Road-Mapping for a Zero-Carbon Building Stock in Developed and Developing Countries

Given the global climate crises, the enormous construction activity and the rising demand for comfortable living spaces around the world, it is not only the task for today to explore the feasibility of zero-energy buildings based on advanced technology concepts, but also the task for a zero-carbon future to transform the entire building stock. This chapter explores an integrated road-mapping approach to guide the various relevant levels of global, regional and national governance, on sector level as well as on the level of individual buildings. It will explore how key technologies, individual building configurations, infrastructure and the governance framework can be strategically developed in specific market contexts to achieve ambitious performance goals in the given time frame. It also introduces the concept of individual building renovation roadmaps and design features to be prepared in new and existing buildings to enable the retrofit of key technologies when they become economically and technically feasible in the given market. The roadmap approach with a clear performance target and a mid- and long-term vision is paramount since market conditions do not exist yet to implement such buildings in all market situations today. The text presents the concept of transformation roadmaps on the various levels of implementation and introduces examples.

Improvement of the Thermal Properties of Sorel Cements

Sorel cements is a promising building material for insulation applications. Indeed, the effect of polyvinyl acetate polymer on cements has been investigated. The polyvinyl acetate polymer was added to the cement matrix with a percentage of 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20% by weight of Sorel cement. The thermal properties of Sorel cement were determined by photothermal deflection technique. Thermal properties such as thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity are measured by coincidentally the experimental curves of the photothermal signal with the best corresponding theoretical curves. The results revealed that the incorporation of polyvinyl acetate polymer enhance the thermal insulation and reduce the compressive strength of Sorel cement.

Solar Energy and Its Purpose in Net-Zero Energy Building

The Net Zero Energy Building is generally described as an extremely energy-efficient building in which the residual electricity demand is provided by renewable energy. Solar power is also regarded to be the most readily available and usable form of renewable electricity produced at the building site. In contrast, energy conservation is viewed as an influential national for achieving a building’s net zero energy status. This chapter aims to show the value of the synergy between energy conservation and solar energy transfer to NZEBs at the global and regional levels. To achieve these goals, both energy demand building and the potential supply of solar energy in buildings have been forecasted in various regions, climatic conditions, and types of buildings. Building energy consumption was evaluated based on a bottom-up energy model developed by 3CSEP and data inputs from the Bottom-Up Energy Analysis System (BUENAS) model under two scenarios of differing degrees of energy efficiency intention. The study results indicate that the acquisition of sustainable energy consumption is critical for solar-powered net zero energy buildings in various building styles and environments. The chapter calls for the value of government measures that incorporate energy conservation and renewable energy.

Net-Zero Energy Buildings: Principles and Applications

Global warming and climate change are rising issues during the last couple of decades. With residential and commercial buildings being the largest energy consumers, sources are being depleted at a much faster pace in the recent decades. Recent statistics shows that 14% of humans are active participant to protect the environment with an additional 48% sympathetic but not active. In this chapter, net-zero energy buildings design tools and applications are presented that can help designers in the commercial and residential sectors design their buildings to be net-zero energy buildings. Case studies with benefits and challenges will be presented to illustrate the different designs to achieve a net-zero energy building (NZEB).

Fly Ash as a Cementitious Material for Concrete

This paper presents a review on fly ash as prime materials used for geopolymer. Due to its advantages of abundant resources, less in cost, great workability and high physical properties, fly ash leads to achieving high mechanical properties. Fly ash is considered as one of the largest generated industrial solid wastes or so-called industrial by-products, around the world particularly in China, India, and USA. The characteristics of fly ash allow it to be a geotechnical material to produce geopolymer cement or concrete as an alternative of ordinary Portland cement. Many efforts are made in this direction to formulate a suitable mix design of fly ash-based geopolymer by focusing on fly ash as the main prime material. The physical properties, chemical compositions, and chemical activation of fly ash are analyzed and evaluated in this review paper. Reference has been made to different ASTM, ACI standards, and other researches work in geopolymer area.

Net Zero Energy Buildings and Low Carbon Emission, a Case of Study of Madagascar Island

The buildings respecting the concept “Net Zero energy” are becoming more and more flowering in the world these last years. The main goal of this research is to evaluate the different possibilities of implementation of buildings with Net zero energy and low environmental impacts in Sub-Saharan Africa. The proposed building is 80% made of local materials with low carbon emissions and especially at lower cost. The optimization and modeling of the building is carried out by the Design Builder software, which is a world-renowned software in the field of optimization of comfort, cost, carbon reduction, etc. By fixing the insulation thickness up to 11 cm, cooling and heating energy are found equal to zero during the different operating seasons in this residential building. The results show that the optimal solution to consider a net zero energy building in Antananarivo city requires an additional expense estimated at 40% of the cost of buildings more conventional encountered in the island. This will save $475 each year starting in 2030, with 99% reduction in the CO2 release. The choice of local materials with low conductivity, low emissions, and low cost, has a significant impact on the implementation of a sustainable building, and more adapted to climate change concept.

Exploring the Factors Hindering the Use of Green Architecture in Nigeria

The construction industry in Nigeria has continuously witnessed rapid development as a result of massive investments in infrastructural projects such as housing. The continuous growth of this industry and the conventional approach to construction practices in Nigeria have negatively affected the environment and the wellbeing of the populace. Therefore, the concept of green architecture, also known as sustainable architecture, is a new approach in Nigeria’s construction industry that strives to achieve environmental sustainability. However, various factors have hindered its adoption and utilisation. This study, therefore, examined the various factors hindering the use of green architecture through various literature reviewed and administered questionnaires to built environment professionals in Nigeria to ascertain their perception of those identified factors. Data gathered from the questionnaires were analysed using descriptive statistical tools and ranked according to each factor’s mean index score and relative importance index. The results of the study revealed the most prominent factors hindering the utilisation of green architecture in Nigeria. Hence, findings from this study suggest that more efforts such as public enlightenment and the provisions of incentives are needed to be done by the government, built environment professionals, and other stakeholders in Nigeria’s construction industry for the promotion of green architecture.

Computational Analysis of a Lecture Room Ventilation System

The level of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) has become a big topic of research, and improving it using passive ventilation methods is imperative due to the cost saving potentials. Designing lecture buildings to use less energy or Zero Energy (ZE) has become more important, and analysing buildings before construction can save money in design changes. This research analyses the performance (thermal comfort [TC]) of a lecture room, investigate the use of passive ventilation methods and determine the energy-saving potential of the proposed passive ventilation method using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Results obtained showed that air change per hour at a wind velocity of 0.05 m/s was 3.10, which was below standards. Therefore, the lecture hall needs external passive ventilation systems (Solar Chimney [SC]) for improved indoor air quality at minimum cost. Also, it was observed that the proposed passive ventilation (SC) system with the size between 1 and 100 m3, made an improvement upon the natural ventilation in the room. There was a 66.69% increase after 10 years in the saving of energy and cost using Solar Chimney as compared to Fans, which depicts that truly energy and cost were saved using passive ventilation systems rather than mechanical ventilation systems.