The purpose of this thesis is to describe and implement how a specific form of IoT, sensors, can be integrated with BIM in order to improve the building performance, when the perspective taken is the end-users. It seeks to explore different perceived values of BIM and sensor integration for the occupants who directly use the building facilities. The thesis also describes the concept, frameworks and cases of how BIM and sensors integration can be setup. These are used for an implementation at a case facility. Three main methods are used – literature review, comparative case study, and a smallscale implementation, containing a survey and sensor implementation based on the respondents’ satisfaction with the office air quality. A basic literature review is used to gather the fundamental concepts used within the relevant areas, and to review the empirical research connected to these. The conceptual part of the thesis review frameworks for BIM and sensor integration, and points toward a more user-centric framework that is later developed in relation to the thesis’ empirical results. The theoretical framework integrates Information Systems Theories with Knowledge Management for a framework of understanding how knowledge about new kinds of Information Systems in developing areas function. The empirical part of the thesis is structured into two main phases, one descriptive comparative case study, and the other an implementation based in the first phase results. The first phase is descriptive, where two cases of sensor and BIM implementation processes for FM are described. The main case of Tyréns company (Tyréns), and a reference case of Mästerhuset is used for understanding how different organizational structures may lead to different perceived values and processes of BIM and sensor integration for the end-users. The second phase is an implementation at the main case, Tyréns’ headquarter building. Here the end-user perspective is employed with a survey that is constructed in accordance with some of the fundamental concepts and research reviewed, in order to measure the perceived satisfaction with the air quality of the end-users working environment. The answers show concerns with air quality in the meeting rooms, and this is used as the basis for a small-scale implementation of sensors, where CO2 and temperature sensors are set up. The results show how different organizational-specific conditions generate different perceived values of BIM and sensor integration depending on ownership relation to the end-users. The case study also illustrate the different processes of BIM and sensor integration may be setup to supplement building performance. This points to a needed add-on into frameworks that conceptualizes BIM and sensor integration without the inclusion of the end-users’ perspective. Based on this an end-user conceptual framework of BIM and sensors is proposed with the supplementary part of a knowledge layer, named analytic layer and data source from occupants.

Maintaining the quality of indoor environments in educational facilities is crucial for student comfort, health, well-being, and learning performance. Amidst the growing recognition of the impact of indoor environmental conditions on occupant comfort, health, and well-being, there has been an increasing focus on the assessment and modeling of Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ). Despite considerable advancements, current IEQ modeling and assessment methodologies often prioritize and limit to singular comfort metrics, potentially neglect- ing the comprehensive and holistic factors associated with occupant comfort and health. Furthermore, existing indoor environment maintenance practices and building systems for educational facilities often fail to include feedback from occupants (e.g., students and fac- ulty) and exhibit limited adaptability to their needs. This calls for more inclusive and occupant-centric IEQ assessment models that cover a broader spectrum of environmental parameters and occupant needs. To address the gaps, this thesis proposes a novel Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT)-based IEQ assessment framework that bridges gaps by uti- lizing multimodal data fusion and deep learning-based prediction and classification models. These models are developed to utilize real-time multidimensional IEQ data, non-intrusive occupant feedback (MFCC features from audio recordings, video/thermal features extracted by Vision Transformer (ViT)), and self-reported comfort and health levels, placing a focus on occupant-centric and data-driven decision-making for intelligent educational facilities. The proposed framework was evaluated and validated at Virginia Tech Blacksburg campus, achieving a 91.9% in R2 score in predicting future IEQ conditions and 97% and 96% accuracy in comfort and health-based IEQ conditions classifications. / Master of Science

