À présent, la réhabilitation des bâtiments est entendue comme une opportunité d’adapter les immeubles existants aux transformations urbaines. Ces modifications ont un impact sur la performance environnementale du parc immobilier, et la ventilation naturelle est l’un des aspects les plus affectés. La densification du tissu urbain est responsable, dans certains cas, de la réduction de la vitesse de l’air, qui peut rendre difficile la dissipation de la chaleur, du bruit et des polluants. Sous un climat chaud et humide, ces facteurs provoquent fréquemment l’adoption d’une climatisation mécanique, surtout dans les bâtiments de bureaux. Étant donné l’importance du sujet, ce travail a pour objectif de discuter les défis et le potentiel d’adopter la ventilation naturelle dans les projets de réhabilitation des bâtiments de bureaux en milieu urbain dense. On soutient l’hypothèse que le projet de réhabilitation peut promouvoir l'utilisation efficace de la ventilation naturelle dans les bâtiments de bureaux, à travers son adéquation au contexte urbain et environnemental présent. La demarche adoptée est composée de quatre étapes. Tout d’abord, on effectue une revue de la littérature sur la réhabilitation des bâtiments pour comprendre le contexte spécifique sur lequel on travaille le thème de la «ventilation naturelle». Ensuite, on analyse l’état de l'art sur la ventilation naturelle dans le cadre de la réhabilitation dans les contextes nationaux et internationaux afin d'identifier les avancées atteintes. Après, on réalise une revue de la littérature sur les effets de l'urbanisation sur l’écoulement de l’air. Pour clore, on propose une réhabilitation d’un bâtiment de bureaux dans le centre-ville de Rio de Janeiro, qui permettra de vérifier les bénéfices d’une solution de ventilation pour le confort des occupants. Le travail souligne la complexité de trouver des solutions de réhabilitation qui permettent d’augmenter le débit d’air dans les bâtiments tout en conciliant l’intégralité de leur patrimoine architectural, l’adaptation aux nécéssités présentes et la possibilité des transformations futures. Le défi augmente dans les milieux urbains denses, où le bruit, la pollution de l’air et la faible perméabilité du tissu urbain peuvent poser des limitations. Dans le cadre des recherches en Europe, Asie et Amérique du Nord, plusieurs réhabilitations ont été réalisées pour analyser la performance des solutions de ventilation. Les ventilations hybride et nocturne sont les plus indiquées. Au Brésil, les recherches sur ce sujet restent balbutiantes et la climatisation mécanique est la solution 9 prédominante dans les rénovations des espaces corporatifs. L’étude de cas montre, à l’aide des modélisations CFD, que la densification de la région analysée a réduit la vitesse et le débit d’air des étages et, par conséquent, a diminué les heures de confort thermique. Les étages plus bas sont les moins favorisés par le vent et le bruit. Ce diagnostic montre la nécessité d’amplifier le débit d’air du bâtiment pendant son occupation et de rendre possible la ventilation nocturne pour dissiper la chaleur accumulée pendant la journée. Dans ce sens, on propose l’ouverture de la partie fixe supérieure de toutes les fênetres, une intervention qui préserve les caractéristiques originales des façades et ne nuit pas à la sécurité du bâtiment lorsqu’il est inoccupé. Les résultats indiquent que cette intervention a augmenté les heures de confort thermique des occupants entre 0,5 et 35%, selon l’étage et de l’indicateur utilisé dans l’interprétation des résultats. Cela renforce l’hypothèse que la ventilation naturelle, toute seule, n’est pas sufisante pour préserver le confort des occupants pendant toute l’année. Cependant, elle peut être complétée par la ventilation mécanique, a fin de concilier le bien-être des usagers et la réduction de la consommation d’énergie des bâtiments / Nowadays, retrofitting is understood as an opportunity to adapt existing buildings to the urban transformations of its surroundings. The changes in the urban fabric can cause impacts to the building environmental performance and, generally, natural ventilation is one of the most affected aspects. The densification process is responsible, in some cases, for the reduction of wind speed, which can disturb the dissipation of heat, noise and pollutants. In hot and humid climate, these factors cause frequently the adoption of mechanical ventilation, mainly in office buildings. Given the relevance of the subject, this work aims to discuss the challenges and potential of adopting natural ventilation in the retrofit of office buildings located in dense urban areas. Our hypothesis is that the retrofit project can promote the efficient use of natural ventilation in office buildings, through its adaptation to the present urban and environmental conditions. The methodology includes 4 stages. First, we carry out a literature review about building retrofits to understand the specific context with which we are dealing the subject of “natural ventilation”. Next, we analyze the state of the art of natural ventilation in the retrofit context to identify the main findings. Then, we investigate the effects of urbanization on the