Virtual Medium for Design Participation: A Shared Perceptual Understanding in an Urban Design Approach

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…

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Establishing Natural Ventilation Performance in Early Design

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…

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A study on Roof Design strategies for Energy Conservation in Indian Buildings

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…

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An Artisan Village, Surat, India: Safeguarding the Art & Craft Heritage of India

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…

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Impact of print journalism on architecture professions and product

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…

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Evaluation of a low-cost method of HDR photography for Daylight Assessment

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…

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Evaluating the thermal transmittance of various building materials with insulating materials

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…

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Optimization of luminaire reflector design using genetic algorithm method for highway lighting

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…

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Comparative testing of BQEET (Building Quick Energy Estimation Tool), that quantifies the reduction in cooling energy due to passive strategies for 59 Indian cities

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…

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The viability of straw bale as a construction material in Indian context

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….

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Slum development using zero waste concepts

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….

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More than construction innovation: The interdisciplinary challenge of prefabricated schools

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…

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How to design-fabricate-assemble? The pursuit for efficient and effectively bespoke architecture in the age of digital continuum through mass-tailorisation

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…

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Establishing an environmentally controlled room to quantify water vapour resistivity properties of construction materials

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…

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Remote Sensing Based Building Indexing Approach in Relation to Urban Heat Island

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….

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Climatic Public space – meaning, model and metaphor in integrating the environmental, socio- economic and design realms

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…

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A review of the evolution of flexible learning environments in Australia: For a better match of primary school design and IEQ

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…

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FROM EDGE TO CORE: Realigning sustainability in architectural education

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…

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Adaptation of Double Skin Facade for warm climate from a wind harvesting perspective in tall buildings

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…

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Influence of window-to-wall ratio on building energy load with daylight utilization for west facade in office building in hot and dry climate of India: A Simulation-based Approach

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…

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Development of a perception based metrics for evaluating building façade aesthetics

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…

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Developing occupant centric models to better understand the thermal comfort and wellbeing of older Australians

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…

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Sensitivity analysis of various ambient parameters for simulating an anidolic daylighting system

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…

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An Analysis of Thermal Environment in Architectural School Classrooms of Warm and Humid Climate in Tiruchirappalli, India

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…

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