Aram Yeretzian - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Aram Yeretzian

Research paper thumbnail of Machine learning for buildings’ characterization and power-law recovery of urban metrics

PLOS ONE

In this paper we focus on a critical component of the city: its building stock, which holds much ... more In this paper we focus on a critical component of the city: its building stock, which holds much of its socio-economic activities. In our case, the lack of a comprehensive database about their features and its limitation to a surveyed subset lead us to adopt data-driven techniques to extend our knowledge to the near-city-scale. Neural networks and random forests are applied to identify the buildings’ number of floors and construction periods’ dependencies on a set of shape features: area, perimeter, and height along with the annual electricity consumption, relying a surveyed data in the city of Beirut. The predicted results are then compared with established scaling laws of urban forms, which constitutes a further consistency check and validation of our workflow.

Research paper thumbnail of Urban Insights through Machine Learning in Data-Scarce Environments

Research paper thumbnail of Impact of boundary conditions in a microclimate model on mitigation strategies affecting temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed in a Mediterranean city

Building and Environment, 2021

Research paper thumbnail of Pedagogical methodologies to achieve SDGs in developing economies

Aiming to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals requires alternative thinking modes, cultural... more Aiming to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals requires alternative thinking modes, cultural approaches and behavioral practices. This is particularly relevant in developing economies that face considerable challenges at the social, economic and environmental levels. Higher educational platforms provide opportunities to address and promote such changes. Students, within a university context, are encouraged to engage in academic subjects and with knowledge disciplines that are different from their intended areas of study. For example, students at the Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture (American University of Beirut) who are interested in cross-disciplinary work addressing the built environment can take two courses that develop the complementarity of their specializations. “Environmentally responsive buildings” is a course where Architecture, Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering students address the quality of the current built environment using the way...

Research paper thumbnail of Integrating building shape optimization into the architectural design process

Architectural Science Review, 2019

ABSTRACT The evolution of the architectural design process is associated with technological progr... more ABSTRACT The evolution of the architectural design process is associated with technological progress and the constitution of the design team. The design process is continuously enhanced by the development of computer softwares that allow quantification and visualization of design-related parameters. The main aim of this paper is to improve the early stages of a design process by presenting an approach that allows defining optimal building shapes informed by incident solar radiation requirements. This tool allows the design team to explore design options that require reduced energy use for a particular date and location. A non-linear optimizer using the interior point method is employed. Decreases in insolation vary between 23% and 53% and are related to building dimensions and site limits. Architectural design in warm/hot contexts that starts with a shape that is optimized to receive minimum solar radiation presents a significant advantage in terms of reduced energy use in buildings.

Research paper thumbnail of Optimization of building form to reduce incident solar radiation

Journal of Building Engineering, 2019

This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the ad... more This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.

Research paper thumbnail of Urban energy modeling and calibration of a coastal Mediterranean city: The case of Beirut

Energy and Buildings, 2019

Abstract Urban expansion, driven by population and economic growth, has been a major contributor ... more Abstract Urban expansion, driven by population and economic growth, has been a major contributor to increased levels of energy consumption across the globe. Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, is no exception in facing a surge in its demand for electricity as it expands. However, with frequent power outages, underpinning a largely problematic power sector, Beirut’s demand for electricity is becoming a real hurdle that impedes the city’s economic growth and development. This paper introduces a near-city-scale building energy model, BEirut Energy Model BEEM, which estimates the building stock’s electricity consumption in two different districts in Beirut. The methodology uses rule-based expert data for an archetypal classification of the buildings based on their functions and periods of construction with their corresponding attributes including the number of floors, number of apartments, and bimonthly electricity consumption to generate a 3D model for 3630 buildings coupled to the hourly weather conditions and topographic map, which is then simulated in EnergyPlus. The predicted consumption of 2311 buildings is then calibrated with actual available metered data, to adapt the model to Beirut’s occupancy and users’ behaviors. Calibrated results are mapped to reveal the spatiotemporal distribution of energy peak demands which provide insights for future interventions. An analysis of the spatial distribution of electricity use demonstrates a spatial clustering that underlies urban energy demand which can be used for smart grid zoning.