Le comportement humain est modélisé de manière sommaire dans les logiciels de simulation énergétique des bâtiments. Or son impact est considérable et il est à l'origine d'écarts importants entre résultats de simulation et mesures in situ. Les occupants influencent les consommations d'énergie des bâtiments par leur présence et leurs activités, les ouvertures/fermetures de fenêtres, la gestion des dispositifs d'occultation, l'utilisation de l'éclairage artificiel et des appareils électriques, la gestion des consignes de chauffage et les puisages d'eau chaude sanitaire. La thèse propose une modélisation de l'occupation incluant l'ensemble de ces aspects suivant une approche stochastique statistique, pour les bâtiments résidentiels et de bureaux. La construction des modèles fait appel à un grand nombre de données issues de campagnes de mesures, d'enquêtes sociologiques et de la littérature scientifique. Le modèle d'occupation proposé est couplé à l'outil de simulation thermique dynamique Pléiades+COMFIE. En propageant les incertitudes des facteurs du modèle d'occupation et du modèle thermique (enveloppe, climat, systèmes), un intervalle de confiance des résultats de simulation peut être estimé, ouvrant ainsi la voie à un processus de garantie de performance énergétique. / Human behaviour is modelled in a simplistic manner in building energy simulation programs. However, it has a considerable impact and is identified as a major explanatory factor of the discrepancy between simulation results and in situ measurements. Occupants influence buildings energy consumption through their presence and activities, the opening/closing of windows, the actions on blinds, the use of artificial lighting and electrical appliances, the choices of temperature setpoints, and the water consumptions. The thesis proposes a model of occupants' behaviour including all these aspects, according to a stochastic approach, for residential and office buildings. Models' development is based on numerous data from measurements campaigns, sociological surveys and from the scientific literature. The proposed model for occupants' behaviour is coupled to the simulation tool Pléiades+COMFIE. By propagating the uncertainties of factors from the occupants' behaviour model and the thermal model (envelope, climate, systems), the simulation results confidence interval can be estimated, opening the way to an energy performance guarantee process.

La piscine fait partie des établissements publics les plus fréquentés dans notre société. En effet, il ne s’agit pas uniquement d’un lieu de pratique d'activités physiques, mais également un espace de détente, de jeu, d’éducation et de lien familial. Il est de toute évidence essentiel, de fournir un environnement intérieur confortable et sain pour ses occupants. Cependant, en raison de sa dimension, son besoin excessif en énergie et la complexité des phénomènes physiques évoluant à l’intérieur, il est difficile de parvenir à un équilibre optimum entre : qualité de l’air intérieur, confort thermique des occupants et efficacité énergique du bâtiment. Il faut pour cela, parvenir à une description des mécanismes qui façonnent la structure de l’écoulement de l’air par une analyse profonde de ces phénomènes qui sont à l'origine des transferts de chaleur et de masse mis en jeu à l’intérieur. Ainsi, l’objectif visé de cette thèse est de présenter une étude numérique thermo aéraulique, par CFD en régime stationnaire et transitoire, qui permet d’évaluer le comportement dynamique, thermique et thermodynamique des différents phénomènes physiques qui évoluent à l’intérieur de la piscine intérieure semi-olympique de l’université Bishop’s (Sherbrooke, Canada) afin d’améliorer la qualité de l’air intérieur et le confort thermique ainsi que son rendement énergétique. Les simulations sont réalisées avec le logiciel libre OpenFOAM en utilisant une approche RANS. Une étude thermo-aéraulique par CFD a d’abord été réalisée sur une cavité rectangulaire avec plancher chauffé, afin d’appréhender les simulations thermo aérauliques. Cela a abouti à la détermination de la meilleure configuration d’aération pour une qualité de l’air et un confort thermique optimum. Plusieurs simulations CFD du flux d'air tridimensionnel avec transfert de chaleur et de masse ont été aussi