INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

The underlying factors of housing research emanate from the fact that people's lives and well-being rely on the quality of the house and the surroundings where it is situated. Housing satisfaction goes beyond brick and mortar and aesthetics. It examines housing attributes that are not already visible to the eyes that could influence the occupants' satisfaction with such buildings. This study investigated user's satisfaction with private housing estates using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The research is imperative because most studies in Nigeria focused mainly on government-owned or social housing satisfaction. While private housing estates have received little attention over the years. 280 questionnaires were randomly distributed to the building occupants within the estates under consideration based on their level of availability during the 13 weeks surveyed periods. From the survey, the top-ranked factors that influence user satisfaction were utility adequacy...

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- Business, Engineering, Affordable Housing, INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS
- by Victor Callaghan
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- Emotion, Emotional intelligence, Wearable Computing, Wearable Technologies

Temporary transformations of vacant buildings could alleviate the shortage of housing for urgent home seekers. However, not much is known about the transformation of buildings into temporary, adequate, and affordable housing. A multidisciplinary literature review covering design, indoor environmental quality, housing, and environmental psychology, was performed to determine if such an integrative approach could shed light on a new perspective to provide housing for 'urgent home seekers'. Subsequently, building transformation case studies were compared with the literature review findings. It is concluded that there is a gap in knowledge on how the concept of 'home' can be added to existing regulations in order to design and realise temporary housing that fits the needs of urgent home seekers.

- by Mieke Oostra
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- Engineering, INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS

Elements of so called Intelligent Buildings (IB) are in fact only sensors (smoke, temperature, humidity, etc.) as well as many regulation devices. Intelligence in such system is related only with control of internal environmental conditions inside the building and generation of warning signals in case of emergency. This situation can be observed now and this level of technological development will be probably dominant in the nearest future. Nevertheless full development of Intelligent Buildings technology must lead to massive application of artificial intelligence algorithms, methods and devices in this discipline and in this paper we try look, what is artificial intelligence and how it can be applied to Intelligent Buildings technology.

- by Ryszard Tadeusiewicz
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- Artificial Intelligence, INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS

Many children graduate from high school and ultimately into adulthood without a basic understanding of money and money management, business, the economy, or investing. This book is an interactive resource for parents, teachers and my child designed to help my child learn the skills, knowledge and confidence for acquiring, managing and using money responsibly to maximise her income and assets, minimize her expenses and liabilities, and become a financially free adult.

- by Ogilo O.
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- Money, Child, Investing, INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS

Sürdürülebilirlik kavramının temelinde, çevreye daha az zarar vermek ve enerjinin verimli kul- lanımı yer almaktadır. Bu temele akıllı sistemleri de dahil ederek, enerji etkin kullanımı ile birlikte hem sürdürülebilir hem de akıllı binalar tasarlamak müm- kün olabilir. Sürdürülebilir yapıların, içinde yer aldığı dönemin mimari yakla- şımlarının, bilimsel gelişmelerinin, çev- reci akımlarının ve ekonomik ve politik eğilimlerinin çerçevesinde ele alınarak konumlandırılması gerekmektedir. Çevre dostu, sürdürülebilir, az enerji tüketen ve ihtiyaç duyduğu enerjiyi yenilenebilir kaynaklardan sağlayan bu binaların tasarımı ve inşaatı, disiplinler arası işbirliğini gerektiren bütünleşik bir süreçtir.

This article presents a literature review of the challenges and possibilities for Lean design in modern health-care facilities. Many of today's health-care facilities are in dire need of renovation since limited financial resources among health-care demand improved work process efficiency, safety and employee well-being. Lean philosophy has been successfully implemented into hospitals with up-and-running hospital processes, but has not been thoroughly tested as a design methodology. The principles of Lean do not contradict with user-centric, participatory or ergonomic design approaches and thus the possibilities of using Lean as a complementary design methodology to the aforementioned approaches are discussed in this article. Lean fundamentals are also useful when dealing with change management issues. Lean offers a fundamentally solid ideology and a wide range of toolsmany of which seem fitting to solve several urgent design problems in today's health-care design.

