bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Hygrothermal Performance of simple intensive Green Roofs with Different Irrigation Schemes
Authors: Freudenberg P. , Hänicke P. , Kuzmanovska J. 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
Urban mesoclimate is formed by a multitude of factors enhancing climate change characteristics like increasing temperature levels, reduced air moisture content, atmospheric pollution or extreme rain events. All of these factors could be attenuated by green roof structures. Unfortunately, this potential is not being tapped in current building practice. The majority of erected green roofs are built as extensive, i.e. non-irrigated, types. This results in a poor mesoclimatic impact as the water contents of these roof substrate layers are meagre, and vegetation layers are more or less inactive during the dry, hot summer months. Intensive green roofs, on the other hand, require higher load-bearing capacities and costs, both often not eligible for refurbishments. A promising approach is a combination of simple intensive green roof structures featuring a thin substrate layer with reduced irrigation techniques, especially under the usage of grey water. The hygrothermal performance of these structures in comparison between different irrigation schemes and solar radiation levels is shown in this article. Measurements were performed over a period of about two years. Hygrothermal performance shows the importance of an optimised relationship between irrigation scheme, substrate type and thickness in order to achieve a sufficient evapotranspiration and temperature balancing effect.
Green roof evaluation and comparison during summer in Central Europe climate
Authors: Juras Peter 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
Greening structures, such as roofs or facades, attract the worldwide attention because of their multi-disciplinary benefits. Green roofs are considered to be one of the best ways to eliminate summer overheating, mitigate the climate change or reduce the urban heat island effect. Since 2020, experimental fragments of different green roofs are evaluated on the roof of one building in the university campus. Temperatures are measured within the roof and also in the additional green layers. Also the water retention is measured. In this paper, results of temperature measurements of three different types of protective layer on the single ply flat roof are presented. One is bare, unprotected PVC membrane, the other one is gravel and the third one is an extensive green roof. During the summer season and sunny days the daily amplitudes are reduced from approximately 56°C for the unprotected PVC membrane and 35 °C for the gravel to the 16 °C for the green roof. The gravel slightly reduced the maximum temperatures, but it has an accumulation capacity, which decelerates cooling of the surface and the heat emitted back to surroundings is higher. Water retention is also another benefit, which increases the reduction, but in this analysis the worst scenario with lack of any rainfall for more days was taken into account.
Infrared thermography application for in-situ determination of the building envelope thermal performance
Authors: Moga L , Moga I , Șoimoșan T , Moldovan I , Rădulescu M , Rădulescu A , Iancu I 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
During the phase of creating energy audit documentation, many calculations are needed when evaluating the thermal performance of building envelope components due to a large number of distinct components and junctions. Several computer programs are available to assess buildings’ energy consumption, using the thermal performance of building envelope elements as input data. These thermal performances are often provided with varying degrees of accuracy, typically only for the current field of the component, without considering the impact of thermal bridges. However, when using linear heat transfer coefficients ψ, the details provided in thermal bridges’ atlases do not cover all the case studies encountered in the current design, which often requires approximate details. In some cases, the technical documentation of the building is unavailable, which leads to various assumptions about the detailing of the building envelope and a non-realistic picture of the energy performance of the assessed building. The paper presents a methodology and accompanying software called THERMOG that evaluates the thermal performance of the building envelope under actual operating conditions using aerial and terrestrial thermography methods. The paper presents initial findings from some case studies used to calibrate the developed methodology.
Estimating time-dependent solar gains through opaque building envelope parts: an explorative study on a test box
Authors: Zhang Xiang , Aviv Dorit , Saelens Dirk , Roels Staf 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
Accurate estimation of the energy gain from solar radiation in buildings is necessary for building energy performance characterization, model predictive control (MPC), fault detection and diagnostics, etc. Solar radiation affects the buildings’ internal air temperature dynamics, either (directly) by penetrating the glazing or (indirectly) through the opaque building envelope. Nevertheless, no research has investigated the on-site data-driven modelling of the indirect effects of solar radiation i.e., additional solar gain through the opaque building envelope, marked as indirect solar gain. Therefore, this work aims to develop grey-box model-based techniques to characterize the dynamics of indirect solar gain. A test box, with overall dimensions of 120*120*120 cm3, that represents a simplified scale model of a building is examined, to provide an initial understanding of this matter. This test box is south-north orientated and has only one window of 60*60 cm2, positioned on its southern wall. On-site data associated with this text box was recorded during the summer (June-July) in Almeria, Spain. This simplified reduced-size text box satisfies the research goal very well to serve as a pilot case study, since the indirect solar gain was the dominant effect of solar radiation. Based on the in-situ data from this case, a three-dimensionally decomposed solar irradiance integrated grey-box modelling technique is proposed for characterizing the dynamics of indirect solar gain. Preliminary results from this study show that this technique can effectively reveal the key dynamics of indirect solar gain and outperform the classic grey-box model, based on limited low-frequency on-site measured data.
