R. A. Hyde

The Environmental Brief : Pathways for Green Design

The built environment is responsible for an estimated forty-five per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions. As the greatest opportunities for reducing these emissions occur during the briefing and design processes, the pathway to better design lies in preparing environmental briefs, and using these to drive building design and produce buildings of high environmental performance. This process-driven book looks at the theoretical issues involved in an environmental brief, and outlines methods by which architects can approach the writing of a brief that considers all aspects of the natural and the built environment, and relates these concepts to a number of case studies from around the world.

A Critique of the Passive Zone Concept for Energy Conservation Design Tools

The use of design tools in architectural design is common place. Yet, in recent years the need has arisen to provide design tools to assist with the evaluating the energy usage of buildings. A number of tools are available for this type of work. Unfortunately, many of these tools are inappropriate for integration in the architectural design process. The research described here reports development work on a lighting, thermal and ventilation tool for use at the conceptual stage in the design process. The main contention is that this type of tool is crucial to effective passive low-energy design as it is difficult to integrate energy saving feature at later stages in the design process. Part of this work has necessitated a critique of the concept of the passive strategies for non-domestic buildings; this is an important element in assessing the energy contribution of the external environment to the building.

The Technology and Attitudinal Fix. Redefining the definition of high performance building

Increasingly the reliance on technology to solve problems concerning the built environment has seen the emergence of the High Performance Building (HPB) as a case that seems to exemplify this direction. The term sustainable building has become old hat and the new rebranding exercise now focusses on performance and associated technical challenges that this concept seems to address. However, in unpacking the Technical Fix, the concept also seems to involve an ‘Attitudinal Fix’ on the part of the owners and occupants concerning the goals of reducing environmental impacts. The Attitudinal Fix focuses on the owners’ and occupants’ pro-environmental values. A working hypothesis suggests favouring conservation rather than resource consumption. The intrinsic problem is that we live in ‘economic times’, which means that the ‘Attitudinal Fix’ is still aspirational. Hence, we need to live in ‘ethical times’ where the Technical Fix to improve performance is fully embraced. The work of science is to collect evidence of Anthropogenic Climate Change and to use this to reinforce ethical values in society for reducing the intensity of resource efficiency (Cook et al. 2014). The ‘Attitudinal’ Fix could be directed to the intensity of resource usage. We would need to change our attitude as to how much energy we use and conflate with the Technical Fix. Many of the articles in this edition demonstrate the importance of attitudes in technical change. The first and second articles in this issue look at timber framing as a construction system. The article by Rana Qasass, Mark Gorgolewski and Huan G. looks at the thermal performance of timber framing used in Toronto residential house construction. This study examines the impact of framing components as thermal bridges on the heat loss in lightweight wood-frame construction. This is recognised in various codes and standards by specifying certain framing percentages to be used in effective thermal resistance calculations. Seventeen residential units under construction were selected at three different locations in the Greater Toronto Area. Detailed on-site measurements provided data for numerical calculation to evaluate the amount of framing within external walls, ceilings and exposed floors (called the Framing Factor, FF). They report