effectuées ultérieurement pour la piscine, afin d’évaluer les effets des conditions climatiques extérieures et ceux des nageurs sur l'atmosphère intérieure. En adoptant plusieurs modèles de turbulence de type RANS, la comparaison des résultats obtenus avec les données expérimentales de référence a permis de valider le code OpenFOAM. Les données expérimentales ont été recueillies au préalable au sein de la piscine de l’Université Bishop’s à l’aide d’un dispositif conçu et adapté aux conditions internes propre à la piscine et qui est équipé de plusieurs capteurs pour la mesure de : température, humidité relative et vitesse. Enfin, une étude thermo-aéraulique de la piscine en régime turbulent transitoire pour une durée de 24 heures pour les jours typiques d'été et d'hiver a été réalisée afin de prédire l’évolution de la distribution des paramètres tels que la vitesse, la température et l'humidité relative. Une analyse statistique a permis de montrer que les conditions climatiques extérieures n'ont pas d'effet sur l'environnement interne de celle-ci. D’ailleurs, sa très bonne isolation thermique démontrée par un calcul détaillé des pertes thermiques à travers son enveloppe confirme ce constat. D’autre part, l’évaluation de la qualité de l'air intérieur et le confort thermique des occupants a révélé que ces derniers sont inacceptables. Suite auxquels, un ajustement des paramètres de conditionnement de l’air a été apporté pour fin d’amélioration. / Abstract : The swimming pool is one of the most popular public establishments in our society and is not just a place for physical activities but also a space for relaxation, play, education and family ties. It is therefore important to ensure a healthy and comfortable indoor environment for the occupants. However, given the size, energy requirement and complexity of the physical phenomena that take place within such space, it is difficult to achieve an optimum balance between interior air quality, thermal comfort of occupants and energy efficiency of the building. This requires a description of the mechanisms, which determine the structure of the airflow by a profound analysis of these phenomena, which are the origin of the heat and mass transfers involved inside such spaces. The objective of this thesis is to present a numerical thermo-ventilation study using CFD (computational fluid dynamic) in stationary and transient regime that allows to evaluate the dynamic, thermal and thermodynamic behaviors of the various phenomena that take place inside the semi-Olympic closed swimming pool at Bishop's University (Sherbrooke, Qc, Canada). The aim is to improve the indoor air quality and thermal comfort of occupants as well as its energy efficiency. The simulations are carried out using OpenFOAM (Open Field Operation and Manipulation) using a Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) approach. To do this, a CFD thermo-ventilation study was first carried out on a rectangular cavity with heated floor in order to understand the thermo-ventilation simulations. This has led to the determination of the best ventilation configuration for optimum air quality and thermal comfort. Several CFD simulations of the three-dimensional airflow with heat and mass transfer were also carried out later for the indoor swimming pool to evaluate the effects of outdoor climatic conditions and swimmers on the indoor atmosphere of the pool. By adopting several RANS turbulence models, the comparison of the results obtained with the experimental data allowed to validate the OpenFOAM code. The experimental data were collected in the pool at Bishop's University using a device designed and adapted to the pool’s internal conditions. The devise is equipped with several sensors to measure temperature, relative humidity and velocity. Finally, a thermo-ventilation study of the swimming pool in transient turbulent regime for a duration of 24 hours for typical days of summer and winter was conducted in order to predict the distribution of the various parameters such as velocity, temperature and relative humidity. A statistical analysis showed that the external climatic conditions have no effect on the internal environment of the swimming pool. Moreover, its good thermal insulation demonstrated by a detailed calculation of the thermal losses through building envelope confirms this observation. On the other hand, the evaluation of the indoor air quality and the thermal comfort of occupants revealed that the conditions inside the pool are unacceptable. After which, an adjustment of the air conditioning parameters was made for improvements.

