Abstract: Structure-borne noise is an important aspect of
offshore platform sound field. It can be generated either directly by
vibrating machineries induced mechanical force, indirectly by the
excitation of structure or excitation by incident airborne noise.
Therefore, limiting of the transmission of vibration energy
throughout the offshore platform is the key to control the structureborne
noise. This is usually done by introducing damping treatment
to the steel structures. Two types of damping treatment using onboard
are presented. By conducting a Statistical Energy Analysis
(SEA) simulation on a jack-up rig, the noise level in the source room,
the neighboring rooms, and remote living quarter cabins are
compared before and after the damping treatments been applied. The
results demonstrated that, in the source neighboring room and living
quarter area, there is a significant noise reduction with the damping
treatment applied, whereas in the source room where air-borne sound
predominates that of structure-borne sound, the impact is not
obvious. The conclusion on effective damping treatment in the
offshore platform is made which enable acoustic professionals to
implement noise control during the design stage for offshore crews’
hearing protection and habitant comfortability.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to present a modeling and
control of a quarter-car active suspension system with unknown
mass, unknown time-delay and road disturbance. The objective of
designing the controller is to derive a control law to achieve stability
of the system and convergence that can considerably improve ride
comfort and road disturbance handling. This is accomplished by
using Routh-Hurwitz criterion based on defined parameters.
Mathematical proof is given to show the ability of the designed
controller to ensure the target of design, implementation with the
active suspension system and enhancement dispersion oscillation of
the system despite these problems. Simulations were also performed
to control quarter car suspension, where the results obtained from
these simulations verify the validity of the proposed design.
Abstract: Contemporary theories of sustainability, concerning
the natural and built environment, have recently introduced an
environmental attitude towards the architectural design that, in turn,
affects the practice of conservation and reuse of the existing building
stock. This paper presents an environmentally friendly approach
towards the conservation of vernacular architecture and it is based on
the results of a research program which involved the investigation of
sustainable design elements of traditional buildings in Cyprus. The
research in question showed that Cypriot vernacular architecture gave
more emphasis on cooling rather than heating strategies. Another
notable finding of the investigation was the great importance given to
courtyards as they enhance considerably, and in various ways, the
microclimatic conditions of the immediate environment with
favorable results throughout the year. Moreover, it was shown that
the reduction in temperature fluctuation observed in the closed and
semi-open spaces, compared to the respective temperature fluctuation
of the external environment -due to the thermal inertia of the building
envelope- helps towards the achievement of more comfortable living
conditions within traditional dwellings. This paper concludes with a
proposal of a sustainable approach towards the conservation of the
existing environment and the introduction of new environmental
criteria for the conservation of traditional buildings, beyond the
aesthetic, morphological and structural ones that are generally
applied.
Abstract: Greenhouses offer us suitable conditions which can
be controlled easily for the growth of the plant and they are made by
using a covering material that allows the sun light entering into the
system. Covering material can be glass, fiber glass, plastic or another
transparent element. This study investigates the solar energy usability
rates and solar energy benefitting rates of a semi-spherical (modified
arch) type greenhouse system according to different orientations and
positions which exists under climatic conditions of Bayburt. In the
concept of this study it is tried to determine the best direction and
best sizes of a semi-spherical greenhouse to get best solar benefit
from the sun. To achieve this aim a modeling study is made by using
MATLAB. However, this modeling study is run for some determined
shapes and greenhouses it can be used for different shaped
greenhouses or buildings. The basic parameters are determined as
greenhouse azimuth angle, the rate of size of long edge to short and
seasonal solar energy gaining of greenhouse. The optimum azimuth
angles of 400, 300, 250, 200, 150, 100, 50 m2 modified arch
greenhouse are 90o, 90o, 35o, 35o, 34o, 33o and 22o while their
optimum k values (ratio of length to width) are 10, 10, 10, 10, 6, 4
and 4 respectively. Positioning the buildings in order to get more
solar heat energy in winter and less in summer brings out energy and
money savings and increases the comfort.
