Residential Building

The need to address climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions attaches great importance to research aimed at using renewable energy. Geothermal energy is an interesting alternative concerning the production of energy for air conditioning of buildings (heating and cooling), through the use of geothermal heat pumps. In this work a model has been developed in order to simulate an air conditioning system with geothermal heat pump. A ground source heat pump (GSHP) uses the shallow ground as a source of heat, thus taking advantage of its seasonally moderate temperatures. GSHP must be coupled with geothermal exchangers. The model leads to design optimization of geothermal heat exchangers and to verify the operation of the geothermal plant.

Residential buildings that were designed with internal courtyards offer a comfortable and pleasant indoor environment. Past research on the benefits of internal courtyards have been scientifically proven, however, the results seemed disreputable in terms of its satisfaction by occupants of a building. A survey using a set of questionnaire was conducted at two selected residential colleges in the University of Malaya to gauge the satisfaction level of residents towards an existing internal courtyard. It is evident that the majority of respondents at both colleges have given positive feedback on the satisfaction of the building layout quality, comfort level in terms of the natural daylighting, thermal comfort and indoor air quality as well as the degree of their work productivity. These findings indicate that the internal courtyard is relevant to be applied when designing a building, particularly low-rise residential buildings in the equatorial climate region.

This article applies socio-technical transitions theory (STTT), with the aim of identifying how the barriers and opportunities that exist to implementing sustainable building are socio-spatially embedded at a residential scale in Sydney, NSW. This is done through a series of semi-structured interviews conducted with a range of professionals in relevant industries. The research concludes that barriers and opportunities to sustainable residential buildings in Sydney exist within a landscape context of housing provision in developed countries. However, the conceptual application of these barriers to Sydney, through the multi-level perspective of STTT with a geographical concep-tualisation of the socio-spatial embeddedness of transitions, highlights the necessity of working within the Sydney and NSW context to facilitate genuine and meaningful transitions. Furthermore, a key finding of this article was the necessity of including socioeconomic factors in a STTT analysis in order to transition to a residential built environment which is both sustainable and affordable.

District heating networks are commonly addressed in the literature as one of the most effective solutions for decreasing the greenhouse gas emissions from the building sector. These systems require high investments which are returned through the heat sales. Due to the changed climate conditions and building renovation policies, heat demand in the future could decrease, prolonging the investment return period. The main scope of this paper is to assess the feasibility of using the heat demand – outdoor temperature function for heat demand forecast. The district of Alvalade, located in Lisbon (Portugal), was used as a case study. The district is consisted of 665 buildings that vary in both construction period and typology. Three weather scenarios (low, medium, high) and three district renovation scenarios were developed (shallow, intermediate, deep). To estimate the error, obtained heat demand values were compared with results from a dynamic heat demand model, previously developed and validated by the authors. The results showed that when only weather change is considered, the margin of error could be acceptable for some applications (the error in annual demand was lower than 20% for all weather scenarios considered). However, after introducing renovation scenarios, the error value increased up to 59.5% (depending on the weather and renovation scenarios combination considered). The value of slope coefficient increased on average within the range of 3.8% up to 8% per decade, that corresponds to the decrease in the number of heating hours of 22-139h during the heating season (depending on the combination of weather and renovation scenarios considered). On the other hand, function intercept increased for 7.8-12.7% per decade (depending on the coupled scenarios). The values suggested could be used to modify the function parameters for the scenarios considered, and improve the accuracy of heat demand estimations. Abstract The study starts with the analysis of the current situation of both the existing buildings and the energy sector in Egypt, analyzing the energy consumption patterns and the inefficiencies leading to these patterns, then defining the nZEB concept to familiarize the reader with its different aspects. The empirical part of the study utilizes simulation to validate the proposed guideline by applying it on an already existing residential building. The detailed steps of converting an already existing residential building to an nZEB is the final outcome of the research.

Buildings are accountable for waste generation, utilization of natural resources, and ecological contamination. The construction sector is one of the biggest consumers of resources available naturally and is responsible for significant CO2 emissions on the planet. The effects of the buildings on the environment are commonly determined using Life Cycle Assessments (LCA). The investigation and comparison of the Life Cycle Ecological Footprint (LCEF) and Life Cycle Energy (LCE) of five residential buildings situated in the composite climatic zone of India is presented in this study. The utilization of resources (building materials) along with developing a mobile application and a generic model to choose low emission material is the uniqueness of this study. The utilization of eco-friendly building materials and how these are more efficient than conventional building materials are also discussed. In this investigation, the two approaches, (a) Life Cycle Energy Assessment (LCEA) and (b) Life Cycle Ecological Footprint (LCEF), are discussed to evaluate the impacts of building materials on the environment. The energy embedded due to the materials used in a building is calculated to demonstrate the prevalence of innovative construction techniques over traditional materials. The generic model developed to assess the LCEA of residential buildings in the composite climate of India and the other results show that the utilization of low-energy building materials brings about a significant decrease in the LCEF and the LCE of the buildings. The results are suitable for a similar typology of buildings elsewhere in different climatic zone as well. The MATLAB model presented will help researchers globally to follow-up or replicate the study in their country. The developed user-friendly mobile application will enhance the awareness related to energy, environment, ecology, and sustainable development in the general public. This study can help in understanding and thus reducing the ecological burden of building materials, eventually leading towards sustainable development.

