Research Methods in Building Science and Technology: Field-Based Analysis and Simulation

Description

This book covers the range of methodological approaches, methods and tools currently used in various areas of building science and technology research and addresses the current lack of research-method literature in this field. The book covers the use of measurement-based methods in which data is collected by measuring the properties and their variations in ‘actual’ physical systems, simulation-based methods which work with ‘models’ of systems or processes to describe, examine and analyze their behaviors, performances and operations, and data-driven methodologies in which data is collected via measurement or simulation to identify and examine the associations and patterns and predict the future in a targeted system. The book presents a survey of key methodologies in various specialized areas of building science and technology research including window systems, building enclosure, energy performance, lighting and daylighting, computational fluid dynamics, indoor and outdoor thermal comfort, and life cycle environmental impacts. Provides advanced insight into the research methods and presents the key methodologies within the field of building science and technology.Reviews simulation-based and experimentation/field-based methods of data collection and analysis in diverse areas of building science and technology, such as energy performance, window and enclosure studies, environmental LCA, daylighting, CFD, and thermal comfort.Provides a range of perspectives from building science faculty and researcher contributors with diverse research interests.Appropriate for use in university courses. Introduction References Contents Research Methods for Assessing the Thermal and Optical Performance of Building Windows 1 History of and Rationale for Energy-Efficient Building Windows 2 Experimental Methods for Building Windows 2.1 In Situ Measurement Methods 2.1.1 Key Measurement Standards for Window Properties 2.1.2 U-Factor Measurement 2.1.3 SHGC Measurement 2.1.4 VT Measurement 2.2 Small-Scale Experiments Methodology for Thermal and Optical Window Performance 2.3 Large-Scale/ Full-Scale Experiments 3 Numerical Analysis Methods for Building Windows 3.1 Finite Element Method 3.2 Governing Equations and Models in Numerical Analysis for Windows 3.3 Numerical Analysis for Indoor Environments by Side Windows 3.4 Numerical Analysis for Thermal Behaviors of Windows 4 Computational Design and Optimization Techniques for Building Windows 5 Human-Factor Experiments Evaluating Subjective Thermal and Visual Perception 6 Trends and Other Issues of Research Methods for Building Windows References Research Approaches for Building Enclosure Studies 1 An Array of Research Methods for Building Enclosure Studies 1.1 Laboratory Experiments 1.2 Simulation 1.3 Field Experiments 1.4 Field Study 2 Two Case Studies 2.1 Vegetated Roofing Study 2.2 Reflective Roofing Research Study 3 Selecting an Appropriate Research Method for a Building Enclosure Study 3.1 Vegetated Roofing Study 3.1.1 Laboratory Experiment 3.1.2 Simulation 3.1.3 Field Experiment 3.1.4 Field Study 3.2 Reflective Roofing Research Study 3.2.1 Laboratory Experiment 3.2.2 Simulation 3.2.3 Field Experiment 3.2.4 Field Study 4 Advice for Beginning Researchers References Building Energy Performance Research – Current Approaches and Future Trends 1 Introduction: Significance of Building Energy Performance 2 Review of Methodological Approaches 2.1 Simulation Research 2.2 Laboratory Experimental Research 2.3 Field Experimental Research 2.4 Field Studies Research 3 Important Areas of Energy Performance Research 3.1 Analysis of Building Typologies 3.2 Post Occupancy Evaluation 3.3 Impact of User Behavior on Energy Use 3.4 Integrated Building Scale and Urban Scale Energy Research 4 Research Tools and Equipment 4.1 Simulation Software 4.2 Field Equipment 5 Review of Selected Case Studies 5.1 Developing an Augmented Reality Prototype for Teaching Energy Efficiency Concepts 5.2 Under One Roof – Performance Assessment of High-Solar Reflectance Roof 5.3 Retrofit Potential of Historic Homes in San Antonio 6 Conclusions References Research Methods in Daylighting and Electric Lighting 1 Introduction 2 Determining and Evaluating the Quantity and Distribution of Light 2.1 Physical Measurement of Lighting Quantities 2.1.1 Photopic and Colorimetric Measurements 2.1.2 Circadian Light Measurements 2.1.3 Utilization of Measurements in Field and Laboratory Research 2.2 Computer Simulation of Lighting Quantities 2.2.1 Computational Simulation of Photopic and Colorimetric Quantities 2.2.2 Computational Simulation of Circadian Quantities 2.2.3 Utilization of Computer Simulation in Research 2.3 Combining Physical Measurements and Computational Simulations 2.4 Utilization of Measured and Computed Data 2.5 Optimization 2.6 Machine Learning 3 Determining Human Physiological Responses: Visual Comfort and Performance 3.1 Psychophysical Measurements 3.1.1 Subjective Measurements 3.1.2 Objective Measurements 3.2 Computational Visual Comfort Metrics 3.3 Modeling of Occupant Behavior 4 Studying Human Experiential Responses 4.1 Perceptual Measures 4.2 Computational Perceptual Metrics 5 Conclusion References Research Methods in Computational Fluid Dynamics 1 Introduction 2 Applications of Computational Fluid Dynamics in the Built Environment 3 Computational Fluid Dynamics Software for Analyzing Building Performance 3.1 CFD Tool Within Whole Building Simulation Packages 3.2 Dedicated CFD Packages and Tools 3.3 Case Study Projects 3.4 Conclusion References Advancements in Thermal Comfort Modeling Using Modern Sensing and Computational Technologies 1 Significance of Indoor Environmental Quality 2 Current Environmental Comfort Models and the Limitations 3 Skin Temperature-Driven Thermal Environmental Controls 4 The Practicality of Physiological-Signal Based Thermal Comfort Modeling 5 Advanced Computational Algorithms in Thermal Comfort Modeling 6 Individual vs. General Models 7 Additional Physiological Signals to Be Considered 8 Conclusion References Outdoor Thermal Comfort & Human Behavior Factors, Models, and Methodologies 1 Introduction 2 Factors in OTC Assessment 2.1 Environmental Factors 2.2 Physiological Factors 2.3 Psychological Factors 2.4 Behavioral Factors 3 OTC Evaluation Models 3.1 PMV/PPD 3.2 Adaptive Thermal Comfort Model 3.3 Klima-Michel Model (KMM) 3.4 SET*/ OUT-SET* 3.5 PET 3.6 UTCI 3.7 Discussion of OTC Evaluation Models 4 OTC Research Methodologies 4.1 Measurement-Based and Empirical Methods 4.2 Numerical and Simulation-Based Methods 5 Conclusion References Life Cycle Assessment as a Research Methodology for Estimating the Environmental Impacts of Buildings 1 Introduction 2 Why Do Research on the Environmental Impacts of Buildings? 3 Life Cycle Assessment Methodology 4 Worked Example 5 Results of the Worked Example 6 Optimization and Data-Driven Approaches in Building LCA Research 7 Data Quality Issues and Disagreement of LCA Results 8 Standard Reporting of LCA Processes and Results 9 Conclusion References Index