- by Nina Nevala and +1
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- Engineering, Ergonomics, Lean, Health Care

Application of Building Information Modelling (BIM) into existing buildings is relatively a new trend. There is still uncertainty about real benefits of information modelling of already constructed buildings. The idea of BIM still sounds to many as unnecessary technical innovation which can have limited impact on the business while there are other reliable information management systems in place. Existing research publications suggest that there are tangible benefits of implementation of BIM, however specifically in the UK there is no widespread of adoption of BIM as it is observed in relation to CAFM (Computer-aided Facilities Management) or BMS (Building Management System). No one has adequately specified decisive arguments to help building owners or managers to pursue the idea of investing in BIM. This paper analysed the feasibility of implementation of BIM in existing buildings, the level of complexity of that process and the resources required to keep those models updated.

Określenie „inteligentny budynek” w wielu przypadkach stosowane jest trochę „na wyrost”. W rzeczywistości budynki obdarzone tą nazwą mają dobre wyposażenie w zakresie monitoringu i rozproszonej automatyki, ale z prawdziwą inteligencją mają bardzo mało wspólnego. W artykule dokonano porównania procesów zachodzących w umyśle inteligentnej istoty oraz procesów przebiegających w systemach elektronicznych inteligentnego budynku. Wskazano na podobieństwa, ale wyspecyfikowano też różnice. Na tej podstawie wskazano kierunki, w jakich może się rozwijać technika inteligentnych budynków. Jednocześnie skonfrontowano ambicje konstruktorów inteligentnych budynków z oczekiwaniami ich użytkowników. Pokazano, że użytkownicy wcale nie pragną większej inteligencji budynków, tylko większej wygody, oszczędności i bezpieczeństwa. Z drugiej jednak strony wskazano, że przy tworzeniu systemów sterowania budynków o złożonej strukturze wewnętrznej i skomplikowanych funkcjach dostępność narzędzi sztucznej inteligencji – a zwłaszcza możliwości uczenia się – znacząco ułatwia osiąganie zamierzonych celów. Na koniec przedstawiono w artykule informację o powstającym unikatowym laboratorium DLJM Lab, w którym możliwe będzie prowadzenie prac badawczych oraz konstrukcyjnych, nawiązujących do zastosowań sztucznej inteligencji w budynkach.

- by Ryszard Tadeusiewicz
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- Artificial Intelligence, INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS

Increasing interest has been expressed towards intelligent heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in hospital environments. This article presents a literature review of intelligent HVAC systems used in hospitals. First, we discuss the current state of HVAC systems and common ventilation issues regarding modern hospitals. Second, we describe hospital airflow modelling using computational fluid dynamics. We then define 'intelligent HVAC systems' and address challenges concerning their design and implementation. Lastly, possibilities for HVAC system optimization and energy conservation are presented.

- by Kari Reijula
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- Engineering, Indoor Air Quality, Infection Control, INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS

The problem of the development of Intelligent Buildings and
updating of its definition is presented in the given paper. The author proposes a classification of the Intelligent Buildings and discusses their further ways of development.

- by Maxime Guirnyk
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- INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS, Classification
- by Tashi Gyalsan
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- Engineering, INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS

Despite the popularity of the subject, one surprising aspect of building automation (BA) is the scarcity of author- itative literature references regarding the topic. This situation hampers communication between developers and contributes to the well-known problem of heterogeneity where there is difficulty in integrating solutions from different manufacturers with each other.
This article systematizes fundamental concepts and requirements of BA systems, defining each aspect based upon established literature standards. Using these aspects as guidelines, the main BA technology specifications avail- able are then reviewed with respect to their coverage of features. We then proceed by showing that none of the analyzed specifications are able to totally cover the expected standard functionality span of BA. Finally, we conclude that none of the existing approaches are able to fully overcome the problem of heterogeneity by satisfactorily addressing all the aspects of BA endorsed by the standards.

