energy and environmental issues there is a large interest in evaluating the energy performance and also to identify effective energy retrofits. The used energy performance indicator is still only the annual energy use for heating per square meter of area to let, kWh/m²,year, despite the fact that monthly data often are available. The main problem with this indicator, which is the stipulated measure, is that it reflects a lot of user influence and that only a part of the total energy use is considered. The main focus of this thesis is to explore the possibilities, based on the national data base, to extract additional energy information about multi family buildings (MFB) using monthly data in combination with different assumed consumption pattern but also to identify potential for energy savings. For the latter a multivariate method was used to identify relations between the energy use and building specific parameters. The analysis gave clear indications that the available area, the area to let, is not appropriate for normalization purposes since the remaining heated area can be significant. Due to this fact, the analysis was mainly limited to qualitative conclusions. As measure of the buildings energy characteristic, the total heat loss coefficient, K_tot,(W/ºK) is determined and the robustness for the estimate of K_tot to different assumptions of user behaviour is investigated. The result shows that the value of K_tot is fairly insensitive to different indoor temperature, use of domestic hot water and household electricity. With the addition of m² it can of course be used for benchmarking. Using the mentioned measure of the buildings energy characteristic for validating the energy performance has a clear advantage compared to the traditional kWh/m², since the user behaviour is of minor importance. As a result of this an improved analysis of the energy performance will be obtained. A guarantee for new buildings energy performance based on this method is therefore a challenge for the building sector to develop.

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Ramkrishnan, Karthik. "Optimal Investment Strategy for Energy Performance Improvements in Existing Buildings." Thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/19855.

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Current global efforts for energy conservation and optimization are focused on improvements in energy supply and production systems, and on encouraging the adoption of energy-efficient devices and equipment. However, systematic assessments of economic and technical implications when adopting energy-efficient alternative systems in buildings have not yet been explored thoroughly. The uncertainty about the consequences of investing in alternative energy-efficient systems has led to a prolonged utilization of obsolete building systems (underperforming HVAC systems, inefficient lighting systems, badly maintained and equipment, and so forth). This has led to overall poor energy efficiency, creating considerable burden on the building operation budget. This research discusses the procedure for formulating an investment strategy to improve existing building energy performance. The approach is suitable for large building portfolios where a plethora of potential refurbishment interventions can be considered. This makes our approach especially suited for use on university campuses and most of this report will focus on that particular application utilization protocols especially for use on campuses. This investment model only looks at the energy related savings versus investments; it is well understood that the ultimate selection of the optimal set of improvement options of a portfolio will be determined by additional considerations, such as overall value, occupant satisfaction, productivity improvements, aesthetics, etc. Nevertheless, many campus managers are confronted with the question how much energy they can save with a given investment amount. This is exactly what our approach helps to answer. The investment optimization strategy is implemented in software "InvEnergy," which systematically calculates the costs and benefits of all possible building-technology pairings, taking uncertainties in the saving/investment calculations and estimates into account. This tool empowers decision makers in facility management to make complex investment decisions during continuous building commissioning.

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Omer, Abdeen Mustafa. "Performance analysis of ground source heat pumps for buildings applications." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2012. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/13766/.

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Geothermal heat pumps (GSHPs), or direct expansion (OX) ground source heat pumps, are a highly efficient renewable energy technology, which uses the earth, groundwater or surface water as a heat source when operating in heating mode or as a heat sink when operating in a cooling mode. It is receiving increasing interest because of its potential to reduce primary energy consumption and thus reduce emissions of GHGs. The main concept of this technology is that it utilises the lower temperature of the ground (approximately <32°C), which remains relatively stable throughout the year, to provide space heating, cooling and domestic hot water inside the building area. The main goal of this study is to stimulate the uptake of the GSHPs. Recent attempts to stimulate alternative energy sources for heating and cooling of buildings has emphasised the utilisation of the ambient energy from ground source and other renewable energy sources. The purpose of this study, however, is to examine the means of reduction of energy consumption in buildings, identify GSHPs as an environmental friendly technology able to provide efficient utilisation of energy in the buildings sector, promote using GSHPs applications as an optimum means of heating and cooling, and to present typical applications and recent advances of GSHPs. The study highlighted the potential energy saving that could be achieved through the use of ground energy sources. It also focuses on the optimisation and improvement of the operation conditions of the heat cycle and performance of the GSHP. It is concluded that GSHP, combined with the ground heat exchanger in foundation piles and the seasonal thermal energy storage from solar thermal collectors, is extendable to more comprehensive applications.

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O'Neill, James William. "The Fire Performance of Timber Floors in Multi-Storey Buildings." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/9655.

