Airtightness in the Retrofit of Historic Buildings: Investigation of a retrofit strategy for historic traditional buildings, optimizing their energy-efficiency, indoor environment quality, and heritage preservation

Despite being a critical aspect in improving the building stock’s environmental performance and achieving the global environmental goals, the retrofit of traditional historic buildings is hindered by a lack of comprehensive guidelines tailored to their complex building physics and heritage preservation requirements. The conventional retrofit...

Feasibility of Circular Bio-based Unitised Facade Systems

This thesis project proposes the introduction of bio-based materials in the design of unitised curtain wall façade systems. The work investigates a circular bio-based unitised façade design to understand its feasibility regarding thermal, technical, and environmental performance. The research is divided in four phases, including the material,...

Model predictive control for optimum integration of active and passive energy sources

The primary objective of this research is to develop an energy management system for the Co-creation center (CCC) that maximizes the use of passive energy sources while maintaining indoor thermal comfort. Passive energy sources have the potential to significantly reduce the energy consumption of the building. However, to achieve optimal energy...

Building Design Approaches and Performance Under Predicted Climate Conditions

The building environment has high energy consumption and carbon emission which contributes to the rapid climate change. The changing climate condition not only impacts the natural environment but also our habitation. To improve the building performance in both energy and indoor comfort, performance-based design is commonly applied in...

A Review of Mathematical Models of Building Physics and Energy Technologies for Environmentally Friendly Integrated Energy Management Systems

The Energy Management System (EMS) is an efficient technique to monitor, control and enhance the building performance. In the state-of-the-art, building performance analysis is separated into building simulation and control management: this may cause inaccuracies and extra operating time. Thus, a coherent framework to integrate building physics...

Sun shading of the future: A next generation workflow for applying the performative computational architecture framework to sun shading design, based on an example sun shading system for high-rise office buildings with all-glass exteriors in tropical climates optimised on visual and thermal comfort

This thesis is about improving the workflow for applying the Performative Computational Architecture (PCA) framework to sun shading design. The PCA framework is a design approach consisting of three phases; form-finding, performance evaluation and optimisation. The conventional workflow in regard to sun shading design is defined as a combination...

Facade design for noise attenuation and thermal comfort through natural ventilation for high-rise office buildings in the Netherlands

High-rises are usually ventilated mechanically in order to ensure thermal and acoustic comfort in the indoor environment. Consequently, the energy consumption in summer months is increased while the indoor air quality is usually deteriorated due to poor maintenance of mechanical ventilation systems. The topic of the current thesis is the design...

Parametrisch-geometrische modellen: Voor beoordeling van zonreflecties en andere bouwfysica-vraagstukken

Innovatieve software komt regelmatig op de markt, maar Rhinoceros-Grasshopper heeft een compleet nieuwe wereld aan mogelijkheden ontsloten. Ook voor de bouwfysicus is dit zeer relevant. Doordat gebruik wordt gemaakt van een intuïtieve, parametrische en grafische programmeertaal, kunnen complexe geometrische problemen zeer snel worden...

Residential buildings with low heat demand: The impact of design variables on the heat demand of residential buildings in the Netherlands

This study is about the impact of early design decisions on the heat demand of a small residential building. Heat demand is a significant part of the energy use of residential buildings in the Netherlands. Reducing this demand will reduce the strain on national energy resources and even allow buildings to become energy neutral or independant...

PV-panelen reduceren het Urban Heat Island

De wereldwijde verstedelijking heeft onder andere als gevolg dat er een toename is in het temperatuurverschil tussen het platteland en de binnenstad, ook wel het Urban Heat Island effect genoemd. In combinatie met de toenemende opwarming van de aarde zal het Urban Heat Island effect de komende jaren extremer worden, met onder andere als gevolg...

Proceedings of the 4th WTA International PhD Symposium

Proceedings of the 4th WTA International PhD Symposium, 13-16 September 2017, Delft, The Netherlands

Ambergy Industrial: A heating control system to save energy

Industrial buildings, used as warehouses or distribution centres, are characterized by large doors which are opened temporarily or for longer periods. A new technique - called Ambergy - is investigated which prevents unnecessary energy loss through open overhead doors in heated industrial halls. This technique consists of a smart coupling...

Pure Transparency

The ancient temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae in the Peleponnese in Greece is a unique world heritage monument. The limestone used however is very susceptible to the elements (ice, rain, acid rain). Currently the temple is protected by a canopy. A case study has been made to build a glass pavilion around the temple. This needs to meet some...

Green facades and Building structures

Plants can fulfil various functions. Plants provide places for playing, sports and recreation, establishing social contacts, isolation and escape from urban life, aesthetic enjoyment, viewing buildings from a distance and so on. Vegetation and plants on roofs and façades is one of the functions of plants most with respect to the built...

Kwaliteitsbeleid voor de Nederlandse woningvoorraad: Historie, methodiek, toepassingen, beleidsopties