Masonite Beams is a company that produces I-beams. They are also working on developing a building system for industrial production of building components. A part of their building system is a composite floor, consisting of LVL and I-beams. At the moment they are working with a new type of joint between floor and wall, where the connection between floor and wall will be solved by a protrusion of the LVL being placed of a hanger mounted on the wall. The aim for this project was to find a screw pattern where the resistance of the protrusion is enough to handle the support reaction that can occure. A screw pattern that would be capable to manage the support reaction was derived by practical tests, done in Masonite Beams lab. When a screw pattern with a capacity high enough for the support reactions had been found, 5 samples of the same screw pattern were tested to be able to calculate a characteristic resistance. During the testing the performance of the included components were also evaluated. The support reaction that floor potentially could be exposed to was calculated to 6,25 kN, a value lower than the resistance, that was calculated to 7,27 kN.

MSc, School of Architecture and Planning, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, 2002

With the growth of the distributed power generation market and the increasing integration of energy systems, more and more low carbon technologies are being installed at the domestic building level to optimise daily energy cost and reduce carbon emissions. The objective of this thesis is to optimise domestic building daily energy cost, and to identify ways of reducing the installation and maintenance costs of all domestic energy infrastructures. In this thesis, general energy conversion, storage and transmission in domestic buildings are considered. The first key part of this thesis is to size a combined heat and power (CHP) unit based on the Maximum Rectangle (MR) method and use the Genetic Algorithm (GA) method to optimize daily energy cost for a building without an energy storage system. The second key part of the thesis is to size a hybrid energy storage system (HESS) and develop a new rule-based energy control rule to optimise energy cost for a building with an energy storage system. The results show that after sizing the HESS, the daily benefit-cost ratio of the HESS is increased by approximately a factor of two over previous work. Additionally, the proposed rule based energy control model can yield up to 19.8% energy cost saving compared to a system dependent solely on electricity from the grid and using a boiler to generate heat. This ratio is almost equal to the previous work, but the present work increases customers’ comfort level by treating all load as critical. In addition, the optimization approach in this thesis is more real-world feasible, because it is not possible for exact loads to be known in advance. The results also show that daily energy cost saving for a building with HESSs and the appropriate control rule is approximately 47% higher than a building with a well-sized CHP but no HESS; and the capacity of CHP can also be reduced when the HESS is installed. Thus, the installation and maintenance costs of HESSs can be offset by reducing the capacity of CHP to some extent. In addition, the proposed control algorithm and HESSs have outstanding performance in improving the effective CHP output efficiency and average CHP input to output ratio. This proves the combination of HESS and the proposed rule-base control algorithm can reduce carbon emissions and make full use of CHP capacity. Page | iii However at present, the benefit to cost ratios of case studies of such domestic energy systems are always lower than 11% giving a negative return on investment. This figure is mainly limited by the high manufacturing price of HESSs and CHP. In the medium to long term future, the downward trend in battery and CHP manufacturing costs, coupled with changing energy tariffs are likely to lead to overwhelmingly positive cost benefit for this technology.

