Infrastructure Engineering - Research Publications
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 3 of 3
-
ItemSensitivity analysis of building envelope parameters affecting thermal comfort(ZEMCH Network, 2018-01-29)The ever-increasing attention towards implementation of environmentally sustainable building design approaches necessitates the prediction of indoor environmental quality (IEQ) during design stage. Building performance simulation tools are able to predict key performance indices of buildings including IEQ. Among different aspects of IEQ, thermal comfort has been reported as one of the important aspects for occupants. It is necessary to understand the effects of design parameters on the performance of building in order to provide acceptable thermal comfort levels. However, due to the possibility of various design strategies, the selection of the most appropriate combination is a challenging task. Thus, the determination of effective parameters is of great importance in order to streamline the design process. The design parameters related to building envelope are among the most important items that have major influence on building thermal performance. Although prefabrication offers several benefits in terms of saving on-site time, saving money and better waste management, it affects envelope thermal performance due to introduction of lightweight components. While there is a body of research reporting the effects of passive strategies on building thermal performance, the influence of lightweight prefabricated envelope components is not well-documented in the current literature. This paper aims to perform a sensitivity analysis (SA) to identify the relative importance of major building envelope design parameters affecting thermal comfort of a prefabricated house in Melbourne, Australia. The envelope parameters investigated are: infiltration rate, solar heat gain coefficients and sizes of windows, and thermal resistance of insulation for exterior walls, floor and roof. The ranges of these parameters are based on the building components particularly used by prefabrication building industry in Australia. A typical three-bedroom prefabricated house in Melbourne was considered and the results of the SA are presented.
-
ItemA baseline study on thermal performance of prefabricated modular buildings in Australia(Hong Kong Green Building Council., 2017-06-05)Prefabricated modular construction is one of building solutions that has positive effects on construction time and waste management. In general, thermal performance of the building envelope is an important parameter which dictates the operational energy consumption. There are some prefabricated modular buildings available in Australia. However, their thermal performance benchmarks have not been well documented in the literature. Innovative panel systems have been proposed to improve the cost competitiveness and to achieve better performance. It is essential to know the current performance so that newer panels can be proven to be better. This paper investigates the thermal performance of four prefabricated modular buildings currently available in the Australian market. The buildings were selected to represent single-family houses with different floor areas. A building energy performance simulation tool was used to predict the cooling and heating loads of each building. The findings based on the simulations are presented in this paper.
-
ItemEffects of shading design options on thermal and daylighting performance of a modular house in Melbourne(Nethwin Printers, 2016)Prefabrication of houses is a growing industry in Australia. Although prefabrication does not negatively affect the building quality, the potential to provide acceptable indoor environment quality with high energy efficiency is still a topic of argument. Effective passive design strategies are necessary to achieve low-energy buildings with satisfactory indoor environment quality. The building envelope parameters such as materials, openings and shadings highly affect the heat transfer, air exchange and light transmission between outside and indoor environment. Shading, one of the passive envelope design strategies, can reduce cooling energy while improving the indoor thermal comfort. However, the effects on daylighting and thermal performance depend on the climate conditions, and the size, location and orientation of the shading device. The performance benchmarks of prefabricated houses have not been well documented in the literature. The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects of shading design options on thermal and daylighting performance of a typical modular house in Melbourne. EnergyPlus and Radiant simulation engines have been employed in this study. By quantifying the performance, the appropriate shading design for the typical modular house in Melbourne could be identified.