Nikola Miletic - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Nikola Miletic
The need for residential building construction is globally increasing, and the energy efficiency ... more The need for residential building construction is globally increasing, and the energy efficiency of houses and the ecological footprint they leave behind are becoming increasingly relevant issues. The need to reduce energy consumption for heating is one of the major requirements in residential building construction in Serbia. To address that issue, it is important to choose appropriate building materials that are highly energy-efficient and environmentally friendly. This paper presents the possibilities of using energy-efficient, prefabricated, lightweight timber-frame houses. Wood is a renewable building material of natural origin, abundant in Serbia. The paper discusses the energy efficiency of both construction systems and their environmental impact. The paper aims to investigate the advantages and limitations of prefabricated lightweight timber-frame construction compared to traditional masonry construction, which is still the predominant system in residential building construction in Serbia nowadays.
The urban book series, 2023
Green roofs are becoming common practice in building new public buildings and are considered the ... more Green roofs are becoming common practice in building new public buildings and are considered the roofs for the future since they address the issue of energy and environment simultaneously, providing social, environmental and economic benefits. Despite these benefits, retrofitting an existing building with a green roof is not widely practiced. Undergoing such a project is no small task since it requires a thorough investigation of existing building's constraints, functional, material, and technological to even begin considering design options. Therefore, this process requires specific, case-sensitive approach, especially with the aim of improving the building's energy performance. This paper presents a methodological approach and design proposals of a green roof retrofit project, through a case study of Belgrade's "City Housing" building. This retrofit project presents an interesting research topic since it incorporates three distinct roofs, of all of different types, different ways of accessibility and levels of privacy, varying top-to-bottom from a simple extensive roof through a semi-public semi/intensive roof garden to a ground-level public park with trees and intensive vegetation. Also, since this building provides socially significant services, it is frequently visited by general public which presents a potential for introducing educational and demonstration elements in the retrofit project, not only the functional and technological ones. That way, this project can be a showcase example, promoting greening the roofs of Belgrade's existing public buildings as a way of improving their energy performance.
SAJ, 2020
This paper presents the methodology and results of design studio whose main topic is sustainabili... more This paper presents the methodology and results of design studio whose main topic is sustainability, specifically relating to existing building energy refurbishment, at the postgraduate level-specialist academic studies-Energy efficient and green architecture at the University of Belgrade-Faculty of Architecture. Weaknesses and opportunities in teaching sustainability in a design studio are discussed. It points to concrete challenges that the theme of building energy conservation and refurbishment present, and to ways in which they might be integrated in education. This paper considers how the design studio pedagogy could encourage deep and active learning for sustainable design in an attempt to expand the role of the architect to be more responsive to the environmental needs of contemporary society. Methodology of this studio uses the approach of project-oriented learning by simulating a real-life multidisciplinary project development environment. Three phases of design development are described as: research phase, refurbishment phase and redesign phase. It starts with the research phase, which is developed in parallel with the refurbishment phase. This is because the refurbishment process in this studio is not just limited to the technical aspects of energy efficiency improvement, verified through calculations and simulations. Several design scenarios are developed, examining the minimal, optimal and maximal range of energy efficiency improvements in technical systems and building thermal envelope. Analysis of these scenarios, but also analysis of a much wider spectre of aspects influencing the refurbishment design, results in a final redesign proposal which is a comprehensive, deep refurbishment proposal, tackling not only energy (under)performance, but also possibilities for upgrade of functional, technical and aesthetical aspects of existing building.
The Urban Book Series
As it is known, the global phenomenon of rising temperatures causes uncomfortable and often harmf... more As it is known, the global phenomenon of rising temperatures causes uncomfortable and often harmful conditions for human beings living in moderate-climate zones, such as the Mediterranean area, especially in the hottest periods. Examinations of metropolitan cities can witness that high temperatures generate Urban Heat Island (UHI), due to population, buildings, vehicles and human activities in general. With the increase of rising temperatures in the latest decades, people living in big cities have gotten used to tackling heat discomfort with electricity charged cooling systems. As a result, the energy consumption for air-conditioning causes UHIs’ effects to further grow. It is scientifically confirmed that the behavioral habit of relying on artificially generated cold whenever temperatures rise will eventually make the climate crisis more problematic in the near future. Energy communities are used to producing, storing and consuming energy on site; therefore, power sources must be i...
International Academic Conference on Places and Technologies, 2020
Global trends of rapid and constant urbanisation are constantly revealing new societal, spatial a... more Global trends of rapid and constant urbanisation are constantly revealing new societal, spatial and technological challenges, which naturally directs research focus towards urban areas. Urbanisation and imminent migrations, however, have significant repercussions on rural areas as well: exposure of tangible and intangible cultural heritage to decay, leading to extinction, can be identified as one of such processes that indirectly affect entire population, not only the scarce locals.
SAJ - Serbian Architectural Journal
This paper presents the methodology and results of design studio whose main topic is sustainabili... more This paper presents the methodology and results of design studio whose main topic is sustainability, specifically relating to existing building energy refurbishment, at the postgraduate level - specialist academic studies - Energy efficient and green architecture at the University of Belgrade-Faculty of Architecture. Weaknesses and opportunities in teaching sustainability in a design studio are discussed. It points to concrete challenges that the theme of building energy conservation and refurbishment present, and to ways in which they might be integrated in education. This paper considers how the design studio pedagogy could encourage deep and active learning for sustainable design in an attempt to expand the role of the architect to be more responsive to the environmental needs of contemporary society. Methodology of this studio uses the approach of project-oriented learning by simulating a real-life multidisciplinary project development environment. Three phases of design develop...