In India with the current economy growth of population 1.2 billion, and rapid urbanization energy crisis has been encountered a major problem to maintain SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. India’s strength lies in the BUILDING sector next to agriculture has it provides shelter (houses, apartments) and space for office, industrial, medical, research, educational and other development works. In our country, buildings account for more than 45% of total energy consumption. Buildings with good control, comfort and convenience are the major demands and addition to these factors the environmental issues like pollution, global warming, natural disasters has arisen a need to construct buildings of high energy efficiency, sustainability, resistance to natural disasters, increased user comfort, productivity, safety, cost effectiveness and effective telecommunication network in offices and research institutes. The solution for these long term problems is achieved by “INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS”.’SMART BUILDINGS AND GREEN BUILDINGS’ pave way for the Evolutionary new field of construction called intelligent buildings which are the buildings of 21st century. This paper also presents possible ideas that can be implemented to standardize the quality of intelligent buildings. “This paper provides a clean and suitable approach to the expectations and demands via INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS.”

In a brief review of aspects of biology relevant to architectural design, a number of biological organisms are considered, delivering design ideas for the improvement of tree structures in the Sagrada Familia; better insulation (ideas from penguin feathers and birds' nests) and cooling of buildings in a hot climate; light but stiff floor plates (derived from the morphology of cuttlebone); supply of fluid through a branching system of pipes and a better fire extinguisher using ideas from the spray mechanism of the bombardier beetle.

- by Julian F V Vincent
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- INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS

A building that uses both technology and process, to create a facility that is safe, healthy, comfortable and enables productivity, well-being of its occupants is called intelligent building. With lots of energy crisis in today`s world, it is very important for architects, engineers and construction managers make buildings which are energy efficient, intelligent by its functions and usage, too. Technologies applied in intelligent buildings will improve the building environment and functionality for occupants, while reducing operational costs. An intelligent building has an implicit logic that effectively evolves with changing user requirements and technology, ensuring continued and improved intelligent operation, maintenance and optimization. It exhibits key attributes of environmental sustainability to benefit present and future generations. The notion of the Intelligent Building is the modern civil engineer's big idea of tackling these deficiencies. An intelligent building must be smart enough to vary the environment to suit the users and also to provide various means of communication or network regardless of whether it is internal or external. This paper provides a review of research era in the area of Intelligent Building.

- by Iris Tommelein
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- Engineering, Indoor Air Quality, Infection Control, INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS

It might be amazing to wonder how a building can be called intelligent. Buildings have evolved over the years, becoming more complex and incorporating aspects of ‘intelligence’. Intelligent buildings provide comfortable, occupant responsive environments. The rapid technological developments that affect our telephones and cars, have not left our buildings behind. This research defines and explains the concept of intelligent buildings, and measure the level of awareness of these concepts amongst Nigerian architects. A questionnaire survey was carried out to evaluate the degree to which Nigerian architects are acquainted with intelligent buildings. The findings reveal the degree to which Nigerian architects know about intelligent building systems, and their views on the possibility of adopting such systems in Nigeria.

- by Zainab Mohammed Makarfi
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- Technology, Intelligent Systems, INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS, Sustainability

Micro-location is the process of locating any entity with high accuracy (possibly in centimeters), while geofencing is the process of creating a virtual fence around a so-called Point of Interest (PoI). In this paper, we present an insight into various micro-location enabling technologies and services. We also discuss how these can accelerate the incorporation of Internet of Things (IoT) in smart buildings. We argue that micro-location based location-aware solutions can play a significant role in facilitating the tenants of an IoT equipped smart building. Also, such advanced technologies will enable the smart building control system through minimal actions performed by the tenants. We also highlight the existing and envisioned services to be provided by using micro-location enabling technologies. We describe the challenges and propose some potential solutions such that micro-location enabling technologies and services are thoroughly integrated with IoT equipped smart building.

- by Fahim Zafari and +1
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- E Marketing, The Internet of Things, Context-Aware Computing, Internet of Things
- by Iris Tommelein
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- Engineering, Lean Thinking, Lean Management, Healthcare

Artykuł zawiera przegląd trudności i problemów, jakie powstają na styku pomiędzy nauką i praktyką związaną z technologią inteligentnych budynków. Wskazano wykorzystanie inteligentnego budynku-laboratorium jako rozwiązanie umożliwiające pokonanie tych trudności i problemów. Omówiono zawartość konkretnego budynku-laboratorium, który jest obecnie oddawany do użytku i który może być wykorzystany przez wszystkich zainteresowanych. Artykuł zawiera też obszerny wykaz pozycji literatury związanej z problematyką inteligentnych budynków. Wykaz ten obejmuje zarówno tradycyjne drukowane artykuły i książki, jak również odnośniki do wielu materiałów dostępnych wyłącznie w formie elektronicznej.

