Building Geometry as a Variable in Energy, Comfort, and Environmental Design Optimization—A Review from the Perspective of Architects

Due to negative environmental impacts caused by the building industry, sustainable buildings have recently become one of the most investigated fields in research. As the design technique itself is mainly responsible for building performance, building energy design optimization is of particular interest. Several studies concentrate on systems, operation, and control optimization, complemented by passive strategies, specifically related to the envelope. In building physics, different architectural considerations, in particular, the building’s shape, are essential variables, as they greatly influence the performance of a building. Most scientific work that takes into consideration building geometry explores spaces without any energy optimization or calculates optimization processes of a few basic variables of simplified space geometries. Review studies mainly discuss the historic development of optimization algorithms, building domains, and the algorithm-system and software framework performance with coupling issues. By providing a systemized clustering of different levels of shape integration intensities, space creation principals, and algorithms, this review explores the current status of sustainability related shape optimization. The review proves that geometry design variable modifications and, specifically, shape generation techniques offer promising optimization potential; however, the findings also indicate that building shape optimization is still in its infancy.

Educational interventions involving physical manipulatives for improving children’s learning and development: a scoping review

WHY DID WE DO THIS RESEARCH?Hands-on learning activities with physical objects – or physical manipulatives (PMs) – can be great at encouraging children’s active participation in learning. Cast your mind back to your own childhood: do you remember using items like counters, shapes, or fraction bars in school? If so, you were using PMs! We wanted to find out what kind of research has been done on educational programmes involving PMs.WHAT DID WE DO?We conducted a scoping review – a type of literature review used to identify and broadly describe a body of research according to certain inclusion criteria. We searched several academic databases for studies that have tested the effectiveness of PM interventions with primary-age children; 102 studies met our inclusion criteria and were synthesised in the review.WHAT DID WE FIND?Most studies involved children between 4-6 years in school settings. They spanned 26 different countries, but almost all took place in high- or middle-income contexts, typically the USA. The interventions involved different PMs and hands-on activities (e.g., block building, shape sorting, paper folding), and evidence relating their effectiveness was mixed. Whilst some studies reported benefits to children’s math, spatial, or literacy skills, others did not, and many were hindered by methodological shortcomings. This means we must be cautious when drawing conclusions about the overall effectiveness of PM interventions. Nevertheless, the findings illustrate the many ways hands-on experiences with PMs can facilitate children’s active engagement in learning. Going forward, higher quality research is needed, as well as more studies testing PM interventions in lower-income contexts.

A method of shaping an energy-efficient building envelope based on natural patterns in order to achieve save of energy

This article aims to present an innovative way of designing objects called A method of shaping an energy-efficient building envelope based on natural patterns. The method uses currently available technologies in an unusual way. Digital photogrammetry data are inserted into a process of designing envelope structure of future objects. In the process of construction, this method counts on the use of all the advantages of 3D printing technology. This combination of the use of relatively innovative technologies in the process of design and construction of buildings opens up new possibilities for the design of the building envelope. Consequently, new building envelope shaping options create space for more efficient use of the energy savings associated with the building envelope shape as a building shape factor. The final design solution of the proposed building takes inspiration directly from the environment in which it is to be situated. Final design takes inspiration of its shape from the environment in which it will be built as a future object. As a result, the building works harmoniously and in accordance with the environment in which it was designed. This creates a pleasant ecological environment for its inhabitants and the surrounding area.

