Browsing by Author "Aye, L"

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9

item: Conference-Full-text
Application of nano insulation materials in the sustainable Built environment
(2013-11-19) Gammampila, R; Mendis, P; Ngo, T; Aye, L; Herath, N
Nanotechnology is widely being used in the built environment for its advantages in many improved engineering properties of the nano materials. Nano insulating materials open up new possibilities for ecologically oriented sustainable infrastructure development. The most widely used nano material in built environment is for the purpose of insulation to improve the energy efficiency namely in the buildings and dwellings. Nanotechnology has now provided an effective and affordable means to increase energy efficiency in pre-existing buildings as well as new construction by increasing thermal resistance. The major advantage of nano insulation materials is its benefit of translucent coatings which increase the thermal envelope of a building without reducing the square footage. The intrinsic property of nano insulating material is it can be applied to windows to reduce heat transfer from solar radiation due it its thermal resistant property and the translucent property allows diffusing of day light. The nano insulating material has significant advantage in reducing the operational energy aspects of buildings due to its valuable insulating properties. This paper examines applicable nanotechnology based products that can improve the sustainable development and overall competitiveness of the building industry. The areas of applying nano insulating material in building industry will be mainly focused on the building envelope. The paper also examines the potential advantages of using nanotechnology based insulating material in reducing the life cycle energy, reduction of material usage and enhancing the useable life span. The paper also investigates the operational energy by simulation methodology and compares the reduction of operational energy consumption.
item: Conference-Full-text
Application of nanomaterials in the sustainable built Environment
(2013-11-19) Gammampila, R; Mendis, P; Ngo, T; Aye, L; Jayalath, AS; Rupasinghe, RAM
Nanotechnology is widely regarded as one of the twenty-first century’s key technologies, and its economic importance is sharply on the rise. In the construction industry, nanomaterials has potentials that are already usable today, especially the functional characteristics such as increased tensile strength, self-cleaning capacity, fire resistance, and additives based on nano materials make common materials lighter, more permeable, and more resistant to wear. Nonomaterial are also considered extremely useful for roofs and facades in the built environment. They also expand design possibilities for interior and exterior rooms and spaces. Nano–insulating materials open up new possibilities for ecologically oriented sustainable infrastructure development. It has been demonstrated that nanotechnology has invented products with many unique characteristics which could significantly provide solutions current construction issues and may change the requirement and organization of construction process. This paper examines and documents applicable nanotechnology based products that can improve the sustainable development and overall competitiveness of the construction industry
item: Conference-Full-text
Applications of phase change materials in concrete for sustainable built environment : a review
(2013-11-23) Jayalath, A; Mendis, P; Gammampila, R; Aye, L
The fast economic development around the globe and high standards of living imposes an ever increasing demand for energy. As a prime consumer of world‟s material and energy resources building and construction industry has a great potential in developing new efficient and environmentally friendly materials to reduce energy consumptions in buildings. Thermal energy storage systems (TES) with Phase change materials (PCM) offer attractive means of improving the thermal mass and the thermal comfort within a building. PCMs are latent heat thermal storage (LHTS) materials with high energy storage density compared to conventional sensible heat storage materials. Concrete incorporating PCM improves the thermal mass of the building which reduces the space conditioning energy consumption and extreme temperature fluctuations within the building. The heat capacity and high density of concrete coupled with latent heat storage of PCM provides a novel energy saving concepts for sustainable built environment. Microencapsulation is a latest and advanced technology for incorporation of PCM in to concrete which creates finely dispersed PCMs with high surface area for greater amount of heat transfer. This paper reviews available literature on Phase change materials in concrete, its application and numerical modelling of composite concrete. However most of the existing TES systems have been explored with wallboards and plaster materials and comparatively a few researches have been done on TES systems using cementitious materials. Thus, there is a need for comprehensive experimental and analytical investigations on PCM applications with cementitious materials as the most widely used construction materials in buildings.
item: Conference-Extended-Abstract
Ground-coupled cooling in Hanoi
(2013-11-21) Aye, L; Ngo, T; Lhendup, T; Fuller, B
The energy required for space cooling could be reduced by using ground as a heat sink depending on the weather conditions and the ground characteristics. In this paper the theoretical performance of a closed loop ground coupled cooling system for a commercial building in Hanoi has been investigated as an alternative to the conventional air-to-air cooling system. A theoretical computational model for the prediction of the cooling system performance has been developed. It was found that the ground-coupled cooling system performs better (approximately 30% energy saving) than a conventional air-to-air cooling system.
