1,721,033 research outputs found
Challenges and opportunities of Internet-of-Things in occupant-centric building operations: towards a life cycle assessment framework
Get PDFThe urgency to address the environmental impacts of the building sector, particularly emissions allocated to building operation, necessitates immediate, informed action. Occupant behaviour is a known driver of building operational emissions. Use of Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices holds great potential in mitigating and distributing occupancy-driven energy demand, ultimately aiming for net-zero emissions. However, a full accounting of the environmental impacts and advantages is still lacking. As the adoption of IoT scales up, what will be the environmental impact of the tools used, from sensor life cycle to data storage? This study reviews the interdisciplinary literature on life cycle assessment (LCA) of IoT in buildings, encompassing emissions from pre-deployment to end-of-life, as well as savings from reduced building operational emissions. This opens a vital discourse on the opportunities and challenges of building-related IoT
Zostera Marina: Reusing History for a Sustainable Future: An investigation of the possible implementation of eelgrass in the building industry.
No full textAs the climate changes continuously become more evident, it is clear that action is necessary. With the building industry being one of the big contributors to the global energy consumption and CO2 emissions, the industry is an important parameter in the reduction of the global energy consumption and CO2 emissions. This thesis therefore investigates the use of eelgrass as a biobased building material. The report determines advantages and disadvantages of eelgrass as a building material, based on analysis of historic and current use, of material properties, and by comparing the existing eelgrass products with similar building products.The possible utilisations of eelgrass as a building material are showcased by presenting examples of the material applied in renovations as well as in new build. For the new build example, a small exhibition building showcasing and raising awareness of eelgrass is designed. Through the works of the thesis, it is established that eelgrass products have properties similar to or even better than existing biobased and mineral materials. On some parameters the eelgrass materials perform better than both biobased and conventional building materials. The eelgrass performs well on parameters such as thermal- and acoustic insulation, and additionally has a low Global Warming Potential. The biggest challenge of upscaling the use of eelgrass in the building industry is the lack of resource, due partly to the oxygen depletion of the Danish waters.<br/
Zero
No full textLondon seems to be stuck in a continuous housing crisis and faces a difficult future with fewer housing units being built every year. This tendency can be experienced in all bigger cities around the world, which is a serious problem considered the fact that the building and construction sector is already responsible for nearly 40 percent of energy-related greenhouse emissions. In UK homes, 62 % of the energy is used for space heating, which is one crucial factor that we aim to tackle with our thesis.Our thesis is an investigation on how to apply a low-tech approach in order to lower the overall energy demand of the building.To do so, we carried out an integrated design process with iterative approaches including simulations and prototyping, which had an essential impact on the shaping of the final design. Our findings show that there is a high potential of an alternative approach to the high-tech implementation systems, such as an HVAC system, in residential buildings and that a low-tech approach can be adopted in a reuse project in order to lower the overall energy demand of the building
Green Meadow - Sustainable Housing of Tomorrow
No full textThe project takes offset in the issue of the ever continuing need for housing and an increase in size that renders the stricter building regulations almost indifferent. Through state-of-the-art research, the project works with the topic of small living and living in communities, while investigating how to ensure quality of living. The project focuses on lowering life cycle energy, both through the energy used for materials and for opeating the building afterwards. Using LCA to examine materials in correlation to indoor environment and exspression, the project revolves around the use of passive and active strategies to develop the optimal design.The result is realized on a site in Skæring, Denmark with 80 new homes, ranging from 73-91 m2. The project is based upon ensuring the qualities of the single family home, into a smaller and more common housing unit, through built-in furniture, multifunctionality and flexibility. Furthermore, the units are optimized acording to energy use and leaves the total use of a life time, much smaller, than for the modern single family home
The Path
No full textThis master’s thesis features a design proposal for a24-hour rehabilitation center for drug addicts locatedin Rold Skov, Denmark. Through the initial researchfor the thesis, it was found that current rehabilitationcenters across Denmark mostly share the same architecturalchallenges. Their expression, spatial layout,and provided functions for the users are often substandardand there is often a lack of focus on the users’needs for self-fulfillment. Furthermore, currentoffers are typically old, renovated, two-story buildings,that are often inaccessible and poorly designedfor the many moving impaired users.The concept of this design proposal revolves aroundbringing structure to the daily routines of the clientsthrough clear architectural programming, while alsointroducing functions that ensure the clients havetheir esteem needs and self-fulfillment needs met,in accordance with Maslow’s theory on the hierarchyof needs. The users’ needs for esteem and self-fulfillmentwill be addressed through the implementationof e.g., workshops, greenhouses, and other activities.To facilitate a structured setting for rehabilitation,the architecture provides legibility in the spatial layout,as a division of the functions creates an easilyunderstandable environment for the clients to recover.Furthermore, designing a home for the residentsto live in and giving them a homely atmosphere inthe social spaces as well as private spaces is pivotalfor this project. Including therapeutic rooms fortherapy, mindfulness and yoga is also important, asthese are some of the primary functions of a rehabilitationcenter.This thesis displays the research, analysis, and designprocess, utilizing the integrated and iterative designprocess. This culminates in a design proposal that inspiresa new take on rehabilitation centers, and howprogramming, functions and adaptive opportunitiescan provide a healing environment that helps to fosterlong term recovery for the users
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