Buildings and other infrastructures located in the coastal regions of the US have a higher level of wind vulnerability. Reducing the increasing property losses and causalities associated with severe windstorms has been the central research focus of the wind engineering community. The present wind engineering toolbox consists of building codes and standards, laboratory experiments, and field measurements. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 7 standard provides wind loads only for buildings with common shapes. For complex cases it refers to physical modeling. Although this option can be economically viable for large projects, it is not cost-effective for low-rise residential houses. To circumvent these limitations, a numerical approach based on the techniques of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been developed. The recent advance in computing technology and significant developments in turbulence modeling is making numerical evaluation of wind effects a more affordable approach. The present study targeted those cases that are not addressed by the standards. These include wind loads on complex roofs for low-rise buildings, aerodynamics of tall buildings, and effects of complex surrounding buildings. Among all the turbulence models investigated, the large eddy simulation (LES) model performed the best in predicting wind loads. The application of a spatially evolving time-dependent wind velocity field with the relevant turbulence structures at the inlet boundaries was found to be essential. All the results were compared and validated with experimental data. The study also revealed CFD’s unique flow visualization and aerodynamic data generation capabilities along with a better understanding of the complex three-dimensional aerodynamics of wind-structure interactions. With the proper modeling that realistically represents the actual turbulent atmospheric boundary layer flow, CFD can offer an economical alternative to the existing wind engineering tools. CFD’s easy accessibility is expected to transform the practice of structural design for wind, resulting in more wind-resilient and sustainable systems by encouraging optimal aerodynamic and sustainable structural/building design. Thus, this method will help ensure public safety and reduce economic losses due to wind perils.

Master´s thesis proposes the design of low-rise residential complex in the city Brno - Tuřany, the cadastral territory Holásky. The location is defined from the west by the stream Černovický potok with natural monument - lakes Holásecká jezera, from the east by railway line Brno - Uherské Hradiště and from south by street U Potoka. The proposed area is west of the street V Aleji. The main objective was to use the framework conditions of the specified territory, propose urbanistic quality residential complex without losing the connection with the original structure of the township and to ensure full-fledged facilities for living, walking ,resting and recreation of the population.

Tornadoes pose a significant danger to human life and structures. Research regarding the effects of tornado-induced loads on residential buildings is in incipient stages and there are no specialized construction standards in place to recommend criteria applicable to structures for withstanding tornadic winds. Three residential house models with different geometries were tested in the Wind-induced Damage Simulator (WDS) built at the University of Ottawa. The WDS is capable of simulating pressures induced by multidirectional and tornadic winds. The peak pressure coefficients were calculated on the walls and roofs of the houses and an analysis was performed on the effects of house model orientation, roof pitch angle, and exposure duration. The peak pressure coefficients were then compared to the NBCC 2015 code to clarify if there were any limitations of the current wind design criteria. It was found that the building orientation did not have a significant effect on pressure coefficient trends and magnitudes on the walls and roofs. For the low roof pitch angle models, it was noticed that the suction on the roof was much greater than the higher roof pitch angle models. An interesting observation was made that found that the leading edge of the walls in the direction of the clockwise tornadic flow were always under greater suction than the trailing edge, which causes a torsional effect on the entire model. When comparing the peak pressure coefficient values to the NBCC 2015 recommended values for the secondary cladding members, it was found that the CpCg stipulated in the code were similar to the experimental tornado Cp’s for the walls. However, the Cp’s on the roof were much greater in the experiments when compared to the NBCC 2015. The CpCg of Zones S and Zone R, which are the edges and central regions of the roof, greatly exceed the minimum values in the NBCC 2015. More experiments for residential house models of different geometries should be conducted in order to propose new tornado-induced pressure coefficients to be used in the design of the structure located in tornado-prone areas.Tornadoes pose a significant danger to human life and structures. Research regarding the effects of tornado-induced loads on residential buildings is in incipient stages and there are no specialized construction standards in place to recommend criteria applicable to structures for withstanding tornadic winds. Three residential house models with different geometries were tested in the Wind-induced Damage Simulator (WDS) built at the University of Ottawa. The WDS is capable of simulating pressures induced by multidirectional and tornadic winds. The peak pressure coefficients were calculated on the walls and roofs of the houses and an analysis was performed on the effects of house model orientation, roof pitch angle, and exposure duration. The peak pressure coefficients were then compared to the NBCC 2015 code to clarify if there were any limitations of the current wind design criteria. It was found that the building orientation did not have a significant effect on pressure coefficient trends and magnitudes on the walls and roofs. For the low roof pitch angle models, it was noticed that the suction on the roof was much greater than the higher roof pitch angle models. An interesting observation was made that found that the leading edge of the walls in the direction of the clockwise tornadic flow were always under greater suction than the trailing edge, which causes a torsional effect on the entire model. When comparing the peak pressure coefficient values to the NBCC 2015 recommended values for the secondary cladding members, it was found that the CpCg stipulated in the code were similar to the experimental tornado Cp’s for the walls. However, the Cp’s on the roof were much greater in the experiments when compared to the NBCC 2015. The CpCg of Zones S and Zone R, which are the edges and central regions of the roof, greatly exceed the minimum values in the NBCC 2015. More experiments for residential house models of different geometries should be conducted in order to propose new tornado-induced pressure coefficients to be used in the design of the structure located in tornado-prone areas.

