The sustainability of high-rise buildings is always a point of debate and doubt in current research and literature. Several studies have been performed about the zero-energy potential for skyscrapers, however taking into consideration single functions, particularly office and housing buildings. Realistic and modern tall building design however always involves a combination of uses (offices, accommodation, commercial and retail) for the project to be economically viable. On the basis of the Trias Energetica, the primary goal of the early design for sustainable buildings must be to minimize the demand for energy (heating, cooling, hot water, electricity) by means of active or passive techniques. This translates into design guidelines for the shape, orientation, building envelope and climate properties, parameters that have been already widely investigated by researchers and designers in practice. However, an important feature in order to improve the sustainable profile of a building is to employ circular techniques that aim to avoid wasting energy and re-use / re-purpose it. The main objective of this graduation research is to determine the zero-energy potential for high-rise buildings by taking advantage of a mixed-use scheme and examining the possibilities for energy exchange and cooperation between different functions by means of storing energy in the form of warm and cold-water tanks. This research aims to determine which synergetic combinations between functions can be performed, what type of building systems and technology can be used and, by establishing a complete energy simulation, conclude on what are the energy benefits for the building on a yearly basis . The results will be an important addition to the sustainable design for “MEGA” scale projects, according to the forthcoming Dutch regulation that after 2020 all newly built buildings must comply with the nearly zero energy guidelines.

Efficient local air recirculation at ceiling level promote the performance of purifiers and anti-epidemic efficiency of mixing ventilation in a small shared rooms

This project aims to design the integrated control of shading and operable windows for CEG east facade to improve the thermal comfort with respect to energy consumption. The design stage focused on the thermal advantages that the integrated control of shading and operable window brought to the CEG building. The controls are simulated in the EnergyPlus engine with DesignBuilder interface. The output data of temperature distribution and heating demand of the two proposals were used to compare for choosing the best control strategy during the operating stage. One proposal was using the old glazing materials and the other one was replacing the whole facade. After choosing the final solution (new construction), the effectiveness of shading and operable window control, the visual and ventilation performance of the integrated control, the possible energy deviation, the design refinement were conducted. The final control had a total discomfort occurrence of 39.5 hours, heating demand of 36.10kWh/m2 and lighting demand of 11.17kWh/m2. Compared with the simulation of the existing situation with new construction, it reduced 79% of discomfort hours and 38% of heating demand.

Problem definition and objective. Since the industrialization in the 18th century, urbanized and industrial countries base their whole economies on the consumption and destruction of fossil fuel and raw materials. In the past decades, after observing gradual global climate change, most governments acknowledge the environmental impact of their system and want a change. One way to reduce the pressure on the earth is by shifting to the circular economy. In terms of energy this means that society should be completely disconnected from fossil based energy and switch torenewable energy. The objective of this research was to look at the potentials for a local energy network in an existing city context and to design a local energy system. A Lidl supermarket forms the centre of the system. In addition to this, a new element is introduced to the built environment : the urban rooftop greenhouse. Study design. Broad literature survey on circularity, later converging to energy related literature studies. This is followed an energy analysis of a modern Lidl supermarket and energy balances are calculated for a greenhouse and a supermarket. The energy system is based on these energy balances. Setting. This research focuses on one residential city block in Amsterdam Oud-West, the Netherlands. The block is enclosed by the Eerste Helmerstraat, Alberdingk Thijmstraat, Tweede Helmerstraat and the Nassaukade (52°21’51.7”N - 4°52’38.1”E). The Lidl located in this city block forms the case study of the research and will be refurbished/modernised in the near future. Two potential residential buildings are identified in this city block and are included in the energy system. Supermarket analysis. A modern and sustainable Lidl supermarket in Stein is analysed to determine the energy performance of the refurbished Lidl in Amsterdam. Energy quantification. Energy balances of the Lidl supermarket and the rooftop greenhouse are calculated. The energy system is based on the values retrieved from these energy balances. The heat demand of the local dwelling is determined from the literature survey. Designing the energy model. The greenhouse, the supermarket and adjacent dwelling form an energetic triangle. First, the possibilities of energetic collaboration between individual components are explored. Secondly, all components are connected with each other through an underground energy storage. The size and indoor climate of the greenhouse are determined based on the required balance of this energy storage. Urban design. Energy values and schemes are translated into a rough urban design proposal. Also social cohesion is taken into account here. Results. Energetic interventions are translated into emission cutbacks of CO2. The present situation, based on conventional climate systems, is compared with the all-electric situation from the designed energy model. The energy system designed in this research results in a cumulative CO2 emission reduction of 60%. Design tool. All possible parameters that influence the energetic performance of the system are collected in one Excel design tool. This tool allows for fast alterations to the design to achieve a balanced energy storage and changes are immediately translated to CO2 emission cutbacks.

