Buildings, Volume 7, Issue 2

Energy performance in buildings has become a milestone in EU environmental policy in the last 15 years. Nonetheless, in some countries such as Spain the full acceptance of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive is still relatively rare and nov...

The appraisal of ground mounted photovoltaic systems is an important question, due to increasing investments in renewable energies. The costs related to installation and maintenance, and the economic benefits related to the energy saving, suggests th...

The sustainability and efficiency of buildings represents a crucial issue since the building sector is currently responsible for more than 40% of energy consumption and emissions. This concern is extended to historical buildings, as they are typicall...

It is now almost impossible to deal with spatial data without considering some explicit specification that captures possible spatial effects. One valuable feature of spatial econometrics models is their decomposition of marginal effects into spatial...

In contemporary buildings, the architectural demand for a complete dematerialisation of load bearing structures can be satisfied only in limited cases with the exclusive structural use of glass. Otherwise, for challenging applications such as long sp...

In recent decades, many strengthening interventions on masonry elements were performed by using fiber reinforced polymers (FRPs). These advanced materials proved to be effective to increase the load-carrying capacity of masonry elements and to improv...

Soft-story wood-frame buildings have been recognized as a disaster preparedness problem for decades. There are tens of thousands of these multi-family three- and four-story structures throughout California and other cities in the United States. The m...

We present observations from evaluation of internal environmental quality of industrial halls with priority on daylighting in combination with the integral lighting. The physical parameters related to indoor lighting in large industrial halls in wint...

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has a fast growing building sector driven by factors like burgeoning population, economic and infrastructure development and modernization. Buildings, owing to their energy intensive operation, are imposing significa...

Today, both resource efficiency in general and the efficient use of natural resources specifically in the building sector are major political issues. Recent studies on resource efficiency have found the “anthropogenic stock” of the building sector to...

The effects of the world economic and financial crisis, which began in 2007 and is still in progress, has made increasingly sharp the line of demarcation between those able to access home ownership on the free market, and those unable to do so. For t...

Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEBs) represent the backbone to achieve ambitious European goals in terms of energy efficiency and CO2 emissions reduction. As defined in the EPBD, by 31 December 2020, all of the new buildings will have to reach a targ...

Recently, the use of DC microgrid distribution system has become more attractive than traditional AC systems due to their energy efficiency and ability to easily integrate with renewable energy sources and batteries. This paper proposes a 500 V DC mi...

The study of daylight conditions within educational buildings has been a topic of interest since the nineteenth century in western countries, and European ones in particular. Although it has been argued that providing a view outside—or even using day...

Building envelopes represent the interface between the outdoor environment and the indoor occupied spaces. They are often considered as barriers and shields, limiting solutions that adapt to environmental changes. Nature provides a large database of...

The cost-optimal level of energy performance for buildings shall be identified according to the European directive of 2010. The Swedish building stock needs comprehensive knowledge and an overall strategy for the cost-optimal level of renovation. Thi...

In this study, simulation work has been carried out to investigate the impact of a demand-side management control strategy in a residential nZEB. A refurbished apartment within a multi-family dwelling representative of Mediterranean building habits w...

In 1967, a national architectural competition was released for a preliminary project proposal, aimed at the realization of the new building for the Chamber of Deputies in Rome. The outcomes of that competition were unusual: eighteen projects were dec...

In this work, the literature about the relationship between thermal comfort and productivity in workplaces is reviewed and explored by means of a co-citation analysis—i.e., a factor analysis applied to the mutual citations of the most relevant contri...

The use of phase change materials (PCMs) in building elements has gained increasing popularity in recent years because of the potential energy savings that result from the heat stored during variable temperature–time histories. This paper describes t...

The proposed evaluation scheme is a uni-equation model to evaluate properties of Mass Appraisal (MA) in terms of widespread availability of sample data. It all allows the use of statistical models and in the opposite conditions of the absence of data...

Timber platform-frame shear walls are characterized by high ductility and diffuse energy dissipation but limited in-plane shear resistance. A novel lightweight constructive system composed of steel columns braced with oriented strand board (OSB) pane...

This paper discusses the approach of biomimetic design in architecture applied to the theme of growth in biology by taking two exemplary research projects at the intersection of arts and sciences. The first project, ‘Biornametics’, dealt with pattern...

The main aim of this paper is the interpretation of the existing relationship between real estate rental prices and geographical location of housing units in a central urban area of Naples (Santa Lucia and Riviera of Chiaia neighborhoods). Genetic al...

Green roofs may be considered a passive energy saving technology that also offer benefits like environmental friendliness and enhancement of aesthetic and architectural qualities of buildings. This paper examines the energy and economic viability of...

After large scale disasters, reconstruction is often initiated by stakeholders to minimize disaster impacts and to mitigate a recurrence. For most reconstruction programmes, priority is given to reconstruction of permanent housing in consideration of...

Ensuring a comfortable indoor air quality requires a minimum fresh air supply by ventilation. Moreover, the improvement of the air tightness in new and refurbished high performance buildings enhances the role of mechanical ventilation and its importa...

This paper presents a comparison of different scenarios in controlling the space heating systems in residential buildings. The space heating energy consumption of a three-storey residential building is estimated using traditional control methods (fix...