In this dissertation, I present three theoretical results with real-world applications related to scheduling and distributionally-robust games, important fields in discrete optimization, and computer science. The first chapter provides simple, technology-free interventions to manage elevator queues in high-rise buildings when passenger demand far exceeds the capacity of the elevator system. The problem was motivated by the need to manage passengers safely in light of reduced elevator capacities during the COVID-19 pandemic. We use mathematical modeling, epidemiological expertise, and simulation to design and evaluate our algorithmic solutions. The key idea is to explicitly or implicitly group passengers that are going to the same floor into the same elevator as much as possible, substantiated theoretically using a technique from queuing theory known as stability analysis. This chapter is joint work with Charles Branas, Adam Elmachtoub, Clifford Stein, and Yeqing Zhou, directly in collaboration with the New York City Mayor’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer and the Department of Citywide Administrative Services. The second chapter proposes new algorithms for recomputing passenger itineraries for airlines during major disruptions when carefully planned schedules are thrown into disarray. An airline network is a massive temporal graph, often with tight regulatory and operational constraints. When disruptions propagate through an airline network, the objective is to \textit{recover} within a given time frame from a disruption, meaning we replan schedules affected by the disruption such that the new schedules have to match the originally planned schedules after the time frame. We aim to solve the large-scale airline recovery problem with quick, user-independent, consistent, and near-optimal algorithms. We provide new algorithms to solve the passenger recovery problem, given recovered flight and crew solutions. We build a preprocessing step and construct an Integer Program as well as a network-based approach based on solving multiple-label shortest path problems. Experiments show the tractability of our proposed algorithms on airline data sets with heavy flight disruptions. This chapter is joint work with Clifford Stein, stemming from an internship and collaboration with the Machine Learning team (Artificial Intelligence organization) of GE Global Research, Niskayuna, New York. The third chapter is about computing distributionally-robust strategies for a popular game theory model called Stackelberg games, where one player, called the leader, is able to commit to a strategy first, assuming the other player(s), called follower(s) would best respond to the strategy. In many of the real-world applications of Stackelberg games, parameters such as payoffs of the follower(s) are not known with certainty. Distributionally-robust optimization allows a distribution over possible model parameters, where this distribution comes from a set of possible distributions. The goal for the leader is to maximize their expected utility with respect to the worst-case distribution from the set. We initiate the study of distributionally-robust models for Stackelberg games, show that a distributionally-robust Stackelberg equilibrium always exists across a wide array of uncertainty models, and provide tractable algorithms for some general settings with experimental results. This chapter is joint work with Christian Kroer.

CORRELATES OF SEAT BELT USE AMONG TURKISH FRONT SEAT OCCUPANTS SimSekoglu, &Ouml / zlem M.S., Department of Psychology Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Timo Lajunen June, 2005, 79 pages This thesis included three separate studies, which were observational, interview and survey studies, on seat belt use among Turkish front seat occupants. The observation study investigated occupant characteristics and environmental factors affecting seat belt use. Seat belts were used significantly more among females and older occupants than among males and younger occupants / and on intercity roads, at weekends and in the afternoons than on city roads, at weekdays and in the evenings. The interview study investigated the common reasons for using and not using a seat belt in different trip types, qualitatively. Safety, situational conditions, habit and avoiding punishment were the commonly reported reasons for using a seat belt, while situational conditions, not believing the effectiveness of seat belt use, discomfort and no habit of using a seat belt were the commonly reported reasons for not using a seat belt, for most of the trip types. In the third study, seat belt use both on urban and rural roads were explained with the basic and extended Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) models and Health Belief Model (HBM), using Structural Equation Modeling. Basic TPB model showed a good fit to the data, while extended TPB model and HBM showed a low fit to the data. Within TPB constructs, attitudes and the subjective norm had a positive and significant relation to intentions to use a seat belt. Results were discussed for their implications to traffic safety in Turkey, along with limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies.

L’amélioration continue de la performance énergétique des bâtiments a été accompagnée par un développement d’outils numériques de plus en plus performants et précis. Alors que la prise en compte des phénomènes liés aux bâtiments, aux systèmes et à la météorologie est bien maîtrisée, le comportement des occupants est modélisé de manière très simplifiée par des scénarii répétitifs et des lois déterministes. L’impact des occupants sur les consommations énergétiques dans les bâtiments performants est pourtant majeur, comme en témoigne les écarts récurrents entre les résultats prédits et mesurés. Le travail de thèse propose, par l’intermédiaire d’une plateforme multi-agents et de modèles stochastiques, une mise à jour de la prise en compte de la présence des occupants et de leurs comportements sur la gestion des ouvrants, des dispositifs d’occultation, de l’éclairage et de la température de consigne de chauffage. Le champ d’application de la plateforme concerne les bâtiments de bureaux et de logements, pour des opérations neuves et de rénovation. Les modèles de comportement des occupants sont idéalement issus de campagnes de mesures in situ, d’études de laboratoire ou d’enquêtes sociologiques. La plateforme proposée est alors co-simulée avec le logiciel EnergyPlus, afin d’étudier l’influence des modèles sur les performances énergétiques. Dans la perspective de garantie de performance énergétique, ce travail contribue à la mise à jour et à la fiabilisation des outils de prédiction. / Continuous improvement of the building energy performance is associated with the development of increasingly efficient and accurate numerical tools. While the consideration of phenomena related to buildings, systems and weather is well mastered, occupants’ behaviours are modelled in a very simplified way by repetitive scenarios and deterministic laws. The impact of occupants on energy consumption in high-performance buildings is dominant, as evidenced by the recurring gaps between predicted and measured results. The thesis demonstrates, via a multi-agent platform and stochastic models, an update on the ability to model occupants’ presence, their behaviours on windows, occultation devices, artificial lighting and heating setpoint temperatures. The application of the platform applies to office and residential buildings, for new builds and refurbishments. Occupants’ behaviour models are ideally obtained from in situ surveys, laboratory studies or sociological works. The suggested platform is then co-simulated with the EnergyPlus software, to study the influence of the models on a buildings energy performance. In the perspective of energy performance guarantees, this work contributes to the updating and reliability of prediction tools.