“The Dutch built environment - both residential properties of private owners, corporations and investors, as well as offices, schools, shops and commercial real estate – is largely outdated and not energy efficient” (Platform 31, n.d.).  This research is about making the built environment more sustainable by refurbishing the building envelope in a smart energy efficient way. A focus is placed on post-war walk-up apartments of which 635.000 were constructed in the Netherlands. Renovation (zero-energy) methods for this specific building type are still missing. In this described context the ‘2ndSKIN’ project already conducted research for a new renovation method that integrated building services in the building’s envelope and was therefore used as a starting point. However, in the end the 2ndSKIN project was not efficient enough in terms of costs and space. Therefore, the goal of this research is the design of a new zero-energy renovation method that improves the current method. The approach they used is still promising and it is often seen in other renovation projects. Therefore, it will be used as the base for the new renovation method in this thesis. In addition to the research on the 2ndSKIN project, other renovations methods that involve upgrading the envelope were investigated together with building services and the post-war walk-up apartment typology, forming the first part of this research: the literature review. From the review, different conclusions were found that formed parameters for the design process. There are fixed parameters like, building layout, structure type, size and orientation but also variables such as ventilation systems and heating systems. The parameters form the base for different concepts, that are introduced in the design phase and that lead to the conclusion of this thesis: the design of a new prefabricated zero-energy renovation concept for post-war walk-up apartments, that integrates the building-services in a space and cost-efficient way.

Nowadays the use of renewable energy resources is a necessity. Approximately 13% of the energy spent in Greece comes from renewable energy resources, however a significantly higher percentage is essential in order to meet the European standards by 2020. A prompt solution is the in-situ energy generation. Additionally, the harmful emmisions of the various air-conditioning and refridgerating systems need to be eliminated. The current master thesis involves the use of solar energy for indoor temperature regulation, mainly for cooling purposes. This is achieved by the use of two different technologies; the photovoltaics and the thermoelectrics. A series of PV panels convert the solar energy to DC power, which is supplied to the thermoelectric devices. The TE modules are able to create temperature difference and depending on the direction of the DC current, they can function either for cooling or for heating. The system is 100% emission-free and can operate entirely on renewable energy. Location of the project is set to Athens, Greece, a city with rather high air-conditioning demands during summer and high solar irradiation all year long, traits which make it very favorable for a PV-TE solar cooling application. Objective of the thesis is to develop a solar cooling facade concept which, along with the implementation of passive design strategies, is able to cover the cooling and heating demands of a certain office space. Considering the context, the local climate, the prominent vernacular building strategies have been studied. Moreover, a field research and analysis of 25 case study buildings has been carried out leading to the definition of the ‘typical office building’ in Athens. Based on the typical office, a passive optimization with the implementation of multiple passive strategies has been carried out resulting in the optimum scenario. The PV and TE system has been calculated and designed according to the optimum passive scenario and is applied on a case-study building. A range of architectural possibilities is explored, based on the typical office buildings of the area.