airflow pattern. Finally, we propose retrofitting an office building in downtown Rio de Janeiro to verify the benefits offered by a ventilation solution to the occupants’ thermal comfort. We highlight the complexity of developing solutions that increase the airflow in buildings while balancing the protection of its past, the response to the present requirements and the possibility of future changes. This challenge increases in dense urban areas, where noise, air pollution and low permeability of the urban fabric can place some limitations. As part of the research carried out by European, Asian and North American countries, several renovations were conducted to analyze the performance of ventilation solutions. Hybrid and night ventilation were indicated as the most appropriate ones. In Brazil, investigations in this subject remain incipient and air conditioning is the predominant solution in office spaces. By means of CFD simulations, the case study shows that the densification of the analyzed region reduced the wind speed and airflow in all floors and, therefore, reduced the thermal comfort hours. The lower floors are the least favored by the wind and the noise. This diagnostic points out the need to increase buildings airflow during its occupancy and allow night ventilation to dissipate the heat gains accumulated during the day. In this way, we propose to open the upper fixed 11 portion of all windows, a solution that protects the original façade features and do not harm the buildings security when it is not occupied. Thermal simulations indicate that this procedure increases the thermal comfort annual hours in 0,5-35%, depending on the floor and the adaptive comfort model used to interpret the results. We conclude that natural ventilation itself is not sufficient to ensure occupants comfort throughout the year, however it can be complemented by mechanical ventilation in order to balance thermal comfort and energy efficiency. / Atualmente, a reabilitação é entendida como uma oportunidade de adaptar os edifícios existentes às transformações urbanas sofridas pelo entorno. Tais modificações geram impactos ao desempenho ambiental do imóvel, e a ventilação natural é um dos aspectos mais afetados. O adensamento do tecido urbano é responsável, em alguns casos, pela redução da velocidade do ar, que pode dificultar a dissipação do calor, ruído e poluentes. Nos climas quentes e úmidos, esses fatores provocam frequentemente a adoção de refrigeração mecânica, especialmente em edifícios de escritórios. Dada a relevância do tema, este trabalho tem por objetivo discutir os desafios e potencialidades de adotar a ventilação natural no projeto de reabilitação de edifícios de escritórios situados em meios urbanos densos. Assume-se como hipótese que o projeto de reabilitação pode promover uma utilização eficiente da ventilação natural nos edifícios de escritórios, por meio de sua adequação ao contexto urbano presente. A metodologia adotada é composta por quatro etapas. Inicialmente, realiza-se uma revisão bibliográfica sobre a reabilitação de edifícios a fim de compreender o contexto específico sobre o qual será trabalhado o tema da ventilação natural. Em seguida, analisa-se o estado-da-arte da ventilação natural no contexto da reabilitação, buscando identificar os principais avanços obtidos no cenário nacional e internacional. Depois, efetua-se uma revisão da literatura sobre os efeitos da urbanização no escoamento do ar. Finalmente, propõe-se uma reabilitação de um edifício de escritórios no centro do Rio de Janeiro, para verificar os benefícios de uma solução de ventilação no conforto dos ocupantes. O trabalho destaca a complexidade de desenvolver soluções reversíveis que possibilitem aumentar a vazão de ar nos edifícios e preservar suas características construtivas. O desafio é ainda maior em meios urbanos densos, onde o ruído, a poluição do ar e a baixa permeabilidade do tecido urbano podem impor limitações. As pesquisas desenvolvidas na Europa, Ásia e América do Norte destacam as ventilações híbrida e noturna como as soluções mais indicadas. No Brasil, os trabalhos sobre o tema ainda são incipientes, e a refrigeração mecânica é a solução predominante nas reabilitações de espaços corporativos. O estudo de caso indica, por meio de simulações fluidodinâmicas e térmicas, que a densificação da área analisada reduziu a velocidade e vazão do ar no edifício, diminuindo as horas de conforto térmico. Os pavimentos7mais baixos são os menos favorecidos pelos ventos e ruído. Este diagnóstico indica a necessidade de aumentar a vazão de ar durante a ocupação e viabilizar a ventilação noturna para dissipar o calor acumulado durante o expediente. Neste sentido, propõe-se a abertura das folhas fixas sobre as janelas existentes, o que não compromete a preservação das características originais das fachadas e a segurança do edifício quando desocupado. Os resultados indicam que esta intervenção aumenta entre 0,5 e 35% as horas de conforto dos ocupantes. Conclui-se que a ventilação natural, por si só, não satisfaz o conforto térmico durante o ano todo, mas pode ser complementada pela ventilação mecânica, de modo a conciliar eficiência energética e bem-estar dos usuários.