- by Nicos komninos
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- Engineering, INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS

User satisfaction studies and measured performance studies reveal that there are significant gaps between the design intent and the performance of buildings and systems over time and occupancy shifts. Whether this gap is due to failures in the design, construction, management or use of buildings, however, is often unclear -mandating that user satisfaction studies be augmented by as-built records and measured performance studies to fully understand the performance of buildings and building systems over time. The article introduces the General Services Administration's (GSA) National Environmental Assessment Toolkit (NEAT) field study tools and database and their contributions to advancing the goals of high-performance buildings that meet ongoing occupancy needs and management resources. The NEAT studies undertaken by the Carnegie Mellon University's Center for Building Performance for the GSA have been used to illustrate the value of instrumented post-occupancy evaluation to: promote occupants as sensors and controllers; identify technologies and systems that work; prove that place impacts health and productivity; ensure investment where it matters; recognize the importance of behaviour on environmental gains; and to catalyse innovation.

- by Vivian Loftness
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- Engineering, Air Quality, Construction Management, Facility Management

Tokom svog životnog veka (od izgradnje, preko upotrebe i održavanja do rušenja) zgrade zahtevaju znatne količine energije, vode i drugih resursa. Izgrađeni objekat je izvor znatnog dela zagađenja vazduha, vode i zemlje, kao i veliki proizvođač otpada. Hotelske zgrade, zbog svoje specifične i jedinstvene funkcije i drugačijeg obrasca funkcionisanja, imaju daleko veći ekološki udar od drugih komercijalnih zgrada slične veličine. S druge strane, razvoj turizma i hotelijerstva je dosta vezan za dostupnost čiste i zdrave životne sredine. Zato je za održivi rast i razvoj važno da se hoteli grade, ali i da funkcionišu, na način koji je najmanje štetan za okolinu, jer, ako je prirodna okolina važna za poslovanje hotela, onda njena zaštita znači i zaštitu tog poslovanja. Zbog potreba za smanjenom potrošnjom energije, i korišćenjem energije iz obnovljivih prirodnih resursa, projektovanje zelenih hotela se od procesa, koji su prvenstveno vodili arhitekte, pretvorilo u pristup u kojem multidisciplinarni stručni timovi treba da obezbede ekonomski opravdano, socijalno i funkcionalno prihvatljivo i pre svega energetski efikasno održivo rešenje, koje će da zadrži, pa čak i poveća nivo komfora gostiju hotela. Rezultat implementacije energetski efikasnih tehnologija i procesa su hoteli koji koštaju manje tokom eksploatacije, a koji su vredniji svojim korisnicima, tzv. inteligentni zeleni hoteli, koji predstavljaju optimalnu dinamičku reakciju na postojeće uslove iz okruženja sa razvijenom sposobnošću učenja sa ciljem optimalne upotrebe energije.

- by Nikola Minić and +1
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- Renewable Energy, Sustainable Development, Energy and Environment, Sustainable Construction
- by James Schrott
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- The Internet of Things, Smart Cities, INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS, Smart Home

Several studies have found an association between the physical environment and human health and wellbeing that resulted in the postulation of the idea of evidence-based and patient-centred design of healthcare facilities. The key challenge is that most of the underpinning research for the evidence base is context specific, the use of which in building design is complex, mainly because of the difficulties associated with the disaggregation of findings from the context. On the other hand, integrating patients' perspectives requires an understanding of the relative importance of design indicators, which the existing evidence base lacks to a large extent. This research was aimed at overcoming these limitations by investigating users' perception of the importance of key design indicators in enhancing their accommodation environments in hospitals. A 19-item structured questionnaire was used to gather inpatients' views on a 5-point scale, in two Chinese hospitals. A principal component analysis (PCA) resulted in five constructed dimensions with appropriate reliability and validity (Cronbach's alpha=0.888). The item, design for cleanliness, was ranked as most important, closely followed by environmental and safety design indicators. The item, entertainment facilities, was ranked lowest. The indicator, pleasant exterior view had the second lowest mean score, followed by the item, ability to customise the space. Age, accommodation type and previous experience of hospitalisation accounted for statistically significant differences in perceptions of importance of various constructed design dimensions.

