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The aim of this research is to provide bioclimatic design suggestions to improve the thermal comfort of people in hot and humid climates according to the BWh (hot desert climate) Köppen climate classification. The city of Minia is considered one of Egypt’s hot desert regions. This study considered two main variables to achieve thermal comfort according to air velocity and temperature. To select the best bioclimatic design tactic, the findings are reviewed and plotted on the Climate Consultant (CC) Bioclimatic Chart and the Mahoney Table (MT). The proposed procedures are presented as figures relating to the approaches and are examined independently. We conclude that specific bioclimatic design strategies have been applied through the extensive study presented in this paper for Minia City, which can be exported to other regions with comparable climates. These strategies are practically and effectively considered functional architectural approaches that can improve thermal comfort for people. The two tools CC and MT are compared based on 27 recommended strategies that can be achieved according to the bioclimatic parameters that were studied. They agreed with 30% as good natural ventilation, passive solar heating with a high percentage that reached 10% for each. Where there is a difference of 20 recommendations to 70%, this represents other factors or recommendations such as shading with which it is proposed in MT as well as other parameters.

The presented study deals with the space located in the attic of an older building after reconstruction. Originally, the attic space was not used, as it did not have sufficient headroom. The reconstruction was designed in such a way that the entire original pitched roof was gradually raised by 1.2 meters in parts, creating a full-fledged space under the pitched pitched roof. The visual connection of the interior space with the exterior was ensured by continuous strips of vertical windows around the perimeter of the building, each window measuring 600x600 mm. The space is also illuminated by several skylights at roof level, which, although they ensure sufficient penetration of daylight from above into the interior, at the same time allow for considerably unpleasant overheating. The task was to find a way to optimize the size of transparent surfaces and determine the accumulation of building structures in order to achieve an acceptable cumulative effect of daylight and overheating, i.e., permissible increase in indoor air temperature in summer. It means trying to theoretically design a suitable and comfortable interior space in the attic in an already existing building.

This paper could be considered as a general overview of current examples of realization, research, in architecture which could be called parasitic. Also, as an outline of possible new perspectives on current issues through the biomimicry design philosophy. The aim was also to clearly articulate the intent of the research I am dealing with while opening up a discourse on the subject.

Together with the natural environment, the built, artificial environment represents a barrier to the wind fluxes. Especially in the densely built cities, the wind flow pattern and the wind speed are considerably altered by buildings, which can lead to zones of an accelerated wind and turbulent flow. Incorporating the wind into the early conceptual stage of architectural design, this reciprocal interaction of the built environment and the wind fluxes can be analyzed and controlled to create zones of calmer wind around buildings. Presently, building envelopes are designed to withstand extreme load cases, which, however, demands thicker and bulkier structures. The subject of this study is a proposal and investigation of a lightweight, adaptive building envelope, which is able of a local, passive morphing in the wind. This local shape change leads to creating a textured, dimpled building surface; the final shape depends on the wind direction and force. The wind-induced dimpled surface influences the wind flow around the building, as well as surface wind pressure acting on the building, and the drag force. The analysis of three fundamental building shapes using the CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulation is performed for the variants with and without the proposed adaptive envelope. Concluding from the wind simulations, the wind flow can be decelerated, the turbulence reduced, and calmer zones around buildings can be created, by certain conditions. Moreover, the envelope, morphing with the instant wind force, can contribute to the reduction of the surface wind suction on buildings. Strikingly, the dimpled geometry of the wind-adaptive envelope can decrease the wind drag force by up to 28.4 %, which is again dependent on the global form, as well as the initial wind speed.

The paper provides information on the solution of project supported by the Scientific Grant Agency of VEGA of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sports of Slovak Republic and of the Slovak Academy of Sciences of Slovak Republic. There is project: VEGA 1/0674/18. This research project is programmed for the years 2018 to 2021. In this paper are presented information on the results obtained in 2019, solution of this project objectives and project solution. The results are presented in realized publications. We focused mainly on the presentation of major publications, articles in domestic and foreign journals, articles in conference proceedings with an emphasis on publications that are indexed in the WOS and SCOPUS databases.

There are problems with historical buildings when changing the thermal insulation properties of buildings. The Energy Efficiency Act exempted historic buildings from certification. Not all old, historic buildings have monument protection. It is necessary to take into account the above mentioned facts in case of renovation and reconstruction of an old building. Otherwise, a normal building is approached and a building of historical value is treated differently. Methods hidden insulation, which preserves the authenticity of cultural monuments and real estate in the heritage areas, is a current challenge of heritage practice. The sustainability of the operation of historic buildings ultimately means the preservation and appropriate use of the heritage fund. Fortunately, the list of such interventions that do not jeopardize the monumental values or the use of the building is gradually increasing. This is mainly due to modern, increasingly sophisticated materials and technologies. In this paper we offer a basic overview of the most frequently used and practice-tested interventions in historical buildings, but we focus on details.

Historical building envelope is characterized by a large accumulation that impact is mainly by changing the inner surface temperature over time. The minimum value of the inner surface temperature is set Code requirements. In the case of thermal technology assessment of building envelope contemplates a steady state external temperature and internal environment, thereby neglecting the heat accumulation capacity of building envelopes. Monitoring surface temperature in real terms in situ shows the real behavior of the building envelope close to reality. The recorded data can be used to create a numerical model for the simulation.

The article provides an analysis of removing moisture from the soil masonry walls. The chemical pressure insulation may be considered as one of the alternatives. This paper describes the chemical waterproofing and points to a case study, which is a small church in the town of Košice. Renovation of the church took place in two stages, made using pressure chemical insulation for chemical grouting of envelope masonry. The appropriateness and effectiveness of the applied chemical methods can be seen in the conclusions of this contribution.