Multi-Objective Optimization Method for the Shape of Large-Space Buildings Dominated by Solar Energy Gain in the Early Design Stage

Large-space buildings feature a sizable interface for receiving solar radiation, and optimizing their shape in the early design stage can effectively increase their solar energy harvest while considering both energy efficiency and space utilization. A large-space building shape optimization method was developed based on the “modeling-calculation-optimization” process to transform the “black box” mode in traditional design into a “white box” mode. First, a two-level node control system containing core space variables and envelope variables is employed to construct a parametric model of the shape of a large-space building. Second, three key indicators, i.e., annual solar radiation, surface coefficient, and space efficiency, are used to representatively quantify the performance in terms of sunlight capture, energy efficiency, and space utilization. Finally, a multi-objective genetic algorithm is applied to iteratively optimize the building shape, and the Pareto Frontier formed by the optimization results provides the designer with sufficient alternatives and can be used to assess the performance of different shapes. Further comparative analysis of the optimization results can reveal the typical shape characteristics of the optimized solutions and potentially determine the key variables affecting building performance. In a case study of six large-space buildings with typical shapes, the solar radiation of the optimized building shape solutions was 13.58–39.74% higher than that of reference buildings 1 and 3; compared with reference buildings 2 and 4, the optimized solutions also achieved an optimal balance of the three key indicators. The results show that the optimization method can effectively improve the comprehensive performance of buildings.

Wind flow on and around U-shaped buildings

Purpose This paper presents the numerical examination of wind pressure distributions on U-plan shaped buildings having four different depth ratios (DR) as 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 over wind incidence angle (WIA) of 0°. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of irregular building form, DRs, distances from the reentrant corner, wind velocity values on and around wind pressure distributions of the buildings. With this aim, ANSYS Fluent 20.0 Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) program is used for the analysis. Design/methodology/approach Four U-shaped buildings having the same height, width and wing length but having different DR in plan were analyzed by the application of CFD package of ANSYS 20. With this purpose, wind pressure distributions on and around U-plan shaped buildings were analyzed for the wind velocity values of 2 and 5 m/s over WIA of 0°. Comprehensive results were obtained from the analyses. Findings While the change in the DR values did not create a significant change in positive pressure coefficients on A and E surfaces, negative pressure values increased as the DR decreased. The negative pressure coefficients observed on the A and E surfaces become higher than the positive pressure coefficients with the decrease in the DR. On contrary to that condition, with the decrease in the DR, G surfaces take higher positive pressure coefficients than the negative pressure coefficients. The reason for this is that the DR decreases and negative pressure values on G surface significantly decrease. The effect of the DR on the pressure coefficients is remarkable on B and D surfaces. The negative pressure coefficients on the B and D surfaces tend to increase as the DR decreases. Research limitations/implications This study focused on DRs and wind velocity values effect on pressure coefficients to limit variables. Different building wing dimensions did not take into account. Originality/value Although there are a number of studies related to wind behavior of irregular plan shaped buildings, irregular building forms have not been extensively investigated parametrically, especially in terms of the effect of DR on wind pressures. This study is therefore designed to fill this gap by analyzing impacts of various parameters like building shape with various DRs, WIA and wind velocity values on wind pressure distributions and velocity distributions on and around the building.

A natural ventilation "calculator": The challenge of defining a representative 'performance sketch' in practice and research

Too often in architecture and engineering, the simplicity in early design of the apparent guarantees of HVAC equipment manufacturers wins out over the complexity of estimating the effectiveness of natural ventilation even in Net Zero Buildings. The reality is many people in offices and schools find themselves sitting at a fixed desk, in full direct sun, with the cold draft from the HVAC equipment guaranteeing that on average they are comfortable. The drawing of blinds 'solves' the immediate sun problem, but not the quality of the air. Experience with 200+ students designing low energy, high performance naturally ventilated spaces each year over the past decade has demonstrated that the formulae that exist in the literature for early estimation of window opening size have potential if presented in an appropriate format to facilitate sound design decisions. This paper reports the evolution of that format to a calculation dashboard that facilitates accounting for: outdoor and indoor CO2 levels; wind speeds and frequencies of occurrence; coincidence of periods of calm with high outdoor temperatures; window effectiveness coefficients; single-sided vs cross-ventilation options; building shape and orientation; code minimum ventilation rates; and even infiltration. The paper focuses on the limitations of the approach and its potential complementary role in the future as a Quality Assurance tool for critiquing the output of CFD studies of natural ventilation.