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This research investigated the fire performance of unprotected timber floors, focussing on composite joist floors, composite box floors and timber-concrete composite floors. The study of these floors was conducted using the finite element software ABAQUS using a thermo-stress analysis in three dimensions, and with experimental fire tests of floor assemblies. The major goal of this research was to develop a simplified design approach for timber floors, validated against the numerical and experimental work. Four furnace tests were conducted on unprotected timber floor systems in the full-scale furnace at the BRANZ facilities in New Zealand. The tested floors were one-way strip floors with pinned support conditions exposed to the ISO 834 standard fire for varying durations of 30 – 105 minutes. The floors were loaded under standard office loading conditions of 3.0kPa live and 1.0kPa superimposed dead loading. The charring rates of the LVL timber members were found to range from 0.66 – 0.86 mm/min across all specimens. When designed to resist a similar load level both the composite joist and box floor types had a similar response to the fire loads, however the joist floors exhibited increased upward burning through the beam members in the latter stages of testing which may contribute to earlier failure times for smaller floor geometries. A sequentially coupled thermal-stress analysis was conducted to determine the effects of a fire on floor assemblies under load. Firstly a thermal analysis was performed to determine the temperature profile of the floor assemblies for the duration of modelling, and then a stress analysis was performed using the temperature profile as input into the structural model. With regards to the thermal modelling, a proposed set of effective values was used to account for the mass transfer processes occurring in the timber. The thermal modelling predicted the charring damage of the floors tested in the experiments to within a few millimetres of precision, and the simplified assumptions made in relation to fire inputs, boundary conditions, mesh refinement and effective material parameters were accurate to the desired level of precision. A sensitivity study was conducted comparing different mesh sizes, time step sizes, material model approaches and software suites to determine any shortfalls which may be encountered in the analysis. It was found that a material model adopting a latent heat approach was the most adequate for modelling timber in fires using these effective values, and mesh sizes of up to 6 mm produced relatively precise results. The structural modelling predicted the displacement response and failure times of the floors to within 20% of the experimental data, and the simplified assumptions made in relation to fire inputs, boundary conditions, mesh refinement and effective material properties were once again accurate to the desired level of precision. A modification to the reduction in tension strength at elevated temperatures was proposed to better predict the observed behaviour. A sensitivity study concluded that the material model definition plays a vital role in the output of the modelling. Non-standard fire exposures were also modelled for completeness. A simplified design method to estimate the fire resistance of unprotected floor assemblies was also developed. The method uses a bi-linear charring rate the assumption of a zero strength layer in the timber. The method was compared to the experimental data from this research and others around the world. The results were also compared to other charring rate methodologies from around the world.

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Buntrock, Rebecca (Rebecca Miriam). "Structural performance of early 20th century masonry high rise buildings." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/60760.

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Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2010.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-67).
Early generation high rise buildings built between 1890 and World War 11 represent a technical transition between traditional load bearing masonry construction and modern curtain wall systems, and are typically referred to as 'transitional masonry buildings'. These structures comprise a large percentage of the building stock constructed in the early twentieth century. Two pertinent issues have emerged with these structures as they age. The first is the deterioration of the exterior masonry facade, which is largely a result of deficiencies in the construction method of these structures. The second issue is that it is very difficult to properly predict their structural performance because of the complicated interaction between the masonry infill and the structural frame. Underestimating or misdiagnosing the structural performance of a transitional masonry building can result in improper interventions. The aim of this thesis is to increase the understanding of the structural and facade performance of transitional masonry buildings and present methods for their analysis. A case study of a transitional masonry building is structurally analyzed using linear and nonlinear procedures to determine the contribution of the masonry infill as well as to investigate the feasibility of using simplified analytical models to predict structural performance.
by Rebecca Buntrock.
M.Eng.

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Quigley, Ella S. "The energy and thermal performance of UK modular residential buildings." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2017. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/25127.

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This research concerns the in-use performance of light-gauge steel modular construction used for residential purposes. The aim was to investigate ways to reduce the in-use energy consumption of new buildings, while ensuring thermal comfort. Data were collected from two case study buildings in the UK, one in Loughborough and the other in London, using a variety of methods including building measurement, building monitoring, inspections, and a detailed review of the construction documentation. The case study buildings were monitored using EnOcean enabled wireless sensor networks and standalone temperature sensors. Monitoring data included electricity consumption in individual rooms, often by end use, space heating use, internal temperature and relative humidity, and external temperature. Building measurements included blower door tests to measure fabric air leakage rates, infrared thermal imaging to identify fabric defects and weaknesses, and ventilation system flowrate measurements. Inspections and the review of documentation allowed problems with design, manufacture and construction to be identified. A particular concern for thermally lightweight construction is the risk of overheating, therefore overheating analyses were undertaken. The research identified weaknesses in the design, construction and operation of the case study buildings resulting in increased energy use and poor thermal comfort, particularly overheating. The modular construction studied requires specific design changes to improve the fabric and building services, in order to reduce energy use. There are also specific recommendations for quality control on site to ensure critical stages are correctly completed, such as installing rigid insulation. There are also more general recommendations for how a company operates because this can influence performance; there ought to be greater attention to holistic design and greater collaboration with suppliers and contractors to determine robust solutions. Overheating was a problem in the London case study, and more research is required to understand the scale of the problem. Avoidance of overheating must be a focus in the design of new buildings. The findings suggest that once the problems with the design and quality control on site are rectified, offsite modular construction can be used to consistently and reliably provide low energy homes.

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