A5081892194- Building Energy and Comfort Optimization
- Wind and Air Flow Studies
- Sustainable Building Design and Assessment
- Environmental Impact and Sustainability
- demographic modeling and climate adaptation
- Urban Heat Island Mitigation
- 3D Modeling in Geospatial Applications
- Life Cycle Costing Analysis
- Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations
- Construction Project Management and Performance
- Coastal and Marine Management
- Environmental and Social Impact Assessments
- Climate Change and Health Impacts
- Probabilistic and Robust Engineering Design
- Reservoir Engineering and Simulation Methods
- Magnetic Properties and Applications
- Power Transformer Diagnostics and Insulation
- Child Nutrition and Water Access
- Facilities and Workplace Management
- Climate Change, Adaptation, Migration
- Maritime Navigation and Safety
- BIM and Construction Integration
- Non-Destructive Testing Techniques
KU Leuven
2017-2025
We present unprecedented datasets of current and future projected weather files for building simulations in 15 major cities distributed across 10 climate zones worldwide. The include ambient air temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, direct diffuse solar irradiance, wind speed at hourly resolution, which are essential elements needed to undertake simulations. contain typical extreme years the EnergyPlus file (EPW) format multiyear projections comma-separated value (CSV) three...
Abstract To reduce the environmental effects caused by building construction and operation, life cycle assessment (LCA) is increasingly applied. In recent years, national regulations have implemented LCA requirements to support impact reduction. A key element in these are benchmarks which allow designers compare their designs with reference values. This study aims develop bottom-up that represent range of results achieved conventional Flanders, Belgium. For this purpose, investigates...
Abstract The aim of the PEF4Buildings project, commissioned by European Commission, was to assess if Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) method and related guidance documents developed in framework pilot test phase are applicable at building level. project has been coordinated VITO with TU Graz KU Leuven as research partners. As a first step, two PEF studies on new office buildings were performed. assessment allows different geographical contexts. In second possible approach benchmark...
Abstract Building construction and operation both have a high environmental impact. In Flanders (Belgium), public authorities defined clear targets for improved building energy performance, but strategy to reduce (embodied) impact is still lacking. Environmental benchmarks based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) been identified as means limit embodied impacts. Such are often derived with bottom-up approach consisting of statistical analysis the stock, which usually modelled limited set...
Abstract The operational energy use and related greenhouse gas emissions of buildings are typically influenced by changes during the building service life such as climate change, technological evolution mix evolution. Only few LCA studies consider these temporal variations. This paper investigates how change is currently considered in studies. Three aspects to influence on cycle impact focused on: (1) (heating cooling) due climatic context building, (2) or regulations (3) regulations. All...
Recent global temperature increases and extreme heat events have raised concerns about their impact on health. The area surrounding Lake Victoria, accommodating over 45 million people ranking among Africa's most densely populated regions, faces rapid population growth urbanization, set to double its by 2050 compared 2022 for countries in the region. Global-scale projections indicate a potential amplification stress, reaching levels up 200 times current rates under high-end scenarios, with...
Abstract The building sector plays an important role in achieving the climate objectives of EU Green Deal. While prioritizing measures to reduce operational energy and GHG emissions has proven beneficial, it shifted burdens by increasing embodied emissions. Quantifying regulating throughout entire life cycle is therefore crucial. An ongoing DG GROW project investigating strategies within EU. Various steps are being carried out achieve research goals: identification data needs sources,...
Abstract Recently, Level(s) has been developed by the European Commission as a common EU framework to assess sustainability of buildings with intention provide consistent and comparable across national boundaries. It aims at providing general language for promote life cycle thinking. This paper describes application results Level 1 assessment design stage Flemish office building. is performance which be used amongst others building professionals. Common standards simplified methods are...
Abstract Buildings contribute significantly to global energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. Climate change affects building performance, particularly heating cooling demands. While current policies focus on improving performance reducing operational emissions, the embodied emissions from materials become more significant in energy-efficient buildings. This study aims investigate optimal solutions considering both environmental impact context of climate Belgian context. The...
During their long service life, buildings are faced with a changing climate. Hence, qualitative long-term data on weather conditions is required to assess the energy performance of by means building simulations. Convection-permitting climate models promising, though requiring high computational time. This paper investigates representativeness one-year representative and extreme years derived from 30-year convectionpermitting model in current future climatic context for an office building....
It is expected that the energy performance of buildings will be strongly influenced by climate change. In this paper, use a Flemish office building at end 21st century investigated for an RCP 8.5 change scenario. The evaluated various locations in Flanders to investigate location influence on performance. Results show decrease heating demand approximately 15-18% and increase cooling 57-80% depending location.