{"title":"Analysis of the potential use of Trombe walls in Brazil: design recommendations","authors":"Fernando Antonio de Melo Sá Cavalcanti, R. Caram","doi":"10.1051/sbuild/2020003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1051/sbuild/2020003","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper, the thermal performance of a standard environment was evaluated based on the use of a Trombe wall with different configurations and types of use, as the potential for using this passive strategy is still little studied in Brazil. This device is capable of absorbing energy from solar radiation by heating the air in this greenhouse and this heated air can be directed to the interior or exterior of the building depending on the purpose. This air can be used to heat the room or cool it by means of natural ventilation. The analysis of this research was based on a series of computer simulations using the EnergyPlus software, version 7.0 in order to quantify and classify the thermal performance of a standard environment equipped with this component, under the various construction configurations. Both for heating and cooling environments. The use of Trombe walls improved the thermal comfort of users in buildings located in Brazil, depending on the climate where they are located, promoting natural ventilation and passive solar heating, allowing the potential of this device to be investigated in the most diverse Brazilian regions.","PeriodicalId":356081,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Buildings","volume":"19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129664468","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
D. U. Chukwu, Edmund A. Anaele, H. Omeje, I. Ohanu
{"title":"Adopting green building constructions in developing countries through capacity building strategy: survey of Enugu State, Nigeria","authors":"D. U. Chukwu, Edmund A. Anaele, H. Omeje, I. Ohanu","doi":"10.1051/sbuild/2019004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1051/sbuild/2019004","url":null,"abstract":"Green building (GB) constructions seeks to address housing demands of the growing populace with better qualities, energy efficiency, using recycled and recyclable materials, improve building lifespan and health of occupants. But GB adoption lags in developing countries. This study focused on driving the adoption of GB constructions in developing countries through capacity building strategy: survey of Enugu State, Nigeria. Structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 135 building workers in educational and industrial sectors across the registered construction companies and higher institutions in Enugu State. Mean and rank were used to answer the research questions, while t-test was used to test five null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Results revealed that there is need for capacity building in: GB design, GB site, GB construction, GB operation and maintenance, and GB construction and demolition waste management. Cluster t-test analysis showed discrepancies in the agreement of educational and industrial sector workers on GB design and GB construction needs. The implications for not adopting GB are continual conventional constructions with maximal exploitations and resource depletion. Thus, there is a gap in knowledge where sustainable development advocates, government and pioneers of green construction practices could channel efforts toward assisting the developing countries.","PeriodicalId":356081,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Buildings","volume":"132 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121628565","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Relaunching Sustainable Buildings","authors":"D. Goodfield","doi":"10.1051/sbuild/2023001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1051/sbuild/2023001","url":null,"abstract":"This is anOpenAccess ar which perm The journal Sustainable Buildings was launched in 2016 as a fully Open Access journal, with the aim to offer an interdisciplinary platform for the dissemination of knowledge and practice of engineering and technical issues concerning the built environment. This includes building science with a particular focus on the global sustainability practices and innovations aimed at creating a climate resilient built environment that reduces energy consumption and environmental deterioration and creates high quality indoor environment. We are very grateful and respectfully acknowledge the threeEditors-inChiefwho launchedanddirected the journal until 2019, and to the Editorial Board members (those past and thosewhoare committed to continue contributing to the development of the journal).Wealso thank theAuthorswho contributed to Sustainable Buildings and believe that the papers published in Sustainable Buildings have been useful our readers and to the community. After a lack of development/papers during the Covid-19 pandemic period it is our great pleasure to announce the relaunch of the journal with a renewed Editorial Board [https://www.sustainable-buildings-journal.org/aboutthe-journal/editorial-board]. The context within which where we relaunch the journal is characterized by a need to improve and build the","PeriodicalId":356081,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Buildings","volume":"25 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126197844","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Vasiliev, Victor Rosenberg, D. Goodfield, Jamie Lyford, Chengdao Li
{"title":"High-transparency clear window-based agrivoltaics","authors":"M. Vasiliev, Victor Rosenberg, D. Goodfield, Jamie Lyford, Chengdao Li","doi":"10.1051/sbuild/2023006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1051/sbuild/2023006","url":null,"abstract":"A number of modern glass and window products based on novel glazing designs, low-emissivity thin-film coatings, and proprietary fluorescent interlayer types have been developed recently. Advanced windows of today can control properties such as thermal emissivity, heat gain, colour, and transparency. In novel glass products, solar energy harvesting through PV integration is also featured, enabled by either patterned-semiconductor thin-film energy conversion surfaces, or by using luminescent concentrator-type approaches to achieve higher transparency. Typically, semitransparent and also highly-transparent PV windows are purpose-designed, for applications in construction industry and agrivoltaics (greenhousing), to include special types of luminescent materials, diffractive microstructures, and customized glazing systems and electric circuitry. Recently, significant progress has been demonstrated in building integrated high-transparency solar windows (featuring visible light transmission of up to 70%, with electric power output Pmax ∼ 30−33 Wp/m2, e.g. ClearVue PV Solar Windows); these are expected to add momentum towards the development of smart cities and advanced agrivoltaics in greenhouse installations. At present (in 2023), these ClearVue window designs are the only type of visually-clear and deployment-ready construction materials capable of providing significant energy savings in buildings, simultaneously with a significant amount of renewable energy generation. The objective of this study is to place the recent industrialised development of ClearVue® PV window systems into a broader context of prior studies in the field of luminescent concentrators, as well as to provide some details on the measured performance characteristics of several ClearVue window design types deployed within the building envelope of a research greenhouse, and to elucidate the corresponding differences in their energy