- by Monjur Mourshed
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- Engineering, INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS, User Perception

Climate-sensitive open spaces within cities may have a positive effect on economic, social and environmental aspects of the urban environment. Improvement of microclimatic conditions in urban spaces can enable people to spend more time outdoors, with the potential to influence the social cohesion of a space and increase economic activity. The wider aim of this research is to develop a better understanding of the complex relationship between the microclimate and human behaviour in open public spaces in hot arid climates. Case studies are selected in two different parts of the world (Marrakech in North Africa and Phoenix, Arizona in the US) to represent a variety of users in a similar climatic context. This enables the authors to study the effects of socio-economic and cultural diversity on thermal comfort, behaviour and use of space. Field surveys include structured interviews with a standard questionnaire and observations of human activities, along with microclimatic monitoring, carried out during the summers and winters of 2008 and 2009. The analysis consists of: microclimatic influence on thermal sensation, preference and people attendance; effect of psychological adaptation on the subjective thermal evaluation of outdoor spaces; and investigation of socio-economic and sociocultural impact on the behaviour of people in outdoor spaces.

- by Marialena Nikolopoulou
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- Engineering, Cultural Diversity, Public Space, Social cohesion

Flexible office concepts offer organisations the ability to adapt quickly to changes, and provide users with possibilities to work flexibly. Ideas about flexible working shape the design concepts employed in office design, and have consequences for users' everyday work practices. But do ideas of flexible space make users more flexible? And are the concepts and the solutions supporting those ideas? Taking a socio-material perspective, this paper explores how strategies of flexibility in office architecture affect the everyday spatial practices of knowledge workers. The paper draws on data from a case study in a Norwegian public organisation. Our findings suggest that flexible architecture on its own does not produce flexible workers. Rather, flexibility can be co-produced by users and architecture through emergent practices of appropriation and negotiation. Enhancing flexible work for users requires an understanding of what flexibility entails in their particular context, and adjusting strategies to their needs over time. Users should able to actively engage with and adapt architecture to their specific needs, which may require less standardisation in office design. By drawing on insights from architectural theory, facilities management research, and organisation studies, this paper provides new understandings of the effects of flexible office concepts.

- by Elisabeth Søiland
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- Engineering, INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS

This study was an attempt to analyze digital architecture and intelligent constructions which are aimed at actualizing the components of sustainable development. It was a descriptive-analytical desk research the results of which indicated that architecture and other sciences have to be able to address the concerns and needs of present and future generations. Digital architecture and intelligent buildings have successfully led to adequate savings in economic, social and environmental costs. They have reduced environmental pollution, climate chances, and mental problems of humans. They have also played a significant role in providing a healthy life to humans as one of the major components of sustainable development.

If we use the metaphor of the body for an approach to buildings, in their many and various forms, it is clear that for the greater part of history we have been dealing with entities that have a skeleton and a system of muscles and sinews, and which use some form of plumage for display, but which have lacked for anything that might be called a nervous system. Even now with most homes in the western world fully electrified, connected to a telephone network by wire and a communications network via broadcast terrestrial and satellite providers, the nervous system of the house is almost entirely undeveloped. This paper explores these issues.

- by Victor Callaghan and +1
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- Human Computer Interaction, User Experience (UX), Ubiquitous Computing, Design Research Method (Architecture)

Phenotypic similarity between unrelated organisms, known as convergence, is a result of shared problems of adaptation to similar environments and limited ecological range. Their separate genetic histories imply a developmental route to biological innovation. Convergence as a model of evolutionary change has been applied to biological evolutionary reasoning and functional studies. We propose its application to biologically driven convergence for innovations in design. This route necessitates at least the comparability of architecture with biology on three levels: (1) evolutionary design reasoning (2) convergence of design solutions and (3) ecological niche concept. These combine in ArchiTRIZ, which is introduced as a derivative of TRIZ (a Russian system of inventive problem-solving) in architecture. We are building an ontology of convergence based on wood and ceramics on a ArchiTRIZ model framework called Material-Ontology [MatOnt]. As a computational design tool, MatOnt can activate systematic transfer of knowledge from biology to architecture and integrate data to develop material-based structural systems with multifunctional and adaptive properties that can be adapted for locally specific architectural applications. Convergence gives direction by highlighting natural models with potential for innovative design, some of which are discussed briefly.

