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The building sector, as a major energy consumer with high direct and indirect CO2 emissions, plays a vital role in the fight against climate change. In order to make buildings more comfortable, functional, efficient and safe, building services are used. Therefore, building services are the key to decrease their contribution to climate change. Due to the lack of organized literature on this topic, this paper presents the first comprehensive assessment of trends in the literature on building services related to climate change, which was completed by conducting a bibliometric analysis of the existing literature on the topic. The ultimate goal is to provide a source where researchers and other interested parties can find this information in an organized manner. Results show that the most abundant and recent studies related to building services are based on improving energy efficiency by optimizing systems such as ventilation or lighting, the latter with the installation of LED lights. In addition, recent studies have focused on social factors such as housing and urban growth.

Plus energy buildings 2.0 in lightweight steel constructions From the year 2020 onwards, the supply of new buildings should be widely independent form fossil fuels. In the planning and realization of new buildings, the technical installations and lightning as well as the use of renewable energies will be considered in addition to the reduction of the heating demand. Besides a holistic examination, evaluation and optimisation considering energy demand and energy supply will be necessary. So called plus energy buildings are producing in a yearly average more energy than they need. With energy management and storage in the building, an additional relief of the energy supply structure can be achieved (plus energy 2.0). In the context of a research project, in cooperation of the chair for Sustainable Metal Building Envelopes of the RWTH Aachen University, the Subject Area Building Services of the FH Aachen University of applied sciences and the Department of Architecture and Metal Construction of the FH Dortmund University of applied sciences and arts, solutions for plus energy buildings in lightweight steel constructions will be scientifically researched, proved, optimized and recommended procedures for future building concepts evolved. Besides of the optimization of the building envelop the use of steel solutions like building integrated PV or solar thermal energy, steel pile based geothermal energy as well as new steel panel heating and cooling devices will be considered with the use of a detailed architectural draft. Furthermore, it will be proved in experimental analyses and based on a parametric sample building. As a result of the project holistic plus energy concepts for energy optimized buildings in lightweight steel constructions will be created. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residential buildings need proper building maintenance management to allow residents living in comfort and building owners to preserve their properties. Apart from ensuring the safety of residents, the aesthetic values of the building can be also preserved. Maintenance priority plays a vital role in enhancing the maintenance management process, especially when the building managers face budget and cost constraints. It has been a challenging task for the decision maker to decide which maintenance work should come first. Many practitioners have been determining maintenance priority in a cursory manner simply based upon biased past experience, subjective or personal evaluation, and conservative decisions, and some even use a specific building maintenance manual by default without making a deliberated choice. Thus, this research seeks to investigate the differences between perspective and actual practice of practitioners in prioritising the maintenance of building facilities and services. A questionnaire survey was conducted among building maintenance personnel for high-rise residential buildings in Peninsular Malaysia with 321 valid questionnaire responses. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was performed to examine the difference between practitioners’ perspective and actual practice towards maintenance priority of building facilities and services. The findings revealed that facilities that deal with daily necessities and safety such as power supply, water supply, lift system, and fire protection system were ranked higher in both practitioners’ perspective and actual practice compared to other facilities and services. It is also proven that there is a significant difference between practitioners’ perspective and actual practice towards all building facilities and services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The strategies for thermal regulation and environmental control found in nature are countless. In this article, a parallelism between animals and building energy systems is defined in order to identify and emphasize the immediate opportunities that biomimicry offers for future research. The motivation was the need to find alternative solutions to tackle problems mainly in the efficiency of heating, ventilation and cooling systems. Due to the wide range of possibilities offered by animals, this study is largely limited to the strategies that cold-blooded animals have developed through evolutionary adaptation to the environment. The method used for the analysis is based on a solution-based approach. Firstly, different animal thermoregulation strategies are defined (biological domain). Then the strategy is analyzed and classified into three categories. This classification is essential in order to formulate the parallelism with building systems (transfer phase). The final step is to identify the potential implementation (technological domain). This approach has been seen to be useful in creating new research opportunities based on biomimicry. In addition, suitable solutions arising from multidisciplinary team research are presented as promising answers to the challenges that building energy systems face nowadays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In modern constructions, service equipment is the most used and complex technology. Air and liquid flow inside piping or conduit provides conditioning, well-being and comfort within buildings. Nevertheless, fluid movements inject both structure-borne and airborne noise, causing annoyance on people living inside edifices. In order to avoid this issue, the model provided by ISO 12354-5 standard could be used. Unfortunately, the standard describes very well the process in order to calculate the resulting noise caused by air flow service equipment, but it does not offer clear definitions of parameters related to waste water installations. As a consequence, very few researches and studies are available at present because of the difficulty on initial data set and on interpretation of requested parameters. In this article, the ISO 12354-5 method for waste water pipe source is critically analysed, modified and then applied to real case studies. Considerations on coupling terms are proposed, discussed and used in the standard equations, calculating the theoretical values and providing possible solutions for all missing data; results demonstrate how the suggested modified models matched very well measurements outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Researchers have spent decades exploring strategies for reducing energy consumption in buildings worldwide, proposing passive solutions and optimizing active systems. However, no breakthrough technology has been developed. The use of