scholarly journals Urban Form Compaction and Energy Use Intensity in New Social Housing Neighborhoods in the UAE

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 3815
Author(s):  
Ahmed ◽  
Alipour
Keyword(s):  
Social Housing ◽  
Urban Form ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Computational Method ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Coverage Area ◽  
Climate Zone ◽  
Urban Forms ◽  
The Impact

With increasing global awareness of sustainable development, federal and local authorities in the UAE have developed agendas for energy efficiency in all development sectors, especially for buildings and urban development. With the belief that urban form is integral to urban sustainability, several recently developed single-family social housing neighborhoods in the UAE have shifted from conventional sprawling urban forms to more compact ones. Unfortunately, the impact of this shift on operational and cooling energy use intensities (EUIs) is unknown. Adopting a comparative computational method, this study investigates the effect of compact urban morphologies on EUIs. In addition to a case study representing conventional urban sprawls, six recently designed housing neighborhoods in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Al Ain were selected to represent new compact urban forms. This study uncovered an inconsistent relationship between floor area ratio (FAR) and average housing operational and cooling EUIs. To justify these results, the effects of increased lot coverage area, street grid patterns, building configurations, and climate zone on operational and cooling EUIs were studied, and all except climate zone were proven effective. This study concludes that the current design philosophy of compacting the urban form has not successfully met the Emirates Green Building Council’s (GBC) sustainable operational EUI benchmark of 90 kWh/m2/y. While further urban compactness (i.e., increased FARs) is needed, the other urban morphological measures examined in this study should be considered for achieving a more sustainable urban form for social housing.

scholarly journals Comfort within Budget: Assessing the Cost-Effectiveness of Envelope Improvements in Single-Family Affordable Housing

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3054
Author(s):  
Renata Tubelo ◽  
Lucelia Rodrigues ◽  
Mark Gillott ◽  
May Zune
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Thermal Conditions ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Housing Type ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

In Brazil, the delivery of homes for low-inc ome households is dictated by costs rather than performance. Issues such as the impact of climate change, affordability of operational energy use, and lack of energy security are not taken into account, even though they can severely impact the occupants. In this work, the authors evaluated the thermal performance of two affordable houses as-built and after the integration of envelope improvements. A new replicable method to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of these improvements was proposed. The case study houses comprise the most common affordable housing type delivered widely across Brazil and a proposition of a better affordable housing solution, built in Porto Alegre, southern Brazil, integrating passive design strategies to increase thermal comfort. The findings reveal a potential for improving indoor thermal conditions by up to 76% and 73%, respectively, if costs are not a concern, and 40% and 45% with a cost increase of 12% and 9% if a comfort criterion of 20–25 °C was considered. Equations to estimate costs of improvements in affordable housing were developed. The authors concluded that there is a great scope for building envelope optimisation, and that this is still possible without significant impact on budget.

scholarly journals The transformations of the peripheral urban form in Brazilian listed heritage coastal cities and their morphological typologies: classification and concepts

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramon Fortunato Gomes
Keyword(s):  
Urban Form ◽  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Brazilian Coast ◽  
Urban Forms ◽  
Territorial Planning ◽  
Forest Law ◽  
Peripheral Areas ◽  
Object Of Study ◽  
The Impact

This paper presents the results of my PhD research in architecture and urbanism, which analyzes an urban form and its use as a territorial planning tool. The object of study was the protected historic cities listed on the Brazilian coast, which have restrictions on building construction. These cities are influenced by urban flows, the impact of the metropolitan dynamics, and contemporary transformations. The research discusses the rigidity of the building legislation in the urban perimeter of these cities, while urban transformations and informal growth take place in peripheral areas in varied forms, types and arrangements. It aims to identify, classify and conceptualize the morphological types that appear as urban occurrences and consolidate as dispersed informal nuclei. Such urban occurrences are due to the building restrictions, the lack of territorial planning, and the contemporary globalized model of life, which shapes social inequality in urban expansion. The research methodology consisted of a perimeter survey of the 27 heritage listed cities on the Brazilian coast, according to the parameters obtained by Brazilian Forest Law (12.651/2012) and Brazilian Urban Land Parceling Law (Law 6.766/1979). Also, imagery collected by Google Earth was used to identify urban formations that deviate from legislation, similarly to the object of study. As a result, 16 types of urban forms were classified, which consolidated as nuclei of dispersed formations and were linked to an informal urban structural network. Also, territorial planning guidelines were designed, using the analysis of urban forms as a tool for urban transformation.

scholarly journals Determining Adequate Information for Green Building Occupant Training Materials

2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 143-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Steinberg ◽  
Melissa Patchan ◽  
Christian Schunn ◽  
Amy Landis
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Staff ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Empirical Test ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Green Buildings ◽  
Change Behaviors ◽  
Types Of Information ◽  
Willingness To Use ◽  
The Impact

As knowledge of the built environment's impact on resource and energy use increases, industry leaders are moving toward a healthier, more sustainable solution by building green. Though green buildings have the ability to improve occupant health and productivity, it is not clear what impact the behaviors of building occupants have on the building. New systems and technologies in green buildings require building occupants to think and operate differently in their new green environment, otherwise risking not fully gaining the benefits of the new facility. The new behaviors necessary to the success of the green building are not necessarily obvious or trivial. They cannot simply be learned “on-the-job;” rather the transformation will require formal education. It likely requires changing attitudes and beliefs in addition to building a robust understanding of new procedures. This study sought to determine the amount of information necessary to change occupants' willingness to use new energy-efficient behaviors not followed in the conventional building. An empirical test comparing four versions of the same training, each with varying amounts and types of information was presented to three different populations: nursing staff of a green building, clinical staff of a green building, and nursing staff of a conventional building. Results show that knowledge of green building standards and the impact of energy saving behaviors are the information necessary to increase willingness to change behaviors. Also, staff members of the new, green building are more willing to change behaviors than staff of the conventional building.

