Utilising foundation systems as heat exchangers has received significant public interest worldwide, as these energy geo-structures can constitute a clean, renewable, and economical solution for space heating and cooling. Despite their potential, the thermal performance of energy retaining walls, especially soldier pile walls, has not been sufficiently studied and understood and thus further research is required. This work utilises the first ever energy soldier pile wall in the currently under-construction Melbourne CBD North metro station as a case study. A section of this wall has been instrumented and monitored by the University of Melbourne. Full scale thermal response tests (TRTs) have been conducted on a single thermo-active soldier pile at two different excavation levels. Thermal response testing field data results are presented in terms of mean fluid temperatures and further analysed to show the potential impact of the excavation level on the structure’s thermal performance. To further explore this impact of excavation depth (or pile embedment depth) and the long-term thermal performance of energy pile walls, a detailed 3D finite element numerical model is developed in COMSOL Multiphysics and validated against the field-testing results. The simulation suggests that thermally activating all the soldier piles in the station can provide enough energy to fulfil the heating and cooling demand of the station and to satisfy partial heating demand to the surrounding buildings. Furthermore, results suggest that current energy pile design approaches may be adapted for designing energy pile walls.
The Menhir Simawang site is located in the northeastern part of Lake Singkarak on a hillside with residential areas in the valley. The uniqueness of the Menhir Simawang site is located on a hill facing northeast, where Mount Sago is located. This mountain is one of the mountains that was considered sacred in the minds of the Minang people in the past. The aim is to find out in advance the local wisdom of the Simawang people in the past in adapting to their environment. The second utilizes environmental studies for site conservation. This study uses qualitative methods, using inductive reasoning. To sharpen environmental analysis in conservation, primary data (field) and secondary data analysis is carried out through maps. The excavation results show that the menhirs are related to the burial pits which are oriented northeast-southwest. The selection of a burial site on the top of a hill and the division of its terraced space is one of the implementations of the concept and social structure, as well as the beliefs of the Simawang people. The belief that when someone dies, the spirit will return to the top, so to bring it closer to the upper world, it must be placed in a higher place than their settlement. Local wisdom in choosing land as a grave or settlement is a form of human adaptation to the environment. This local wisdom can be a lesson for us today.
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