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Buildings ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Zhiwen Xiao ◽  
Yong Qin ◽  
Zeshui Xu ◽  
Jurgita Antucheviciene ◽  
Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas

The journal Buildings was launched in 2011 and is dedicated to promoting advancements in building science, building engineering and architecture. Motivated by its 10th anniversary in 2021, this study aims to develop a bibliometric analysis of the publications of the journal between April 2011 and October 2021. This work analyzes bibliometric performance indicators, such as publication and citation structures, the most cited articles and the leading authors, institutions and countries/regions. Science mappings based on indicators such as the most commonly used keywords, citation and co-citation, and collaboration are also developed for further analysis. In doing so, the work uses the Scopus database to collect data and Bibliometrix to conduct the research. The results show the strong growth of Buildings over time and that researchers from all over the world are attracted by the journal.


Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Joseph Cabeza-Lainez

The aim of this article is to orient the evolution of new architectural forms offering up-to--date scientific support. Unlike the volume, the expression for the lateral area of a regular conoid has not yet been obtained by means of direct integration or a differential geometry procedure. In this type of ruled surface, the fundamental expressions I and II, for other curved figures have proved not solvable thus far. As this form is frequently used in architectural engineering, the inability to determine its surface area represents a serious hindrance to solving several problems that arise in radiative transfer, lighting and construction, to cite just a few. To address such drawback, we conceived a new approach that, in principle, consists in dividing the surface into infinitesimal elliptic strips of which the area can be obtained in an approximate fashion. The length of the ellipse is expressed with certain accuracy by means of Ramanujan’s second formula. By integrating the so-found perimeter of the differential strips for the whole span of the conoid, an unexpected solution emerges through a newly found number that we call psi (ψ). In this complex process, projected shapes have been derived from an original closed form composed of two conoids and called Antisphera for its significant parallels with the sphere. The authors try to demonstrate that the properties of the new surfaces have relevant implications for technology, especially in building science and sustainability, under domains such as structures, radiation and acoustics. Fragments of the conoid have occasionally appeared in modern and contemporary architecture but this article discusses how its use had been discontinued, mainly due to the uncertainties that its construction posed. The new knowledge provided by the authors, including their own proposals, may help to revitalize and expand such interesting configurations in the search for a revolution of forms.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
German Molina

<p><b>The fact that comfort is a subjective state of the mind is widely accepted by engineers, architects and building scientists. Despite this, capturing all the complexity, subjectivity and richness of this construct in models that are useful in building science contexts is far from straightforward. By prioritizing usability, building science has produced models of comfort (e.g., acoustic, visual and thermal) that overly simplify this concept to something nearly objective that can be directly associated with people’s physiology and measurable and quantifiable environmental factors. This is a contradiction because, even if comfort is supposed to be subjective, most of the complexity of “the subject” is avoided by focusing on physiology; and, even if comfort is supposed to reside in the mind, the cognitive processes that characterize the mind are disregarded. This research partially mitigates this contradiction by exploring people’s non-physical personal factors and cognition within the context of their comfort and by proposing a way in which they can be incorporated into building science research and practice. This research refers to these elements together—i.e., people’s non-physical personal factors and cognition—as “the mind”.</b></p> <p>This research proposes a new qualitative model of the Feeling of Comfort that embraces “the mind”. This model was developed from the results of a first study in which 18 people—from Chile and New Zealand—were asked to describe “a home with good daylight” and “a warm home” in their own words. These results were then replicated in a second study in which another group of 24 people—also from Chile and New Zealand—described “a home with good acoustic performance”, “a home with good air quality” and “a pleasantly cool home”. The Feeling of Comfort model not only was capable of making sense of the new data (gathered in this second study) but also proved to be simple enough to be useful in the context of comfort research and practice. For instance, it guided the development of a quantitative Feeling of Comfort model and also of a prototype building simulation tool that embraces “the mind” and thus can potentially estimate people’s Feeling of Comfort.</p> <p>This research concludes that embracing “the mind” is not only possible but necessary. The reason for this is that “the mind” plays a significant role in the development of people’s comfort. Thus, theories and models of comfort that ignore it fail to represent properly the concept of comfort held by the people for whom buildings are designed. However, incorporating “the mind” into building science’s research and practice implies embracing tools, research methods and conceptual frameworks that have historically not been used by such a discipline. Specifically, it concludes that building science should normalize a more holistic view of comfort and perform more exploratory and qualitative research.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
German Molina

<p><b>The fact that comfort is a subjective state of the mind is widely accepted by engineers, architects and building scientists. Despite this, capturing all the complexity, subjectivity and richness of this construct in models that are useful in building science contexts is far from straightforward. By prioritizing usability, building science has produced models of comfort (e.g., acoustic, visual and thermal) that overly simplify this concept to something nearly objective that can be directly associated with people’s physiology and measurable and quantifiable environmental factors. This is a contradiction because, even if comfort is supposed to be subjective, most of the complexity of “the subject” is avoided by focusing on physiology; and, even if comfort is supposed to reside in the mind, the cognitive processes that characterize the mind are disregarded. This research partially mitigates this contradiction by exploring people’s non-physical personal factors and cognition within the context of their comfort and by proposing a way in which they can be incorporated into building science research and practice. This research refers to these elements together—i.e., people’s non-physical personal factors and cognition—as “the mind”.</b></p> <p>This research proposes a new qualitative model of the Feeling of Comfort that embraces “the mind”. This model was developed from the results of a first study in which 18 people—from Chile and New Zealand—were asked to describe “a home with good daylight” and “a warm home” in their own words. These results were then replicated in a second study in which another group of 24 people—also from Chile and New Zealand—described “a home with good acoustic performance”, “a home with good air quality” and “a pleasantly cool home”. The Feeling of Comfort model not only was capable of making sense of the new data (gathered in this second study) but also proved to be simple enough to be useful in the context of comfort research and practice. For instance, it guided the development of a quantitative Feeling of Comfort model and also of a prototype building simulation tool that embraces “the mind” and thus can potentially estimate people’s Feeling of Comfort.</p> <p>This research concludes that embracing “the mind” is not only possible but necessary. The reason for this is that “the mind” plays a significant role in the development of people’s comfort. Thus, theories and models of comfort that ignore it fail to represent properly the concept of comfort held by the people for whom buildings are designed. However, incorporating “the mind” into building science’s research and practice implies embracing tools, research methods and conceptual frameworks that have historically not been used by such a discipline. Specifically, it concludes that building science should normalize a more holistic view of comfort and perform more exploratory and qualitative research.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Prasasto Satwiko