thermoelectricity in buildings for heating, cooling and ventilation has been proposed as an alternative solution to many systems anchored in our day-to-day. This paper seeks to classify, analyze and summarize the possibilities of the thermoelectric technology integration in buildings. The results obtained from the search were divided into two main groups: systems that are integrated in the building envelope and non-integrated systems that operate independently. Among the analyzed parameters, on the one hand the characteristics of the prototypes' components needed for the construction were described. On the other, the thermoelectric specific parameters required for optimization under the operating scenarios' conditions were studied. The results of most of the studies showed that even though the technology can provide the comfort conditions, still the performance of these systems is not competitive compared to conventional vapor compression systems. However, the advantages of thermoelectricity such us the non-use of refrigerants or the high durability, makes this technology an alternative solution to consider, of which interest is growing in line with recent studies. Highlights • A novel classification of thermoelectric applications in buildings is carried out. • A wide characterization and building integration options are gathered. • The potential of thermoelectricity in buildings is demonstrated. • Classification optimized to future research in architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buildings inevitably deteriorate with time. Schools buildings are no exception and require refurbishment at times. Despite the UK Government announcing the £1 billion funding for rebuilding 50 schools over 10 years starting 2010–2021, it is common practice for builders and designers to, upon completion of a building project, move on to the next development without considering how the completed building performs. This research undertakes a post occupancy evaluation (POE) of three schools in the West Midlands, UK with specific focus on building services, viz., heating, lighting, and air conditioning and ventilation. The research adopted a mixed philosophical approach of interpretivism and post-positivism to conduct inductive reasoning. A questionnaire that collected both quantitative and qualitative primary data was distributed to the end-users of the schools. Data was analysed using the Cronbach’s alpha, one sample t-test and Kruskal–Wallis test to identify any differences between the questionnaire responses. Findings revealed that building users demanded greater control of the internal environment thus contradicting the current trend for automated ‘intelligent systems’ approaches. This research represents the first work to consider the contractor’s perspective towards developing a better understanding of client satisfaction with the school buildings. Moreover, the POE result represents a notable pragmatic advancement to knowledge that will influence the contractor’s knowledge and understanding of client satisfaction, and where to improve upon these.

Buildings account for more than 40% of total energy consumption in most countries and more than 55% of this energy is used by heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R) systems. This significant energy demand, together with the global need to impose energy-efficiency measures, underlines the importance of selecting the most appropriate HVAC&R system in the early stages of a design process. However, this state-of-the-art study reveals that there is no review paper available in the open literature to critically analyse the existing methods for HVAC&R systems selection. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to critically review the body of knowledge on the adopted approach for HVAC&R systems selection. Based on the comprehensive literature review, the needs and gaps in this field are identified. It is revealed that the integration of probabilistic climate changes into the decision-making processes is one of the main areas that should be addressed in future studies. In addition, reliability and Life Cycle Cost of the systems, health and well-being, occupants’ satisfaction and indoor air quality are of paramount factors that should be taken into account in the decision-making process for HVAC&R systems selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maintaining facilities and services of high-rise residential buildings is crucial in order to ensure the buildings operate optimally and achieve better user satisfaction. The purpose of this research is to deal with the appropriate maintenance interval for two different group of facilities and services namely essential and value-added specifically for high-rise residential buildings. Questionnaire survey was conducted among maintenance personnel who manage high-rise housing throughout Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 321 returned questionnaires were considered valid and analysed to rank the maintenance interval for the variables identified from literature review. The result revealed that different type of building facilities and services has different maintenance interval. It is also proven via Friedman test that the maintenance interval of facilities and services is significantly different. It is mainly because essential facilities and services are vital to support the building user daily routine. Thus, the maintenance personnel should plan and execute maintenance work based on the appropriate maintenance interval. Since this research only compares the differences of maintenance interval for different building facilities and services in common practice, further research is recommended to investigate the relationship between maintenance intervals and its performance in terms of cost and quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a generative design approach using constraint-based programming to handle the duct routing for ceiling mounted fan coil systems in buildings. This work utilises and builds on the result from previous approach using case-based reasoning and constraint satisfaction problem to deal with the space configuration of complex design problems for ceiling mounted fan coil systems in buildings. In this work, our approach automates the distribution routing using constraint-based approach. Comparatively to previous work, the system we have developed generates parametric-based models where further interactive modification and interaction is made possible for the end user. This approach has been tested in real case scenario working with our industrial partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The correct commissioning of mechanical and electrical services is critical to new buildings' performance, but there is seldom sufficient time available to complete this skilled-labour intensive task. Accumulated delays from the rest of the project eat into the available time and there can be little left to complete commissioning before the handover. No provision for post-occupancy commissioning would be made either. It is argued that the process would be improved if commissioning engineers had access to good monitoring data, but that the main building energy management system is seldom suitable for this purpose. The practicality and limitations of using a network of wireless sensors as a portable enhanced intensive monitoring regime are explored by constructing and testing a prototype system. On the basis of a deployment in a field trial, a number of design constraints are identified. However, results show the major potential of this approach in post-occupancy commissioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]