A holistic sustainability assessment of a zero-emission development in Norway
Authors: Wiik Marianne Kjendseth , González-Fernández Irene , Schneider-Marin Patricia 
Published: December 2023

AbstractThe decarbonisation of the construction sector is critical to meet national and international climate goals. Literature gives many examples of measures for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from buildings. However, few studies investigate the trade-offs between potentially conflicting GHG emission reduction measures or the affordability of these measures. Ydalir is a Zero Emission Neighbourhood (ZEN) pilot area in the Norwegian research centre for Zero Emission Neighbourhoods in smart cities. One of the major challenges Ydalir faces is how to reduce GHG emissions from the neighbourhood towards a net zero emission building (nZEB). Additional challenges include retaining social, environmental, and economical sustainability for both the project developer and building owners and avoid suboptimal solutions. This paper investigates the trade-offs between energy efficiency and material use for two scenarios. The scenarios are a Norwegian building code scenario and a passive house scenario. The analysis ascertains total energy demand, whole life cycle GHG emissions, and cost assessment for two housing units within Ydalir Torg. The results show lower total GHG emissions and lower GHG emissions from operational energy use in the passive house scenario, and an increase in GHG emissions from the production phase due to thicker levels of insulation. The cost assessment shows increased investment costs for the project developer in the passive house scenario, despite lower operational costs for the building owner. Total GHG emission payback times for the passive house scenario are at 18 - 19 years. Cost payback time varies between 10 - 37 years. This paper is useful for practitioners that wish to balance GHG emission reduction requirements between operational energy use, material use and affordability.
A comparative assessment of the development of GHG emission criteria and benchmark values for buildings in Norway
Authors: Wiik Marianne Kjendseth 
Published: December 2023

AbstractGHG emission criteria and benchmark values for buildings are being developed internationally to meet climate goals in the Paris agreement. However, there is a distinct lack of harmonisation in approaches making it difficult to compare construction projects or implement and apply benchmarking at a national or international level. Norway is no exception. In recent years, multiple GHG emission criteria and benchmark values have been developed and tested to measure and evaluate the environmental sustainability of Norwegian buildings during their life cycle. These include proposals from Ydalir Masterplan, the research centre for zero emission buildings in smart cities, FutureBuilt ZERO and BREEAM-NOR v6.0. This paper presents and reviews these approaches in relation to recent Norwegian building code requirements for the reporting of GHG emissions. The paper compares the approaches in terms of methodologies, typologies, reference study period, life cycle modules, building parts, limitations and advantages. The results show that there are large differences in approaches which leads to a disparity in benchmarking levels. Further work is required to harmonise and create an accepted branch standard for benchmarking GHG emissions from buildings for the construction industry in Norway. In addition, it would be of benefit to establish a national database for GHG emission accounting so that better benchmark values can be established.
Strategies for Low CO2-emission Schools in Norway
Authors: Felius L C , Brozovsky J , Smits F 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
Regional and national strategies targeting climate change are a driver for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Municipalities play an important role towards a sustainable society and in restructuring needed to reach the 2030 European Climate targets. They often require that new buildings shall be zero emission and that the building’s carbon footprint shall be reduced compared to a reference building, starting with public buildings. To reach low or zero emission buildings, the production of renewable energy must equal or outweigh the CO2-emissions associated with the building. The energy consumption of the building should be decreased before designing on-site renewable energy generation systems. This is ensured by following a holistic energy design approach: energy conservation, reducing electrical energy, efficient energy management and producing renewable energy. Although Norway has had a focus on low and zero emission buildings, there is a limited number of low CO2-emission schools. These are designed and constructed by various actors. Therefore, the practical experience and knowledge in the industry is scattered and still in development. This paper aims to summarize practical strategies for low CO2-emission schools in Norway. Several case studies were analyzed to identify common traits and interviews were conducted to identify opportunities, challenges and strategies.