Research paper thumbnail of Preservation of existing buildings in south Lebanon - energy conservation : housing development & culture architectural heritage & conservation

Paper presented at the Conference "South Lebanon: Urban Challenge in the Era of Liberation&q... more Paper presented at the Conference "South Lebanon: Urban Challenge in the Era of Liberation" held at the Beirut Arab University, 3-6 April 2001

Research paper thumbnail of Machine learning for buildings’ characterization and power-law recovery of urban metrics

PLOS ONE

In this paper we focus on a critical component of the city: its building stock, which holds much ... more In this paper we focus on a critical component of the city: its building stock, which holds much of its socio-economic activities. In our case, the lack of a comprehensive database about their features and its limitation to a surveyed subset lead us to adopt data-driven techniques to extend our knowledge to the near-city-scale. Neural networks and random forests are applied to identify the buildings’ number of floors and construction periods’ dependencies on a set of shape features: area, perimeter, and height along with the annual electricity consumption, relying a surveyed data in the city of Beirut. The predicted results are then compared with established scaling laws of urban forms, which constitutes a further consistency check and validation of our workflow.

Research paper thumbnail of Urban Insights through Machine Learning in Data-Scarce Environments

Research paper thumbnail of Impact of boundary conditions in a microclimate model on mitigation strategies affecting temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed in a Mediterranean city

Building and Environment, 2021

Research paper thumbnail of Pedagogical methodologies to achieve SDGs in developing economies

Aiming to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals requires alternative thinking modes, cultural... more Aiming to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals requires alternative thinking modes, cultural approaches and behavioral practices. This is particularly relevant in developing economies that face considerable challenges at the social, economic and environmental levels. Higher educational platforms provide opportunities to address and promote such changes. Students, within a university context, are encouraged to engage in academic subjects and with knowledge disciplines that are different from their intended areas of study. For example, students at the Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture (American University of Beirut) who are interested in cross-disciplinary work addressing the built environment can take two courses that develop the complementarity of their specializations. “Environmentally responsive buildings” is a course where Architecture, Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering students address the quality of the current built environment using the way...

Research paper thumbnail of Integrating building shape optimization into the architectural design process

Architectural Science Review, 2019

ABSTRACT The evolution of the architectural design process is associated with technological progr... more ABSTRACT The evolution of the architectural design process is associated with technological progress and the constitution of the design team. The design process is continuously enhanced by the development of computer softwares that allow quantification and visualization of design-related parameters. The main aim of this paper is to improve the early stages of a design process by presenting an approach that allows defining optimal building shapes informed by incident solar radiation requirements. This tool allows the design team to explore design options that require reduced energy use for a particular date and location. A non-linear optimizer using the interior point method is employed. Decreases in insolation vary between 23% and 53% and are related to building dimensions and site limits. Architectural design in warm/hot contexts that starts with a shape that is optimized to receive minimum solar radiation presents a significant advantage in terms of reduced energy use in buildings.

Research paper thumbnail of Optimization of building form to reduce incident solar radiation

Journal of Building Engineering, 2019

This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the ad... more This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.

Research paper thumbnail of Urban energy modeling and calibration of a coastal Mediterranean city: The case of Beirut

Energy and Buildings, 2019

Abstract Urban expansion, driven by population and economic growth, has been a major contributor ... more Abstract Urban expansion, driven by population and economic growth, has been a major contributor to increased levels of energy consumption across the globe. Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, is no exception in facing a surge in its demand for electricity as it expands. However, with frequent power outages, underpinning a largely problematic power sector, Beirut’s demand for electricity is becoming a real hurdle that impedes the city’s economic growth and development. This paper introduces a near-city-scale building energy model, BEirut Energy Model BEEM, which estimates the building stock’s electricity consumption in two different districts in Beirut. The methodology uses rule-based expert data for an archetypal classification of the buildings based on their functions and periods of construction with their corresponding attributes including the number of floors, number of apartments, and bimonthly electricity consumption to generate a 3D model for 3630 buildings coupled to the hourly weather conditions and topographic map, which is then simulated in EnergyPlus. The predicted consumption of 2311 buildings is then calibrated with actual available metered data, to adapt the model to Beirut’s occupancy and users’ behaviors. Calibrated results are mapped to reveal the spatiotemporal distribution of energy peak demands which provide insights for future interventions. An analysis of the spatial distribution of electricity use demonstrates a spatial clustering that underlies urban energy demand which can be used for smart grid zoning.

Research paper thumbnail of Preservation of existing buildings in south Lebanon - energy conservation : housing development & culture architectural heritage & conservation

Paper presented at the Conference "South Lebanon: Urban Challenge in the Era of Liberation&q... more Paper presented at the Conference "South Lebanon: Urban Challenge in the Era of Liberation" held at the Beirut Arab University, 3-6 April 2001