The need for residential building construction is globally increasing, and the energy efficiency ... more The need for residential building construction is globally increasing, and the energy efficiency of houses and the ecological footprint they leave behind are becoming increasingly relevant issues. The need to reduce energy consumption for heating is one of the major requirements in residential building construction in Serbia. To address that issue, it is important to choose appropriate building materials that are highly energy-efficient and environmentally friendly. This paper presents the possibilities of using energy-efficient, prefabricated, lightweight timber-frame houses. Wood is a renewable building material of natural origin, abundant in Serbia. The paper discusses the energy efficiency of both construction systems and their environmental impact. The paper aims to investigate the advantages and limitations of prefabricated lightweight timber-frame construction compared to traditional masonry construction, which is still the predominant system in residential building construction in Serbia nowadays.
The urban book series, 2023
Green roofs are becoming common practice in building new public buildings and are considered the ... more Green roofs are becoming common practice in building new public buildings and are considered the roofs for the future since they address the issue of energy and environment simultaneously, providing social, environmental and economic benefits. Despite these benefits, retrofitting an existing building with a green roof is not widely practiced. Undergoing such a project is no small task since it requires a thorough investigation of existing building's constraints, functional, material, and technological to even begin considering design options. Therefore, this process requires specific, case-sensitive approach, especially with the aim of improving the building's energy performance. This paper presents a methodological approach and design proposals of a green roof retrofit project, through a case study of Belgrade's "City Housing" building. This retrofit project presents an interesting research topic since it incorporates three distinct roofs, of all of different types, different ways of accessibility and levels of privacy, varying top-to-bottom from a simple extensive roof through a semi-public semi/intensive roof garden to a ground-level public park with trees and intensive vegetation. Also, since this building provides socially significant services, it is frequently visited by general public which presents a potential for introducing educational and demonstration elements in the retrofit project, not only the functional and technological ones. That way, this project can be a showcase example, promoting greening the roofs of Belgrade's existing public buildings as a way of improving their energy performance.
SAJ, 2020
This paper presents the methodology and results of design studio whose main topic is sustainabili... more This paper presents the methodology and results of design studio whose main topic is sustainability, specifically relating to existing building energy refurbishment, at the postgraduate level-specialist academic studies-Energy efficient and green architecture at the University of Belgrade-Faculty of Architecture. Weaknesses and opportunities in teaching sustainability in a design studio are discussed. It points to concrete challenges that the theme of building energy conservation and refurbishment present, and to ways in which they might be integrated in education. This paper considers how the design studio pedagogy could encourage deep and active learning for sustainable design in an attempt to expand the role of the architect to be more responsive to the environmental needs of contemporary society. Methodology of this studio uses the approach of project-oriented learning by simulating a real-life multidisciplinary project development environment. Three phases of design development are described as: research phase, refurbishment phase and redesign phase. It starts with the research phase, which is developed in parallel with the refurbishment phase. This is because the refurbishment process in this studio is not just limited to the technical aspects of energy efficiency improvement, verified through calculations and simulations. Several design scenarios are developed, examining the minimal, optimal and maximal range of energy efficiency improvements in technical systems and building thermal envelope. Analysis of these scenarios, but also analysis of a much wider spectre of aspects influencing the refurbishment design, results in a final redesign proposal which is a comprehensive, deep refurbishment proposal, tackling not only energy (under)performance, but also possibilities for upgrade of functional, technical and aesthetical aspects of existing building.
The Urban Book Series
As it is known, the global phenomenon of rising temperatures causes uncomfortable and often harmf... more As it is known, the global phenomenon of rising temperatures causes uncomfortable and often harmful conditions for human beings living in moderate-climate zones, such as the Mediterranean area, especially in the hottest periods. Examinations of metropolitan cities can witness that high temperatures generate Urban Heat Island (UHI), due to population, buildings, vehicles and human activities in general. With the increase of rising temperatures in the latest decades, people living in big cities have gotten used to tackling heat discomfort with electricity charged cooling systems. As a result, the energy consumption for air-conditioning causes UHIs’ effects to further grow. It is scientifically confirmed that the behavioral habit of relying on artificially generated cold whenever temperatures rise will eventually make the climate crisis more problematic in the near future. Energy communities are used to producing, storing and consuming energy on site; therefore, power sources must be i...
International Academic Conference on Places and Technologies, 2020
Global trends of rapid and constant urbanisation are constantly revealing new societal, spatial a... more Global trends of rapid and constant urbanisation are constantly revealing new societal, spatial and technological challenges, which naturally directs research focus towards urban areas. Urbanisation and imminent migrations, however, have significant repercussions on rural areas as well: exposure of tangible and intangible cultural heritage to decay, leading to extinction, can be identified as one of such processes that indirectly affect entire population, not only the scarce locals.
SAJ - Serbian Architectural Journal
This paper presents the methodology and results of design studio whose main topic is sustainabili... more This paper presents the methodology and results of design studio whose main topic is sustainability, specifically relating to existing building energy refurbishment, at the postgraduate level - specialist academic studies - Energy efficient and green architecture at the University of Belgrade-Faculty of Architecture. Weaknesses and opportunities in teaching sustainability in a design studio are discussed. It points to concrete challenges that the theme of building energy conservation and refurbishment present, and to ways in which they might be integrated in education. This paper considers how the design studio pedagogy could encourage deep and active learning for sustainable design in an attempt to expand the role of the architect to be more responsive to the environmental needs of contemporary society. Methodology of this studio uses the approach of project-oriented learning by simulating a real-life multidisciplinary project development environment. Three phases of design develop...