Synergetic integration of vertical farms and buildings: reducing the use of energy, water, and nutrients

Vertical farms use some resources very efficiently. However, their electricity use is considerable, and a significant amount of waste heat is produced. This paper investigates how the integration of vertical farms in buildings could reduce the use of energy, water, and nutrients collectively across both entities by leveraging potential resource...

Collect your retrofits: Parametric modelling to support homeowner energy retrofits in heritage buildings at the early design stage

The joint deployment of energy reduction actions across multiple buildings at once is much needed to reach climate targets, but collective decision-making with shared ownership is a complex process. Each homeowner is accountable for their own energy use, while being constrained by their personal financial capacity and will to act with other co...

An approach to support informed multi-criteria decisions for collective energy retrofitting in historic buildings

Zero-acreage farming driving sustainable urban development: A spatial and technological comparison of urban agriculture farms

Zero-Acreage Farming (ZAF) recently developed as a novel land-use form and is aimed at addressing food security and sustainable urban development. While it is often lauded as a sustainable land-use form with potential to improve resource consumption and urban sustainability, little research into the spatial and technological requirements of...

Effect of space layouts on the energy performance of office buildings in three climates

Numerous studies have shown that architectural design affects energy performance significantly. However, the effect of space layouts on building energy performance has not been fully analysed. In this paper, we aim to study the effect of space layouts on energy performance. An office building was used as the reference, and 11 layout variants...

Architectural Photovoltaic Applications: Lessons Learnt and Perceptions from Architects

Researchers have reported that despite technological development in photovoltaic technology and substantial cost reduction, there is still a narrow interest in architectural photovoltaic applications (APA). Lack of interest is correlated to various bottlenecks, and one of them is a lack of knowledge among architects on the possibilities and...

Effects of Architectural Space Layouts on Energy Performance: A Review

As one of the most important design tasks of building design, space layout design affects the building energy performance (BEP). In order to investigate the effect, a literature review of relevant papers was performed. Ten relevant articles were found and reviewed in detail. First, a methodology for studying the effects of space layouts on BEP...

Personal control and environmental user satisfaction in office buildings: Results of case studies in the Netherlands

Personal control is one of the influential factors for user satisfaction and environmental comfort due to its physical and psychological impacts. This paper aims to identify the relationship between the degree of personal control over indoor environmental conditions and user satisfaction with thermal and visual comfort. Trying to answer the...

Natural summer ventilation strategies for energy-saving in high-rise buildings: a case study in the Netherlands

This paper investigates the potential use of natural ventilation strategies to reduce the energy demand for cooling and mechanical ventilation for high-rise buildings in summer. A 21-storey office building was selected to represent a mechanically ventilated high-rise design in temperate climates. Six natural ventilation scenarios were developed...

Stakeholders View on Commercial Benefits for Energy Neutral Refurbishment of Let Properties

In Europe, the DIRECTIVE 2010/31/EU requires increasing the number of nearly zero energy buildings. The existing building stock needs to be included in order to achieve the 2020 EU environmental targets. The main barriers of energy neutral refurbishment of existing non-residential buildings appear to be financial rather than technical, next to a...

Early-Stage Design Considerations for the Energy-Efficiency of High-Rise Office Buildings

Decisions made at early stages of the design are of the utmost importance for the energy-efficiency of buildings. Wrong decisions and design failures related to a building’s general layout, shape, façade transparency or orientation can increase the operational energy tremendously. These failures can be avoided in advance through simple changes...

Effect of Corridor Design on Energy Consumption for School Buildings in the Cold Climate.

This paper discusses the energy impact of corridor design for school buildings in the cold climate of China. Local school buildings were classified into three types in terms of the corridor design patterns. Architectural related parameters of corridors which could have a potential impact on the energy consumption were summarized and discussed,...

The Effect of Geometry Parameters on Energy and Thermal Performance of School Buildings in Cold Climates of China

This paper discusses the role of geometry parameters including building shape, window to wall ratio, room depth, and orientation on the energy use and thermal comfort of school buildings in cold climates of China. The annual total energy demand and summer thermal discomfort time were compared through computer simulations with DesignBuilder....

A comparative study: Design strategies for energy-efficiency of high-rise office buildings

Tall buildings are being designed and built across a wide range of cities. A poorly designed tall building can tremendously increase the building’s appetite for energy. Therefore, this paper aims to determine the design strategies that help a high-rise office building to be more energy efficient. For this purpose, a comparative study on...

An assessment of energy-saving solutions for the envelope design of high-rise buildings in temperate climates: A case study in the Netherlands

The building envelope is the interface between the interior of the building and the outdoor environment. A building's energy consumption to a large extent depends on certain envelope design elements. As a consequence, for achieving high levels of energy-saving in buildings, design measures with high impact should be firstly defined and then...

Business case study for the zero energy refurbishment of commercial buildings

Net zero energy is already an ambitious target for several buildings, especially since the DIRECTIVE 2010/31/EU that requires increasing the number of nearly zero energy buildings. The existing commercial building stock needs to be included in order to achieve the 2020 EU environmental targets. The main barriers of zero energy refurbishment of...