- by Defne Sunguroglu Hensel
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- Engineering, INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS

This paper presents an innovative soft computing architecture based on a combination of DAI (distributed artificial intelligence), fuzzy-genetic driven embedded-agents and IP Internet technology applied to the domain of intelligent-buildings. It describes the nature of intelligent buildings (IB) and embedded-agents, explaining the unique control and learning problems they present. We show how fuzzy -logic techniques can be used to create a behaviour-based multi-agent architecture in intelligent-buildings. We discuss how this approach deals with the highly unpredictable and imprecise nature of the physical world in which the system is situated, and how embedded-agents can be constructed that utilise sensory information to learn to perform tasks related to user comfort, energy conservation, and safety. We explain in detail our machine learning methodology that is based on a novel genetic algorithm mechanism referred to as an associative experience engine (AEE) and present the results of practical experiments. We compare results obtained from the AEE approach to that of the widely known Mendel-Wang method. Finally we explain potential applications for such systems ranging from commercial buildings to living-area control systems for space vehicles and planetary habitation modules.

- by Victor Callaghan and +1
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- Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Design Computation (Architecture), Planetary Science

The use of a small wind turbine for the power supply of a radiative passive cooling system for indoor cooling or pre-cooling, even in areas with rather poor wind potential, was investigated in the present study. The passive cooling system was a lightweight aluminium nocturnal radiator, painted with an appropriate white paint and was established on the roof of the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources Management in Agrinio, in western Greece. The metallic radiator was used for indoor space cooling or pre-cooling, by providing cooled air to a specific thermal zone of the building of the Department. The limited energy demands of the system as well as the lighting demands of that specific thermal zone of the building were satisfied by a small wind turbine, placed on the roof of the building. Furthermore, the financial benefits of the system were investigated by a cost analysis, which gave excellent results and demonstrated that, even in areas with rather poor wind potential, there is the possibility of using wind power for domestic use in applications concerning indoor air conditioning. Finally, a neural network approach was used for modelling the energy consumption of a residential building in the area of western Greece using various wind energy and other climatic parameters.

- by Basil E Psiloglou
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- Engineering, Wind Energy, Natural Resource Management, Energy Consumption

Our homes are rapidly being filled with diverse types of products ranging from simple lighting systems to sophisticated entertainment systems, all adding to the functionality and convenience available to the home user. In this paper we introduce a variant of end-user programming in the form of a toolcalled PiP that empowers non technical end users to be able to “program” the functionality of their personal pervasive computing environments to suit their particular needs. The paper also includes a user evaluation that shows end-users find this approach to be a useable and enjoyable experience.

- by Victor Callaghan and +1
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- Programming Languages, Human Computer Interaction, Ubiquitous Computing, Pervasive Computing

The rapid development of scientific and technological innovations presents a variety of intelligent building components in the market. Decision makers are confronted by choosing the optimal components or products for better service... more

- by Hebatallah Hamdy Mohamed
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- INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS

We describe a new approach to Intelligent Building systems, that utilises an intelligent agent approach to autonomously governing the building environment. We discuss the role of learning in building control systems, and contrast this approach with existing IB solutions. We explain the importance of acquiring information from sensors, rather than relying on pre-programmed models, to determine user needs. We describe how our architecture, consisting of distributed embedded agents, utilises sensory information to learn to perform tasks related to user comfort, energy conservation, safety and monitoring functions. We show how these agents, employing a behaviour-based approach derived from robotics research, are able to continuously learn and adapt to individuals within a building, whilst always providing a fast, safe response to any situation. Finally, we show how such a system could be used to provide support for older people, or people with disabilities, allowing them greater independence and quality of life.

