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General Article
- Study and modeling of the thermal behavior of buildings with attic roof in the Algerian climate context
- Sadia Laidi, Sidi Mohamed Karim El Hassar, Achour Mahrane and Rabah Sellami
- The objective of this work is to evaluate the energy performance of an individual house having an attic type roof considering the …
- The objective of this work is to evaluate the energy performance of an individual house having an attic type roof considering the Algerian climate. The adopted methodology consisted in developing a thermal model of an experimental house, called “solar house”, which is located in the city of Bou Ismail near Algiers within the site of the Solar Equipment Development Unit (UDES). This experimental house is a single floor house with an attic type roof. The developed numerical model was validated using experimental measurements of indoor air temperatures. The validated thermal model was then used to evaluate several variants of the configuration of this house by changing the nature of the envelope, the type of attic roof and the ventilation rate. Three variants of the attic have been considered: without thermal insulation, with thermal insulation at the floor of the attic and with thermal insulation at the roof of the attic. The energy behavior of the different studied configurations was compared with a reference case which corresponds to a housing with simple glazing, with no thermal insulation, with no attic, with masonry walls and a reinforced concrete flat roof. This reference case corresponds to the existing adopted configuration for the majority of the individual constructions in Algeria. Thermal simulations were conducted for cities representative of the three main climates prevailing in Algeria. The models’ findings demonstrated that, in all climates in Algeria, the attic, isolated or not, brings a cooling energy savings. - COLLAPSE
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General Article
- Effects on fringe area development status around pune city on transportation scenario
- Swapnali Sutar and Bajarang Hanamant Sutar
- This study examines the haphazard development of fringe areas beyond municipal limits, primarily driven by migration and local populations. Historically, this development …
- This study examines the haphazard development of fringe areas beyond municipal limits, primarily driven by migration and local populations. Historically, this development has been a source of debate and controversy, with concerns surrounding its causes and consequences. This paper aims to equip stakeholders with a systematic approach to manage and develop such land in a way that promotes sustainable and environmentally friendly growth. A Convolutional Neural Network (SDRN) is proposed to predict the effects of fringe area development on the transportation scenario surrounding Pune city. The proposed FADTS-CNN-KMOA technique analyzes spatial data to capture relevant features and predict future outcomes. The CNN analyzes spatial data, such as satellite images or land use grids, and captures spatial features that influence transportation scenarios.Then the Komodo Mlipir Optimization Algorithm (KMOA) method is used to optimize the predicted output from CNN. The system utilizes data from the Landsat 5 dataset and undergoes pre-processing and feature extraction using principal component analysis (PCA) before feeding the extracted features into the CNN for prediction. Statistical analysis of the pre-processed data is conducted to create guidelines for fringe area development. The proposed FADTS-CNN-KMOA is implemented in MATLAB, using the Landsat 5 dataset for calculation. Numerous performance metrics like precision, accuracy, traffic congestion, and economic growth are utilized to measure the efficiency of the proposed method. The obtained result shows that the FADTS-CNN-KMOA technique significantly outperformed existing methods, achieving 98% prediction accuracy, 99% economic growth prediction, 99% accuracy, and 98% precision, compared to existing methods such as FADTS-RNN, FADTS-RFA, and FADTS-SDRN. These results suggest that FADTS-CNN-KMOA can be a valuable technique for stakeholders seeking to manage fringe area development sustainably and effectively. - COLLAPSE
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General Article
- Synergistic effect of the silica fume and glass powder as pozzolanic materials in cement mortar
- Huda Saad Abed, Zaid Hazim Al-Saffar and Ali Jihad Hamad
- The cement industry is currently grappling with numerous challenges, primarily stemming from substantial emissions of greenhouse gases, intensive energy utilization, and excessive …
- The cement industry is currently grappling with numerous challenges, primarily stemming from substantial emissions of greenhouse gases, intensive energy utilization, and excessive exploitation of natural resources. Consequently, the prospect of substituting waste materials for virgin raw materials emerges as a viable solution to address environmental issues while simultaneously mitigating the consumption of Earth’s finite resources. Within the scope of this investigation, waste glass powder (GP) derived from end-of-life fluorescent lamps and silica fume (SF) were employed as pozzolanic substances to partially replace Portland cement (PC). The experimental procedures encompassed evaluations of flowability, density, compressive strength, direct tensile strength, and flexural strength at 7, 28, and 90 days, in conjunction with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses. According to the results, the contribution of SF and GP with cement led to improve the mechanical properties of cement mortar. The 5% was the appropriate proportion for both of SF and GP which were used as pozzolanic materials. Furthermore, this studyproposes an alternative method for reusing hazardous waste by directly incorporating GP without prior washing to reduce mercury content. This approach aims to decrease the use of Portland cement (PC), thus promoting environmental sustainability and resource efficiency. - COLLAPSE
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General Article
- Walkable urban configurations: A comprehensive typology and analysis of built environment factors influencing pedestrian activity
- Heechul Kim
- The objective of the research is to develop a classification framework for urban areas using morphological characteristics that are associated with walking. …