Evaluation of the embodied carbon of insulation in achieving a national retrofit plan in Ireland: Probono case study and the national perspective
Authors: Sajadirad F. , O’Hegarty R. , Kinnane O. 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
Overall, the building and construction sector, in Ireland, was responsible for 23 % of final energy use and 37 % of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2021. Ireland boasts some of the most ambitious targets for Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission reduction to 2030 in the world. In Ireland, emissions related to the operation of the residential sector receive particular attention, and the government have introduced a National Retrofit Plan that aims to retrofit 500,000 (~25%) of the national housing stock by 2030. However, carbon emissions related to the achievement of this retrofit have not been quantified. This paper aims to outline the initial steps in evaluating the embodied carbon input of achieving a national retrofit plan of this unprecedented scale. Also, it aims to assess the relative carbon savings resulting from the production of materials to achieve retrofit plan. In the first stage, a case study of social housing, used in Probono project within the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown (DLR) local authority of Dublin City in Ireland is investigated as a best practice template for future retrofit projects. The embodied carbon of retrofit is evaluated. Then, a large housing sample set of DLR is evaluated in terms of Building Energy Rating (BER). This sample set is compared with the BER ratings of national stock to evaluate its representativeness. The results indicate that most of the dwellings on the sample set of DLR, in line with the national stock, are C and D rated and need to be retrofit to achieve B rating or better. In the final section, four types of nominal dwellings in Ireland are selected to evaluate the required volumes of thermal insulation and the added embodied carbon of retrofit to reach the national retrofit plan. The results demonstrate that ~30 million m3 of thermal insulation will be required for the national retrofit plan and it will add ~2 MtCO2 of the embodied carbon.
Sound insulation of slabs in dwellings
Authors: Miškinis Kęstutis , Bliudžius Raimondas , Buska Andrius 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
The well-being and sleeping quality of people in dwellings depends on appropriate sound insulation efficiency of building structures. In individual apartments, airborne sound is produced by people talking and music playing, and impact sound is produced by people walking and falling of various objects on the floor. The inter floor slab separating the individual dwellings is intended for airborne and impact noise insulation, so special attention is paid to its design and installation. Since the composition of this structure is primarily determined by the structural requirements, the improvement of the sound insulation performance is mainly carried out by developing the damping interlayer materials. The stone wool plate has been modified reducing the fiber intertwining to obtain a more uniform fiber directivity, thus reducing its dynamic stiffness. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the sound insulation efficiency of inter floor slabs with a new modification of stone wool damping interlayer in comparison with currently used mineral wool products. The experimental measurements in 50-5000 Hz frequency range were performed in construction site (real structures), the single-number quantities – weighted standardized level difference (DnTw) and weighted normalized impact sound pressure level (L‘nW) with living adaption term (C) were determined and compared. The research results demonstrated that the modified stone wool with reduced fiber intertwining and lover organic content used for damping interlayer enables to improve living sound insulation of inter floor slab comparing with existing stone wool materials.
Understanding Discrepancies between predicted and experienced (Dis)comfort for hospitalized Patients: Four Reasons explored
Authors: Willems Sara , Saelens Dirk , Heylighen Ann 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
Hospitalized patients’ healing process is affected by their room’s indoor environmental comfort. Models are developed to predict (dis)comfort. However, discrepancies with experienced (dis)comfort occur. Four reasons have been identified for these discrepancies: (a) people adapt, (b) in their experiences, indoor environmental quality (IEQ) factors interact, and experienced (dis)comfort and adaptation differ (c) between people and (d) between settings. To better understand these reasons and their relationships, it was investigated how hospitalized patients’ experiences of their indoor environment relate to measurable values of IEQ parameters. A multiple mixed methods case study was conducted at Belgian hospital wards. Data collection included interviews, self-documentation by patients, questionnaires, sensor measurements of IEQ parameters, and simulations of indoor conditions. Data were analysed in separate and integrated ways. (a) Five adaptation strategies were identified. They seem to impact experienced comfort psychologically in different ways. (b) IEQ factors interact in experiences because their assessment is influenced by the overall comfort. Adaptation strategies enable achieving the highest conceived overall comfort. (c and d) What one considers as comfortable and the adaptation strategies one applies to achieve it differ between participants and between settings. This better understanding is an important step towards improving comfort predictions, and therefore reducing discrepancies.