The rehabilitation of the former Jaselská barracks aims to create a place with a clear identity within the city context. A green axis connects the urban-planning elements – the city house and dwellings in the park, and unites the newly built structure. The work elaborates on the park dwellings, which are characterised by a low-rise structure whilst keeping the density of a city block. Proportion suited to the human needs, simple spatial and architectural language and a gradient of public and private spaces are the key elements of this design.

Структура магистерской диссертации включает в себя введение, три главы, заключение, список использованной литературы из 60 источников и 1 приложение. Основная часть диссертационной работы изложена на 74 страницах, содержит 12 таблиц, 18 рисунков. В первой главе рассмотрены существующие виды жилья для людей пожилого возраста, и варианты обслуживания. Рассмотрены основные положения программы «Доступная среда», которые в свою очередь позволяют улучшить качество жизни для людей пожилого возраста. Проведен сравнительный анализ многоквартирных домов. Во второй главе проводится анализ основных направлений развития рынка недвижимости. Рассматриваются социальные показатели, их динамика и основные направления развития. Анализируется рынок жилья, определены основные направления для строительства жилой недвижимости, основными покупателями в скором времени будут люди пожилого возраста. В третьей главе представлено экономическое обоснование проекта малоэтажного строительства «Доступная среда». Рассчитаны основные интегральные показатели эффективности, смоделированы два варианта финансирования, как с собственными средствами, так и с привлечение заемных. В заключении сформулированы основные выводы и обобщены результаты исследования. / Structure of master's thesis includes introduction, three chapters, conclusion, bibliography of 60 sources and 1 Appendix. The main part of the thesis is set out on 74 pages, and contains 12 tables, 18 figures. The first Chapter describes the existing types of housing for the elderly, and service options. The main points of the program "Accessible environment", which in turn improve the quality of life for the elderly. A comparative analysis of apartment buildings. The second Chapter analyzes the main directions of development of the real estate market. Discusses social indicators, their dynamics and main directions of development. Examines the housing market, the main directions for the construction of residential property, the main buyers will soon be seniors. The third Chapter presents the economic justification of the project of low-rise construction "Accessible environment". Designed basic integrated indicators of efficiency of a simulated two variants of financing with own funds and borrowing. In conclusion the main conclusions and summarizes the results of the study.

