Abstract: Regions with extreme climate conditions such as
Astana city require energy saving measures to increase energy
performance of buildings which are responsible for more than 40% of
total energy consumption. Identification of optimal building
geometry is one of key factors to be considered. Architectural form of
a building has impact on space heating and cooling energy use,
however the interrelationship between the geometry and resultant
energy use is not always readily apparent. This paper presents a
comparative case study of two prototypical buildings with compact
building shape to assess its impact on energy performance.
Abstract: Three-dimensional geometric models have been used
to present architectural and engineering works, showing their final
configuration. When the clarification of a detail or the constitution of
a construction step in needed, these models are not appropriate. They
do not allow the observation of the construction progress of a
building. Models that could present dynamically changes of the
building geometry are a good support to the elaboration of projects.
Techniques of geometric modeling and virtual reality were used to
obtain models that could visually simulate the construction activity.
The applications explain the construction work of a cavity wall and a
bridge. These models allow the visualization of the physical
progression of the work following a planned construction sequence,
the observation of details of the form of every component of the
works and support the study of the type and method of operation of
the equipment applied in the construction. These models presented
distinct advantage as educational aids in first-degree courses in Civil
Engineering. The use of Virtual Reality techniques in the
development of educational applications brings new perspectives to
the teaching of subjects related to the field of civil construction.