Built Environment

In the physics-based simulation of urban geometries, the outdoor environment was usually simulated separately from buildings – until recently, when the holistic assessment of the urban environment began to attract more attention. Although analyzing design alternatives with multiple objectives is still a challenge, computational tools enable generating thousands of scenarios to rapidly assess performance corresponding […]

Uncontrolled solar radiation and the related effects on occupant productivity can lead to considerable indoor thermal discomfort in office environments. In this paper, the Radiance Daylight Coefficient (DC) method is used to assess incoming solar radiation and consequent indoor thermal discomfort through delta mean radiant temperature (ΔMRT). The ΔMRT allows expressing an adjusted predicted mean vote […]

In the United States, approximately 65% of buildings were constructed before 1992, when the United States Department of Energy (DOE) established the Building Energy Codes Program (BECP). Building retrofit to meet and exceed present high efficiency building standards is a critical path to reduce the overall existing building energy consumption and associated carbon emissions. Despite […]