Influence of geometric imperfections and increasing turbine sizes on validity load transfer functions in bolted ring-flange connections

The global focus on climate change and the transition away from fossil fuels has highlighted the importance of renewable energy sources. Offshore wind turbines are being optimized and are therefore growing in size and power. <br/><br/>This research focuses on bolted ring-flange connections, a connection type that plays a crucial role in the...

Simulation of the Dutch electricity system: A software expansion for the Illuminator

The aim of this report is to discuss the design of the software that creates a simulation for the national electricity grid level of the Netherlands. This is done by further developing the open-source energy system integration development kit called the Illuminator. Where the goal of this software is to create an extra case, add a Graphical User...

Estimation of an Activity-Based Model to evaluate Sustainable Mobility Policies in the Netherlands

The transition towards greener mobility will play a significant role in decarbonizing the economy. Hence, policy makers need tools that allow them to test alternatives towards that goal. This drive has led to the development of increasingly accurate transport models, with the latest generation being activity-based transport demand models. These...

Altered spaces: new ways of seeing and envisioning nature with Minecraft

The climate crisis has inspired youth-led activism across the world and young people now lead global campaigns and political protest on climate justice. However, aside from news media coverage of youth activism and the attendant focus on young people’s hand-drawn protest placards, relatively little is known about young people’s views on the...

Review of whole system simulation methodologies for assessing mobility as a service (Maas) as an enabler for sustainable urban mobility

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is an emerging concept that is being advanced as an effective approach to improve the sustainability of mobility, especially in densely populated urban areas. MaaS can be defined as the integration of various transport modes into a single service, accessible on demand, via a seamless digital planning and payment...

Multi-zone optimisation of high-rise buildings using artificial intelligence for sustainable metropolises. Part 1: Background, methodology, setup, and machine learning results

Designing high-rise buildings is one of the complex tasks of architecture because it involves interdisciplinary performance aspects in the conceptual phase. The necessity for sustainable high-rise buildings has increased owing to the demand for metropolises based on population growth and urbanisation trends. Although artificial intelligence (AI)...

Multi-zone optimisation of high-rise buildings using artificial intelligence for sustainable metropolises. Part 2: Optimisation problems, algorithms, results, and method validation

High-rise building optimisation is becoming increasingly relevant owing to global population growth and urbanisation trends. Previous studies have demonstrated the potential of high-rise optimisation but have been focused on the use of the parameters of single floors for the entire design; thus, the differences related to the impact of the dense...

The Near Future of Parcel Delivery: Selecting Sustainable Solutions for Parcel Delivery

The GHG-emissions of the transport sector are still increasing. This trend isaccompanied by the strong growth of the e-commerce sector, leading to moretransport movements on our road networks. In order to mitigate theexternalities of the e-commerce related parcel delivery market and try tomake it more sustainable, the following research question...

Sustainable High-rises: Design Strategies for Energy-efficient and Comfortable Tall Office Buildings in Various Climates

With the aim to limit the number of ineffective designs, this dissertation has investigated the impact of architectural design strategies on improving the energy performance of and thermal comfort in high-rise office buildings in temperate, sub-tropical and tropical climates. As the starting-point of this research, a comparative study between...

Challenges in the Transition Towards a Sustainable City: The Case of GO2Zero

Cities face a challenging task in reducing CO2 emissions. Multiple technical solutions on district level as well as household level are available; multiple stakeholders with different values and possibilities to intervene are involved; and their actions highly influence the performance. To get a better understanding of these complexities and to...

An Energy-Harvesting Facade Optimization System for Built Environments

Daylighting is the immediate exploitation of solar energy in the form of nat-<br/>ural lighting and plays an integral role in minimizing the energy footprint<br/>of a building. Smart daylighting enables us to design buildings that provide<br/>comfort and energy savings.<br/><br/>This work proposes a dynamic facade system for buildings which aims...

Comprehensive modelling and sizing of PV systems from location to load

Photovoltaic (PV) systems are progressively used for decentralized electricity generation. To obtain the maximum yield from such systems, optimisation of all components is essential. In this contribution, we provide a comprehensive modelling and sizing of PV systems for any location. Three applications are here presented providing real time...