Les demandes des usagers conjuguées à la réglementation nécessitent de concevoir des bâtiments de plus en plus confortables et économes en énergie. En parallèle de ces exigences, les réglementations concernant les bâtiments sont renforcées dans différents domaines (acoustique, sécurité incendie, risque sismique,…) afin d’obtenir des bâtiments plus sûrs et correspondant aux demandes des usagers. Les impacts conjugués de ces deux facteurs engendrent une complexification de la conception des bâtiments.Cette thèse présente une démarche d’aide à la connaissance pour la conception de bâtis performants se basant sur une méthode d’optimisation. Cette démarche vise à ce que les architectes et les bureaux d’études aient une connaissance claire du potentiel de leur projet (exploration de solutions) en phase amont de conception, pour concevoir des bâtiments les plus performants possibles. Ce potentiel est évalué via des paramètres de la géométrie extérieure et intérieure ainsi que des caractéristiques énergétiques du bâti. La démarche leur permet également d’évaluer les avantages et inconvénients de différentes géométries et solutions de conception qu’ils envisagent pour répondre à leurs projets. Cette démarche est appliquée à un immeuble de bureaux à Lyon.Pour le cas testé, la démarche permet d’obtenir rapidement des solutions performantes et de définir pour certains des paramètres étudiés, des valeurs conduisant aux solutions performantes dans une partie de l’espace des solutions ou dans l’ensemble de cet espace.Cette application de la démarche montre également qu’il peut exister des solutions ayant des besoins énergétiques et des coûts de construction proches mais étant très différentes en termes de paramètres de conception. Bien que remettant en cause l'applicabilité directe de la démarche, ce résultat met en exergue un problème nouveau. Cette thèse pose alors les bases pour une nouvelle étude. / Both aspirations of users and improvements in the thermal regulation require that the comfort and the energy efficiency of new buildings improve. In addition to these requirements, regulations are strengthening in many fields such as acoustics, fire safety and mechanical performance. The combined effects of these factors are making it increasingly hard to design buildings. This thesis presents a knowledge-aid approach for designing high-performance buildings based on an optimization method. This approach aims to provide clear knowledge of the potential of projects (exploration of various options) for architects and design offices at the beginning of the design that will allow them to design the best possible high-performance buildings. This potential is evaluated using external and internal geometric parameters as well as the energy characteristics of buildings. This approach also allows them to assess geometries and design solutions which are intended to be used for their projects.This approach will be applied to an office building in Lyon, France. For the tested case, the approach obtains quickly efficient solutions and also finds, for some parameters, values to design efficient solutions on part of the Paretofront or in this entire front. This application of the approach also shows that there may be solutions which are close in terms of energy needs and cost but could be very different on design parameters. This problem could influence robustness of the approach but highlights a new problem. This thesis then lays the foundation of a new study on this topic.

