Damage to building stock due to the 1999 Izmit earthquake

The number of buildings renovated following the introduction of European energy-efficiency policy represents a small number of buildings in Spain. So, the main Spanish building stock needs an urgent energy renovation. Using passive strategies is essential, and thermal characterization and predictive tests of the energy-efficiency improvements achieving acceptable levels of comfort for their users are urgently necessary. This study analyzes the energy performance and thermal comfort of the users in a typical Mediterranean dwelling house. A transient simulation has been used to acquire the scope of Spanish standards for its energy rehabilitation, taking into account standard comfort conditions. The work is based on thermal monitoring of the building and a numerical validated model developed in TRNSYS. Energy demands for different models have been calculated considering different passive constructive measures combined with real wind site conditions and the behavior of users related to natural ventilation. This methodology has given us the necessary information to decide the best solution in relation to energy demand and facility of implementation. The thermal comfort for different models is not directly related to energy demand and has allowed checking when and where the measures need to be done.

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Building stock market resilience through digital transformation: using Google trends to analyze the impact of COVID-19 pandemic

Frontiers of Business Research in China ◽

10.1186/s11782-020-00089-z ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ding Ding ◽

Chong Guan ◽

Calvin M. L. Chan ◽

Wenting Liu

Keyword(s):

Stock Market ◽

Stock Prices ◽

Stock Price ◽

Digital Transformation ◽

Google Trends ◽

Building Stock ◽

Market Sentiment ◽

Price Performance ◽

Novel Coronavirus ◽

The Impact

Abstract As the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic rages globally, its impact has been felt in the stock markets around the world. Amidst the gloomy economic outlook, certain sectors seem to have survived better than others. This paper aims to investigate the sectors that have performed better even as market sentiment is affected by the pandemic. The daily closing stock prices of a total usable sample of 1,567 firms from 37 sectors are first analyzed using a combination of hierarchical clustering and shape-based distance (SBD) measures. Market sentiment is modeled from Google Trends on the COVID-19 pandemic. This is then analyzed against the time series of daily closing stock prices using augmented vector autoregression (VAR). The empirical results indicate that market sentiment towards the pandemic has significant effects on the stock prices of the sectors. Particularly, the stock price performance across sectors is differentiated by the level of the digital transformation of sectors, with those that are most digitally transformed, showing resilience towards negative market sentiment on the pandemic. This study contributes to the existing literature by incorporating search trends to analyze market sentiment, and by showing that digital transformation moderated the stock market resilience of firms against concern over the COVID-19 outbreak.

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How Can Scientific Literature Support Decision-Making in the Renovation of Historic Buildings? An Evidence-Based Approach for Improving the Performance of Walls

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13042266 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 2266

Author(s):

Valentina Marincioni ◽

Virginia Gori ◽

Ernst Jan de Place Hansen ◽

Daniel Herrera-Avellanosa ◽

Sara Mauri ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Energy Performance ◽

Decision Makers ◽

Cultural Value ◽

Correct Selection ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Historic Buildings ◽

Indoor Environmental Quality ◽

Building Stock ◽

Advantages And Disadvantages ◽

Assessment Design

Buildings of heritage significance due to their historical, architectural, or cultural value, here called historic buildings, constitute a large proportion of the building stock in many countries around the world. Improving the performance of such buildings is necessary to lower the carbon emissions of the stock, which generates around 40% of the overall emissions worldwide. In historic buildings, it is estimated that heat loss through external walls contributes significantly to the overall energy consumption, and is associated with poor thermal comfort and indoor air quality. Measures to improve the performance of walls of historic buildings require a balance between energy performance, indoor environmental quality, heritage significance, and technical compatibility. Appropriate wall measures are available, but the correct selection and implementation require an integrated process throughout assessment (planning), design, construction, and use. Despite the available knowledge, decision-makers often have limited access to robust information on tested retrofit measures, hindering the implementation of deep renovation. This paper provides an evidence-based approach on the steps required during assessment, design, and construction, and after retrofitting through a literature review. Moreover, it provides a review of possible measures for wall retrofit within the deep renovation of historic buildings, including their advantages and disadvantages and the required considerations based on context.