Thermal characterization of a novel heated glass element
Authors: Rovers T J H , Van ‘t Ende J A N , Gieling C W J , Struck C , Ribberink M 
Published: December 2023

AbstractAlthough the U-value of glazing has improved significantly in the last decades, the thermal transmittance of windows remains relatively high compared to opaque elements of the thermal shell. Consequently, glazing has a relatively low interior surface temperature in the heating season, which can cause thermal discomfort. A novel heated glass element has been developed, allowing for the control of its interior surface temperature. In-situ measurements were conducted on a heated glass element, with the objective to (i) characterize its thermal behaviour, (ii) assess its thermal performance and (iii) to assess its impact on thermal comfort. The examination of heating-up and cooling-down curves of the heated glass element revealed that cooling-down is a slower process (τ2of 100 – 145 minutes) than heating-up (τ2of 70-85 minutes). In terms of thermal performance, it is shown that most of the heat provided by the heated glass element is effectively directed towards the room, rather than lost to the outdoor environment. The efficiency depends on the temperature difference between interior glass surface and the room, with efficiencies of 58 – 65% reached at surface temperatures of 23 - 25 °C, and efficiencies of 90% reached at surface temperatures of 39 – 43 °C. Comparative measurements of thermal comfort in a room with the heated glazing, and in a room with conventional triple glazing show an improvement in operative temperature.
Parametric Thermal Simulations of an Airflow-Screen Façade System
Authors: Ohga H , Kimoto K 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
Energy-saving performance is required for building façades, and high-performance window systems, such as double-skin and airflow windows, are being considered as viable alternatives. However, those systems are costly owing to the increased number of glazing panes. Therefore, an airflow-screen façade system (AFS) that combines glazing, a blind, and a roller shade can be a viable solution. The design issues of AFS are the backflow to the indoor side and the effect of natural convection on indoor airflow when exhaust fans are not in use during holidays and at nighttime. However, only few studies exist on the annual thermal behavior of AFS. In this study, based on the thermal load calculation program NewHASP, a simulation model of AFS was built using a thermal node solar heat gain model and a ventilation network model. Sensitivity analysis of the maximum and annual thermal load were performed with the following parameters of the AFS: roller shade airtightness, glazing type, blind slat angle control system, window orientation, and exhaust fan air volume. The results of the sensitivity analysis indicate that the maximum and annual thermal loads were the most sensitive to were the direction the window faces and the airtightness of the roller shade.
Thermal performance of indoor solar shading devices using a thermal nodal model and a lighting simulation model
Authors: Kimoto K , Ohga H , Ohki C , Yoshizawa N , Nagai T 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
Various facade designs, such as light shelves, have been proposed to achieve zero emission buildings. However, general thermal load simulation models are unable to properly evaluate the thermal effects of spaces near windows, such as light shelves and counters, which are installed on the interior side of windows for increased daylight utilization. In this study, we propose a method to evaluate the thermal performance of indoor light shelves. The model proposed herein consists of three components: A thermal nodal model of the window area, a lighting simulation model, and a thermal simulation model. The thermal nodal model places a node at each device (glass, ceiling, light shelf, and floor) in the light shelf space. The heat balance equation for each node is then solved. In doing so, the total transmittance of the entire indoor-installed device space, which considers inter-reflections and the solar radiation absorptance of each device, is calculated using the Radiance software. Additionally, the solar heat gain obtained using the thermal nodal model is substituted internally into NewHASP, and the thermal load calculation is performed. Finally, a simulation is performed using an office model, and the indoor-installed light shelf exhibited a 14 % reduction in annual thermal load.
Influence of window recess on solar loads, heat loss and external condensation
Authors: Wittchen Kim B. , Rose Jørgen , Nielsen Anker 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
The current architectural preference for the recess of windows is in line with the forefront of the building facade. The recess of a window has consequences for: solar loads, heat loss, and risk of outside condensation. This paper presents an analysis of these issues in relation to variations in recess depth and differences in orientation of the window. The solar load in buildings is highly influenced by the depth of the window recess, depending on the orientation. Solar gains both contribute to heating the building during the heating season, but also to overheating in other periods. The latter being especially important for other buildings than residential buildings. This is analysed for different window orientations and size (height and width) as wells as the recess depth. Recess depth also influences the overall heat loss though the facade and window and is analysed through detailed calculations. Last, but not least, condensation on the external face of modern low energy windows causes a serious issue regarding visual comfort in the mornings during periods with clear weather and low outdoor temperatures. Analyses of the recess depth influence on the outside condensation risk is presented. The issues regarding the recess depth for facade windows is analysed using dynamic simulations of different window and recess depths in different orientations in combination with 2D static calculations of the overall heat loss coefficient for the total window and facade construction in typical highly insulated facade constructions.