No description available.

The impact of geographical choices is crucial for both individuals and businesses to assess. Generally, companies are favored by being in accessible areas, which pushes up the demand and price for space. This phenomenon is referred to as a bid-rent theory. Infrastructure like roads and public transport contributes to accessibility. Earlier studies have shown that property prices are affected by all public means of transport but seems to be mostly affected by the accessibility to metro stations. With a quantitative research method, the aim of this master thesis is to explore how commercial property transaction prices are affected by the proximity to public transport specified on metro stations in Stockholm. Our study is performed on 123 officebuildings, and all observations are within the timeline of 2015 to 2021, in both the inner and outer city. The aim is also to explore the difference between those areas. In this study, a hedonic price model is used, where price/sqm is the dependent variable: y = m + β1x1 + … + βnxn + ε 10 independent variables are used, all arguably related to determine a price for a commercial office property. The variables Metro and I/O are in focus and considered our main variables to examine, Metro represents the distance to metro stations and I/O is a dummy for inner and outer city. In total, 7 models are presented in the results, with different combinations of independent variables. All models contribute to discussion, however, the model that we consider gives the most relevant results has a degree of explanation R2 of 46,7%. This model gives us significant results on both independent variables in focus, and the model itself. A large factor that interrupted better results was the limitations on observations. The interpretation of the model for offices in the inner city showed that the dependent variable changed 0,667 units when the independent variable I/O changed 1 unit. Moreover, when the distance to metro stations increased with 1 unit the dependent variable decreased with 0,0454 units per km. Furthermore, within the inner city the distance to metro stations tends to have less significance, to clarify the reason why, is yet to be discovered. / Valet av geografisk placering är något som både privatpersoner och företag påverkas av. Generellt sett är det ekonomiskt fördelaktigt för företag att placera sig i lättillgängliga områden, vilket i sin tur bidrar till en högre efterfrågan och högre hyror i vissa områden. Infrastruktur såsom vägar och kollektivtrafik bidrar till ökad tillgänglighet. Tidigare studier visar att närhet till kollektivtrafik, oavsett trafik-slag, har en effekt på priset. Dock verkar priset påverkas främst av tillgängligheten till tunnelbana. Med en kvantitativ forskningsmetod är syftet med denna masteruppsats att undersöka hur kommersiella fastighetspriser påverkas av närhet till kollektivtrafik, med en inriktning på tunnelbanestationer i Stockholms län. Vår studie grundar sig på 123 kontorsfastigheter och samtliga transaktioner är utförda mellan år 2015–2021, i både innerstad och ytterstad. Syftet är därför också att undersöka vilken skillnad det finns mellan dessa områden. I studien används en hedonisk prismodell, där vår beroende variabel är pris/kvm: y = m + β1x1 + … + βnxn + ε 10 oberoende variabler, som i någon mån kan förklara priset, har använts i analysen. Bland dessa har vi haft störst fokus på variablerna för avstånd till tunnelbanestation Metro samt dummy-variabeln för innerstad/ytterstad I/O. Totalt sett redovisas 7 modeller med olika kombinationer av oberoende variabler. Samtliga modeller bidrar till diskussion, men den modell vi anser ger oss mest relevant information har en förklaringsgrad R2 på 46,7% och visar signifikans på modellen i sin helhet samt våra oberoende variabler i fokus. Tolkningen av modellen för kontorsfastigheter i innerstaden visade att den beroende variabeln steg 0,667 enheter när den oberoende variabeln I/O ändrades med 1 enhet. Samt visade det sig att när avståndet ökade till tunnelbanestationer med 1 enhet så minskade den beroende variabeln med 0,0454 enheter per kilometer. Dessutom, tenderar avståndet till unnelbanestationer i innerstad, att ha mindre påverkan på priset. Orsaken till detta, framgår inte i denna studie.

