Curved forms have always been an important part of architecture for visual, structural, religious, or environmental reasons. Nowadays, in many parts of the world, curved surface shapes in building structures quite common, particularly in the hot climate regions. In addition to the traditional curved surfaces (domes and vaults), convex walls have also been extensively used in the construction of modem buildings. Accurate and specific distribution of direct solar radiation on curved surfaces is desired in a variety of fields and an important parameter when simulating the thermal performance of buildings. In this thesis, a computer model is developed to predict the quantity of incident direct solar energy on curved surfaces with a variety of forms and with different cross-sectional ratios at different orientations under a clear sky. The model based on a mesh represents the curved geometrical shape and simple mathematical equations to calculate the direct solar radiation at certain coordinates. In general, the results of the simulations indicate that the amount of direct solar radiation received by horizontal surface can be reduced using the curved surface. Results also reveal that the efficiency of curved surfaces can be significantly improved by choosing the proper design and orientation, which in tum can reduce the overall cost of cooling in hot months. The code has been tested against a number of computer programs for a set of geometrical conditions and. the results show a good agreement. Such a model can provide the architects and building engineers with a new easy-to-use tool that may help them during the early design stages.

The thesis aims to introduce and accelerate the construction of building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) or building integrated wind turbines (BIWT); considered as part of sustainable buildings. These types of buildings are important in reducing CO2 emission in Bahrain as building and construction sector is responsible for nearly 40 to 50 % of total energy use in Bahrain. Major commercial and residential building construction in Bahrain has been surveyed, making it a rich database for future make-over to BIPV or BIWT. Among these projects, there are only two sustainable building projects in Bahrain, i. e. Bahrain World Trade Centre and Euro-University - yet, not started. The Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) of having sustainable building projects in Bahrain have also been thoroughly and carefully discussed. Many policies, mechanisms and options set by different entities {OECD, UNEP's Sustainable Building and Construction Initiative (SBCI), ISES, LEED and BREEAM} has been discussed which can be used by the government or the parliament to accelerate the execution of sustainable building projects in the kingdom of Bahrain to meet the objectives of Bahrain Economic Vision 2030. Two large existing buildings in Bahrain that can be considered BIPV and BIWT or sustainable building were investigated. These are: Almoayyed Tower (the first skyscraper in Bahrain) - published in Building and Energy Journal in 2008 - and Bahrain International Circuit (classified as the world's best Formula I circuit) - published in Building and Environment Journal and Applied Energy Journal in 2006 and in The Open Construction and Building Technology Journal in 2008 . The cost of make-over, its advantages, drawbacks, concerns, and the annual reduction in CO2 emissions of these two building have been investigated. The incident of solar radiation on horizontal, vertical and tilted surfaces and the solar electricity acquired from installing photovoltaic modules integrated to the building (BIPV) has been made in additional to the calculation of the available wind speeds at different locations in Bahrain and at different heights from the ground. These data are important in making a thorough economic and environmental assessment for make-over to sustainable buildings in Bahrain. A novel model is established that allows the calculation of the Sustainable Building Index (SBI) - published in Building and Energy Journal in 2008. This index will reveal the potential in Bahrain (and probably neighbouring countries) in engaging in BIPV or BIWT (partial sustainable buildings). The index varies from 0.1 to 1.0; the higher the index the more willingness of the community to involve with sustainable buildings. For Bahrain, the calculated SBI is 0.48 which indicates that more efforts must be made on increasing the Drivers and minimizing the Barriers. This requires suitable mechanisms which the thesis has already made available. These mechanisms are used to achieve a compromise between the investors in Bahrain, the government and contractors (or builders) which will encourage and boost the development and dissemination of sustainable buildings in the kingdom of Bahrain. A novel comprehensive model to accelerate the sustainable buildings project in Bahrain has also been made (published in The Open Construction & Building Technology Journal in 2008). Also, two novel empirical relations were established to estimate the cost of solar and wind electricity to be used for BIPV and BIWT. The thesis aims to solve the vicious circle of blame: Bahrain investors like to fund sustainable buildings but there is no demand for them; the constructors can build sustainable buildings but the developers do not ask them; and the developers would ask for sustainable buildings but the investors won't pay for them.

