Insulated Concrete Formwork (ICF) is a site-based Modern Method of Construction (MMC). As a MMC, ICF has several advantages; increased speed of construction, cost and defect reduction, safety, among others. Moreover, the ICF wall construction method has similar benefits to any other heavyweight structure (such as strength, durability, noise attenuation). However, its thermal performance is not yet well-researched and understood. Using computational analysis and empirical evaluation, the aim of this research was to analyse the thermal performance of an existing ICF building; and to develop evidence about its transient thermal behaviour and how the latter is affected by the inherent thermal inertia of the concrete core. The results demonstrated that the ICF fabric showed a slow response to changes in boundary conditions, providing a stable internal environment. The concrete core of ICF was found to act as a buffer to the heat flow, reducing the transmission losses by 37%, compared to a lightweight wall with equivalent insulation. The analysis showed that although ICF is mostly considered as an insulated panel, the element's thermal mass is not as decoupled from the internal space, as has been thought the case.
As a result of COVID-19 and in order to combat the spread of the virus, work-from-home and remote working has become a widely accepted practice in professional settings globally. It is widely known that we are currently experiencing a highly transient period in terms of how we define work. Office work is progressively becoming more collaborative, modern workforce more mobile, and office occupancy more dynamic. As flexible working evolves, it becomes apparent that the role of workspace is also changing. So will the occupancy patterns and operation of office building. Using a mixed-method approach, this paper explores the future of offices, considering flexible working model and investigates the operational energy consumption of UK office buildings in the post-pandemic era. Previous research has shown that office buildings are one of the five largest sectors in the building stock in terms of energy consumption. The results of this study demonstrate that by embracing emerging transitions in hybrid working model and activity-based workspace environments, the energy demand in the office building sector could fall below pre-COVID-19 levels, with significant energy savings reaching up to 50% energy reduction in comparison to the pre-pandemic situation.
A new set of CIBSE weather files for building performance simulation was recently developed to address the need for better quality solar data. These are essential for most building performance simulation applications, particularly for daylighting studies and low-energy building design, which requires detailed irradiation data for passive solar design and overheating risk analysis. The reliability of weather data becomes paramount when building performance is pushed to its limits. Findings illustrate how principles of good window design can be applied to a case study building, built to the Passivhaus standard, and how its expected performance is affected by the quality of solar irradiation data. Analyses using test reference years were most affected by changes in the solar radiation model (up to 8.3% points), whereas for design summer years the maximum difference was 1.7% points. Adopting the new model caused overheating risk to be classified as more severe using test reference years than design summer years, prompting a discussion on the design summer year selection method. Irradiance data measured on-site were used as a benchmark to evaluate the new solar radiation model, which was found to significantly improve the accuracy of irradiance data within weather files and so the reliability of overheating assessments. Practical application: CIBSE weather files are widely used for compliance verification of building performance in the UK context. This paper tests how the introduction of a new solar radiation model in weather files will affect daylighting and overheating simulation results. Examples are given on how low-energy building design considerations driven by advanced simulation techniques can help reaching indoor visual and thermal comfort requirements.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.