Applying rock-filled gabion to buildings in cold regions with mountainous climates has multiple potentials, such as utilizing rock resources, improving building sustainability and saving building energy. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the ther...
The issues of reducing energy consumption in buildings and their decarbonisation are currently among the most pressing. However, such an important aspect of the problem under discussion as the impact of unavoidable degradation processes on energy dem...
Residential heat pumps have advanced over the past decade to allow for operation at colder temperatures. However, the challenges of frost accumulation and defrosting the outdoor coil remain. The goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of the co...
The application of the low impact development (LID) in a cold climate such as northeastern China is constrained by two unresolved research questions with regards to its infiltration potential through the winter and its varied runoff regimes between w...
Improving outdoor thermal comfort is a critical objective in urban design, particularly in densely built urban environments. Elevated semi-open spaces—outdoor areas located beneath raised building structures—have been recognized for enhan...
23 January 2015
The impact of climate change on human health is a serious concern. In particular, changes in the frequency and intensity of heat waves and cold spells are of high relevance in terms of mortality and morbidity. This demonstrates the urgent need for re...
Buildings located in extreme cold climates encounter challenges (e.g., heat loss, condensation, and frozen utilities), especially within their wall envelopes. These challenges also play a pivotal role in occupant health, comfort, and the structural i...
Annual plasticulture strawberry production has not been adopted as rapidly in cold climate regions as has occurred in warmer production areas due to uncertainty about potential benefits. Recent trials have demonstrated the potential of regionally ada...
Achieving comfort in hot summer and cold winter (HSCW) climate zones can be challenging, since the climate is characterized by high temperatures in the summer and relatively colder temperatures in the winter. Courtyards, along with other semi-open sp...
Composite phase-change materials (PCMs) exhibit significant potential for enhancing the thermal performance of building walls. However, previous studies have generally lacked detailed investigations of the performance of PCM-integrated walls under co...
In most cases, internal insulation is the only solution to improve the energy efficiency of historic buildings. However, it is one of the most challenging and complex energy efficiency measures due to changes in boundary conditions and hygrothermal b...
Rooftops represent a considerable part of the impervious fractions of urban environments. Detaining and retaining runoff from vegetated rooftops can be a significant contribution to reducing the effects of urbanization, with respect to increased runo...
Extreme low temperatures, heavy snowfall, ice accumulation, limited daylight, and increased energy consumption in cold climates present significant challenges but also offer opportunities for improving building efficiency. Advanced materials and tech...
Green and blue-green roofs are emerging as an increasingly popular feature of rooftops, particularly in urban areas. Particular problematic conditions render their usage complex in the Nordic countries. In order to ensure that green roofs are built d...
Space heating and cooling of buildings is a major contributor to the ascending trend of global energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A potential solution to reduce the space heating and cooling is to use buildings’ mass for act...
The increased complexity of buildings has led to rigorous performance demands from materials and building envelopes. As markets for low-carbon, renewable construction materials grow, cross-laminated timber and wood fiber insulation have emerged as pr...
Coastal cold climates experience frequent intermittent melting and freezing periods over the cold period. This intermittent freezing in stormwater systems affects the infiltration capacity and hence the performance. This paper investigates the infilt...
As new energy-efficient technologies emerge, space and water heating systems are continuously evolving. The latest generation of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in Canada and other countries is shifting away from natural gas...
Maintaining optimal humidity in livestock buildings during winter is a major challenge in cold climate regions due to the conflict between moisture-removing ventilation and the need for heat preservation. To address this issue, a novel condensation d...
The testing of multi-layer building envelopes was performed using an environmental chamber following the ASTM C1363 and ISO 8990 standards. However, performing such tests in accordance with the standards by an accredited laboratory can be extremely c...
The relatively low thermal mass of timber frame buildings is a limiting factor for their energy efficiency and for the thermal comfort. The aim of this study is to assess the performance of wood-based wallboards integrated with PCM (Phase Change Mate...
A residential ground-source heat pump system often requires a long payback time to recover the capital cost. Long-term uncertainty in such a system’s performance increases as the climate changes. This study compares 20-years hourly heating/cool...
This study conducts a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost (LCC) analysis of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and gasoline vehicles (GVs) in Heilongjiang Province, China, under cold climate conditions and a coal dominated elect...
Unexpected power outages and extreme weather encouraged research on energy-resilient buildings throughout the world. Resilient building research mainly focuses on hot weather rather than cold extremes. This study defines resilience terminologies base...
In cold climates, electrical power demand for space conditioning becomes a critical issue for utility companies during certain periods of the day. Shifting a portion or all of it to off-peak periods can help reduce peak demand and reduce stress on th...