Abstract: In this paper, the energy saving and human thermal
comfort in a typical office room are investigated. The impact of a
combined system of exhaust inlet air with light slots located at the
ceiling level in a room served by displacement ventilation system is
numerically modelled. Previous experimental data are used to
validate the Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) model. A case
study of simulated office room includes two seating occupants, two
computers, two data loggers and four lamps. The combined system is
located at the ceiling level above the heat sources. A new method of
calculation for the cooling coil load in Stratified Air Distribution
(STRAD) system is used in this study. The results show that 47.4%
energy saving of space cooling load can be achieved by combing the
exhaust inlet air with light slots at the ceiling level above the heat
sources.
Abstract: This study addresses a concept of the Sustainable Building Environmental Model (SBEM) developed to optimize energy consumption in air conditioning and ventilation (ACV) systems without any deterioration of indoor environmental quality (IEQ). The SBEM incorporates two main components: an adaptive comfort temperature control module (ACT) and a new carbon dioxide demand control module (nDCV). These two modules take an innovative approach to maintain satisfaction of the Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) with optimum energy consumption; they provide a rational basis of effective control. A total of 2133 sets of measurement data of indoor air temperature (Ta), relative humidity (Rh) and carbon dioxide concentration (CO2) were conducted in some Hong Kong offices to investigate the potential of integrating the SBEM. A simulation was used to evaluate the dynamic performance of the energy and air conditioning system with the integration of the SBEM in an air-conditioned building. It allows us make a clear picture of the control strategies and performed any pre-tuned of controllers before utilized in real systems. With the integration of SBEM, it was able to save up to 12.3% in simulation of overall electricity consumption, and maintain the average carbon dioxide concentration within 1000ppm and occupant dissatisfaction in 20%.
Abstract: Based on an indoor environmental quality (IEQ) index established by previous work that indicates the overall IEQ acceptance from the prospect of an occupant in residential buildings in terms of four IEQ factors - thermal comfort, indoor air quality, visual and aural comforts, this study develops a user-friendly IEQ calculator for iOS and Android users to calculate the occupant acceptance and compare the relative performance of IEQ in apartments. “IEQ calculator” is easy to use and it preliminarily illustrates the overall indoor environmental quality on the spot. Users simply input indoor parameters such as temperature, number of people and windows are opened or closed for the mobile application to calculate the scores in four areas: the comforts of temperature, brightness, noise and indoor air quality. The calculator allows the prediction of the best IEQ scenario on a quantitative scale. Any indoor environments under the specific IEQ conditions can be benchmarked against the predicted IEQ acceptance range. This calculator can also suggest how to achieve the best IEQ acceptance among a group of residents.
Abstract: To mitigate the urban heat island effect has become a
global issue when we are faced with the challenge of climate change.
Through literature review, plant photosynthesis can reduce the carbon
dioxide and mitigate the urban heat island effect to a degree. Because
there are not enough open space and parks, green roof has become an
important policy in Taiwan.
We selected elementary school buildings in northern New Taipei
City as research subjects since elementary schools are asked with
priority to build green roof and important educational place to promote
green roof concept. Testo175-H1 recording device was used to record
the temperature and humidity differences between roof surface and
interior space below roof with and without green roof in the long-term.
We also use questionnaires to investigate the awareness of comfort
level of green roof and sensation of teachers and students of the
elementary schools.
The results indicated that the temperature of roof without greening
was higher than that with greening by about 2°C. But sometimes
during noontime, the temperature of green roof was higher than that of
non-green roof probably because of the character of the accumulation
and dissipation of heat of greening. The temperature of the interior
space below green roof was normally lower than that without green
roof by about 1°C, showing that green roof could lower the
temperature. The humidity of the green roof was higher than the one
without greening also indicated that green roof retained water better.
Teachers liked to combine green roof concept in the curriculum,
and students wished all classes can take turns to maintain the green
roof. Teachers and students whose school had integrated green roof
concept in the curriculum were more willing to participate in the
maintenance work of green roof. Teachers and students who may have
access to and touch the green roof can be more aware of the green roof
benefit. We suggest architects to increase the accessibility and
visibility of green roof, such as use it as a part of the activity space.
This idea can be a reference to the green roof curriculum design.
Abstract: The objective of this study is to conduct computational
fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations for evaluating the cooling efficacy
from vegetation implanted in a public park in the Taipei, Taiwan. To
probe the impacts of park renewal by means of adding three pavilions
and supplementary green areas on urban microclimates, the simulated
results have revealed that the park having a higher percentage of green
coverage ratio (GCR) tended to experience a better cooling effect.