Rising temperatures due to climate change and the increased Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect both have a major impact on Singapore’s outdoor comfort. Research has reported an average UHI in Singapore of 4°C, which can even exceed 7°C at some times of the day. (Acero & Ruefenacht, 2017) Increasing convective surface heat transfer from the human body by means of induced wind speeds is an important strategy to improve outdoor thermal comfort. However, the combination of its high urban density, leading to a considerable number of obstructions for urban wind flows, and the generally low wind speeds due to its geographical proximity to the equator makes urban ventilation in Singapore challenging. (Acero & Ruefenacht, 2017) Since the 1970s, void decks, open spaces at the ground floor of buildings, have become a typical characteristic of public housing flats in Singapore. These have been shown to potentially increase wind speeds by more than twofold. (Chew & Norford, 2019) However, the effect of void deck geometries on the imbalance between outdoor thermal and pedestrian wind comfort in a realistic urban setting has not been addressed before. Hence, the main research question of this thesis was formulated as follows: How can the geometry design of void decks be optimized to enhance urban ventilation for outdoor thermal comfort in Singapore while ensuring good pedestrian comfort?  A strong mismatch between pedestrian wind comfort and outdoor thermal comfort was observed in the study area with the simulated monsoon wind conditions. This marks the importance to perform wind microclimate analyses in a tropical environment as Singapore, focusing on both aspects. This work demonstrates a design methodology that combines parametric design tools with CFD (computational fluid dynamics) simulations with the aim to make better wind-informed design decisions for an urban context.  Using a parametric building model, ten void deck geometry variants were generated and compared. The implications of the observed flow pattern in terms of urban planning were clarified. For example, while a horizontally converging void deck geometry was found to be effective at directing the urban ventilation towards a target location due to the funnel-shaped induced wind speed region downstream, horizontally diverging void decks led to a more evenly spread region of accelerated flow along the void length. The highest amplification factors inside the void deck were obtained for a vertically diverging geometry. This geometry was subsequently applied to all the buildings facing the prevailing wind directions in the study area, Clementi, using a parametric urban model. This model allows the user to apply various void deck geometries to different building groups independently from each other based on their orientation. A comparison of the wind speed and air temperature distributions after the urban-scale intervention to the current situation showed a wind speed increase and temperature decrease in almost all the void decks. While the amplified wind speed region extended downstream of some void decks, other areas in between the buildings showed a slowed down wind flow. The temperature effects were more extreme at the more closely-packed areas with a smaller distance in between the buildings. Overall, it was concluded that the void deck modifications did not only affect the local wind microclimate inside the void decks, but also altered the wind conditions in between the buildings. Ideally, these wind speed-amplifying void decks should be used in combination with other urban cooling strategies.  The proposed workflow was demonstrated for the geometry design of void decks, but is also applicable in the optimization process of other building features which may affect the urban wind microclimate, such as canopies and building podia.

Problem Definition and main objective: Current prefabricated building envelope systems utilised for energy reduction renovations are expected to be a long-lasting solution. In practice, the building envelope systems are not adapted to facilitate future updates due to changing regulations or changing standards. Furthermore, in most renovation systems the material or component with the lowest service life dictates the service life of the complete system, leading to materials being disposed of before they reached the end of their potential service life. The goal of the thesis is to design a system that is adapted to these issues by being a flexible system that separates functionalities in separate boxes and layers, and therefore is able to upgrade or replace individual components when necessary to ensure the system’s long-term functionality. Study Design: Literature review, followed by the formulation of a strategy and a design. Design effectiveness is confirmed through application on a case study. Long-term functionality is confirmed through transformation of the case study application based on formulated scenarios. Setting: The thesis is part of a series of ongoing research projects associated with the 2ndSkin project. The case study is an apartment block located at the Soendalaan in Vlaardingen. Results: A design concept for an external building envelope system for energy reduction renovation of Dutch post-war apartments elaborated in a 1 to 5 detail scale. The final design incorporates an adaptable aluminium frame system with module boxes containing different functionalities, which can be slid into the main frame. The system is finished with a clamp system with cladding, functioning as the protecting layer for the system.

The fire safety strategy in hospitals is complex, and requires an integrated approach, because of the presence of vulnerable and reliant patients who need assistance during evacuation. The current regulations in the Netherlands seems to be outdated, and don’t fulfill the current use and the changing design trends. The design trends of hospitals are changing, shifting towards a healing environment with mostly single patient rooms. Research into the actual disconnecting times of different types of patients is performed, to determine the total evacuation time per patient. As displayed different phases of the evacuation route are gathered and analysed. With these differing evacuation times, the design can be adapted to the required egress time per specific ward. The evacuation times of patients on a Dialysis, Intensive Care, Neonatal ICU, Heart monitoring, Recovery and a standard nursing ward have been gathered. With an interactive design tool, the actual risk and Required Safe Egress Time calculations can be made. A relative probability calculation indicates the risk of casualties per ward, compared with a design fulfilling the maximum restrictions of the Dutch Building Decree. Together with the gathered data, specific RSET calculations can be made for different types of wards.