<p>This thesis grows out of a desire to understand, in building science terms, the environmental features of traditional building design practices on Yogyakarta Special Region (Indonesia). The construction of traditional dwellings conforms to a set of rules, determining both the form and process of construction. The thesis describes tests of a number of factors related to traditional Javanese buildings for their effect on thermal comfort and air flow, isolating those design aspects and analysing them through contemporary techniques. Having proposed a scientific rationale behind traditional customs, two building styles, Joglo and Limasan are analysed. These styles are shown to relate to traditional numerological systems (petungan; i.e. sri and kitri), which have governed the specific details of domestic construction, and to the scale and siting of structures within the designated traditional guidelines. For comparison, simple hip-roofed dwelling (not applying Javanese style, petungan, and materials), representing current practices, were modelled. A commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics program was used as the principal research tool, testing thermal comfort through computer simulation. The main conclusion reached by this thesis is that traditionally designed Javanese architecture is thermally comfortable in a hot humid climate, more so than the simple hip-roofed dwelling. Literature studies reveal that modern building science ideas on thermal comfort in hot humid climates had been applied instinctively in traditional Javanese architecture. Computer simulation confirms them as thermally comfortable. Differences in style, petungan values, and scale were found to affect thermal comfort slightly, through their effects on the aerodynamic and thermal performance of the buildings. On the other hand, factors relating to materials have a significant effect on thermal comfort. The high porosity of traditional clay tile roof systems has provided Javanese buildings with a continuous ventilated roof, which is superior to corrugated steel from the point of view of ventilation of the dwellings. In addition, CFD modelling has proved to be a valid means of testing airflow within and around buildings. However, calibration is needed to ensure the CFD program performs accurately and reliably. Simplification of data input is also recommended to minimise complication in the simulation without necessarily sacrificing the accuracy of the results. Further applications and current limitations of CFD technology are discussed.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Prasasto Satwiko

<p>This thesis grows out of a desire to understand, in building science terms, the environmental features of traditional building design practices on Yogyakarta Special Region (Indonesia). The construction of traditional dwellings conforms to a set of rules, determining both the form and process of construction. The thesis describes tests of a number of factors related to traditional Javanese buildings for their effect on thermal comfort and air flow, isolating those design aspects and analysing them through contemporary techniques. Having proposed a scientific rationale behind traditional customs, two building styles, Joglo and Limasan are analysed. These styles are shown to relate to traditional numerological systems (petungan; i.e. sri and kitri), which have governed the specific details of domestic construction, and to the scale and siting of structures within the designated traditional guidelines. For comparison, simple hip-roofed dwelling (not applying Javanese style, petungan, and materials), representing current practices, were modelled. A commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics program was used as the principal research tool, testing thermal comfort through computer simulation. The main conclusion reached by this thesis is that traditionally designed Javanese architecture is thermally comfortable in a hot humid climate, more so than the simple hip-roofed dwelling. Literature studies reveal that modern building science ideas on thermal comfort in hot humid climates had been applied instinctively in traditional Javanese architecture. Computer simulation confirms them as thermally comfortable. Differences in style, petungan values, and scale were found to affect thermal comfort slightly, through their effects on the aerodynamic and thermal performance of the buildings. On the other hand, factors relating to materials have a significant effect on thermal comfort. The high porosity of traditional clay tile roof systems has provided Javanese buildings with a continuous ventilated roof, which is superior to corrugated steel from the point of view of ventilation of the dwellings. In addition, CFD modelling has proved to be a valid means of testing airflow within and around buildings. However, calibration is needed to ensure the CFD program performs accurately and reliably. Simplification of data input is also recommended to minimise complication in the simulation without necessarily sacrificing the accuracy of the results. Further applications and current limitations of CFD technology are discussed.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisbet Finseth ◽  
Lindsay Milliken ◽  
Tricia White ◽  
Michael Fisher

Policy decisions should be informed by science, but legislators and their teams have limited capacity to connect with evidence-based resources and the expert community. By strengthening ties between science and policy, these two domains can be more readily integrated when making policy decisions. We established a process for building science and technology councils for Members of Congress, which function as a platform for scientists and legislators to engage. Legislators were selected by gauging the potential for objective, nonpartisan information from scientists to inform their work, as well as their offices’ prioritization of science policy issues. Experts with deep knowledge of these scientific issues were vetted, recruited, and appointed to the councils, and Members of Congress were connected to their designated councils. This bridging of science and policy demonstrates a platform that scientists can utilize to communicate objective, policy-relevant research and analysis as a trusted source of information, leading to more scientifically informed policy decision-making.


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