item: Conference-Full-text
A holistic model for designing and optimising sustainable prefabricated modular buildings
(2013-11-13) Gunawardena, T; Ngo, T; Mendis, P; Aye, L; Crawford, R; Alfano, J
Prefabricated Modular Structures are increasingly becoming popular as a strategy that can be used to achieve cost effective and speedy construction. However, there is an absence of detailed engineering research or case studies dealing with the structural performance or building optimisation and integration strategies for this technology. This paper presents a conceptual holistic model that can be used to identify the most optimum structural system in a given scenario. A multi-disciplinary approach will be taken to optimise the building by assessing structural systems, materials, sustainability features, constructability and speed and cost of construction. This paper will discuss types of different optimisation strategies adopted in building designs and how they can be modified to assess a prefabricated modular building and what different variables will dominate as key performance indicators in the search for an optimum solution for a prefabricated modular building.
item: Conference-Full-text
Innovative modeling and visualization platform for sustainable cities - Mutopia
(2013-11-13) Mendis, P; Ngo, T; Aye, L; Malano, H; Rajabifard, A
Now more than half the world’s population lives in towns and cities and this proportion will rise to nearly two thirds by 2030. Many cities worldwide are facing acute challenges, and therefore it is essential that all future developments are carried out on a sustainable footing. Through a web-based platform, MUtopia visualises and demonstrates in a quantifiable manner what impact a planned site development would have by representing best practice in all aspects of sustainable urban living on a relatively large scale. Sites may be new suburbs or rebuilt sections of the city large enough to require systematic planning. The project focuses on the development of an integrated modelling, analysis and visualization tool that helps the government and developers to make informed decisions to achieve such sustainable urban development and implementation. MUtopia integrates the streams of energy, waste, water and transport, based on land use, as well as social and environmental factors so that various planning scenarios or dependencies between factors can be tested. It is an integrated BIM and GIS tool. MUtopia would be an international first in an area of growing interest and need.
item: Conference-Full-text
Innovative prefabricated modular structures – an Overview and life cycle energy analysis
(2013-12-06) Gunawardena, T; Ngo, T; Aye, L; Mendis, P
Speed of construction and improved environmental performance are two critical concerns which modern construction industry pays a significant amount of attention on. Employing innovative prefabricated modular structures is one key strategy used to achieve these goals. However, there is an absence of detailed scientific research or case studies dealing with the potential environmental benefits of prefabrication, particularly in the areas of embodied energy savings resulting from waste reduction and improved efficiency of material usage. This paper gives a brief overview of prefabricated modular structures and aims to quantify the embodied energy of modular prefabricated steel and timber multi-residential buildings in order to determine whether this form of construction provides improved environmental performance over conventional concrete construction methods. A case study was carried out on an eight-storey, 3943 m2 multi-residential building. It was found that a steel-structured prefabricated system resulted in a significantly reduced material consumption of up to 78% by mass compared to conventional concrete construction. However, the prefabricated steel building resulted in an increase (~50%) in embodied energy compared to the concrete building. This form of construction has the potential to contribute significantly towards improved environmental sustainability in the construction industry.
item: Conference-Abstract
Maintenance of building structural systems
Sofi, M; Zou, Z; Lumantarna, E; Mendis, PA; Aye, L
The aim of this paper is to review the current literature on maintenance of building structural systems. It emphasises the importance of maintenance as an item for consideration from the beginning of the conceptual design stage. Building sustainability concept is generally understood to have better energy efficiency focus and maintenance of structural components ensures they serve their designed service life and beyond. The conventional design approach considers structural maintenance during the “product use” phase. This paper argues that if the accessibility of the building and maintenance (inspection, repair and retrofitting) are considered from the early conceptual design stage, it would save resources and maintenance cost. Case studies of buildings subject to earthquake loading and corrosion and their maintenance are presented.
item: Conference-Full-text
Thermal performance of concrete with PCMS
(2013-11-13) Jayalath, A; Mendis, P; Aye, L; Ngo, T
Development of energy efficient and environmentally friendly materials to reduce energy consumption in buildings is a major concern in today’s building and construction industry. Sustainable development of energy efficient materials in buildings needs to consider not only the mechanical properties such as strength and stiffness of structural materials but also thermal properties which includes heat capacity and thermal insulation. Concrete as most widely used construction material has a great potential to improve its heat storing capacity or thermal mass for their effective usage in buildings. One of the promising solutions is thermal energy storage with Phase change materials (PCM). Concrete incorporating PCM improves the thermal mass of the building which reduces the space conditioning energy consumption and extreme temperature fluctuations within the building. The heat capacity and high density of concrete coupled with latent heat storage of PCM provides a novel energy saving concepts for sustainable built environment. Microencapsulation is a latest and advanced technology for incorporation of PCM in to concrete which creates finely dispersed PCMs with high surface area for greater amount of heat transfer. Moreover PCM absorbs the excess energy during cement hydration and reduces the possibility of formation of cracks within the concrete. This paper reviews available literature on Phase change materials in concrete, its application and discusses finite element modelling of thermal performance of composite concrete.