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The UK is believed to have some of the oldest buildings in Europe and these aged buildings are constantly growing in number while there is a concomitant growing pressure to maintain their utilitarian values in the face of changing technology, legislation and sustainability issues. Wholesale demolition of these buildings is believed to be unhealthy from an environmental protection perspective as it causes heavy pollution as well as placing more demand upon depleting resources. The need for alternatives to demolition and new-build is therefore imperative. Refurbishment is one such and a well-established alternative to demolition and new-build as the schemes are adjudged to be a cost-effective way of extending the lifespan of properties as it allows the provision of modern facilities. However, dealing with an existing building is faced with various unknowns, unexpected, unpredictable and often undesirable situations which will require further attention and a mechanism to identify any source of uncertainty because when risks are unidentified and not properly managed, they consequently affect project objectives. The study investigates the factors which contribute to risks, uncertainties and technical challenges associated with building refurbishment schemes and the impact they may have in achieving project desired outcomes. The overall objective is to develop a framework that provides helpful information to refurbishment practitioners to assist in minimising level of uncertainty. Developing a framework that provides support for decision makers in pinpointing the vital elements that define the characteristics of the refurbishment projects in terms of achieving high quality standards as well as those factors which may act as barriers was chosen for this study as there is no widely used, understood and accepted refurbishment focused framework.

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This thesis describes the design of a computational Fluid-Structure Interaction algorithm for the analysis of unsteady flow of an incompressible fluid around a flexible structural membrane. An example of such a system is the interaction of a lightweight fabric building structure with the surrounding wind. These structures are highly flexible and have the potential to display aeroelastic instabilities and undergo deformations which are large compared to the membrane thickness. A numerical computational method capable of investigating this complex behaviour is developed in this work. A boundary fitted unstructured triangular fluid mesh is used; the fully viscous Navier-Stokes equations are discretised on the moving mesh using a collocated Finite Volume method, 'with the SIMPLE algorithm for pressure solution. Mesh non-orthogonalities and geometric conservation are appropriately addressed. A dynamic structure approach is taken, tracking the unsteady membrane motions over time and using nodal velocities as the degrees of freedom. A new distributed elasticity model is implemented for the calculation of internal forces to improve stability. The motion of internal fluid mesh nodes is determined following a pseudo-structural approach, taking into account elastic spring forces in the mesh edges and nodal forces due to distortion of the mesh elements driven by the displacements of the fluidstructure boundary. The method is shown to be applicable to simulations on moving meshes, and successfully predicts formation and separation of fluid boundary layers from the structure surface. Two coupled unsteady fluid-membrane structure interaction investigations are carried out; flow over an elastic membrane pinned at both ends and flow over an elastic membrane with one free end. The results highlight significant unsteady interactions between the membrane and the flow, which it is only possible to model with a coupled aeroelastic approach. Suggestions for further work, including the simple extension of the method to three dimensions, are described.

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Energy in buildings is recognised as a major environmental and financial issue. Scientists have recognised that in near future the energy produced from fossil fuels may not be sufficient to fulfil the man's energy needs and that continuous resources exploitation at current rates will be harmful to the stability of earth's climate. Carbon dioxide, which is released during the combustion of conventional fuels, traps heat within earth's atmosphere and as a result the global temperature is expected to rise at levels above any experienced before by our civilisation. In order for the carbon dioxide emissions, which are released to the atmosphere by human activities within buildings, to be stabilised and reduced, all new buildings should be designed towards net operational zero emissions. More than forty percent of the energy consumed in UK is within buildings. By exploring all the options for the provision of low carbon energy and the efficient use of energy this thesis provides a background in technologies and examines their value to a building. Low and zero carbon technologies are qualitatively and quantitatively assessed especially for new buildings. For all the technologies examined, technical aspects of their design are appraised and their financial viability in the current business environment is examined. Procedures for the optimisation of design are proposed based on the research conclusions. A new assessment tool CARB-FM, i.e. Carbon Abatement Relative Balance Financial Method, has been developed, and tested on a number of cases. CARBFM is a multifaceted tool which considers the technology, the financial cost and the environmental impact. CARB-FM can be used as a decision making tool for any kind of project which assesses the environmental credits of technologies by energy saving of primary energy resources. Future bUilding design must encapsulate the life time energy requirements, and planners, engineers and architects can apply CARB-FM to provide a low-carbon design solution in which the most cost efficient energy saving measures will have been i.ntroduced by engineering design during early stages of the design process.