The fire safety strategy in hospitals is complex, and requires an integrated approach, because of the presence of vulnerable and reliant patients who need assistance during evacuation. The current regulations in the Netherlands seems to be outdated, and don’t fulfill the current use and the changing design trends. The design trends of hospitals are changing, shifting towards a healing environment with mostly single patient rooms. Research into the actual disconnecting times of different types of patients is performed, to determine the total evacuation time per patient. As displayed different phases of the evacuation route are gathered and analysed. With these differing evacuation times, the design can be adapted to the required egress time per specific ward. The evacuation times of patients on a Dialysis, Intensive Care, Neonatal ICU, Heart monitoring, Recovery and a standard nursing ward have been gathered. With an interactive design tool, the actual risk and Required Safe Egress Time calculations can be made. A relative probability calculation indicates the risk of casualties per ward, compared with a design fulfilling the maximum restrictions of the Dutch Building Decree. Together with the gathered data, specific RSET calculations can be made for different types of wards.

This thesis focuses on the development of a computational model for early-stage design decision support of naturally ventilated terminal structures. The model is developed in a parametric Rhino Grasshopper environment paired with Python coding and CFD analyses through OpenFOAM. Optimization of air distribution parameters is performed with Galapagos evolutionary solver, while optimization of the subsequent geometry is done manually by means of the CFD results of the best-performing variant. Within the thesis a background study is made by means of an interview and literature review, after which analytic calculations and CFD studies are used to test various options and narrow down the domain of solutions for the case of the design of a naturally ventilated terminal structure. Finally, the method itself is developed and validated with a case study that is also used during the development of the model. The result of the thesis is a rapid computational model that allows for the integration of CFD studies into the early-stage design of naturally ventilated terminals with an optimization for the stated objective function. Secondly, the CFD results can be used to give an indication of a more optimal geometry of the hall. The final selection of geometry and the validation are left up to the user to perform afterwards.

Infiltration is the uncontrolled flow of air into the building through the envelope, which contributes to a significant amount of heat loss and is estimated to be around 30% of the heating demand. It is therefore essential to estimate the amount of infiltration, to design a suitable heating and cooling system in a building. Empirical relations which are used to determine infiltration, generally overestimate the infiltration rate, since the effects of weather, mechanical ventilation and building geometry are not taken into account. Large Eddy Simulation (LES) is used to determine the pressure distribution around a building along with an airflow network model to determine the infiltration flow rate. Validation studies of the LES model show that the pressure data at the front and back faces of a surface-mounted cube are accurately captured, whereas, the pressure at the top and side faces slightly deviate from reference data with an error of 16%-20%. This occurs due to a shift in the recirculation region at the top towards the leeward part of the cube surface. The reattachment of the flow is not observed at the top and side surfaces, which explains the deviations in pressure. The infiltration rate is analysed in the Matrix VII building using the in-house model, which combines the LES model and the airflow network model. It is then compared with other relevant standards and models like the NTA 8800 and an energy balance model. The comparison is made in terms of the cross-correlation between the models and the heat loss associated with infiltration. The in-house model shows good cross-correlation with the NTA 8800 model, with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.8454. The building standards which employ empirical relations, overestimate the heat loss by a factor of 10 compared to the in-house model. The in-house model is then used to develop a database of infiltration values for different building heights and airtightness values. The specific infiltration rate is observed to decrease in buildings taller than 120 m due to the minimal changes in velocity higher up the atmospheric boundary layer. The database is observed to provide values of infiltration with reasonable accuracy, compared to the existing database in the ISSO standard.

In order to counter climate change many approaches have been taken to make the building sector more sustainable. But for porch houses there aren't many solutions on the market. This research project uses one of the approaches that is does focus on porch houses, 2ndskin. In march 2018 a demonstrator project has been build in Vlaardingen using the 2ndskin approach. The research found a problem with integrating the installations, they took up a lot of space and were so heavy that an extra foundation was needed. This problem is not unique to 2ndskin or the zero-on-the-meter renovations of porch houses, it's a problem in other sustainable projects as well. Therefore this research has looked into the following problem: The installations needed to renovate a post-war porch house in accordance with the 2ndskin approach are too heavy and take up a lot of valuable space. Current systems have been analyzed in order to solve this problem. The comparison of these systems unveiled the main causes of the size and weight of these systems: Empty space between the installations, placement of the connections, required space for installation and maintenance, the kind of installations used and the integration between them. In the end three concepts where presented. Prioritizing different aims, the concepts show different ways to integrate the installations according to different priorities.. For the 2ndskin demonstrator project these concepts show that its possible to decrease the by 50% to 70% and the weight by 30% to 60%. The amount of possible decrease depends on the priorities within the project. But, smaller installations spaces are possible when designing from within the installations instead of around it.