Jian Ge

Developing Soundscapegraphy for the Notation of Urban Soundscape : Its Concept, Method, Analysis and Application

The establishment of the concept of soundscape has brought about a new aspect for sound environment, and many conceptual and practical researches have been performed around the world. However, the notation of soundscape, in other words, the way how we can record, describe or express the soundscape, still need to be studied furthermore. Soundscape is the concept of an environment of sound (sonic environment) with emphasis on the way how it is perceived and understood by individual, or by a society, and thus it depends on the relationship between individual and any such environment. Therefore, the notation of soundscape should put emphasis on not only the physical characteristics but also the perception of the people, as well as the relationship between them. In this paper, firstly the notation of soundscape was reviewed with the concept of soundscapegraphy, which was composed of objective information, subjective information, environmental information and analysis information. Then, the methodology of making soundscapegraphy was discussed from the stage of data collection, data processing, mapping to analysis, and in the data processing GIS technique was applied. Next, with the case study of Saga urban areas, the analysis of urban soundscape was performed by means of soundscapegraphy. Finally, the applications of soundscapegraphy and the prospect for future research were discussed. Soundscapegraphy can be a proper and applicable method for the notation and analysis of soundscape.

The Reduction Potential of Energy Consumption, CO2 Emissions and Cost of Existing Urban Residential Buildings in Hangzhou City, China

abstract China has become the second largest emitter of CO2 in the world. As one of the largest energy consumers, urban residential buildings are required to reduce energy consumption. However nearly all existing urban residential buildings in the Hot Summer and Cold Winter Region of China were built with poor thermal quality. Increasing a building’s energy performance has proven to be very helpful in alleviating the pressure of energy shortages and in reducing CO2 emissions. After analyzing the climate of the region, the economic development and existing urban residential buildings of Hangzhou city, one typical building is selected as a case study. Six rational renovation plans, based upon the national and regional standards, are advanced after analyzing their feasibility in simulations and in practice. The energy saving effects of the plans are analyzed using the feedback coefficient method, the reduction of CO2 emissions by a simple LCCO2 method and the costs by a simple LCC method, all for a 40-year residual life span. Based upon these results a suitable plan is developed. The results show that the renovation of existing residential buildings, through the thermal insulation of their building envelopes, is very beneficial in reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions.

Numerical research of layout effect on wind environment around high-rise buildings

Numerical research is carried out to analyse the wind environment around the building group consisting of six square cross-section high-rise buildings by using the Reynolds averaged equations and the renormalization group κ-ϵ turbulence model. The six buildings are initially arranged into two rows and three columns. Six types of layout of building group are obtained by altering the cross-wind space between two adjacent buildings in three columns. The wind velocity ratios and the corresponding velocity vector field around each type of layout at the pedestrian level (1.5m) are then examined and compared with each other. The results indicate that an O-shape layout generally experiences favourable outdoor wind environmental conditions, while an X-shape layout experiences unfavourable wind environment; when the buildings are arranged in a Y-shape layout, wind tunnel effect is more obvious than others. Besides, the relationship between the concave shape of windward side and the layouts outlet wind velocity is discussed. At the end of article, guidelines for outdoor greening in Y-, V- and U-shape layout are given based on the wind velocity ratio difference under the variational wind direction.

Effects of Energy Saving Measures for Existing Urban Residential Buildings Based on Thermal Simulation and Site Investigation of Energy Consumption

Abstract This is one of two papers that predict the effects of energy saving renovation measures for existing urban residential buildings. The previous paper predicted such effects based on thermal simulation, but the simulative outputs are not sufficiently convincing. So in this paper, the measures′ effects will be further analyzed based on the factual electricity consumption from site investigation. Firstly, the monthly electricity consumption of the subject building was investigated in 2007/2008. Then, the factual heating and cooling loads were distinguished through climate analysis. Finally, assuming that the relative energy saving effects of the measures are the same in thermal simulation and in fact, the simulative energy saving effects were revised by applying the factual heating and cooling loads, followed by CO2 emission and cost for a 40-year residual life span. The results show that the simulative outputs were too exaggerated, and must be revised based on factual electricity consumption. From the viewpoint of reducing energy use and CO2 emission, it is worth renovating existing residential buildings with energy saving measures, however, the economic benefits following revision are negative because of the too cheap electricity price in China. Therefore the government should provide subsidies for the energy saving renovations of buildings.

Relationship of public preferences and behavior in residential outdoor spaces using analytic hierarchy process and principal component analysis—a case study of Hangzhou City, China

This study examined public attitudes concerning the value of outdoor spaces which people use daily. Two successive analyses were performed based on data from common residents and college students in the city of Hangzhou, China. First, citizens registered various items constituting desirable values of residential outdoor spaces through a preliminary questionnaire. The result proposed three general attributes (functional, aesthetic and ecological) and ten specific qualities of residential outdoor spaces. An analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was applied to an interview survey in order to clarify the weights among these attributes and qualities. Second, principal factors were extracted from the ten specific qualities with principal component analysis (PCA) for both the common case and the campus case. In addition, the variations of respondents’ groups were classified with cluster analysis (CA) using the results of the PCA. The results of the AHP application found that the public prefers the functional attribute, rather than the aesthetic attribute. The latter is always viewed as the core value of open spaces in the eyes of architects and designers. Furthermore, comparisons of ten specific qualities showed that the public prefers the open spaces that can be utilized conveniently and easily for group activities, because such spaces keep an active lifestyle of neighborhood communication, which is also seen to protect human-regarding residential environments. Moreover, different groups of respondents diverge largely in terms of gender, age, behavior and preference.

Research of Appropriateness of Residence Outer Wall Thermal Insulating System in New Rural Construction in Zhejiang

Buildings have consumed around 1/4-1/3 of the country’s energy consumptions, of which the envelope structures, especially the outer walls, takes the largest percentage. The pilot program for external thermal insulation in new rural construction has commenced along with full implementation of outer wall energy saving and thermal insulation in Hot Summer and Cold Winter Zone. The program has proved the thermal insulating technology which is characterized by broad applicability, strong operability, reliable thermal insulating performance and low comprehensive cost, is a set of thermal insulating technology compatible with the level of rural economic and technical development in China.

Simulation Study about Impact of Building Density on Heat Island Effect

Along with the rapid development of urbanization, high density city is becoming more and more common. The dense buildings cause the high intensity of heat island effect, resulting in a large amount of energy consumption. In this research the relationship between the heat island effect and the building density has been studied by CFD software with other factors such as the building height and construction shape unchanged. Through a series of simulation and data analysis it is revealed that the effect of building density on the thermal conductivity is obvious. And the study put forward the measure to alleviate the effects of the thermal conductivity by controlling building density in a certain percentage under the premise of maintaining the land use efficiency. This result can provide scientific references for planners, architects, and government management decision makers.

Inheritance and Innovation of Ecological Materials from Traditional Buildings in Zhejiang, China

This article engages in a survey on the countryside’s building materials in Zhejiang province, and indicates problems in the new countryside construction during the early 1990s to 2005: on one side, rarely few new materials for energy-conservation is being used; on the other side, traditional materials of local characteristics are abandoned. Therefore, this article indicates a range of materials which make improvement or innovation on traditional ones for the characteristic of Zhejiang rural areas. Then comparison is made between clay brick and these ecological materials. As a result, this guides villagers to improve the indoor thermal comfort and to promote rural economic development without large investment.