- by Victor Callaghan and +1
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- Ubiquitous Computing, Pervasive Computing, The Internet of Things, INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS

By their very nature, Intelligent Environments (IE’s) are in-
fused with complexity, unreliability and uncertainty due to a combination of sensor noise and the human element. The quantity, type and availability of data to model these applications can be a major issue. Each situation is contextually different and constantly changing. The dynamic nature of the implementations present a challenging problem when attempting to model or learn a model of the environment. Training data to construct the model must be within the same feature space and have the same distribution as the target task data, however this is
often highly costly and time consuming. There can even be occurrences were a complete lack of labelled target data occurs. It is within these situations that our study is focussed. In this paper we propose a framework to dynamically model IE’s through the use of data sets from differing feature spaces and domains. The framework is constructed using a novel Fuzzy Transfer Learning (FuzzyTL) process. The use of a FuzzyTL algorithm allows for a source of labelled data to improve the learning of an alternative context task. We will demonstrate the application of an Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) to produce a model from a source Intelligent Environment (IE) which can provide the knowledge for a differing target context.We will investigate the use of FuzzyTL within differing contextual distributions through the use of temporal and spatial alternative domains.

- by Jethro Shell
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- Ubiquitous Computing, Computational Intelligence, Fuzzy Logic, Soft Computing

A number of innovations in building envelope technologies have been implemented recently, for example, to improve insulation and air tightness to reduce energy consumption. However, growing concern over the embodied energy and carbon as well as resource depletion, is beginning to impact on the design and implementation of existing and novel building envelope technologies. Biomimicry is proposed as one approach to create buildings which are resilient to a changing climate, embedded in wider ecological systems, energy efficient and waste free. However, the diversity of form and function in biological organisms and therefore potential applications for biomimicry, requires a holistic approach spanning biology, materials science and architecture. It is considered timely to reexamine opportunities to learn from nature, including in the light of recent understanding of how plant form and function are determined at the cellular levels. In this article, we call for a systemic approach for the development of innovative biological and living building envelopes. Plant cell walls are compared to building envelopes. Key features of cell walls with the potential to inform the development of design principles of biological and living building envelopes are identified and discussed.

- by Morwenna Spear
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- Engineering, INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS

- by Iliyas A. Kapadiya
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- Construction, INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS, Environmental Issues, Highrise Buildings

its focus is on ICT-enhanced physical and social spaces, called intelligent pervasive spaces, rather than on the technology itself. An information-rich social interaction taking place within intelligent pervasive spaces offers a complex domain of study. Many theoretical approaches are relevant to the design of effective pervasive spaces. For example, a socio-technical systems (STS) approach is helpful to understand and support the provision and use of intelligent spaces and pervasive technologies. This article reviews some related contributing theories, including STS, computer-supported cooperative work and semiotics. Semiotics, the study of signs, symbols and information, is used to examine the efficacy of a built environment on physical, empirical, syntactical, semantic, pragmatic and social levels. The prototypical expression of 'agent-in-environment' allows analysis of the ontological dependency (or affordance) between the space and its capability. With an empirical example, the article illustrates how the semiotic approach is used in the design of pervasive spaces, which would lead to the further conceptual development of a pervasive informatics approach, including new methods and techniques.

- by Kecheng Liu
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- Engineering, INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS

Every day the architecture expands its borders and opportunities. In meeting the challenges of commercial office buildings designing, which include not only the aesthetic and functional aspects, the efficiency problem of their exploitation becomes more actual, including resource conservation, energy efficiency, environmental friendliness, environmental protection, safety (the fire, terrorism, natural disaster, etc.), comfortable working conditions, reduced operating expenses and economy. The regulatory and legal framework that ensures the development of intelligent buildings (IBs) and the establishment of automatic control systems in office buildings in the USA, Europe and Asia are analysed in the article. Based on the trends of the office buildings development, the main influencing factors of the automated control systems on the formation of intellectual and administrative buildings are identified and based on which a new vector of digital, dynamic and transformative architecture i...