The master thesis consists of introduction, three chapters, conclusion, list of references and applications. The introduction explains the choice of the research topic, substantiates its relevance, formulates the goal and objectives of the work, determines the subject and object of research, its theoretical foundations and scientific novelty. The first chapter discusses the general provisions of the residential real estate market - its structure, legislative regulation of housing construction, the parameters for determining its quality and comfort. In the second chapter, foreign approaches to the density and height of urban housing are studied, the typologies of housing that have taken shape in Russia are analyzed, and an optimal model of low-rise, high-density residential development is developed. The third chapter describes the site selected for the implementation of the proposed model, a feasibility study of the residential complex construction project is carried out, and its financial and economic efficiency is calculated. / Магистерская диссертация состоит из введения, трех глав, заключения, списка литературы и приложений. Во введении объясняется выбор темы исследования, обосновывается ее актуальность, формулируются цель и задачи работы, определяется предмет и объект исследования, его теоретические основы и научная новизна. В первой главе рассматриваются общие положения рынка жилой недвижимости – его структура, законодательное регулирование строительства жилья, параметры определения его качества и комфортности. Во второй главе изучаются зарубежные подходы к плотности и высотности городского жилья, анализируется сложившиеся в России типологии жилья, вырабатывается оптимальная модель малоэтажной высокоплотной жилой застройки. В третьей главе описывается выбранный для реализации предложенной модели участок, производится технико-экономическое обоснование проекта строительства жилого комплекса, рассчитывается его финансово-экономическая эффективность.

The full-scale value of the Reynolds number associated with wind loads on structures is of the order of 10^7. This is further complicated by the high levels of turbulence fluctuations associated with strong winds. On the other hand, numerical and wind tunnel simulations are usually carried out at smaller values of Re. Consequently, the validation of these simulations should only be based on physical phenomena derived with tools capable of their identification. In this work, two physical aspects related to extreme wind loads on low-rise structures are examined. The first includes the statistical properties and prediction of pressure peaks. The second involves the identification of linear and nonlinear relations between pressure peaks and associated velocity fluctuations. The first part of this thesis is concerned with the statistical properties of surface pressure time series and their variations under different incident flow conditions. Various statistical tools, including space-time correlation, conditional sampling, the probability plot and the probability plot correlation coefficient, are used to characterize pressure peaks measured on the top surface of a surface-mounted prism. The results show that the Gamma distribution provides generally the best statistical description for the pressure time series, and that the method of moments is sufficient for determining its parameters. Additionally, the shape parameter of the Gamma distribution can be directly related to the incident flow conditions. As for prediction of pressure peaks, the results show that the probability of non-exceedence can best be derived from the Gumbel distribution. Two approaches for peak prediction, based on analysis of the parent pressure time series and of observed peaks, are presented. The prediction based on the parent time series yields more conservative estimates of the probability of non-exceedence. The second part of this thesis is concerned with determining the linear and nonlinear relations between pressure peaks and the velocity field. Validated by analytical test signals, the wavelet-based analysis is proven to be effective and accurate in detecting intermittent linear and nonlinear relations between the pressure and velocity fluctuations. In particular, intermittent linear and nonlinear velocity pressure relations are observed over the nondimensional frequency range fH/U<0.32. These results provide the basis for flow parameters and characteristics required in the simulation of the wind loads on structures. / Ph. D.

The issue of the effects of free stream turbulence on the flow field over a surface-mounted prism is examined through experimental and numerical investigations. In the experimental studies, particle image velocimetry measurements are conducted in the ESM water tunnel at Reynolds number of $9,600$ and under two cases of turbulent inflow conditions. The results show that the mean flow separation, reattachment and parameters such as mean velocity, root mean square, Reynolds stresses and turbulent kinetic energy are affected by the turbulence characteristics of the incident flow. The instantaneous dynamics of the interactions between the separating shear layer and the solid wall and between the shear layer and the turbulence in the incident flow are detailed. In the numerical studies, large eddy simulations of the flow over a surface-mounted prism under two inflow conditions, namely, smooth inflow and isotropic homogeneous turbulence inflow, are performed. The use of a fifth-order scheme (CUD-II-5), which is a member of a family of Compact Upwind Difference schemes, in large eddy simulations of this flow is assessed. The performance of this scheme is validated by comparing the rate of temporal decay of isotropic turbulence with available experimental measurements for grid-generated turbulence. The results show that the spectra are sensitive to the method of flux vector splitting needed for the implementation of the upwind scheme. With van Leer splitting, the CUD-II-5 scheme is found to be too dissipative. On the other hand, using the Lax-Friedrichs vector splitting yields good agreement with experiments by controlling the level of artificial dissipation. This led us to recommend a new procedure, we denote by C6CUD5 scheme, that combines a compact sixth-order scheme with the CUD-II-5 scheme for large eddy simulation of complex flows. The simulation results, including flow patterns, pressure fields and turbulence statistics show that the CUD-II-5 scheme, with Lax-Friedricks flux vector splitting, provides high resolution of local flow structures. The results present new physical aspects of the flow topology over surface-mounted prisms. The effects of the incident homogeneous turbulence on the size of the separation region and suction pressures are determined by pointing out differences in the flow topologies between the two incident flow cases. / Ph. D.