Effects of occupant behaviour on energy performance in buildings: a green and non-green building comparison

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 1939-1962 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Almeida ◽  
Vivian W.Y. Tam ◽  
Khoa N. Le ◽  
Yujuan She
Keyword(s):  
Energy Use ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Simulation Models ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Occupant Behaviour ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Building Simulations ◽  
University Buildings ◽  
Input Variables ◽  
The Impact

PurposeOccupants are one of the most impacting factors in the overall energy performance of buildings, according to literature. Occupants’ behaviours and actions may impact the overall use of energy in more than 50%. In order to quantify the impact that occupant behaviour has in the use of energy, this study simulated interactions between occupants and the systems present in two actual buildings. The main aim was to compare the deviations due to occupant behaviour with the actual conditions and energy use of the two buildings.Design/methodology/approachThe buildings used as a case study in this research were green buildings, rated according to the Australian Green Star certification system as a 6-star and a non-rated building. The two buildings are university buildings with similar characteristics, from Western Sydney University, in Sydney, Australia. A comparison was performed by means of building simulations among the use of energy in both buildings, aiming to understand if the green rating had any impact on the energy related to occupant behaviour. Therefore, to represent the actual buildings' conditions, the actual data related with climate, geometry, systems, internal loads, etc. were used as input variables in the simulation models of the green and the non-rated buildings. Both models were calibrated and validated, having as target the actual monitored use of electricity.FindingsOccupants were categorized according to their levels of energy use as follows: saving, real and intensive energy users. Building simulations were performed to each building, with varying parameters related with lighting, plug loads, windows/doors opening, shading and air conditioning set points. Results show that occupant behaviour may impact the buildings' energy performance in a range of 72% between the two extremes. There is no significant relationship between the green rating and the way occupants behave in terms of the energy use.Originality/valueThis study intends to show the impact of different categories of occupant behaviour in the overall energy performance of two university buildings, a non-rated and a green-rated building, having as reference an actual representation of the buildings. Additionally, the study aims to understand the main differences between a green-rated and a non-rated building when accounting with the previous categories.

scholarly journals Exploring the Potential of a Gamified Approach to Reduce Energy Use and Carbon Emissions in the Household Sector

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3380
Author(s):  
Marta Gangolells ◽  
Miquel Casals ◽  
Marcel Macarulla ◽  
Núria Forcada
Keyword(s):  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Social Housing ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Cumulative Energy ◽  
Cumulative Energy Demand ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Funded Project ◽  
The Impact

This paper analyzes the impact of an innovative approach based on gamification to promote reduced energy consumption in social housing. The game was developed and validated under the auspices of the EU-funded project EnerGAware-Energy Game for Awareness of energy efficiency in social housing communities in an affordable housing pilot located in Plymouth (United Kingdom). The results showed that the future exploitation of the game holds important energy- and emissions-saving potential. Assuming that the game is distributed freely by European energy providers to their domestic end-users, the game was found to be able to save more than 48.9 secondary terawatt-hours per year (TWhs) and 18.8 million tons of CO2e annually, contributing up to around 8% to the target set for the European buildings sector to keep global warming under 2 °C. The results also showed that the game is highly feasible from the energy point of view, even when we consider the energy consumed upstream, due to its low cumulative energy demand and its potential for household energy reduction. The results of this research provide helpful information for private and public stakeholders, as they contribute to determining the sustainability of promoting energy saving through gaming.

scholarly journals Urban Form and Mobility Choices: Informing about Sustainable Travel Alternatives, Carbon Emissions and Energy Use from Transportation in Swedish Neighbourhoods

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todor Stojanovski
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Urban Form ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Transportation Systems ◽  
Transportation Energy ◽  
Urban Forms ◽  
Planning And Design ◽  
Urban Planning And Design

The lack of mobility choices in many Swedish neighbourhoods and cities designed for automobiles hinders the possibilities to shift towards more sustainable travel alternatives. Urban designers and planners can help with redesigning these neighbourhoods and creating urban forms that encourage walking, cycling and increased use of public transportation if they are informed about the environmental performance and carbon implications of transportation systems in existing and newly planned neighbourhoods. This paper proposes a mobility choices model based on urban form and accessibility factors commonly used in urban planning and design practices. The mobility choices model produces heat maps and visually informs about the integration with walking, cycling, public transportation and private car, modal shares, carbon emissions and transportation energy use. This information can (potentially) trigger urban transformation or redesign to better integrate sustainable travel alternatives in these neighbourhoods and contribute to more sustainable cities. Many houses can have an excellent environmental performance as buildings but they can be located at a distance where it is impossible to walk, cycle or use public transportation. The benefits of energy efficient and carbon neutral home then disappears with extensive travel and commuting by automobile.

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