Optimising peak energy reduction in networks of buildings

Buildings are amongst the world's largest energy consumers and simultaneous peaks in demand from networks of buildings can decrease electricity system stability. Current mitigation measures either entail wasteful supply-side over-specification or complex centralised demand-side control. Here, we investigate a new schema for decentralised, self-organising building-to-building load coordination that requires very little information and no direct intervention. We find that the theoretically optimal size for load-coordination networks can be surprisingly small, analogous to other complex systems such as coordination between flocks of birds. The schema outperforms existing techniques, giving substantial peak-reductions as well as being remarkably robust to changes in other system parameters such as the network topology. This not only demonstrates that significant reductions in network peaks are achievable using remarkably simple control systems but also reveals theoretical results and new insights which which will be of great interest to the complexity and network science communities.

An Efficient Reliability-Based Approach for Evaluating Safe Scaled Distance of Steel Columns under Dynamic Blast Loads

Damage to building load-bearing members (especially columns) under explosions and impact are critical issues for structures, given that they may cause a progressive collapse and remarkably increase the number of potential victims. One of the best ways to deal with this issue is to provide values of safe protective distance (SPD) for the structural members to verify, so that the amount of damage (probability of exceedance low damage) cannot exceed a specified target. Such an approach takes the form of the so-called safe scaled distance (SSD), which can be calculated for general structural members but requires dedicated and expensive studies. This paper presents an improved calculation method, based on structural reliability analysis, to evaluate the minimum SSD for steel columns under dynamic blast loads. An explicit finite element (FE) approach is used with the Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) method to obtain the SSD, as a result of damage probability. The uncertainties associated with blast and material properties are considered using statistical distributions. A parametric study is thus carried out to obtain curves of probability of low damage for a range of H-shaped steel columns with different size and boundaries. Finally, SSD values are detected and used as an extensive databank to propose a practical empirical formulation for evaluating the SSD of blast loaded steel columns with good level of accuracy and high calculation efficiency.

Decentralised peak energy demand minimisation in networks of buildings

Simultaneous peaks in the energy demand from networks of buildings can decrease system stability and increase operational costs. However, reducing these peaks can require complicated centralised control schemes. Here, taking inspiration from biological systems, we investigate a decentralised, building-to-building load coordination schema that requires very little information and no human intervention. Using agent-based modelling, we investigate both the optimal system size and robustness of the results to changes in the system parameters. It is found that substantial reductions are readily achieved through coordination between a small number of buildings, analogous to models of coordination between flocks of birds. Strikingly, the schema significantly outperforms existing techniques and is robust to varying network topology and the inclusion of large time-constrained thermal loads. These results imply that significant reductions in network peaks are achievable through simple low-cost controllers implemented at the building level; particularly important for developing countries with fragile networks.

Energy and Emission Implications of Electric Vehicles Integration with Nearly and Net Zero Energy Buildings

Buildings and the mobility sectors are the two sectors that currently utilize large amount of fossil-based energy. The aim of the paper is to, critically analyse the integration of electric vehicles (EV) energy load with the building’s energy load. The qualitative and quantitative methods are used to analyse the nearly/net zero energy buildings and the mobility plans of the Europe along with the challenges of the plans. It is proposed to either include or exclude the EV load within the building’s energy load and follow the emissions calculation path, rather than energy calculation path for buildings to identify the benefits. Two real case studies in a central European climate are used to analysis the energy performance of the building with and without EV load integration and the emissions produced due to their interaction. It is shown that by replacing fossil-fuel cars with EVs within the building boundary, overall emissions can be reduced by 11–35% depending on the case study. However, the energy demand increased by 27–95% when the EV load was added with the building load. Hence, the goal to reach the nearly/net zero energy building target becomes more challenging. Therefore, the emission path can present the benefits of EV and building load integration.

ANALYSIS OF DIMENSIONAL AND CALCULATIONS STRUCTURE DESIGNED BASED ON SNI 2847-2013

Floor slabs are structural components of a building that have certain dimensions to transmit dead and live loads on them to be distributed to their supports. Designing the floor slabs of a building, load data will be borne by the structure, so that the planned structure is able to bear the loads and forces that work. With careful planning, it is expected that the dimensions and reinforcement of the floor slabs are economical and safe which can avoid deflection and cracks. The building being reviewed is hospitals in Surabaya. This building consists of 9 floors with a height of up to 37 m. Planning dimensions and reinforcement in this hospital building includes two-way slabs with different size variations. The analysis was carried out using the 'envelope method' in accordance with SNI 2847: 2013 (Basics of Reinforced Concrete Planning). The results of the analysis of dimensions and reinforcement in this hospital building are: a) the dimensions / thickness of the plate on the roof plate is 125 mm, while b) the reinforcement used on this floor plate is Ø10-125 and the reinforcement for Ø10-200. Each moment analyzed is contained in the analysis results table and floor slab reinforcement drawings.

A computational analysis on energy consumption of a Ryerson building

This project analyses the energy consumption of 44 Gerrard St. East. This site is primarily used as the Ryerson University Theatre School and it consists of four classrooms, seventeen offices, six studios, and two theatre auditoriums. Since it is a three-storey building, plus a basement, thus, the energy level for this building is supposed to be moderate. However, because it is an old structure, constructed back in the early 1940s, this building seemingly has considerable energy consumption. The main objective of this energy assessment is to reduce the building load. This goal can be achieved by simplifying and controlling certain parameters that directly and indirectly involve energy consumption. For example, indoor temperature and relative humidity can be maintained at low level in winter and at high level in summer. In addition, monitoring heat loss, heat gain, infiltrations through the building surrounds, and the level of illumination for various types of lights helps to reduce overall energy consumption. Several other factors such as operating costs, maintenance costs, and repair costs influence the energy management of the site. With the help of energy management software, eQUEST, the structure, outlook of all the walls, windows, roof and the type of HVAC system can be developed for analysis. Through eQUEST, various tasks such as heat transfer involvement, energy consumption load calculations and load balancing in comparison with energy saving guidelines will be discussed in detail.