- by Kristina Golub
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- Artificial Intelligence, Architecture, Intelligent design, INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS

The Fourth Industrial Revolution refers to the technological transformation society is undergoing in the 21st Century. This paper explores how technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and autonomous vehicles are increasingly merging with human lives and creating a radical shift for employees, organisations, and society as a whole. Work and the meaning of work are revolutionising as technology matures and organisations are driven by digitalisation and smart ecosystems. This shift will require a balance between technological innovation in the workplace with new jobs and employment concepts. The technologies driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution are changing the demands and expectations of the buildings and cities we work and live in. The next industrial revolution will move on from 'smart buildings' and 'smart cities' to the beginning of autonomous, intelligent, and sentient urban infrastructure. This paper presents the challenges and opportunities that the Fourth Industrial Revolution presents. It ultimately concludes that the Fourth Industrial Revolution is a catalyst of change that will disrupt how we communicate, learn, behave, and relate to each other and our surroundings and it presents an optimistic view of the opportunities for change.

- by Kasia Maynard
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- Engineering, INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS

- by xygnet xyg
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- Engineering, INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS

A building that uses both technology and process, to create a facility that is safe, healthy, comfortable and enables productivity, well-being of its occupants is called intelligent building. It exhibits key attributes of environmental sustainability to benefit present and future generations. The notion of the Intelligent Building is the modern civil engineer's big idea of tackling these deficiencies. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the intelligent building in the construction industry. However, past research has been done on intelligent building are mostly qualitative and there is a lack of quantitative research. Due to this lack of quantitative research, there is no good-developed framework for factors affecting intelligent building (I.B) in the construction industry. This paper presents the analysis of factors affecting intelligent building of 98 respondents from various construction firms of central Gujarat region using RII method.

- by Prof. (Dr.) Jayeshkumar Pitroda
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- Architecture, INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS, Factors, Construction Sector

One of the striking aspects of world-wide-web is how it has empowered ordinary nontechnical people to participate in a digital revolution by transforming the way services such as shopping, education and entertainment are offered and consumed. The proliferation of networked appliances, sensors and actuators, such as those found in digital homes heralds a similar ‘sea change’ in the capabilities of ordinary people to customise and utilise the electronic spaces they inhabit. By coordinating the actions of networked devices or services, it is possible for the environment to behave in a holistic and reactive manner to satisfy the occupants needs; creating an intelligent environment. Further, by deconstructing traditional home appliances into sets of more elemental network accessible services, it is possible to reconstruct either the original appliance or to create new user defined appliances by combining basic network services in novel ways; creating a so called virtual appliance. This principle can be extended to decompose and re-compose software applications allowing users to create their own bespoke applications. Collectively, such user created entities are referred to as Meta –appliances or –applications, more generally abbreviated to MAps. Deconstruction and user customized MAps raise exciting possibilities for occupants of future intelligent environments, and sets significant research challenges. For example, how can MAps be constructed and managed by ordinary non-expert home occupants? At one extreme it is possible to use artificial intelligence (AI) techniques and equipment, such as autonomous intelligent agents. These monitor an occupants habitual behaviour, modelling their behaviours, and creating rule-based profiles (self-programming) so they can pre-emptively set the environment to what they anticipate the user would like. However, some people have privacy concerns about what is being recorded, when it is being recorded and to whom (or what) any information is communicated. These concerns are particularly acute with autonomous agents, in which people have little direct control. Such matters are especially sensitive when the technology is used in the private space of someone’s home. Frequently, end-users are given very little choice in setting-up digital home technology and are obliged to accept whatever is offered. Apart from the issues of privacy and trust, we argue that creativity is an essential and distinctive human quality, and that many people would enjoy the process of creating their own novel networked appliances and personalising their ’electronic spaces’, providing they can be shielded from unnecessary technical complexity. This has parallels to the common practice of people decorating their own homes with paintings, walls hangings, pictures, colour schemes and furniture. This rationale has led many researchers to investigate what is termed ‘end-user programming’, a methodology aimed at allowing non-technical people to personalise their own digital spaces with network enabled embedded-computer based devices. Historically, programming has only been accessible to well-qualified professionals, such as computer scientists, or the outcome of self-programming (learning) using autonomous intelligent agents. The challenge for achieving an end-user programming vision is to devise programming methodologies that are usable by non-technical people. This chapter explores these issues and offers some solutions.

- by Victor Callaghan and +1
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- Computer Science, Programming Languages, Human Computer Interaction, Design