Urban land prices have important effects on urban development and locational distribution of land-uses. Housing is one of those sectors. There are high-density residential areas covering high-rise apartments at the city center where the land prices are quite high. Here, sizes of the plots and the housing units are relatively small. However, land prices begin to decrease with the increasing distance from the city center and the production of low-density, low-rise housing which is economically unfeasible at the center turns to be feasible for the housebuilders at the outskirts. Low-rise houses at the urban fringe provides various opportunities for the households. In these areas, plots and housing units are relatively larger due to cheap and available land. In addition to this, better urban services, quiet and clean environment as well as privacy contribute to create a livable urban environment. However, households living in low-rise housing units are subject to high transportation and maintenance costs. It is expected that they would compensate these costs with larger housing units, prestigious urban environment and many opportunities that their neighborhoods offer. Urbanization processes may be differ from one country to another with respect to the socio-economic and political structures, and the environmental characteristics. In that sense, low-rise housing areas at the urban fringe of Ankara were found to be developed highly compatible with urban land use theories / but different from the processes experienced in developed countries, to some extent. With regard to these, low-rise housing development in Ankara is discussed according to plan decisions, housebuilders, households and urban development pattern, considering the theoretical basis and historical processes.

Low-rise buildings are often subjected to high wind loads during hurricanes that lead to severe damage and cause water intrusion. It is therefore important to estimate accurate wind pressures for design purposes to reduce losses. Wind loads on low-rise buildings can differ significantly depending upon the laboratory in which they were measured. The differences are due in large part to inadequate simulations of the low-frequency content of atmospheric velocity fluctuations in the laboratory and to the small scale of the models used for the measurements. A new partial turbulence simulation methodology was developed for simulating the effect of low-frequency flow fluctuations on low-rise buildings more effectively from the point of view of testing accuracy and repeatability than is currently the case. The methodology was validated by comparing aerodynamic pressure data for building models obtained in the open-jet 12-Fan Wall of Wind (WOW) facility against their counterparts in a boundary-layer wind tunnel. Field measurements of pressures on Texas Tech University building and Silsoe building were also used for validation purposes. The tests in partial simulation are freed of integral length scale constraints, meaning that model length scales in such testing are only limited by blockage considerations. Thus the partial simulation methodology can be used to produce aerodynamic data for low-rise buildings by using large-scale models in wind tunnels and WOW-like facilities. This is a major advantage, because large-scale models allow for accurate modeling of architectural details, testing at higher Reynolds number, using greater spatial resolution of the pressure taps in high pressure zones, and assessing the performance of aerodynamic devices to reduce wind effects. The technique eliminates a major cause of discrepancies among measurements conducted in different laboratories and can help to standardize flow simulations for testing residential homes as well as significantly improving testing accuracy and repeatability. Partial turbulence simulation was used in the WOW to determine the performance of discontinuous perforated parapets in mitigating roof pressures. The comparisons of pressures with and without parapets showed significant reductions in pressure coefficients in the zones with high suctions. This demonstrated the potential of such aerodynamic add-on devices to reduce uplift forces.