The construction industry is a project-based sector with a myriad of actors such as architects, construction companies, consultants, producers of building materials (Anumba et al., 2005). The interaction between the project partners is often quite limited, which leads to insufficient knowledge sharing during the project and knowledge being unavailable for reuse (Fruchter et al. 2002). The result can be a considerable amount of extra work, delays and cost overruns. Design outcomes that are sup...

Using engineering performance evaluations to explore design alternatives during the conceptual phase of architectural design helps to understand the relationships between form and performance; and is crucial for developing well-performing final designs. Computer aided conceptual design has the potential to aid the design team in discovering and highlighting these relationships; especially by means of procedural and parametric geometry to support the generation of geometric design, and buildin...

Nowadays, organisations must cope with the pressure of cost reduction and efficiency in order to succeed in a highly competitive business environment. However, drivers to improve social interaction and employee’s performance and as such to contribute to organisational goals and objectives make it necessary to be concerned with other performance criteria as well, such as effectiveness, flexibility, employee satisfaction, productivity and creativity. There is a growing need for performance ma...

Recent deregulation of laws on hospital real estate in the Netherlands implies that healthcare institutions have more opportunities to make independent accommodation choices, but at the same time have themselves become responsible for the risks associated with the investment. In addition, accommodation costs have become an integral part of the costs of healthcare. This sheds new light on the alignment between the organisation of healthcare and accommodation: care institutions themselves bear ...

Energy efficient buildings significantly contribute to meeting the EU climate and energy sustainability targets for 2020 as approximately one-third of all end-user energy in Europe today is consumed by space heating/cooling, ventilation and lighting of buildings. In this context, the energy performance of future building envelopes will play a key role.

The main aim of COST Action TU1403 with 120 participants from 26 European countries is to harmonise, share and disseminate technological know...

Curtain wall constructions are one of the most applied facade constructions today. Independently attached to the primary load bearing structure of the building they protect the building’s interior from external climate conditions and allow great design freedom.

With continuously rising requirements in terms of energy savings the constructional principle has reached its limits and strategies for improvement are needed.

Incrementally evolved over time it is closely related to the architectura...

Looking at Central European building projects illustrates an awareness of sustainability and the need to save energy. This trend is based on the finiteness of natural resources, and is thus wise to follow. Developments in this region including passive house technologies, and energy plus solutions that create more energy than they use have become realisable. But it is not increasing technological knowledge alone that supported these developments; the Central European climate makes it possible ...

This doctoral thesis presents research on the integration and transfer of knowledge from the specialized field of urban microclimatology into the generic field of urban design. Both fields are studied in order to identify crosslinks and reveal gaps. The main research question of the research is: How can the design of urban neighbourhoods contribute to microclimates that support physical well-being and what kind of information and form of presentation does the urban designer need in order to m...

The research reported in this dissertation contains three complementary and overlapping parts:

One, “findings”: It assesses the factors of urban morphology that contribute to increased rates of greenhouse gas emissions per capita, and the ways they interact. It finds a significant but underrepresented set of factors, distinct from but relating the factors at the individual building scale and the scale of regional transportation systems.

Two, “strategies”: It assesses the methodologies...

The section Heritage & Architecture of the Faculty of Architecture at the Delft University of Technology deals with the built environment in terms of conservation, refurbishment and re-use. Reflecting the department philosophy, this book focuses on the durability and sustainability of existing buildings (heritage in a broad sense, from historic buildings to listed monuments), considered in terms of material and building techniques, form and function, and part of the wider context of sites and...