Year: 2019

Due to lack of communication tools, the non-experts in a participatory urban design process face difficulty to take part actively in the stage of design ideation and generation. Mostly, the design ideas stay in conceptual form and do not provide enough perceptual understanding to conceive the design actions fully. The research hypothesises that an Immersive…

Current design trends are making residential housing increasingly air tight. A modern house in New Zealand has an estimated infiltration rate of around 0.25 ach standard pressure, whereas, international guidelines recommend a minimum fresh air supply rate of between 0.35 ach to 0.5 ach. Designing ventilation sustainably, or to do it well, is a balancing…

Buildings contribute a major portion of total primary energy demand across the world. Energy efficiency in buildings is considered as high priority subject in order to mitigate the adverse effects of energy consumption in buildings. Heating and cooling loads have been observed to take a major share in buildings’ energy demand, which are further contributed…

This paper aims to strategise a comprehensive design, establishing a link between urban and rural sectors through preservation and revitalisation of the craft sector of India. The intent is to unite the various typologies of artisan crafts, scattered throughout the country, to build a community cherishing the Indian heritage: a place to practise, teach, demonstrate…

Abstract: Development of print journalism with its ‘positive and generative impact’ is central to dissemination of knowledge in the process of knowing and developing various theories and practices in architecture. Moreover, ‘the influence of other media on the transmission of architectural ideas’ can outweigh that of the experience of the buildings themselves. Since the way…

Evaluation of the daylight performance of buildings can be done with luminance or illuminance measurements. While illuminance has been used in the past for sufficiency of light, luminance-based metrics show the best fit to occupant responses in visual comfort surveys. Luminance measurements are now possible with High Dynamic Range (HDR) techniques that offer a higher…

Keeping indoor temperature condition lower than outdoor condition is recommended in hot climate. Primarily ventilated buildings with low thermal mass should be employed. The indoor maximum can be close to the outdoor maximum and normally even higher due to internal heat gains. Heat gain through the walls plays a vital role in maintaining thermal comfort…

Abstract: In this study, the genetic algorithm method is adopted to optimise the ellipsoid parameters of faceted reflector; i.e. solid angles of θ and ϕ, semi-latus rectum (d), and eccentricity (e). There are two types of reflector which designed in this study, those are divergent and convergent. Both designs are verified through simulation with the…

This paper summarizes the testing of BQEET, a python-based simulation tool that provides results of passive cooling strategies, for predesign and policy analysis. BQEET calculates the annual cooling energy reduction due to the passive strategies of comfort cooling, night flush cooling and evaporative cooling. Only few analytical tools that are easy to use for architects…

India has the largest area under rice cultivation as rice being the dominant crop in the country. India produces 98 million tonnes of paddy with roughly 130 million tonnes of straw. To increase the crop yield, farmers do not keep the field idle and they try to make the field ready for the next crop….

Whenever any policies are made for the eradication of the slums, it is always observed that it takes a substantial amount of time in understanding the same. Thereafter when the actual implementation starts at ground, because of many valid reasons, nil initiatives/attempts are taken by the authorities in exploring the alternative materials/technologies into these projects….

Australian education departments use relocatable prefabricated classrooms extensively to respond rapidly and economically to fluctuating student numbers and as emergency accommodation. Prefabrication has not been widely used for permanent school infrastructure, but this recently changed in response to unprecedented increases in student numbers. Permanent prefabrication is currently being commissioned by Australia’s two largest state education…

The advent of digital methodologies in architecture has signalled the promise for the reassociation of architecture and construction; the return to the architect as a master builder. Concurrently, the advent of design-fabrication-assembly digital continuums provides excellent opportunities for new architectural methodologies. These new architectural methodologies are, in turn, pushing the limits of existing digital-based concept…

In Australia, the National Construction Code recently included the first performance requirements relating to condensation risk mitigation in Australian Buildings. Furthermore, it’s expected that further enhancements to these regulations will occur in 2022, 2025 and 2028. Hence, hygrothermal performance assessment, which is the method by which water vapour pressure is simulated becomes an important part…

With industrial and economic development, urban sprawl resulted in the conversion of natural forests and vegetation to urbanized regions with highly built-up areas and infrastructure. The relation of urban expansion and temperature patterns of cities varies spatially and temporally. UHI (Urban Heat Island) effect on cities can be determined in the horizontal extremities of cities….

Characterised by warm and humid climate, the outdoor activities of Guwahati are often disrupted by thermal discomfort conditions in summer months. The city is witnessing rapid urban growth due to ever-increasing human population sacrificing existing green pockets. This constant decrease of green spaces is ultimately contributing to environmental imbalances and microclimate changes, resulting in a…

Over the last decades Flexible Learning Environments (FLEs) arose as an enabler of a studentcentric approach to teaching and learning. Despite its penetration in the Australian public school sector, the interior design of FLEs hasn’t been sufficiently investigated when it comes to Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) conditions provided within its open-plan configuration. FLEs’ design typology…

Climate change and the built environment’s ecological impact necessitate that we embed sustainability in architectural education. However, this often takes the form of an addition (satellite) to the prevailing core programme. In 2018 and 2019 elective courses at the School of Architecture at Unitec, New Zealand, prompted students to focus on two distinct topics: the…

Different opening configurations for a double skin façade (DSF) integrated in a tall building are investigated in terms of flow characteristics within the cavity of the DSF using CFD simulations. The main issue of naturally ventilated DSF in warm climates is cavity overheating risk which can be alleviated by means of airflow enhancement in the…

Architects are encouraged to follow rating methods and codes to design energy-efficient buildings. However, to work with these codes, additional skills are required, and codes offer a variety of design options rather than thumb rules. In India, climate design guidelines for hot and dry region recommend north-south orientation for building and no windows on west…

The facade of a building is the starting point of ‘attention leading to formation of ‘perception’ resulting in the sum total nature of anticipated experiences. To answer the question why some buildings are perceived as more “liked” than others, a framework to capture perceptions of shopping mall facades by adopting a psychology theory -SOR (Stimulus…

The worldwide demographic trend of an ageing society has important design implications for the built environment. Older people’s individual differences and intrinsic capacities are very wide and undifferentiated consideration of this population is problematic, from both comfort and concomitant wellbeing perspectives. With respect to thermal comfort in dwellings, the traditional approach may result in a…

Anidolic Daylighting System (ADS) is a light guide system that can distribute daylight into a room, using a horizontal duct or pipe. In designing such a system, computational modelling and simulation are a powerful tool to predict its performance. In that case, it is important to ensure that all relevant simulation parameters have been defined…

Human Thermal Environment is a branch of Ergonomics, concerned with human thermal comfort (i.e. whether a person feels too cold, hot, ‘sticky’ etc.), especially in their working environment. Thermal discomfort in educational buildings can create unsatisfactory conditions for both teachers and students, which will affect productivity and performance. The classrooms thermal environment requirements are different…