These findings can be used to explore the effects of different greening
modifications on urban environments for achieving an effective
thermal comfort in urban public spaces.
Abstract: This paper addresses the design of hospital Intensive
Care Unit windows for the achievement of visual comfort and energy
savings. The aim was to identify the window size and shading system
configurations that could fulfill daylighting adequacy, avoid glare
and reduce energy consumption. The study focused on addressing the
effect of utilizing different shading systems in association with a
range of Window-to-Wall Ratios (WWR) in different orientations
under the desert clear-sky of Cairo, Egypt.
The results of this study demonstrated that solar penetration is a
critical concern affecting the design of ICU windows in desert
locations, as in Cairo, Egypt. Use of shading systems was found to be
essential in providing acceptable daylight performance and energy
saving. Careful positioning of the ICU window towards a proper
orientation can dramatically improve performance. It was observed
that ICU windows facing the north direction enjoyed the widest range
of successful window configuration possibilities at different WWRs.
ICU windows facing south enjoyed a reasonable number of
configuration options as well. By contrast, the ICU windows facing
the east orientation had a very limited number of options that provide
acceptable performance. These require additional local shading
measures at certain times due to glare incidence. Moreover, use of
horizontal sun breakers and solar screens to protect the ICU windows
proved to be more successful than the other alternatives in a wide
range of Window to Wall Ratios. By contrast, the use of light shelves
and vertical shading devices seemed questionable.
Abstract: Due to rapid pressured of population growth, city has
started to lose its old tradition. City becomes congested with
uncomfortably living. Urban renewal refers orderly development of
settlements as well as land redevelopment. For this paper Chittagong
city has been selected as study area. It had a great tradition but it has
been losing its concord. Land use pattern of this place is also
haphazard due to lack of planning intervention. Renewal plan is
needed to ascertain suitable redevelopment and to recommend on
preservation of city heritage structure. The goal of this study is to
prepare a renewal plan using local planning approach. Social impact
methods have been used to achieve this goal. Both primary and
secondary data are used to achieve the goal. This study may find out
a complete solution for healthy living in old Part of city. This study
will help to preserve its tradition and makes urban lives more livable.
Abstract: This paper describes an Action Research project
which was undertaken to inform professional practice in order to
develop a newly created Centre for Student Success in the specific
context of transnational medical and nursing education in the Middle
East. The objectives were to enhance the academic performance,
persistence, integration and personal and professional development of
a multinational study body, in particular in relation to pre-clinical
medical students, and to establish a comfortable, friendly and
student-driven environment within an Irish medical university
recently established in Bahrain. The outcomes of the project resulted
in the development of a specific student success ‘signature’ for this
particular transnational higher education context.
Abstract: Recently, the green architecture becomes a
significant way to a sustainable future. Green building designs
involve finding the balance between comfortable homebuilding and
sustainable environment. Moreover, the utilization of the new
technologies such as artificial intelligence techniques are used to
complement current practices in creating greener structures to keep
the built environment more sustainable. The most common objectives
in green buildings should be designed to minimize the overall impact
of the built environment that effect on ecosystems in general and in
particularly human health and natural environment. This will lead to
protecting occupant health, improving employee productivity,
reducing pollution and sustaining the environmental. In green
building design, multiple parameters which may be interrelated,
contradicting, vague and of qualitative/quantitative nature are
broaden to use. This paper presents a comprehensive critical state- ofart-
review of current practices based on fuzzy and its combination
techniques. Also, presented how green architecture/building can be
improved using the technologies that been used for analysis to seek
optimal green solutions strategies and models to assist in making the
best possible decision out of different alternatives.
Abstract: A Smart Building Controller (SBC) is a server
software that offers secured access to a pool of building specific
resources, executes monitoring tasks and performs automatic
administration of a building, thus optimizing the exploitation cost and
maximizing comfort. This paper brings to discussion the issues that
arise with the secure exploitation of the SBC administered resources
and proposes a technical solution to implement a robust secure access
system based on roles, individual rights and privileges (special
rights).