Convergent methodologies for architectural science

Convergent methodologies are those that have a mixture of both quantitative and qualitative methods of enquiry to examine a particular phenomenon. The approach is common in social science, and it seems to have significant benefits for architectural science where it has been common to use one method in an attempt to answer complex questions concerning the built environment. The advantages of using mixed methods in research design as found in social science are largely because of the context of that research. The use of mixed methods is increasingly useful in architectural science and the papers in this edition which seem to indicate this point. It is useful to examine how the methods used in the research link to design and other research. Mixed methodologies are used commonly in architectural research and in practice. The main reason for using mixed methods is that the strengths and weaknesses of one method compensate for the other. Hence, using multi-methods often provides ‘triangulation’ in the search for validity and is useful not only for answering particular research questions but also for shaping new questions. Triangulation is a metaphor from navigation, which in nautical terms allows the navigators to establish a position from different reference points. Such a methodology provides further evidence and can amplify findings from one method; hence, in some studies a stratification process occurs where there is a primary methodology and then a secondary method to address the limitations of the primary method (Jick, 1979). The first paper by Ghoreishi is concerned with a parametric study of thermal mass property of concrete buildings in US climate zones. Concrete is known for its structural, architectural, and environmental applications in buildings. Its environmental purposes include the use of the material as a fabric heat storage system. Thermal mass when coupled with passive design features such as solar heating and natural ventilation for cooling have known benefits of stabilizing the diurnal range of internal temperatures found in buildings with little thermal mass. However, the complex interactions of form, fabric, and building operation make this kind of study very difficult to ‘ground’ with certainty. The difficulty then becomes one of how to make broader generalizations from the results to practice. The purpose, amount, and location of the thermal mass are critical. For example, thermal mass can be used as capacitive insulation; however, it is not as efficient as light-weight bulk insulation. Also, if masonry or concrete are used it adds additional embodied energy. Furthermore, if it is used for energy storage then the amount and location of the storage system as well as how it is charged and discharged is fundamental to its influence on the heating and cooling loads of the building. Hence, as suggested by this study further research using Life Cycle Assessment is useful; however, this by itself is unlikely to fully ‘ground the research’ sufficient for practice needs as intended. A further method is needed such as validation of the computer model with monitored data from an existing building. A mixed methods approach is really needed in these kinds of parametric studies. However, to achieve a fuller convergence and better validity, additional methodologies such as typological analysis are needed. The influence of building typology in terms of form and fabric as well as climate types might assist. The study has a primary research question of ‘how the thermal mass property of concrete could improve the energy performance of buildings’. This question is reworked in the context of climate change, which necessitates further methods. The next paper by Rajagopalan and Leung examines the acoustic performance of a precast panel system made from environmentally sustainable concrete and its application to sports hall buildings. The authors argue that use of green building materials and products promotes conservation of non-renewable resources and helps to reduce associated environmental impacts. The main question in this paper is where the green concrete gives similar or better performance than conventional concrete cladding panels. However, this question was only partially answered as no ‘control’ panel of conventional construction was used. It would have been useful to broaden the methodology to include monitoring of the acoustic conditions in existing sports halls. Reverberant noise in these halls requires some form of treatment given the low absorbent coefficient of concrete. The next two papers are focused on architectural design and look at ways in which both the technical and artistic aspects of design can be integrated. Shannon examines approaches to the use of ‘Blended Learning’, which uses a combination of conventional computer-based pedagogies in teaching architectural engineering students design. This study has two key research questions: can ‘blended learning’ improve student-learning outcomes while also teaching with fewer resources. The paper reports quantitative and qualitative results of student outcomes and makes recommendations for the adoption of this learning

Thermal Performance of Housing in the Hot-Humid Tropics of Australia

The paper reports findings of thermal performance studies of a number of houses in Cairns which are built of differing construction systems. From these findings quite remarkable differences are found in the way the buildings respond to the climate. The implications of this for designers are significant in terms of the levels of thermal comfort expected or desired by users. The conclusions reached suggest that designers should select designs and construction systems that achieve a balance between mass and insulation in the design of housing. In particular, where selective use of active systems are integrated into the building design, the excessive use of mass and insulation to save energy may compromise the efficiency of passive systems and also thermal comfort.

Refocusing Architectural Science

Welcome to the 61st edition of Architectural Science Review. The 60th volume of the Architectural Science Review marks an important milestone in its history and I am honoured to be Editor in Chief for this moment in its history. During its 60th year of production, we can reflect on how architectural science has changed and were it may progress in the future. To this end a virtual Edition is proposed which will mark the moment in a special way; this edition discusses the role of architectural science more specifically with regard to issues concerning peoples’ perceptions of architectural space and the environment that is created by the architecture. If we go back to the inception of Architectural Science Review one can see the original intent was to foster the application of science to architectureparticularly to theprocess bywhich architecture is created. Professor Henry Cowan in the first Edition of Architectural Science Review sets out the challenge for the Journal.