This dissertation explores debt as an instrument of control deployed by German private and state actors in the Ottoman Empire between the 1870s and 1919. The everyday functioning of empire relies on seemingly abstract and smooth financial transactions across vast territories. Studying these processes architecturally foregrounds the material reality of the “immaterial” system of modern finance, revealing the frictions it creates, and thereby centers how power is produced and subverted within and across imperial borders. Focusing largely on Deutsche Bank’s archives and related sources, “The Architecture of German Capitalist Imperialism” traces the movement of German capital into Ottoman territory. The corresponding material system—from financial office buildings in Constantinople to farms, factories and trading posts in the Ottoman region of Cilicia—served to enable Deutsche Bank, a private German bank with significant state support, to carry out its business in a foreign, non-colonized territory. In the Ottoman capital, the Deutsche Bank branch office and the headquarters of the Ottoman Public Debt Administration (OPDA, founded by international creditors following the Ottoman government’s 1875 declaration of bankruptcy) constituted the central structures of the debt system. Yet to increase agricultural tax revenue—thus helping to repay foreign debt and serving as collateral for new loans—the OPDA operationalized a system of resource extraction across a wide economic geography, reaching far into the Anatolian provinces. As a major creditor of the Ottoman government, Deutsche Bank was central to this OPDA project while also developing its own agricultural cotton program in the Anatolian countryside. What emerged, as this dissertation demonstrates, was a vast inter-imperial architectural network engendered by, and servicing, Ottoman debt. To understand how that debt operated on the ground, the study follows the flows of capital through the more informal spaces that mostly go unacknowledged in both architectural and economic history—such as a local banker’s private villa in Cilicia and warehouse facilities at Deutsche Bank’s cotton factory—and explores the land regime the Germans encountered in the Ottoman countryside. It shows that financial transactions required physical translation and transformation, which generated dependencies for Deutsche Bank from local actors, thus undermining the bank’s dominance particularly in the “hinterland” and slowing down the German Empire’s imperial push. By focusing on the multifaceted built environment of capitalist imperialism, this dissertation challenges well-established boundaries of rural and urban, private and imperial, metropole and colony and establishes architecture as both a medium and a product of the logics of modern finance developed in the late nineteenth century. Directing attention to the material foundations of imperial finance illuminates the functioning of global capitalism at its founding moment, throwing long shadows into the twentieth century.

No description available.

The purpose of this thesis was to create a structure that is a result of a hyperbolic paraboloid shell (hypar). As a result of this, a certain order evolved which dictated the form, the structure, and the environmental aspects of the two buildings designed. Through the design of the hypar walls, came the opportunity and/or need for daylighting. This is the conscious design of a building form to use direct sunlight for illumination and thermal benefit. Buildings so designed respond both to direct sunlight and to sunlight modified through diffusion or reflection by the sky vault, clouds, natural or man—made elements of the landscape, and the buildings, themselves. The workers occupying these buildings spend a major portion of their day in a place that could have psychological and physiological effects. Sunlight gives reassuring orientation to time, a place, and weather, as well as producing interior environments that are comfortable, delightful, and productive. / Master of Architecture

