Almost half of the total energy produced in the developed world is inefficiently used to heat, cool, ventilate and control humidity in buildings, to meet the increasingly high thermal comfort levels demanded by occupants. The utilisation of advanced materials and passive technologies in buildings would substantially reduce the energy demand and improve the environmental impact and carbon footprint of building stock worldwide.Materials for energy efficiency and thermal comfort in buildings critically reviews the advanced building materials applicable for improving the built environment. Part one reviews both fundamental building physics and occupant comfort in buildings, from heat and mass transport, hygrothermal behaviour, and ventilation, on to thermal comfort and health and safety requirements.Part two details the development of advanced materials and sustainable technologies for application in buildings, beginning with a review of lifecycle assessment and environmental profiling of materials. The section moves on to review thermal insulation materials, materials for heat and moisture control, and heat energy storage and passive cooling technologies. Part two concludes with coverage of modern methods of construction, roofing design and technology, and benchmarking of façades for optimised building thermal performance.Finally, Part three reviews the application of advanced materials, design and technologies in a range of existing and new building types, including domestic, commercial and high-performance buildings, and buildings in hot and tropical climates.This book is of particular use to, mechanical, electrical and HVAC engineers, architects and low-energy building practitioners worldwide, as well as to academics and researchers in the fields of building physics, civil and building engineering, and materials science. - Explores improving energy efficiency and thermal comfort through material selection and sustainable technologies - Documents the development of advanced materials and sustainable technologies for applications in building design and construction - Examines fundamental building physics and occupant comfort in buildings featuring heat and mass transport, hygrothermal behaviour and ventilation

This timely volume brings together case studies that address the urgent need to manage energy use and improve thermal comfort in modern buildings while preserving their historic significance and character. This collection of ten case studies addresses the issues surrounding the improvement of energy consumption and thermal comfort in modern buildings built between 1928 and 1969 and offers valuable lessons for other structures facing similar issues. These buildings, international in scope and diverse in type, style, and size, range from the Shulman House, a small residence in Los Angeles, to the TD Bank Tower, a skyscraper complex in Toronto, and from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, a cultural venue in Lisbon, to the Van Nelle Factory in Rotterdam, now an office building. Showing ingenuity and sensitivity, the case studies consider improvements to such systems as heating, cooling, lighting, ventilation, and controls. They provide examples that demonstrate best practices in conservation and show ways to reduce carbon footprints, minimize impacts to historic materials and features, and introduce renewable energy sources, in compliance with energy codes and green-building rating systems. The Conserving Modern Heritage series, launched in 2019, is written by architects, engineers, conservators, scholars, and allied professionals. The books in this series provide well-vetted case studies that address the challenges of conserving twentieth-century heritage.

In this book we seek to approach the architecture-energy combination and its relationship to human comfort and the environment .There are chapters on thermal comfort, low energy architecture dealing with various criterion for comfort in different parts of the World. The book also seeks to understand how previous generations lived in harsh climates and without abundant sources of energy, yet managed to design and build appropriate dwellings providing both comfort and harmony with the environment.Other chapters deal with the bioclimatic concept in Vernacular Architecture; the major role which climate plays at different locations and how this can dictate the shape and form of the buildings and save energy; the importance of micro-climate and its various elements and usage; ventilation and its importance in buildings and the technology for modern architecture.

This book discusses the design of comfortable buildings and shows that design perception and, as a result, comfort should be an intentional feature of architectural design. Modern buildings are often sealed boxes without operable windows or daylighting design. However, contemporary designers increasingly find themselves faced with the task of creating spaces that are comfortable in terms of thermal and visual aspects.

A unique and revolutionary text which explains the principles behind the LT Method (2.1), a manual design tool developed in Cambridge by the BRE. The LT Method is a unique way of estimating the combined energy usage of lighting, heating, cooling and ventilation systems, to enable the designer to make comparisons between options at an early, strategic stage. In addition,Energy and Environment in Architecture the book deals with other environmental issues such as noise, thermal comfort and natural ventilation design. A variety of case studies provide a critique of real buildings and highlight good practice. These topics include thermal comfort, noise and natural ventilation.

The fundamental function of buildings is to provide safe and healthy shelter. For the fortunate they also provide comfort and delight. In the twentieth century comfort became a 'product' produced by machines and run on cheap energy. In a world where fossil fuels are becoming ever scarcer and more expensive, and the climate more extreme, the challenge of designing comfortable buildings today requires a new approach. This timely book is the first in a trilogy from leaders in the field which will provide just that. It explains, in a clear and comprehensible manner, how we stay comfortable by using our bodies, minds, buildings and their systems to adapt to indoor and outdoor conditions which change with the weather and the climate. The book is in two sections. The first introduces the principles on which the theory of adaptive thermal comfort is based. The second explains how to use field studies to measure thermal comfort in practice and to analyze the data gathered. Architects have gradually passed responsibility for building performance to service engineers who are largely trained to see comfort as the ‘product’, designed using simplistic comfort models. The result has contributed to a shift to buildings that use ever more energy. A growing international consensus now calls for low-energy buildings. This means designers must first produce robust, passive structures that provide occupants with many opportunities to make changes to suit their environmental needs. Ventilation using free, natural energy should be preferred and mechanical conditioning only used when the climate demands it. This book outlines the theory of adaptive thermal comfort that is essential to understand and inform such building designs. This book should be required reading for all students, teachers and practitioners of architecture, building engineering and management – for all who have a role in producing, and occupying, twenty-first century adaptive, low-carbon, comfortable buildings.

Energy performance feedback is an essential tool in addressing the current climate crisis. However, this is not simply another theoretical text about energy performance in buildings. This book is for anyone who wants to better understand how energy is used in buildings, and how to drive down operational energy use – whether you’re an architect, student, client, building services engineer, contractor, building operator or other stakeholder. Focusing on evidence from feedback on buildings in use, it explains what it takes to get them to perform as expected, as well as the reasons why they often fail. Energy, People, Buildings draws extensively on the findings of studies, UK government-funded building performance evaluations and on original research into seven case studies from across the UK and abroad that have achieved exemplary energy use through building performance feedback. Providing a clear roadmap to understanding aspects that impact building users’ comfort and satisfaction, it also outlines the factors behind energy use and how to track it across the life of a project to ensure that your building performs as intended. Case studies include: the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool; Rocky Mountain Institute Innovation Center, Colorado; and Carrowbreck Meadow, Norwich. Featured architects: AHMM, AHR, Architype, Hamson Barron Smith, Haworth Tompkins, Henning Larsen Architects and ZGF Architects.