60th Anniversary Special Edition of Architectural Science Review

This edition marks the 60th Anniversary Special Edition of Architectural Science. I have prepared a short paper on the ‘Prospect for Architectural Science’, which is drawn from a selection of the most cited, download and read papers from the past 10 years. These papers give an idea of the foci that architectural science has taken over the years. Many of these papers come from Special Editions that have been devoted to cutting edge themes around architectural science. The journal has provided leadership in key topics such as debate on adaptive and mitigation strategies for climate change. The emphasis on building performance has been a strong theme for researchers. Papers selected for this are as follows. Thesepaperswill bemadeavailablegratis on theArchitectural Sciencewebsite. http://www.tandfonline.com/tasr

Introduction to the 60th Anniversary Virtual Special Edition: the prospect for Architectural Science

It is a pleasure to reflect on the progress of Architectural Science Review (ASR) over the last 60 years, in particular how the journal has adapted to the changes in the needs of the readership in recent years. The early years were shaped by Professor Henry Cowan who from its inception, visioned ASR as a vehicle for disseminating knowledge on science for research, teaching and the practice of architecture. Located in the southern hemisphere, there was an interest in working with warm climates and the development of regional issues. In the last 10 years, there has been an expansion of knowledge and a change in structure for ASR. Emeritus Professor Gary Moore passed on the Editor in Chief role to me in 2008. At the same time, there was a change in publishers from The University of Sydney Press to Earthscan and then to Taylor and Francis. Professor Moore had established the model for the journal, which was amixture of items: editorials, invited papers, unsolicited refereedpapers, technical notes, book reviews, PhD thesis abstracts and special editions (Moore 2007), and was positioned within Thomsen Reuters Humanities Index. In 2010 the journal comprised60 items andproduced10 citations. Taylor andFrancis has provided continued support inmanyareas includingpublication reports on the progress of the journal and has also enabled us to track the kind of themes that are of most interest. These reports show that the journal has changed focus considerably. By 2015 in order to maximize the space available for papers in ASR, the number of items has been halved and there has been an increase in the citations to 180. So what has changed? A new format was developed focusing on paper publications, thematic editions and special editions, with other items now published online through a newsletter. The development of Special Issues from international conferences has led to attracting key research and researchers to publish inASR. Notable are the Special Edition from theArchitectural Science Association (ANZAScA) and unsolicited proposals such as those from the Windsor Conference. The number of editions per year has grown from four to six: four general and two special editions per year; this will allow Special Editions from authors of the Passive Lower Energy Association Conference (PLEA). We welcome this year new Associate Editors from PLEA to assist with directing andmanaging this new direction. Associate Editors are the backbone of the ASR team, many of whom are drawn from the Editorial Board and manage and maintain the academic standard of the journal.ASRnow receives

The future of high-performance buildings

Welcome to this edition of Architectural Science Review. In this edition, a number of issues, which are concerned with the question of what might comprise the nature of high-performance building in the future. High-performance building is a recent development. This crystal ball might lead to a new direction for research and practice. This idea seems to embrace a range of issues concerning the use of technology to improve the performanceof buildings. However, there appears to be a lack of clarity about what comprises a high-performance building; there are competing definitions as towhat comprises a high-performance building, how does it differ from sustainable building or indeed a ‘green building’ (Alulayet et al. 2015). The Energy Policy Act of 2005 defined high-performance building ‘as one that integrates and optimizes all major high performance building attributes, including energy efficiency, durability, life-cycle performance and occupant productivity’ (High Performance Building Council 2016). Best practice high-performance buildings (HPBs) are found in many case studies; however, what are the attributes of HPBs that are important? The papers in this edition show some important attributes of HPBs and also some of the emerging metrics that can be used to measure the performance of these attributes. The first paper by Amirhosein Ghaffarianhoseini, Umberto Berardi, Husam AlWaer, Seongju Chang, Edward Halawa, Ali Ghaffarianhoseinifand Derek Clements-Croome explores the question of ‘What is an intelligent building? Analysis of recent interpretations from an international perspective,’ provides an examination of the nature an Intelligent Building (IB) for the future. The first part of the paper provides a review of existing definitions.