harvesting behaviour. An evaluation of the practical applications potential of these recently developed transparent agrivoltaic construction materials is provided, focussing on the measured renewable energy generation figures and the seasonal trends observed during a long-term study. This article reports on the measured performance characteristics of research greenhouse-based agrivoltaic installation constructed at Murdoch University (Perth, Australia) in early 2021.The solar greenhouse at Murdoch University has demonstrated great potential for commercial food production with significant energy savings due to on-site energy production from its building envelope.","PeriodicalId":356081,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Buildings","volume":"44 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133256512","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Phase change materials in a hybrid solar thermal/photovoltaic energy storage system for a residential house","authors":"Rui Costa Neto, Xavier Ferreira, C. Silva","doi":"10.1051/sbuild/2023003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1051/sbuild/2023003","url":null,"abstract":"Hot water supply has proved to be a subject of great relevance to counter climate change. The integration of solar collectors in residential hot water systems has already been extensively explored, presenting, however, an inconvenient mismatch between energy supply and its consumption. The integration of an energy storage system can counter this obstacle. In this field, phase change materials play an important role, being able to store latent heat. In this thesis, the incorporation of a storage system with phase change materials in a domestic water heating system was investigated. The system proposed in this work consists of a hybrid photovoltaic/thermal solar panel, a water storage tank and a plate heat exchanger with phase change materials. Several configurations were tested and three different phase change materials were studied, with a melting point of around 60 degrees. Simulations were carried out under different climatic conditions, for three different locations: Lisboa, Castelo Branco and Montalegre. The results show that the integration of such a system can lead to a reduction in energy consumption for heating domestic water of around 23% during the summer, and 14% during the winter.","PeriodicalId":356081,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Buildings","volume":"28 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128051010","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Briefing: task force for climate financial disclosures (TCFD) for the property and construction industry","authors":"R. Siew","doi":"10.1051/sbuild/2020002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1051/sbuild/2020002","url":null,"abstract":"The property and construction industry are known to be a main contributor to climate change contributing more than 40% of the world's emissions. In direct response to this, there has been a call for corporations to be more transparent and align themselves to the requirements of the task force for climate financial disclosures (TCFD). This paper seeks to provide a briefing on the requirements of the TCFD. It highlights common challenges faced by the property and construction industry in implementing TCFD such as the difficulty in integrating climate related risks and translating them into quantitative measures, lack of capability within the industry to understand the complexities of climate risks and data collection issues among others. Recommendations are proposed to address these issues including setting up an industry specific network to share best practices in TCFD, harmonisation of existing frameworks to include TCFD requirements and exploring opportunities for incentivisation and rewards for early movers. This paper will be useful to property and construction industry practitioners who are looking at aligning to the requirements of the TCFD.","PeriodicalId":356081,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Buildings","volume":"31 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114147047","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nadia Amarone, G. Iovane, Dante Marranzini, Raffaella Sessa, M. Guedes, B. Faggiano
{"title":"Arundo donax L. as sustainable building material","authors":"Nadia Amarone, G. Iovane, Dante Marranzini, Raffaella Sessa, M. Guedes, B. Faggiano","doi":"10.1051/sbuild/2023005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1051/sbuild/2023005","url":null,"abstract":"Arundo donax L. (ADL), also known as giant reed or Mediterranean cane, is a riparian herbaceous species characterized by long and robust stems. Classified as an invasive species because of its high capacity to grow, this natural material has been used for centuries in several sectors: handicrafts, agriculture and, mostly important, in buildings. Even if this species is easily found in the most of Mediterranean landscapes and is characterized by a large employment, most of its physical and mechanical properties are still unknown. In this context, the paper focuses on the identification of the ADL properties as plant and the assessment of the benefits to use Arundo donax in the field of constructions, especially in terms of environmental impact, through a careful analysis of existing architectures. Moreover, a simulation for the determination of the thermal performance and energy demand of a building that use Arundo donax as insulating material is proposed, also comparing the results to traditional insulating products.","PeriodicalId":356081,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Buildings","volume":"19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126583565","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Seasonal variations in indoor air quality parameters and occupants self-reported physical health within a warm humid climatic environment","authors":"B. A. Orola","doi":"10.1051/sbuild/2020001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1051/sbuild/2020001","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines seasonal variations in Indoor Air Quality in occupied spaces within student hostels of Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, and the associated physical health effects reported by occupants. Indoor Air Quality data were obtained from 22 selected rooms, with at least two rooms selected from the nine different spatial design layouts identified in the hostel buildings. Indoor Air Quality parameters obtained were 15-minute interval data of relative humidity, as well as concentrations of carbon dioxide, total volatile organic compounds, and particulate matters. These were measured with data loggers placed at 1.0 m from the floor level in the centre of selected rooms. Measurements were taken in selected rooms through a period of four consecutive weeks each during the peaks of dry and wet seasons. A questionnaire, which was administered immediately at the end of the measurement period to 696 respondents, was used to capture the significant physical health symptoms as reported by the occupants, as well as information regarding their activities and use of the rooms. Significant health symptoms reported by occupants were the same across seasons. These were cold, fatigue, and headache. Indoor concentrations of carbon dioxide and particulate matters have most significant relationship with reported health symptoms.","PeriodicalId":356081,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Buildings","volume":"9 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114014966","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}