Impact of occupant façade interaction on thermal comfort during the cooling season

Our planet is currently facing significant challenges such as overpopulation, climate change, and resource depletion, leading to severe environmental degradation. The construction industry, in particular, has played a major role in aggravating these issues. The increase in carbon emissions has contributed to rising global temperatures,...

Decision-making framework for enhanced thermal resilience of façade-retrofits

Climate extremes are becoming increasingly frequent and intense worldwide, with greater pressure on ecosystems, the built environment, and humankind. Heat waves, in particular, are overheating indoor spaces and thermal comfort as one of the major comfort requirements of buildings is disrupted or, in the most extreme situations, lost. In extreme...

Human-Window Interaction in open-plan offices: Guiding occupants to improve window operation through window feedback systems

Occupants are often unaware of window opening strategies that can enhance their well-being and reduce energy consumption. Window feedback systems that indicate when to manually operate a window have become a strategy for enhancing the indoor climate, occupant’s satisfaction and energy efficiency. These systems are recognized for providing the...

Adaptation of the built environment to changing urban microclimates: A residential high-rise case study

Temperatures are increasing all around the world due to climate change and are predicted to continue to rise in the future. This rise in temperature is worrying especially for urban areas around the world that already suffer from increased temperature due to the urban heat island effect. In order to adapt to these changes buildings often get...

Climate responsive facade system with translucent PCM

The European Union has approved the Energy Performance of Building Directive, requesting all new building to be near Zero Energy by 2020. This has created challenges and opportunities in the building sector, encouraging the creation of new solutions, which are both energy efficient and environmental friendly. Between many possible explored...