Computer-aided architectural design and the design process

The use of computational systems in architectural science is becoming increasingly used as a research and practice methodology for a wide range of research areas. This edition presents papers which use computers to aid design, performance evaluation and fabrication. An important question is in the first two papers and concerns the use of computer simulation to assist with form finding in buildings. The last three are concernedwith the integration of the computer simulation process in the design process to achieve more effective practices. Improving productivity in design through reducing time and costs is one issue and another is font loading the design process so that performance evaluation modelling can occur at the beginning of the design process (rather than at the end), during which all the decisions havebeenmade. Thenewsystemsandprocess reported in these papers offer newopportunities in the applicationof architectural science in theory and practice. The first paper (‘Design and Fabrication with Fibre-reinforced Polymers in Architecture: A Case for Complex Geometry,’ by Arielle Blonder and Yasha J. Grobman) examines the unexplored potential of using Fibre-Reinforced Polymers (FRPs). FRP is a lightweight compositematerialwhich combines fibres andpolymers to create a strong composite material with high ratio of strength to weight and durability. The first section provides a review of the use of composites in architecture and case studies of examples. The important challenges ahead for composites are outlined for FRPs; one of which is form finding. The authors proposedand test anewdesignand fabrication system. Theyuse a digital form-finding process, which assisted with the design of the case study; however, the full benefit of structural analysis is yet to be carried out. The next paper ‘Microclimate on Building Envelopes: Testing Geometry Manipulations as an Approach for Increasing Building Envelopes’ Thermal Performance’ is by Yasha J. Grobman and Yosie Elimelech. The research examines an approach to façade design, which relies on manipulating the surface geometry to create a localized microclimate to improve the thermal performance. The authors argue . . . ‘The new approaches, inspired by envelopes in nature, will increasingly rely on geometry, alongside the traditional dependenceonmaterial, to achieve optimumbuilding performance.’ Conventional façade construction uses a series of layers of material with cavities to create the building envelope . . . ‘As opposed to the complex cellular structure of natural skins, traditional building envelopes are typically based on flat orthogonal geometry, repetition, limited functions, and structural homogeneity.’ They comment that advances in fabrication technologies as seen in the previous paper will make this feasible. The first part of the paper presents a review of the design developments of using complex façade geometries and cellular-based wall-cladding systems and the move to green walls where plants are placed in the external cavities. The next section provides a study of a range of façade geometries with external cavities. The design of these external cavities used the criteria for the thermal performance of internal cavities, that is minimize convective heat transfer by reducing flow velocities in the cavities. Next a computer fluid dynamics study was carried out to test the flow dynamics and streamlining in the different cells. The air speeds that were simulated range between 1, 5 and 10m/second. The authors report that the simulations show that airspeeds in all cavities were reduced however . . . ‘It is not clear at this stage whether this difference is significant in terms of its influence on the microclimate’s performance and its relation to the building insulation.’ Further work is needed to undertake building physical models for wind tunnel testing. ‘Moreover, having achieved a level of thermal insulation similar to that of a traditional building façade by using microclimate, it would be possible to examine and optimize the cavities of the best-performing envelope section for other functions such as natural light, selfshading, water conservation and the cultivation of vegetation (green wall).’ It is likely that the application of this research is likely to lead to solutions will be building type and climate specific. Research of this nature needs to combine computer fluid dynamics with thermal performance studies to be effective to understanding heat balance across the façade. Research by Rojas, Galán-Marín, and Fernández-Nieto (2012) into courtyard design used thermal data in conjunction with computer fluid dynamics in their simulation study to understand airflow in this type of spaces. The methodology may be of use in further research in this area. The paper by Hwang Yi on ‘User-driven Automation for Optimal Thermal-zone Layout During Space Programming Phases’ examines an approach to automating the design phase to improve energy performance and thermal comfort using simulation tools. Thermal zoning is a technique used to determine the heat loads for different orientations and functions of a building. The perimeter zone will have higher heat loads due to the climate influences on the building. Some spaces can be airconditioned and some can be naturally ventilated. In determining the airconditioning design, thermal loads and subsequent zoning are decided. The first section of the paper provides a review of thermal zoning and its relation to the functional planning of spaces. Often the location of these spaces is done based on adjacency grounds and mirrors the organizational structure of the building. The author argues that this can be done also by considerating environmental factors, whichwould be an improvement in the design process. The author suggests using a design tool that can optimize these relationships automatically. The next section presents a review of these tools and describes the development of a new tool. This is subsequently tested in the next section. Finally, the optimized design layout is tested using a thermal simulation program.