This study evaluates the performance degradation of spray rigid polyurethane foam (RPUF) insulation on reservoir dam structures under multi-physics coupling conditions. Focusing on characteristic environmental exposures in Hot Summer and Cold Winter...
Annual plasticulture production of strawberries promises superior weed control, fruit quality and yields. However, strawberry varieties adapted for perennial, matted-row production and local markets in cold climate regions have not been widely tested...
In the present study, the real-world performance of a ground-to-air heat exchanger (GAHE) was analyzed in the Polish climate which is characterized by warm summers and cold winters. The heat exchanger’s performance was monitored over a period of thre...
Subway station entrances serve as crucial links between urban environments and underground transit systems and are particularly vital in cities with cold climates. Specialized design strategies are essential to address user needs and promote safety a...
The global population’s growth and increased energy consumption have driven greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In Canada, the residential sector accounts for 17% of secondary energy use and 13% of GHG emissions. To mitigate GHG emissions, promotin...
In regions with hot summers and cold winters, elderly care buildings face the dual challenges of high energy consumption and stringent thermal comfort requirements. Using Nanchang as a case study, this research presents an optimization approach that...
This study presents the development and evaluation of a novel partially open-loop heat pump dryer with a unit-room (HPDU). The unit-room was designed to enable the ambient air to be mixed with the return air, thereby reducing the influence of the amb...
The widespread use of transparent building envelope structures satisfies people’s needs for architectural esthetics and daylighting. However, they also feature notable drawbacks such as high energy consumption, poor thermal insulation performan...
This paper presents the results of a laboratory simulation of a subarctic climate carried out in climatic chamber. Realistic daily and seasonal cycles of temperature of a regular subarctic continental climate without dry seasons (Dfc) were simulated...
This paper discusses the role of geometry parameters including building shape, window to wall ratio, room depth, and orientation on the energy use and thermal comfort of school buildings in cold climates of China. The annual total energy demand and s...
Phase change material (PCM)-enhanced building envelopes can control indoor temperatures and save energy. However, PCM needs to undergo a phase change transition from solid to liquid and back to be fully effective. Furthermore, most previous research...
Disinfection processes in passive wastewater treatment systems, which are dependent on natural purification, can be greatly influenced by environmental factors. In the Canadian Arctic, the passive systems face more challenges due to the extreme envir...
A courtyard is a traditional and popular construction feature found in China’s urban buildings. This case study evaluates the performance of the traditional courtyard design of the Jiangnan Museum, located in Jiangsu Province. In the evaluation...
Porous pavements are designed and used in current construction practices to address environmental and safety issues related to wet weather. Porous rubber pavement (PRP) is a novel porous pavement material consisting of recycled crumb tire rubbers, st...
This study explored the daylight performance, thermal comfort, and energy-saving level of enclosed-courtyard rural residences with covered roofs in a cold IIA region of China. Using daylight autonomy (DA), annual mean value of PMV (AUMPMV), and total...
Reducing the energy consumption of the existing building stock is of paramount importance in the race to reach national and international climate goals. While multiple initiatives are in place and provide guidance, heritage-protected buildings are of...
It is essential to develop effective mine waste management approaches and mine site reclamation techniques to curtail the adverse effects of mining processes on the natural environment. This study focuses on the use of partially desulphurized tailing...
The transition to renewable energy sources is vital for achieving sustainability, and photovoltaic (PV) systems play a key role in this shift. However, their performance can be significantly affected in snowy conditions, where the irradiation and ene...
In cold climates, maintaining indoor comfort in winter requires heating systems to supply consistent and adequate heat at low ambient temperatures, making the proper definition of indoor and outdoor design temperatures critical for equipment selectio...
Winter pavement maintenance faces challenges in balancing large-scale upkeep and driving safety, particularly regarding the application of active slow-release materials. This study proposes a gel-modified salt-storing ceramsite asphalt mixture to enh...
One of the measures to reduce energy consumption in buildings in Nordic countries is limiting the window area, as windows contribute to significantly higher heat loss than walls during a long hot season. This conflicts with user needs for daylight an...
In recent years, the conflict between human activities and the natural environment has led to global warming and extreme weather, which has provoked people into thinking about the climate adaptability of buildings. Historical blocks are usually built...
While it is well-known that cool roofs can efficiently reduce cooling demand in buildings, their overall energy performance in mixed and cold climates has been a topic of debate. This paper presents a comprehensive simulation study to evaluate the co...
Climate change is not only a likely prospect for the end of this century, but it is already occurring. Part of the changes will include global warming and increasing temperature variability, both at global and regional scales. This increased variabil...
The practice of physical activity in a variable climate during the same competition is becoming more and more common due to climate change and increasingly frequent climate disturbances. The main aim of this pilot study was to understand the impact o...
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