In June of 2003 a revised Part L of the Building Regulations Approved Documents increased the stringency of requirements pertaining to the conservation of fuel and power in buildings. These regulations are indicative of the increasing pressure that is being applied to legislators, architects and builders to improve the energy efficiency of the British construction industry. In particular, the new Part L1 significantly increases the demands placed on housing. Furthermore, these regulations no longer apply purely to new build dwellings, but to any building work that is deemed to constitute 'material alterations'. While the government's commitment to driving forward standards of 'good' new housing is clear, the extent to which the existing, and increasingly elderly, housing stock can be improved is less certain. This study investigates the potential for increasing the energy efficiency of existing dwellings, up to and beyond current standards. A survey of ten percent of the dwellings in Neath Port Talbot County Borough is used to analyse predominant physical characteristics of housing. The houses are clustered into twenty groups based on these characteristics.A n actual dwelling is then chosen that is most representative of each of the groups, and is surveyed in detail. Dynamic computer models of these dwellings are used to evaluate the impact of a series of different energy efficiency measures, ranging from simple home improvements to more complex refurbishments. Returning to the larger scale, conclusions are drawn relating to the degree that the energy efficiency of existing housing stock can, and should, be improved. The efficiency of the houses as existing is significantly influenced by dwelling type, age, occupancy and the degree of care that has been provided by owners and occupiers in maintaining their homes. However, some of the emergent dwelling types have more efficient physical forms than others. Improvement of glazing has the biggest impact on the energy consumption of most of the dwellings, typically reducing fuel bills by a third, although it is not likely to be the most cost effective measure. When coupled with replacement of the boiler, saving on average 17.5% of the heating load, this unanimously results in a very significant saving. Improvement of the dwellings generally to current standards typically reduces the energy required for space heating to one third of current heating loads. Terraces and flats provide very efficient forms for improvement. The smaller semi detached houses perform acceptably at higher standards, whereas larger semi- and detached homes and particularly bungalows are intrinsically less efficient. Orientation plays an important part in achieving higher standards. Large, recently built houses tend to have a uniformity of windows that lose energy, while older houses are very often more thoughtfully and responsively designed. Improvement of the dwellings to super-insulated standards reduces the overall energy required for space heating to only a seventh of the current demand. Only the smallest, most sheltered homes with good orientation can achieve autonomous standards, and this requires air-tight fabric and energy from renewable sources.

Intumescent coating, as a new generation of fire proof material, has obvious advantages over traditional fire protection materials. The applications of intumescent coating are widely ranged and it has become dominant in the fire engineering market. However, the present method of assessment in EN 13381 Part 4 is not suitable for applications of intumescent coating under realistic fire conditions, because intumescent coating behaviour is not only temperature dependent, but also fire exposure dependent. The failure of currently available method to give accurate predictions of intumescent coating thermal performance motivated this research. Against this background, a 1-0 mathematical model has been established to consider chemical kinetics, mass and energy conservation, and heat transfer through solid and gas phases. The model couples the degradation of three basic components (inorganic acid source, blowing agent, and charring material) with a variable volume system. Basic volatile mass transfer and simplified bubbling mechanisms have been described in assistance to calculate the non-linear distribution of temperature along the coating thickness. The model is presented in terms of Finite Difference Method (FOM) equations and is solved using FORTRAN programming. Then, an extensive sensitivity study has been carried out to identify most influential parameters among a large number of material input data required by the mathematical model. A. The activation energies of the blowing agent and the charring material, the maximum expansion coefficient and the final bubble size have been shown to have the most influence on the predicted steel temperature results. To assess the influence of different pore size distributions, Finite Element simulations (ABAQUS) were performed. The results of this numerical study indicate that, given the same porosity, the overall thermal conductivity of the porous structure is very close to that with uniform distribution of pores of the dominant size. This strongly suggests that, given the difficulty of obtaining precise pore size distribution, it is practically acceptable to treat an intumescent coating as having a uniform distribution of pores of the same size. A number of cone-calorimeter tests have been carried out with different coating thicknesses, steel substrate thicknesses, and external heat fluxes. The investigation focused on how to extract key parameters of the model from limited number of experimental tests, and how to make use of the model in different applications. The estimated input parameters are able to predict all the cone calorimeter tests to match the experimental measurement with reasonably good agreement, which demonstrates the feasibility of the modelling approach. Finally, to provide comprehensive validation, both standard and parametric furnace fire tests have been performed. The key parameters of chemical kinetics and intumescent char bubble size were determined experimentally. The TGA test data were used to obtain the major intumescent coating component fractions and the various chemical kinetics constants. The mathematical model described in this study is able to accurately predict both the standard fire test results and the parametric fire test results. The only requirement is that the final expansion coefficient of the intumescent coating should be provided as input data.

This research was designed to investigate possible mechanisms that fires could initiate that might lead to collapse of a tall building of similar design to the WTC Towers. It was not designed to be a forensic study and no initial damage was applied to the structure. The effects of fire on long span, truss based floor systems was investigated both locally and globally using finite element models.

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