Resumen
La noción de socialidad hace referencia a las tendencias asociativas que se constituyen en respuesta a las tensiones contingentes de los entornos. Basado en observaciones etnográficas, el presente texto describe las tendencias de socialidad de ciertos edificios de altura en Santiago de Chile, que dan cuenta de las contingencias externas e internas de la operación residencial. A partir de esto se identifica y explica el carácter infraestructural que la socialidad asume en los edificios residenciales de altura, y se describen dos tendencias que la organizan: una especulativa, genérica y abstracta, que se calificó como preobjetual; y otra situada, singular y localmente realizada, que se calificó como contingente. Entendida como una cualidad infraestructural de los entornos sociotécnicos, la socialidad da cuenta de los vínculos de responsabilidad presentes en las comunidades que los habitan y puede ser considerada como un fenómeno específico dentro de la gobernanza de los entornos construidos.

Palabras clave: socialidad, edificio residencial, gobernanza, etnografía, Santiago de Chile.


Abstract
The notion of sociality describes associative tendencies that are constituted as a response to the contingent tensions of their environments. Based on ethnographic observations of high-rise buildings in Santiago, Chile, this text describes the trends in sociality that account for the external and internal contingencies of their residential operation. The infrastructural character that sociality assumes in high-rise residential buildings is identified and accounted for, and two tendencies that organize it are described: one speculative, generic and abstract, which was qualified as pre-objective; and another situated, singular and locally made, which was qualified as contingent. Understood as an infrastructural quality of socio-technical environments, sociality accounts for the bonds of responsibility present in the communities that inhabit them and can be considered as a specific phenomenon within the governance of built environments.

Keywords: sociality, residential building, governance, ethnography, Santiago de Chile.


Resumo
A noção de socialidade descreve as tendências associativas que se constituem como uma resposta às tensões contingentes de seus ambientes. Baseado em observações etnográficas de edifícios altos em Santiago do Chile, este texto descreve as tendências de socialidade que explicam as contingências externas e internas de sua operação residencial. A partir disto, identifica e dá conta do caráter de infra-estrutura que a socialidade assume nos edifícios residenciais de alto nível, e descreve duas tendências que a organizam: uma especulativa, genérica e abstrata, que foi qualificada como pré-objetiva; e outra localizada, singular e feita localmente, que foi qualificada como contingente. Entendida como uma qualidade infra-estrutural de ambientes sócio-técnicos, a socialidade é responsável pelos laços de responsabilidade presentes nas comunidades que as habitam e pode ser considerada como um fenômeno específico dentro da governança de ambientes construídos.

Palavras-chave: sociabilidade, prédio residencial, governança, etnografía, Santiago de Chile.


Résumé
La notion de socialité décrit les tendances associatives qui se constituent en réponse aux tensions contingentes de leur environnement. Sur la base d'observations ethnographiques de tours d'habitation à Santiago du Chili, ce texte décrit les tendances de la socialité qui expliquent les contingences externes et internes de leur fonctionnement résidentiel. À partir de là, il identifie et rend compte du caractère infrastructurel que la socialité assume dans les immeubles d'habitation de grande hauteur, et décrit deux tendances qui l'organisent : une tendance spéculative, générique et abstraite, qui a été qualifiée de pré-objectif ; et une autre localisée, singulière et fabriquée localement, qui a été qualifiée de contingente. Compris comme une qualité infrastructurelle des environnements socio-techniques, la socialité rend compte des liens de responsabilité présents dans les communautés qui les habitent et peut être considérée comme un phénomène spécifique au sein de la gouvernance des environnements bâtis.

Mots-clés : socialité, bâtiment résidentiel, gouvernance, ethnographie, Santiago de Chile.

This work analyzes the results of a monitoring campaign on seventeen nZEBs which was promoted by the Piedmont Region. The analysis of these buildings, distributed throughout the Piedmont territory, has allowed the verification of energy performances of the nZEBs, as well as the requirements of space heating and domestic hot water systems and the efficiencies of technologies that boost renewable energy sources. This analysis highlighted the advantages and criticalities of these buildings in terms of energy consumption, outlining a starting scenario for future incentive campaigns and new energy transition strategies. Not always the most used technologies for the building envelope or for the systems are the optimal choices; designers should choose the systems that works better for a certain building envelope taking into account how the building will be used, the winter and summer climatic conditions but also the solar exposure and the availability of other renewable energy sources.

Greenhouse gas emission is an important issue and the largest source of it is from human activities and from building sectors. Therefore, the building stocks play a key role in the reduction of GHG emissions through the analysis of the energy performance of buildings, in order to understand their behavior and to identify effective models that will allow expanding investigations in vast areas as districts or cities. This work analyses space heating energy performance of buildings with a multi-scale approach using the main energy-related variables at building, block of buildings and district scale. The purpose of this study is to identify a simple regression model in order to evaluate the space heating energy consumption of a large part of residential buildings in Turin (IT). A cluster analysis was applied in order to find groups of buildings with similar energy consumptions and to identify the main energy-related characteristics of each group. The analysis was developed with the support of a GIS tool to evaluate the buildings characteristics and a statistical software to identify a stable model at urban scale. The identified models evidenced that the space heating energy consumption not only depends on the characteristics of the building itself, but also on the urban characteristics. At urban scale, the most influential variables were: the heating degree days, positively correlated with the space heating consumption, and the albedo that was negatively correlated. Also, socioeconomic variables were utilized: the percentage of working people with a positive correlation and the percentage of young inhabitants with a negative correlation. The statistical GIS-based methodology proposed in this study is simple and then replicable to other urban contexts. This kind of analysis can be useful for policy makers in defining specific energy efficiency measures for each group of buildings to identify new more effective energy performance variables and benchmarks for the different groups of buildings and then to improve the energy performance of a city reducing energy consumptions and the relative GHG emissions.