Tsui Ping Tim = 建築物埸景的三維重建 / 徐秉添. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 82-85). / Text in English; abstracts in English and Chinese. / Tsui Ping Tim = Jian zhu wu yi jing de san wei zhong jian / Xu Bingtian. / Acknowledgement --- p.ii / Abstract --- p.iii / Table of Content --- p.v / Chapter Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1. --- A Brief Review on 3D Site Reconstruction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2. --- Approach of the Project --- p.3 / Chapter 1.3. --- Organization of the Thesis --- p.4 / Chapter 1.3.1 --- The 3D Site Reconstruction --- p.4 / Chapter 1.3.2 --- The Conformal Point Theory --- p.5 / Chapter 1.4. --- Notations --- p.6 / Chapter Chapter 2. --- General System Overview --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.7 / Chapter 2.2 --- Ground Reconstruction --- p.8 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Planar Homography --- p.9 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Determination of the Planar Homography --- p.10 / Chapter 2.3 --- Buildings and Cliff Reconstruction --- p.13 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Correspondence Extraction --- p.14 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Self-Calibration --- p.17 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- Extrinsic Parameters Estimation --- p.17 / Chapter 2.3.4 --- Scene Point Coordinates Computation --- p.18 / Chapter 2.3.5 --- Bundle Adjustment --- p.19 / Chapter 2.4 --- Object Assimilation --- p.19 / Chapter 2.5 --- Summary --- p.21 / Chapter Chapter 3. --- Camera Calibration --- p.22 / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.22 / Chapter 3.2 --- Chapter Organization --- p.22 / Chapter 3.3 --- Brief Review of Camera Calibration --- p.23 / Chapter 3.4 --- Camera Intrinsic Parameters --- p.23 / Chapter 3.5 --- Difficulty of the Calibration Problem --- p.25 / Chapter 3.6 --- Non-automatic Calibration --- p.26 / Chapter 3.6.1 --- DLT --- p.26 / Chapter 3.6.2 --- Vanishing Points Approach --- p.26 / Chapter 3.6.3 --- Homography Approach --- p.28 / Chapter 3.7 --- Auto-Calibration --- p.29 / Chapter 3.7.1 --- Square Pixel with Known Principal Points --- p.30 / Chapter 3.7.2 --- Constant Camera Matrices --- p.31 / Chapter 3.8 --- Experiment --- p.33 / Chapter 3.8.1 --- Experimental Measurement --- p.33 / Chapter 3.8.2 --- Experimental Results --- p.34 / Chapter 3.9 --- Conclusion --- p.37 / Chapter Chapter 4. --- Bundle Adjustment --- p.38 / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.38 / Chapter 4.2 --- Descent Direction and Gradient Method --- p.39 / Chapter 4.3 --- Problem Implementation --- p.40 / Chapter 4.4 --- Newton Method --- p.40 / Chapter 4.5 --- Gauss-Newton and Levenberg-Marquardt Method --- p.41 / Chapter 4.6 --- Linear Line Search --- p.43 / Chapter 4.7 --- Golden Section [38] --- p.44 / Chapter 4.8 --- Experiment --- p.47 / Chapter 4.9 --- Summary --- p.50 / Chapter Chapter 5. --- Site Reconstruction Review --- p.51 / Chapter 5.1. --- Introduction --- p.51 / Chapter 5.2. --- Chapter Organization --- p.51 / Chapter 5.3. --- Road Reconstruction --- p.51 / Chapter 5.4. --- Cliff Reconstruction --- p.54 / Chapter 5.5. --- Building Reconstruction --- p.56 / Chapter 5.6. --- Object Assimilation --- p.60 / Chapter 5.7. --- Gallery --- p.61 / Chapter 5.8. --- Application --- p.64 / Chapter Chapter 6. --- Conformal Point Theory --- p.65 / Chapter 6.1. --- Introduction --- p.65 / Chapter 6.2. --- Chapter Organization --- p.65 / Chapter 6.3. --- Hartley Conformal Point Theory --- p.66 / Chapter 6.3.1 --- Angle Measurement Making Use of the Conformal Point --- p.66 / Chapter 6.3.2 --- Position of the Conformal Point --- p.66 / Chapter 6.3.3 --- Proof of the Metric Measurement with the Conformal Point --- p.67 / Chapter 6.3.4 --- Limitation of Hartley's Theory --- p.69 / Chapter 6.4. --- The Discovery of Vanishing Line from 2 or More Images --- p.69 / Chapter 6.4.1 --- Parallax and Plane Stabilization --- p.70 / Chapter 6.4.2 --- Recovery of Vanishing Point by Ideal Plane Stabilization --- p.71 / Chapter 6.5 --- Determining the Infinite Homography and Angle Measurement --- p.73 / Chapter 6.5.1 --- "Four Corresponding Vanishing Points, 3 of which are of Orthogonal Directions" --- p.73 / Chapter 6.5.2 --- "Three Corresponding Orthogonal Point Pairs, and Known Epipoles" --- p.74 / Chapter 6.5.3 --- Known camera matrix and Four Distant Points --- p.74 / Chapter 6.6 --- Applications --- p.77 / Chapter 6.7 --- Conclusion --- p.77 / Chapter 6.8 --- Notes on Publication --- p.78 / Chapter Chapter 7. --- Conclusions --- p.79 / Chapter 7.1 --- Summary --- p.79 / Chapter 7.2 --- Conclusion and Future Work --- p.80 / Appendix A. References --- p.82 / Appendix B. Experiment Dataset --- p.86 / Chapter B.1. --- Introduction --- p.86 / Chapter B.2. --- Synthetic Dataset 1 (S1) --- p.87 / Chapter B.3. --- Synthetic Dataset 2 (S2) --- p.89 / Chapter B.4. --- Real Dataset 1 (Rl) --- p.91 / Chapter B.5. --- Real Dataset 2 (R2) --- p.92 / Chapter B.6. --- Real Dataset 3 (R3) --- p.93 / Appendix C. Mathematical Proof of Vanishing Line Detection by Infinite Plane Stabilization --- p.94

by Jackie Ching-yuen Yeung. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1988. / Bibliography: leaf 66.

Building Information Modeling“BIM" is becoming a better known established collaboration process in the construction industry. Owners are increasingly requiring BIM services from construction managers, architects and engineering firms. Many construction firms are now investing in“BIM" technologies during bidding, preconstruction, construction and post construction. The goal of this project is to understand the uses and benefits of BIM for construction managers and examine BIM based scheduling. There are two objectives to this project. First is to identify the current uses of BIM in the Architectural / Engineering / Construction / Facility Management industry to better understand how the BIM-based“build to design" and“design to build" concepts can be used by construction managers under the Construction Management at Risk project delivery system. Second, a focus is placed on analyzing 3D and 4D BIM as well as BIM based scheduling. The research was conducted through literature review, case studies, and interviews. First, the research identified the uses of Building Information Modeling for preconstruction, construction and post construction phases. Then, the project examined the uses and benefits of BIM in the construction of a research facility. Subsequently, a prototype 4D Building Information Model was created and studied. Furthermore, the BIM-based schedule was integrated to the 4D model. Finally, the project concluded with an analysis on the use, advantages and setbacks of BIM and its tools.