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Impacts on Indoor Thermal Comfort and Heating Energy Use in Hellenic Dwellings from Occupant Behavioral Reactions

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11146254 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (14) ◽

pp. 6254

Author(s):

Elena G. Dascalaki ◽

Constantinos A. Balaras

Keyword(s):

Thermal Comfort ◽

Energy Use ◽

Energy Savings ◽

Local Heating ◽

Economic Recession ◽

Heating System ◽

Building Stock ◽

Heating Systems ◽

Indoor Thermal Comfort ◽

Energy Audits

In an effort to reduce the operational cost of their dwellings, occupants may even have to sacrifice their indoor thermal comfort conditions. Following the economic recession in Greece over recent years, homeowners have been forced to adapt their practices by shortening heating hours, lowering the indoor thermostat settings, isolating spaces that are not heated or even turning off their central heating system and using alternative local heating systems. This paper presents the results from over 100 occupant surveys using questionnaires and walk-through energy audits in Hellenic households that documented how occupants operated the heating systems in their dwellings and the resulting indoor thermal comfort conditions and actual energy use. The results indicate that the perceived winter thermal comfort conditions were satisfactory in only half of the dwellings, since the actual operating space heating periods averaged only 5 h (compared with the assumed 18 h in standard conditions), while less than half heated their entire dwellings and only a fifth maintained an indoor setpoint temperature of 20 °C, corresponding to standard comfort conditions. Mainstream energy conservation measures include system maintenance, switching to more efficient systems, reducing heat losses and installing controls. This information is then used to derive empirical adaptation factors for bridging the gap between the calculated and actual energy use, making more realistic estimates of the expected energy savings following building renovations, setting prudent targets for energy efficiency and developing effective plans toward a decarbonized building stock.

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Emissions and power demand in optimal energy retrofit scenarios of the Finnish building stock by 2050

Sustainable Cities and Society ◽

10.1016/j.scs.2021.102896 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 70 ◽

pp. 102896

Author(s):

Janne Hirvonen ◽

Juhani Heljo ◽

Juha Jokisalo ◽

Antti Kurvinen ◽

Arto Saari ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Power Demand ◽

Building Stock ◽

Energy Retrofit ◽

Optimal Energy

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Fragility curves for Italian URM buildings based on a hybrid method

Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering ◽

10.1007/s10518-021-01155-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

A. Sandoli ◽

G. P. Lignola ◽

B. Calderoni ◽

A. Prota

Keyword(s):

Seismic Vulnerability ◽

Fragility Curves ◽

Limit State ◽

Ultimate Limit State ◽

Masonry Building ◽

Masonry Buildings ◽

Seismic Behaviour ◽

Building Stock ◽

Ground Acceleration ◽

Damage Scenario

AbstractA hybrid seismic fragility model for territorial-scale seismic vulnerability assessment of masonry buildings is developed and presented in this paper. The method combines expert-judgment and mechanical approaches to derive typological fragility curves for Italian residential masonry building stock. The first classifies Italian masonry buildings in five different typological classes as function of age of construction, structural typology, and seismic behaviour and damaging of buildings observed following the most severe earthquakes occurred in Italy. The second, based on numerical analyses results conducted on building prototypes, provides all the parameters necessary for developing fragility functions. Peak-Ground Acceleration (PGA) at Ultimate Limit State attainable by each building’s class has been chosen as an Intensity Measure to represent fragility curves: three types of curve have been developed, each referred to mean, maximum and minimum value of PGAs defined for each building class. To represent the expected damage scenario for increasing earthquake intensities, a correlation between PGAs and Mercalli-Cancani-Sieber macroseismic intensity scale has been used and the corresponding fragility curves developed. Results show that the proposed building’s classes are representative of the Italian masonry building stock and that fragility curves are effective for predicting both seismic vulnerability and expected damage scenarios for seismic-prone areas. Finally, the fragility curves have been compared with empirical curves obtained through a macroseismic approach on Italian masonry buildings available in literature, underlining the differences between the methods.

