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Urban-Aware Evaluation of Passive Building Envelopes under Microclimatic and Shading Effects

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Passive building envelope technologies such as passive radiative cooling (PRC) and thermochromic windows (TCW) are increasingly promoted as effective strategies for reducing building energy consumption under global warming pressures. Despite their promise, most existing studies assess these technologies at the scale of isolated buildings, neglecting the complex influences of urban microclimates. This research addresses this gap by emphasizing the necessity of urban-context-aware evaluation to ensure realistic performance assessment and reliable energy-saving predictions. Limitations of Conventional Simulation Approaches Traditional simulation frameworks often assume idealized boundary conditions, overlooking urban heat island (UHI) effects and contextual shading from surrounding buildings. Such simplifications can significantly overestimate the performance of passive envelope technologies. The study critically highlights how these omissions contribute to discrepancies between simula...
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Integrative In-Situ and Occupant-Centric Approaches for Evaluating Building Energy Performance

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Building energy performance during the operational phase is shaped by a complex interplay between physical structures, technical systems, and human behavior. As operational energy use represents a substantial share of global energy demand and carbon emissions, accurately evaluating real-world performance has become a priority—particularly under emerging performance-based regulatory frameworks. This review addresses the limitations of conventional measurement approaches by examining how envelope characteristics, indoor environmental conditions, energy flows, and occupant behaviors can be assessed in an integrated manner. Challenges in Capturing Operational Energy Performance Traditional building performance evaluation methods often isolate individual factors such as energy consumption or thermal comfort, failing to capture their interdependencies. This fragmented approach overlooks the synergistic effects between building envelopes, indoor conditions, on-site energy production, and o...
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Dynamic Modeling of Living Walls for Enhanced Building Energy Performance

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Integrating natural ecosystems into building envelopes has emerged as a promising strategy to improve energy efficiency and environmental sustainability in urban contexts. Living Walls (LWs), as vertical green systems, offer both thermal regulation and ecological benefits. This study introduces a dynamic numerical model designed to accurately capture the complex thermal and moisture interactions between living walls and building façades, addressing current limitations in conventional Building Energy Simulation (BES) tools. Development of the Dynamic Living Wall Model The proposed Living Wall model was developed in the MATLAB® environment with a structure specifically designed to represent sensible and latent heat exchanges within the vegetation layer. Careful management of inputs and outputs enables seamless coupling with TRNSYS®, allowing the LW system to interact dynamically with the building fabric. This integrated approach facilitates whole-building energy simulations that accou...
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Balancing Thermal Comfort and Energy Efficiency through Envelope Performance and HVAC Control

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Thermal comfort is a fundamental component of indoor environmental quality, directly affecting occupant health, productivity, and overall building performance. In office environments, achieving comfort while minimizing energy use remains a persistent challenge. Conventional HVAC systems typically rely on dry-bulb temperature (DBT) control; however, this simplified approach often overlooks radiant temperature effects, leading to spatial discomfort and inefficiencies. Limitations of Dry-Bulb Temperature–Based Control DBT-based HVAC control assumes uniform thermal conditions within indoor spaces, neglecting the influence of surrounding surface temperatures. In practice, variations in wall, window, and façade temperatures—especially near building perimeters—create uneven radiant conditions. These discrepancies can result in localized discomfort for occupants, even when DBT setpoints are technically met. Influence of Building Envelope Performance on Comfort Field measurements conducted...
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Performance-Based Evaluation of Architectural Shading Devices for Energy-Efficient Buildings

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  The continuous growth in the use of electrical equipment within buildings has intensified global concerns about rising energy consumption. In response, architectural design has increasingly focused on passive strategies that reduce cooling demand while maintaining indoor comfort. Among these strategies, shading devices play a critical role in mitigating overheating and managing solar gains when they are thoughtfully integrated into building façades at the early design stage. Role of Shading Devices in Climate-Responsive Design Shading devices are especially vital in regions with hot summers, where excessive solar radiation significantly increases cooling loads. Properly designed shading systems allow beneficial solar gains during winter while blocking unwanted radiation in summer. This seasonal adaptability positions shading devices as key architectural elements for balancing thermal comfort and energy efficiency across varying climatic conditions. Typologies of Architectural Sh...
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Stochastic Operation–Based Optimization of Office Building Envelope Thermal Performance

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Achieving an effective balance between indoor thermal comfort and operational energy consumption is a core objective of building thermal performance design. Conventional envelope design methods typically rely on fixed occupancy and operation schedules, overlooking the inherent randomness of real building use. This limitation often leads to inaccurate performance estimations and suboptimal design decisions. This study addresses this gap by integrating stochastic building operation behavior into the thermal optimization design of office building envelopes. Limitations of Deterministic Thermal Design Approaches Traditional thermal design practices assume predefined schedules for air-conditioning use and window operation, which fail to capture the variability of occupant behavior and operational uncertainty. Such deterministic assumptions can distort predictions of heating and cooling loads, ultimately affecting indoor comfort and energy efficiency. Recognizing these limitations provide...
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Bamboo-Wood Hybrid Structures: Material-Led Design for Adaptive Architectural Systems

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Material-led design has emerged as a pivotal strategy in contemporary architectural research, emphasizing how the intrinsic properties of materials can shape both form and function. Hybrid structures, combining multiple natural materials, offer unique opportunities to expand the architectural design repertoire. This paper investigates a bamboo-wood hybrid pavilion that integrates the robustness of forked wood with the flexibility of bamboo poles, demonstrating the potential of hybrid material systems for sustainable and adaptive architectural solutions. Rationale for Bamboo-Wood Hybrid Systems Natural bamboo and wood possess complementary structural characteristics: bamboo provides lightweight flexibility and tensile strength, while forked wood offers load-bearing capacity and robustness. By strategically combining these materials, the hybrid system addresses limitations of individual materials, enabling complex spatial forms, improved resilience, and higher construction tolerance, pa...
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