Buildings, Volume 9, Issue 2

Sound absorbing materials are used in buildings to dissipate sound energy into heat using viscous and thermal processes. Sound absorbers increase the transmission loss of walls, decrease the reverberation time of rooms, and attenuate the noise genera...

Studying the workplace often involves using observational, self-report recall, or focus group tools, which all have their established advantages and disadvantages. There is, however, a need for a readily available, low-invasive method that can provid...

Timber folded surface structures assembled using semi-rigid multiple tab and slot joints (MTSJ) have been shown to form feasible structural systems with high load bearing potential. However, for their further development and use on large building sca...

Disposing electronic plastic waste into construction materials is an eco-friendly and energy efficient solution to protect the environment. This work is aimed at enhancing the strength of self-compacting concrete (SCC) replacing sand with electronic...

The aim of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of phase-change materials (PCMs) incorporated into the supply air duct of a hollow-core slab ventilation system. Both experimental and numerical approaches were adopted in this investigation....

Metaphor is a fundamental heuristic supporting cognitive and communicative requirements in design problem solving. This reasoning mechanism helps structure how architects reason about problems, and how they approach design situations from novel persp...

Buildings that are designed to meet high-energy performance requirements, e.g., passive houses, require well-insulated building envelopes, with increased insulation thicknesses for roof, wall and floor structures. We investigate whether there are dif...

Previous research works on the integration of e-Procurement technologies in the construction process in Nigeria showed that it has been slow and low. However, there are few empirical studies on the duration for which it has permeated the construction...

This paper presents possibilities for anti-seismic improvement of traditional timber carpentry joints. It is known that the structural response of historical roof frameworks is highly dependent on the behavior of their joints, particularly, their cap...

The article concerns the unconventional architectural forms of buildings roofed with transformed shells made up of thin-walled steel fold sheets, and a parametric description of how they are shaped. Complicated deformations of flanges and webs, as we...

Adaptive kinetic architecture has emerged from a need for innovative designs that adapt to the environment and changing needs of the occupants. Architectural design and modes of egress are critical in an emergency. Flocking describes a certain collec...

This study addresses the challenges in ensuring energy efficiency and high indoor climate quality with efficient use of public money in the municipal building procurement process. Energy efficient municipal building procurement provides a significant...

Ammatoa Kajang vernacular houses are buildings that have existed for a hundred years as residential house buildings. These traditional houses are unique in their use of bent piles. This research examines the strength of the structural system of Ammat...

Discrete element models are a powerful tool for the analysis of masonry, given their ability to represent the discontinuous nature of these structures, and to simulate the most common deformation and failure modes. In particular, discrete elements al...

Many construction projects exceed time and budget. The Saudi Arabian construction projects are not an exception to this phenomenon. However, the causes of time and cost overrun of Saudi Arabian oil and gas construction projects have never been studie...

The automated process of construction defect detection using non-contact methods provides vital information for quality control and updating building information modelling. The external cladding in modular construction should be regularly controlled...

Following the strong earthquake on April 25, 2015 in Nepal, a team from the University of Porto, in collaboration with other international institutions, made a field study on some of the most affected areas in the capital region of Kathmandu. One of...

The seismic hazard of vulnerable regions warrants the investigation of new technologies, such as base level isolation by lead rubber bearing (LRB) devices, that can help to mitigate structural damage on seismic prone buildings. The behavior adopting...

Volumetric prefabricated building construction is growing in most developed countries; for example, in Sweden the market share of prefabricated building systems in the housing industry was more than 80%. However, in Australia only approximately 3&nda...

This paper critically evaluates indoor overheating of multilevel office buildings in Colombo—a tropical warm humid city. The work questions the building morphological characteristics on thermal performance and indoor climate, thus the levels of...

On 25 April 2015, a strong earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck central Nepal including the capital city, Kathmandu. Several powerful aftershocks of magnitude 6.7, 6.9 and 7.3 together with hundreds of aftershocks of local magnitude greater than 4 hit...

One of the critical decisions taken by contractors is whether or not to bid for a project. This is due to the complexity and uncertainty surrounding this decision, which is influenced by many factors. Given the above challenge, this study aimed to un...

Transverse reinforcement plays a key role in the response behavior of reinforced concrete beams. Therefore, corrosion of steel stirrups may change the failure mode of elements from bending to shear, leading to a brittle and catastrophic crisis. It is...

The structure of Tvrđa and its buildings date back to the Middle Ages. Tvrđa represents the Old Town of the city of Osijek and the best-preserved and largest ensemble of Baroque buildings in Croatia. After the withdrawal of the Ottomans in 1687, duri...

The dynamic development of the automotive industry and improvements in quality of life have caused a significant increase in the production of car tires. Unfortunately, when the useful life of these products comes to an end, the problem of their disp...

Engineering of effective photocatalytically active structures is of great importance as it introduces a solution for some existing air pollution problems. This can be practically achieved through the bonding of particulate photocatalysts to the surfa...

Buildings with spatially complex interiors poise unique challenges during operations and maintenance. A complex interior makes wayfinding difficult, which can inhibit daily occupants from finding their desired location. Additionally, it can hamper em...

A significant number of old unreinforced load-bearing masonry (URM) buildings exist in many countries worldwide, but especially in Europe. In particular, Bosnia and Herzegovina has an important stock of masonry buildings constructed from the 1920s un...