Submitted in fulfillment of the academic requirements for the degree of Master of Technology in Construction Management, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2015. / On-time completion and conformity with assigned cost of every project are the most important factors in the success of project plans. Cost overruns and time overrun (delays) have been critical problems of many projects around the world in general and in South Africa in particular. The main objectives of this research are to assess the dominant causes of cost and time overruns, identifying possible and practical measures that can minimize overruns in office building construction projects around eThekwini Municipal area of Kwazulu-Natal. These objectives are achieved through the implementation of the research methodologies that are mainly literature review and questionnaire survey conducted to identify and evaluate the significant factors contributing to delay and cost overruns within the projects of interest. A review of literature identified eighty-five variables for delay, grouped in nine major categories and nine variables for cost overruns ranked in their order of importance in three sets based on the responses from the professionals working for the client, consultants and contractors. The agreement among the sets of rankings for delay and cost overruns has also been tested using statistical methods. The result indicates that there is strong agreement on ranking the importance of the individual variables of delay and cost overruns between parties. From each of the three sets of rankings, the twenty most important variables of delay and the three most important variables of cost overrun are identified as critical. Based on overall results, the top five most important causes are contractor’s cash flow problems, delay in progress payments by the client, poor site supervision and management by contractor, inefficient quality control by the contractor during construction leading to rework due to errors, and contractor’s difficulties in financing the project. Out of the 20 most important delay causing variables, three are found to be common between all parties. These are delay in progress payments by the client, delay in delivery and late ordering of material, and insufficient skill of labour. Furthermore, the study reveals that all stakeholders of construction parties are deeply involved in contributing to the causes of the problems. Thus, in order to eliminate or minimize cost and time extension of office construction projects in the eThekwini Municipal area, a joint effort based on teamwork is essential through effective project planning, controlling and monitoring which boils down to putting in place best practice construction project management.

The UK building stock accounts for about half of all energy consumed in the UK. A large portion of the energy is consumed by nondomestic buildings. Offices and retail are the most energy intensive typologies within the nondomestic building sector, typically accounting for over 50% of the nondomestic buildings’ total energy consumption. Heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are the largest energy end use in the nondomestic sector, with energy consumption close to 50% of total energy consumption. Different HVAC systems have different energy requirements when responding to the same building heating and cooling demands. On the other hand, building heating and cooling demands depend on various parameters such as building fabrics, glazing ratio, building form, occupancy pattern, and many others. HVAC system energy requirements and building energy demands can be determined by mathematical modelling. A widely accepted approach among building professionals is to use building energy simulation tools such as EnergyPlus, IES, DOE2, etc. which can analyse in detail building energy consumption. However, preparing and running simulations in such tools is usually very complicated, time consuming and costly. Their complexity has been identified as the biggest obstacle. Adequate alternatives to complex building energy simulation tools are regression models which can provide results in an easier and faster way. This research deals with the development of regression models that enable the selection of HVAC systems for office buildings. In addition, the models are able to predict annual heating, cooling and auxiliary energy requirements of different HVAC systems as a function of office building heating and cooling demands. For the first part of the data set development used for the regression analysis, a data set of office building simulation archetypes was developed. The four most typical built forms (open plan sidelit, cellular sidelit, artificially lit open plan and composite sidelit cellular around artificially lit open plan built form) were coupled with five types of building fabric and three levels of glazing ratio. Furthermore, two measures of reducing solar heat gains were considered as well as implementation of daylight control. Also, building orientation was included in the analysis. In total 3840 different office buildings were then further coupled with five different HVAC systems: variable air volume system; constant air volume system; fan coil system with dedicated air; chilled ceiling system with embedded pipes, dedicated air and radiator heating; and chilled ceiling system with exposed aluminium panels, dedicated air and radiator heating. The total number of models simulated in EnergyPlus, in order to develop the input database for regression analysis, was 23,040. The results clearly indicate that it is possible to form a reliable judgement about each different HVAC system’s heating, cooling and auxiliary energy requirements based only on office building heating and cooling demands. High coefficients of determination of the proposed regression models show that HVAC system requirements can be predicted with high accuracy. The lowest coefficient of determination among cooling regression models was 0.94 in the case of the CAV system. HVAC system heating energy requirement regression models had a coefficient of determination above 0.96. The auxiliary energy requirement models had a coefficient of determination above 0.95, except in the case of chilled ceiling systems where the coefficient of determination was around 0.87. This research demonstrates that simplified regression models can be used to provide design decisions for the office building HVAC systems studied. Such models allow more rapid determination of HVAC systems energy requirements without the need for time-consuming (hence expensive) reconfigurations and runs of the simulation program.

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

The problem in this study was to discover if the public relations program of the Dallas Petroleum Center was useful in leasing and if the program played a significant role in a leasing increase. The study was carried out by describing the development of the building project, by analyzing the planning and execution of the public relations program, by testing the program's effectiveness, and by drawing conclusions about the program and by making recommendations for this specific program and for office leasing in general. The effectiveness of the program was tested by questionnaires and interviews. The public relations program proved to be an effective tool in leasing office space; and a similar program was recommended for other buildings.