It is difficult to design for thermal comfort in low cost housing due to construction and dimensional constraints placed by regulatory and cost requirement. Low-cost houses have failed to achieve satisfactory temperatures which makes inhabitation bearable. Comparisons in building environmental behaviour have been made between the traditional Malay and modern houses in Malaysia using the Welsh School of Architecture Environmental Data Logger on five different types of low-cost houses. Two houses represent the traditional Malay house and the other three are typical of the modern low-cost designs. Analysis and comparison of data collected, was used to determine the degree of environmental and design failures in modern low-cost houses. The data was also used to validate a computer thermal model to contribute to the objectives of a parallel Tripartite Research Group Project, comprising of Universiti Sains Malaysia, the UK Building Research Establishment and The University of Wales, the aim of which was to investigate low cost housing design solutions. From a combination of environmental monitoring and computer modelling, it was determined that air movement, ventilation rate and sunshadings was the predominant criteria for thermal comfort in Malaysian homes. Since it was found that wind is almost calm for nearly half the year, air movement by temperature difference (stack effect) was investigated. The second part of this thesis investigated the double-skin roof as a solution to the problem of discomfort by achieving the required air movement and ventilation rate, as well as providing sunshading to enhance comfort. A scale model of 1:3 was constructed and placed under the solar simulator. Results obtained have been used to inform design guidelines.

The UK housing stock suffers from one of the lowest energy efficiency levels in Europe. This results in high annual carbon dioxide emissions and the grave problem of fuel poverty. While new dwellings achieve a certain level of energy efficiency through the standards enforced by the Building Regulations, the rate of replacement of the existing inefficient stock is extremely low. Significant improvements are possible through refurbishment, providing appropriate resources are available. But in a society where homeownership accounts for 70% of the total number of households, the future of most UK housing depends upon the will of private homeowners. While the political climate does not support the introduction of legislation to enforce retrospective energy standards in dwellings, the only realistic means to achieve the goal of an energy efficient homeowner-stock is to engage homeowners in the process, through energy efficient home-improvement. This is the challenge that drives this study. The thesis draws on interviews with relevant domestic energy efficiency programme providers and previous research within a variety of disciplines, in order to build an integrated conceptual framework for the design of domestic energy efficiency information and advice programmes for owner-occupiers. The thesis argues that an everyday householder-centred approach be taken by experts in the development of programmes, in order to increase the likelihood of engaging householders. The study focuses on the use of the Home Energy Report as a vehicle for providing information and advice. The proposed conceptual framework is compared with the views of homeowner-occupiers who have received such reports from their mortgage lenders in order to find support for and to further refine the framework themes. The study concludes with a series of recommendations for the development of the Government's proposed seller's pack home energy report programme based on the everyday householder-centred approach.

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Η εξοικονόμηση ενέργειας σε ένα κτίριο μέσω της αποτελεσματικής χρήσης του κτιριακού αυτοματισμού και των ενεργειακών βελτιώσεων που πρέπει να γίνουν σε αυτό είναι δυο τομείς που συγκεντρώνουν μεγάλο ενδιαφέρον τα τελευταία χρόνια. Ειδικά αν η προσπάθεια αυτή συνδυαστεί με τη χρήση μεθόδων της Ασαφούς Λογικής και των Ασαφών Γνωστικών Δικτύων (ΑΓΔ) τότε αναμένουμε πολλά και αξιόλογα αποτελέσματα τα οποία υπόσχονται μια ραγδαία βελτίωση του τρόπου ζωής μας. Στόχος της παρούσας διπλωματικής εργασίας είναι να χρησιμοποιούν προηγμένες θεωρίες ελέγχου για να διαμορφωθεί τη συνολική ενεργειακή συμπεριφορά ενός κτιρίου για οικιστική ή εμπορική χρήση. Η προτεινόμενη μέθοδος είναι η χρήση ασαφούς λογικής και ο έξυπνος έλεγχος για να διαμορφωθούν τέτοια έξυπνα κτίρια. Για το σκοπό αυτό κατασκευάζονται ένα σύστημα Ασαφούς Λογικής και ένα Ασαφές Γνωστικό Δίκτυο και μελετώνται οι ενεργειακές απαιτήσεις ενός κτιρίου από το νότιο τμήμα της Ελλάδας. Το προτεινόμενο έξυπνο λογισμικό που διαμορφώνεται αποτελείται από δύο μέρη: Α) Το Ασαφές Σύστημα Συμπερασμού, το οποίο λαμβάνοντας υπόψη τα μετεωρολογικά δεδομένα της περιοχής (ηλιακή ακτινοβολία, θερμοκρασία κλπ) ελέγχει τον αυτοματισμό του κτιρίου (HVAC και φωτισμός), προκειμένου να επιτευχθεί πιο αποτελεσματική χρήση του. Β) Το Ασαφές Γνωστικό Δίκτυο (ΑΓΔ), το οποίο βάσει της χρήσης του κάθε στοιχείου του αυτοματισμού κτιρίου, ανιχνεύει αν το κτίριο χρειάζεται ενεργειακές βελτιώσεις και εάν ναι, προτείνει τις κατάλληλες λύσεις με βάση την κατανάλωση ενέργειας. Οι μελέτες προσομοίωσης διεξήχθησαν χρησιμοποιώντας και τις δύο μεθόδους. Τα ληφθέντα αποτελέσματα έδειξαν ότι και οι δύο μέθοδοι μπορούν να συνεισφέρουν θετικά στη βελτίωση του αυτοματισμού κτιρίων, καθώς και στη συνολική ενεργειακή συμπεριφορά του κτιρίου. / Reducing the energy consumption of a building through the effective use of its automation and the necessary energy improvements that can be made, are two scientific areas that gathered a lot of interest in recent years, especially, if this effort is combined with the use of advanced system and control theories such as fuzzy logic, intelligent control and Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCM). The purpose of this diploma thesis is to use advanced control theories to model the total energy behavior of an autonomous building for residential or commercial use. The proposed method is using fuzzy logic and intelligent control to model such intelligent buildings. A Fuzzy Logic and a Fuzzy Cognitive Map are constructed. The energy requirements for a building from the southern part of Greece are determined using the Design Builder software. The proposed intelligent software tool is composed of two parts: A)The Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) which taking into account the weather data of the area (sun radiation, temperature etc.) controls the building automation (HVAC and lighting) in order to achieve its most effective use. Β)The Fuzzy Cognitive Map (FCM) which based on the use of each element of the building automation, detects whether the building needs energy improvements and if so, proposes appropriate solutions based on its energy consumption. Simulation studies were conducted using both methods. The obtained results have shown that both methods can contribute positively to the improvement of the building automation as well to the overall energy behavior of the building.

It has recently been demonstrated that the presentation of a rare target in a visual oddball paradigm induces a prolonged inhibition of microsaccades. In the field of electrophysiology, the amplitude of the P300 component in event-related potentials (ERP) has been shown to be sensitive to the stimulus category (target vs. non target) of the eliciting stimulus, its overall probability, and the preceding stimulus sequence. In the present study we further specify the functional underpinnings of the prolonged microsaccadic inhibition in the visual oddball task, showing that the stimulus category, the frequency of a stimulus and the preceding stimulus sequence influence microsaccade rate. Furthermore, by co-recording ERPs and eye-movements, we were able to demonstrate that, despite being largely sensitive to the same experimental manipulation, the amplitude of P300 and the microsaccadic inhibition predict each other very weakly, and thus constitute two independent measures of the brain’s response to rare targets in the visual oddball paradigm.