In this Thesis Project, the creation of a Low Energy building was examined in order to investigate how complex was to select the suitable parameters and systems of the dwelling, aiming to achieve the lowest possible energy consumption in one year period. All the technologies implemented into the system intended to be as energy efficient and profitable as possible. Another objective of this study was also to present the potential of the system to produce a part of the consumed energy, through renewable energy sources, approaching by this way also the standards of a Zero Energy Building. Firstly, the floor plan of the 150 m2 detached house, was drawn in the designing program AutoCAD. In continuation, this 2D floor plan was imported into the simulation program as well as all the initial input data so as for the Base model of the building to be created For the analysis of the building, the Simulation Program IDA ICE 4.7 was used. Gradually, alternations and adjustments were made into the Base model. Different models were created planning to analyze their results and conclude to the proper solution. All the simulations run for one year time period in order to present the total energy usage, system’s losses and demands in each case. In addition, as for the current study, the location of the construction was Athens, all building’s characteristics were chosen to comply with the Greek Regulation for Low Energy Buildings. Finally, through the procedure followed after having accomplished a series of simulations, the final annually energy demands managed to be within the required limits. / <p>Online Presentation</p>

In Europe, the deployment characteristics of frontal crash restraints are generally optimised to best protect an average young male, since a 50th percentile male dummy is used in a stylised frontal impact scenario. These single point restraint systems may not provide similar levels of effectiveness when the crash scenarios vary with respect to the regulatory and consumer crash test procedures. Previous research has demonstrated that varying restraint deployment characteristics according to occupant and crash variation can provide further injury reduction in frontal impacts. This thesis reports the investigation conducted to assess the potential real world injury reduction benefit of smart restraint systems in frontal impacts. The intelligent capability of the restraint was achieved by varying the seat belt load limiter (SBL) threshold, according to the frontal crash scenario. Real world accident data (CCIS) were analysed to identify the target population of vehicle occupants and frontal impact scenarios where employing smart load limiters could be most beneficial, particularly in reducing chest injury risk. From the accident sample, the chest was the most frequently injured body region at an AIS 2+ level in frontal impacts (7% of front seat occupants). The proportion of older vehicle front seat occupants (>64 years old) with AIS 2+ injury was also greater than the proportion of younger occupants. Additionally, older occupants were more likely to sustain seat belt induced serious chest injury in low and moderate speed frontal crashes. Numerical simulations using MADYMO software were conducted to examine the effect of varying the load limiter thresholds on occupant kinematics and injury outcome in frontal impacts. Generic baseline driver and front passenger numerical models were developed using a 50th percentile dummy and were adapted to accommodate a 5th and 95th percentile dummy. Simulations were performed where the load limiter threshold was varied in five frontal impact scenarios which were selected to cover as wide a range of real frontal crash conditions as possible. From the simulation results, it was found that for both the 50th and 95th percentile dummy in front seating positions (driver and passenger), the low SBL provided the best chest injury protection, without increasing the risk to other body regions. In severe impacts, the low SBL allowed the dummy to move further towards the front facia, thus increasing the chance of occupant hard contact with the vehicle interiors. The Smart load limiters predicted no injury risk reduction for the 5th percentile drivers, who are shorter and tend to sit closer to the steering wheel. The potential injury reduction of the smart load limiters was quantified by applying the estimated injury risk reduction from the simulation to the real world accident data sample. Thoracic injury predictions from the simulations were converted into injury probability values using AIS 2+ age dependent thoracic risk curves which were developed and validated based on a methodology proposed by Laituri et al. (2005). Real world benefit was quantified using the predicted relative AIS 2+ risk reduction and assuming an appropriate adaptive system was fitted to all the cars in the real world sample. When applying the AIS 2+ risk reduction findings to the weighted accident data sample, the risk of sustaining an AIS 2+ seat belt injury reduced from 1.3% to 0.9% for younger front seat occupants, 7.6% to 5.0% for middle aged front seat occupants and 13.1% to 8.6% for the older front seat occupants. The research findings clearly demonstrate a chest injury reduction benefit across all age groups when the load limiter characteristics are varied. It suggests that employing a smart load limiter in a vehicle would not only benefit older occupants but also middle aged and young occupants. The benefit does appear to be most pronounced for older occupants, since the older population is more vulnerable to chest injury. As the older population of car users is rapidly rising, the benefits of smarter systems can only increase in the future.