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Proposal for a Methodology for Sustainable Rehabilitation Strategies of the Existing Building Stock—The Ponte Gêa Neighborhood

Designs ◽

10.3390/designs5020026 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 26

Author(s):

Michael M. Santos ◽

João C. G. Lanzinha ◽

Ana Vaz Ferreira

Keyword(s):

Urban Space ◽

Construction And Demolition Waste ◽

Expected Improvement ◽

Water Efficiency ◽

Building Stock ◽

Demolition Waste ◽

Existing Building ◽

Agenda 2030 ◽

Development Agenda ◽

The City

Having in mind the objectives of the United Nations Development Agenda 2030, which refers to the sustainable principles of a circular economy, it is urgent to improve the performance of the built environment. The existing buildings must be preserved and improved in order to reduce their environmental impact, in line with the need to revert climate change and reduce the occurrence of natural disasters. This work had as its main goal to identify and define a methodology for promoting the rehabilitation of buildings in the Ponte Gêa neighborhood, in the city of Beira, Mozambique, with an emphasis on energy efficiency, water efficiency, and construction and demolition waste management. The proposed methodology aims to create a decision support method for creating strategic measures to be implemented by considering the three specific domains—energy, water, and waste. This model allows for analyzing the expected improvement according to the action to be performed, exploring both individual and community solutions. It encompasses systems of standard supply that can reveal greater efficiency and profitability. Thus, the in-depth knowledge of the characteristics of urban space and buildings allows for establishing guidelines for the renovation process of the neighborhood.

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Optimal Renovation Strategies through Life-Cycle Analysis in a Pilot Building Located in a Mild Mediterranean Climate

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11041423 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 1423

Author(s):

José Manuel Salmerón Lissen ◽

Cristina Isabel Jareño Escudero ◽

Francisco José Sánchez de la Flor ◽

Miriam Navarro Escudero ◽

Theoni Karlessi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Life Cycle Cost ◽

Mediterranean Climate ◽

Building Envelope ◽

Economic Life ◽

Hot Water ◽

Optimal Solutions ◽

Building Stock ◽

Existing Building ◽

The Cost

The 2030 climate and energy framework includes EU-wide targets and policy objectives for the period 2021–2030 of (1) at least 55% cuts in greenhouse gas emissions (from 1990 levels); (2) at least 32% share for renewable energy; and (3) at least 32.5% improvement in energy efficiency. In this context, the methodology of the cost-optimal level from the life-cycle cost approach has been applied to calculate the cost of renovating the existing building stock in Europe. The aim of this research is to analyze a pilot building using the cost-optimal methodology to determine the renovation measures that lead to the lowest life-cycle cost during the estimated economic life of the building. The case under study is an apartment building located in a mild Mediterranean climate (Castellon, SP). A package of 12 optimal solutions has been obtained to show the importance of the choice of the elements and systems for renovating building envelopes and how energy and economic aspects influence this choice. Simulations have shown that these packages of optimal solutions (different configurations for the building envelope, thermal bridges, airtightness and ventilation, and domestic hot water production systems) can provide savings in the primary energy consumption of up to 60%.

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Identification of Cost-Optimal Measures for Energy Renovation of Thermal Envelopes in Different Types of Public School Buildings in the City of Valencia

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11115108 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (11) ◽

pp. 5108

Author(s):

María Esther Liébana-Durán ◽

Begoña Serrano-Lanzarote ◽

Leticia Ortega-Madrigal

Keyword(s):

Public Schools ◽

Energy Consumption ◽

Public Administration ◽

School Buildings ◽

Regulatory Requirements ◽

Building Stock ◽

Eu Directive ◽

Global Cost ◽

The City ◽

The Eu

In order to achieve the EU emission reduction goals, it is essential to renovate the building stock, by improving energy efficiency and promoting total decarbonisation. According to the 2018/844/EU Directive, 3% of Public Administration buildings should be renovated every year. So as to identify the measures to be applied in those buildings and obtain the greatest reduction in energy consumption at the lowest cost, the Directive 2010/31/EU proposed a cost-optimisation-based methodology. The implementation of this allowed to carry out studies in detail in actual scenarios for the energy renovation of thermal envelopes of public schools in the city of Valencia. First, primary school buildings were analysed and classified into three representative types. For each type, 21 sets of measures for improving building thermal envelopes were proposed, considering the global cost, in order to learn about the savings obtained, the repayment term for the investment made, the percentage reduction in energy consumption and the level of compliance with regulatory requirements. The result and conclusions will help Public Administration in Valencia to draw up an energy renovation plan for public building schools in the city.

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