- The objective of the research is to develop a classification framework for urban areas using morphological characteristics that are associated with walking. The methodology employed involves utilizing fuzzy clustering analysis to discern five distinct urban classifications: densely populated regions consisting of both single and multi-family dwellings with high permeability, large-scale apartment complexes situated within superblocks exhibiting elevated OSR indices, mixed-use apartment zones, densely populated areas characterized by an organic urban structure, and hybrid zones. The study employs Seoul's neighborhood districts (dong) as the analytical framework and evaluates the impact of morphological characteristics and built environment elements on pedestrian activity. The results indicate that neighborhoods with high population density, consisting of both single and multi-family residences, characterized by a grid-like street pattern and good permeability, exhibit increased levels of pedestrian activity. A study employing robust regression revealed that urban planning is strongly influenced by factors such as population density, mixed land use, proximity to commercial amenities, and covered area ratio. The study highlights the need of incorporating factors outside land use, such as density and mixed-use development, when designing urban landscapes that prioritize pedestrians. - COLLAPSE
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General Article
- Urban vegetation as a climate change adaptation measure of moroccan cities: A case study
- Ouali Kaoutar and Rachida Idchabani
- Outdoor thermal comfort is crucial for human health. This case study aims to explore the impact of urban vegetation on outdoor thermal …
- Outdoor thermal comfort is crucial for human health. This case study aims to explore the impact of urban vegetation on outdoor thermal comfort, notably the urban agriculture areas. Four scenarios were evaluated during a summer day in the sub-humid climate of Rabat, the urban forest Ibn Sina (ZA), the public park Hassan II (ZB), an urban agriculture area in the Bouregreg Valley (ZC), and part of the Souissi district characterised by abundance of private gardens and presence of trees in the streets (ZD). The study is a correlation between qualitative analysis based on morphological indicators and 3D numerical simulation using ENVI-met 4.4.2 validated experimentally. Hourly spatial mean values of 2m air temperature, surface temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, Mean Radiant Temperature and Predicted Mean Vote are analyzed. The comparison shows that even with a vegetation percentage of almost 50%, ZD records air temperatures much higher than the fully vegetated areas. This difference reaches 3.5°C at 7 h. The main results are that ZB and ZC record comparable PMV levels and private gardens or tree alignment in streets cannot compensate for the advection refreshment effect of an urban forest, a public park or a preserved UA area in the city. - COLLAPSE
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General Article
- Physical and mechanical properties of geopolymer mortar using alternative cementitious materials
- Thatikonda Naresh, Mallik Mainak, Sarala Venkateswara Rao and Madduru Sri Ram Chand
- This paper presents the most recent development aimed at addressing the environmental concerns associated with Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) through geopolymer concrete …
- This paper presents the most recent development aimed at addressing the environmental concerns associated with Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) through geopolymer concrete (GPC). The study aims to assess the viability and potential of GPC using readily available constituent materials like ground granulated blast furnace slag, fly ash and rice husk ash as binding materials. Combinations of sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide are typically employed as alkaline activator solutions (AAS). The study investigates variables including NaOH molarities of 8M, 12M, and 16M to evaluate consistency, setting time, and compressive strength of GPC. NaOH and Na2SiO3 are combined in ratios of 1.5 and 2.0. Tests are conducted on mixtures containing various proportions of FA, GGBS, and rice husk ash (RHA). The findings indicate that consistency remains unaffected by NaOH concentration, while final setting time and compressive strength increase with higher NaOH concentration in AAS. This experimental study reveals insights into the effects of varying sodium hydroxide molarities (8M, 12M, and 16M) in the alkaline activator, as well as binder content variations, on the properties of GPC. These findings underscore the significance of sodium hydroxide molarity, binder composition, and curing conditions in shaping the performance of GPC for practical construction applications. - COLLAPSE
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General Article
- Mechanical properties of concrete using crumb rubber and human hair fiber
- Abu Hasan, Mohammad Masud Rana and Riyaj Mahamud Khan
- Nowadays, an enormous amount of scrap tires being disposed of causes severe environmental solid waste concerns. According to previous research, these waste …
- Nowadays, an enormous amount of scrap tires being disposed of causes severe environmental solid waste concerns. According to previous research, these waste tires can partially replace normal aggregates to make crumb rubberized concrete (CRC). Human hair (HH) has also been found in different research as a beneficial component in concrete. In this study, crumb rubber (CR) was used as a fine aggregate substituting sand by 5%, 10%, and 15%, and HH was utilized as a fiber in amounts of 1%, 2%, and 3% by weight of cement in the concrete mix. According to the test results, workability was improved, but density was reduced by adding CR and human hair fiber (HHF) to the concrete mix. In addition, compressive strength decreased from 6.23% to 21.85%, and splitting tensile strength decreased from 17% to 33% compared to the normal concrete with increasing percentages of CR from 5% to 15%. In contrast, these strengths improved by 13.23% when 1% HHF was used in the normal concrete mix, but a decreasing trend was observed for more than 1% of HHF. A good improvement of 3.6% in compressive strength and 8.56% in splitting tensile strength was found for a combination of 5% CR and 1% HHF in the concrete mix compared to the normal concrete. However, all other combinations resulted in a loss in these qualities. - COLLAPSE
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General Article
- Development of environmental impact coefficients for major construction materials for green renovation
- Rakhyun Kim, Hyunsik Kim and Sanghoon Park
- This study aims to establish environmental impact coefficients for major construction materials used in the life cycle assessment of renovated buildings. To …
- This study aims to establish environmental impact coefficients for major construction materials used in the life cycle assessment of renovated buildings. To achieve this goal, we conducted a theoretical examination of life cycle assessment and environmental impact categories, outlining the study’s direction. Specifically, major materials contributing to global warming potential in building construction are identified, and the LCI database is selected accordingly. Environmental impacts are categorized into approximately 10 ISO 14040-specified categories, using reference substances and impact indices. The production stage of construction materials is assessed through characterization, and the environmental impact of construction materials is analyzed based on the characterization impact calculated in this study. - COLLAPSE