Abstract: Part and parcel of building green homes (GHs) with
favorable thermal comfort (TC) is to design and build with reduced
carbon footprint (CF) from embodied energy in the building envelope
and reduced operational CF overall. Together, the environmental
impact of GHs can be reduced significantly. Nevertheless, there is
still a need to identify the base CF value for Malaysian GHs and this
can be done by assessing existing ones which can then be compared
to conventional and vernacular houses which are built differently
with different building materials. This paper underlines the research
design and introduces the case studies. For now, the operational CF
of the case studies is beyond the scope of this study. Findings from
this research could identify the best building material and
construction technique combination to build GHs depending on the
available skills, financial constraints and the condition of the
immediate environment.
Abstract: It has become an increasing evident that large
development influences the climate. There are concerns that rising
temperature over developed areas could have negative impact and
increase living discomfort within city boundaries. Temperature trends
in Ibadan city have received little attention, yet the area has
experienced heavy urban expansion between 1972 and 2014. This
research aims at examining the impact of landuse change on surface
temperature knowing that the built-up environment absorb and store
solar energy, resulting into the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. The
Landsat imagery was used to examine the landuse change for a
period of 42 years (1972-2014). Land Surface Temperature (LST)
was obtained by converting the thermal band to a surface temperature
map and zonal statistic analyses was used to examine the relationship
between landuse and temperature emission. The results showed that
the settlement area increased to a large extent while the area covered
by vegetation reduced during the study period. The spatial and
temporal trends of surface temperature are related to the gradual
change in urban landuse/landcover and the settlement area has the
highest emission. This research provides useful insight into the
temporal behavior of the Ibadan city.
Abstract: Vehicular Adhoc Network (VANET) is a new
technology which aims to ensure intelligent inter-vehicle
communications, seamless internet connectivity leading to improved
road safety, essential alerts, and access to comfort and entertainment.
VANET operations are hindered by mobile node’s (vehicles)
uncertain mobility. Routing algorithms use metrics to evaluate which
path is best for packets to travel. Metrics like path length (hop count),
delay, reliability, bandwidth, and load determine optimal route. The
proposed scheme exploits link quality, traffic density, and
intersections as routing metrics to determine next hop. This study
enhances Geographical Routing Protocol (GRP) using fuzzy
controllers while rules are optimized with Bee Swarm Optimization
(BSO). Simulations results are compared to conventional GRP.
Abstract: This paper presents an adaptive thermal comfort
model study in the tropical country of Malaysia. A number of
researchers have been interested in applying the adaptive thermal
comfort model to different climates throughout the world, but so far
no study has been performed in Malaysia. For the use as a thermal
comfort model, which better applies to hot and humid climates, the
adaptive thermal comfort model was developed as part of this
research by using the collected results from a large field study in six
lecture halls with 178 students. The relationship between the
operative temperature and behavioral adaptations was determined. In
the developed adaptive model, the acceptable indoor neutral
temperatures lay within the range of 23.9-26.0C, with outdoor
temperatures ranging between 27.0-34.6C. The most comfortable
temperature for students in lecture hall was 25.7C.
Abstract: Interaction between human, location and activity
defines space. In the framework of these relations, space is a
container for current specifications in relations of the 3 mentioned
elements. The change of land utility considered with average
performance range, urban regulations, society requirements etc. will
provide welfare and comfort for citizens. From an engineering view it
is fundamental that choosing a proper location for a specific civil
activity requires evaluation of locations from different perspectives.
The debate of desirable establishment of municipal service elements
in urban regions is one of the most important issues related to urban
planning. In this paper, the research type is applicable based on goal,
and is descriptive and analytical based on nature. Initially existing
terminals in Esfahan are surveyed and then new locations are
presented based on evaluated criteria. In order to evaluate terminals
based on the considered factors, an AHP model is used at first to
estimate weight of different factors and then existing and suggested
locations are evaluated using Arc GIS software and AHP model
results. The results show that existing bus terminals are located in
fairly proper locations. Further results of this study suggest new
locations to establish terminals based on urban criteria.
Abstract: Auckland has a temperate climate with comfortable warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters. An Auckland school normally does not need air conditioning for cooling during the summer and only needs heating during the winter. The Auckland school building thermal design should more focus on winter thermal performance and indoor thermal comfort for energy efficiency. This field study of testing indoor and outdoor air temperatures, relative humidity and indoor surface temperatures of three classrooms with different envelopes were carried out in the Avondale College during the winter months in 2013. According to the field study data, this study is to compare and evaluate winter thermal performance and indoor thermal conditions of school buildings with different envelopes.