No description available.

Climatic stress on buildings in hot-dry climates has long been negotiated by means of evaporative cooling, the origins of which could be traced back to Egypt and the Middle East. However, this millennia-old strategy needs to undergo much scrutiny in its design and implementation to meet the requirements of contemporary comfort standards for offices. The task is even more onerous if multi-storey buildings are considered. Acknowledging Cairo to be one of the most densely populated cities in the world and in light of the growing demand on high quality office space in recent years, it is anticipated that extending the application of evaporative cooling to medium and high-rise office buildings is imperative if this strategy is to be widely adopted as an alternative to conventional air-conditioning in Cairo given that existing research and applications are limited to low-rise buildings. This work proposes a four-stage plan to achieve that. The first stage entails the development of a generic prototype of the Passive Downdraught Evaporatively Cooled (PDEC) multi-storey office building that allows three distinct airflow patterns and two modes of operation to take place. The second stage makes use of analytic models for the initial sizing of the airflow components. The third stage assesses the performance of a base case model of the generic PDEC building in terms of bulk airflow rates, airflow distribution across the floors, internal thermal conditions, and relevant environmental costs using EnergyPlus, the whole building dynamic thermal simulation program with integrated airflow network modelling. The fourth and final stage is that of optimisation wherein the effects of varying a number of parameters on performance are established. The study shows that in comparison to free-running naturally-ventilated buildings, and depending on the thermal comfort model adopted, PDEC can potentially deliver comfort conditions for all occupied hours of the cooling season in Cairo. Buoyancy 'stack' forces alone generated by temperature differences can drive sufficient airflow rates without wind assistance, a scenario that is likely to occur in dense urban contexts. The study demonstrates the effectiveness' of dividing multi-storey buildings into isolated segments in terms of airflow (segmentation) and the benefits of extending PDEC operation beyond occupied hours. Changes in wind direction and speed were also considered and have shown to be of less significance if air inlets and outlets are properly located. Fine tuning of the building management system and adopting a more relaxed overheating criterion are key factors in limiting the increase in daily water consumption due to PDEC in light of the diminishing availability of sustainable water resources in the region. This study is the first to provide an understanding of how multi-storey office buildings in hot-dry climates can be designed and operated to incorporate PDEC as a viable alternative to AC. The novelty here lies not in the methodology which uses available models, but in the detailed investigation of flow rates, flow patterns, indoor temperatures, and water consumption.

Tang Sin Ying. / "Architecture Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Master of Architecture Programme 2004-2005, design report."

Thermochromic (TC) windows were developed as a passive building component to improve indoor comfort and building energy conservation in place of traditional clear glazing systems. TC materials enable a spectrum-dependent regulation of solar radiation through windows stimulated by heat. When the temperature is higher than its transition temperature, less solar radiation, primarily in the near infra-red (NIR), will be admitted inside the building, reducing over-heating on hot days. Meanwhile, the TC materials tint to bluish or brownish appearance along with the transition. Most research about the commonly studied Vanadium dioxide (VO2) based TC windows was focused on fabrication methods and properties improvement of VO2 based materials, and a few numbers of studies investigated their energy performance when applied in buildings. Therefore, this research conducted a thorough investigation of TC windows applied in buildings, covering characteristic of TC windows, energy efficient, daylighting performance, and human response affected by different types of TC windows. Both simulation and experimental methods were carried out to explore the potential of TC windows. That aim is to provide a detailed guidance for the development of TC materials that are more flexible and acceptable to use in a practical building. The comprehensive analysis mainly consists of four parts: 1) simulation work on the evaluation of TC windows on energy efficient and daylighting, also the window size effects under five typical climates; 2) further evaluation of the potential of developed TC windows with enhanced capability of adjusting visible and NIR transmittance individually or cooperatively; 3) experimental investigation of the research hypothesis that TC tinted window has no effect on the human visual performance and subjective sensation, in a test room cubicle with a low level of simulated daylit (100lux); 4) further experimental investigation to detect the acceptance range of tinting for different windows at an indoor comfort illuminance level (350 lux). Findings show that compared with reducing the transition temperatures, improving capability of adjusting visible or NIR transmittance is more effective to improve both daylighting and energy performance. TC windows are more energy efficient when applied in buildings with large glazing area under cooling dominated climates. However, dynamic reduction of visible transmittance is required to decrease the risk of visual discomfort caused by over daylighting, especially for cities with lower solar altitude. Under a dark illuminance, bronze tinted TC windows were preferred subjectively, however, subjects had better visual performance under blue tinted TC window conditions. Sustained attention (i.e., focus on an activity for a long period of time) was not affected by TC window conditions (i.e., with correlated colour temperature (CCT) ranging from 3300 to 11000K), but further tinted bronze window was subjectively considered to improve concentration. Therefore, adjustment of visible transmittance is highly recommended for warm tinted TC windows. Simulation and lab experiment might have some limitation on this study, further work is suggested by carrying out further validation and employing more samples.