Practical applications

of using vision-based systems in indoor environments, such as fast detection, propagation tracking, informing ﬁ re ﬁ ghters and combining detection with an HVAC system to allow controlled ventilation to aid in the decay of the ﬁ re. The initial results presented here show the practicality of such an approach that could potentially be integrated with ﬁ re ﬁ ghting systems for various building spaces and environments. Project GreenSCIES, is a detailed design study to develop a Smart, Local Energy System (SLES) for a large community in the London Borough of Islington. Our consortium have developed an innovative SLES concept, centred around a ﬁ fth generation district heating and cooling network. The GS ambient loop systems have negligible losses and much greater ef ﬁ ciencies than traditional district heat networks. As recognised by the UK Government ’ s Heat and Buildings Strategy, ambient loop systems should be considered where large-scale neighbourhood regeneration occurs. The proposed SLES concept applied to wider urban areas could deliver signi ﬁ cant carbon emission savings in the UK. This work investigates the cooling potential behind a practical project that involves recovering waste heat from the LU network. As electri ﬁ cation leads to an increased deployment of heat pump and district heating systems, waste heat could become a valuable resource for maximising energy ef ﬁ ciency, even more so when additional cooling bene ﬁ ts can be achieved. This paper aims to explore the impacts of cooling on railway tunnels, emphasising how secondary bene ﬁ ts, which are many times overlooked, could be critical to making waste heat recovery economically feasible, maximising its potential as a key technology for decarbonising heat. These research results can be used as a reference for selection of the installation position of the outdoor unit and blade angle of the louvre in the practical engineering application when single and double outdoor units are installed in a recess, which is of great signi ﬁ cance in improving the EER of air conditioners and saving energy. Good understanding of occupant comfort is necessary to reduce building energy consumption without compromising comfort. This article explores the use of ASHRAE Comfort Database II for determining occupant comfort in MM buildings in temperate oceanic climates and the limitations faced therein. A practical and publicly accessible database developed based on the recommendations from this study will improve thermal comfort models and enable better prediction of occupant comfort while improving energy ef ﬁ ciency substantially.

Indoor occupancy estimation from carbon dioxide concentration using parameter estimation algorithms Y Wei, S Wang, L Jin, Y Xu and T Ding Occupancy estimation models developed in this study are able to calculate occupant numbers independently and accurately in a non-intrusive way based on the indoor carbon dioxide concentration. This can provide input to a predictive building controller based on the application of occupancy estimation models. This could be applied to buildings across a district, informing demand-side management systems by employing occupancy behaviour and energy characteristics of individual buildings. This could allow both utility companies and building operators to simultaneously optimise their performance and benefit from this dedicated control strategy.
A study on universal round trip time analysis for passenger demand beyond elevator contract capacity by Monte Carlo simulation AT So Elevator system designers, according to ISO 8100:32:2020 and CIBSE Guide D: 2020, are recommended to carry out calculation of the RTT and related parameters before any real-time computer simulation. This practice has been adopted by the elevator industry for decades. However, conventional RTT evaluation is mainly on pure incoming traffic during uppeak. The Universal RTT calculation method developed in 2014-15 extended RTT evaluation to cover dominant and complicated traffic patterns of modern buildings, but the assumed number of passengers to be handled within one round trip was limited to the contract capacity of the elevator. This article further removes this limitation to evaluate the limit of handling capacity with reasonable RTT and average passenger transit time. Then, the Universal RTT method could be more realistic and rolled out, and prevent oversizing the system design.

The safe evacuation of persons from a building operating within COVID-19 restrictions D Brzezińska, M Barański, P Bryant and A Haznar-Barańska
The surrounding conditions for new buildings are driven by the reduction of social distances imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been found that pandemic social distancing can significantly extend the time of the evacuation of people. This article proposes a new simple mathematical algorithm for determining the evacuation parameters under pandemic restrictions, which allows the estimation of the required minimum width of emergency exits. This is a practical tool for those responsible for ensuring safety in buildings.
Securing Internet of Things devices by enabling Ethereum blockchain using smart contracts MR Patruni and P Saraswathi Blockchain innovations have the power to transform manufacturing, construction, healthcare and building supply chains by eliminating the middleman, streamlining operations, improving overall security, and simplifying data management. Onboarding, recordkeeping, client screening, data management, security, privacy, and transaction and trade processing are examples of several practice applications in the financial, insurance, and eHealth services industries. Thus, this study ensures security by enabling Ethereum blockchain and smart contracts in an authentic blockchain applications for building sustainable environments to improve readability and trustworthiness of the transactions.
An improvement in clash detection process by prioritizing relevance clashes using fuzzy-AHP methods A Hasannejad, JM Sardroud, AAS Javid, T Purrostam and MH Ramesht If clashes are not carefully detected in the design stage, project management components face a serious challenge. In this study, using the weight of clash elements and the degree of penetration of clash elements into each other, a logical and practical relationship is presented that improves the process of clash detection.
User-based fuzzy end-use modeling of indoor urban residential water demand RD Mangalekar and KS Gumaste The proposed methodology bypasses field measurements on water consumption to model the water demand, saving a significant amount of time and money. Moreover, it is possible to easily incorporate the changes in user characteristics and their water use habits through the Membership Functions in Fuzzy Inference Systems of the model. The model developed through the proposed methodology could be useful for pipe sizing in building water supply systems as well as for water quality monitoring in buildings.
A data-driven workflow to improve energy efficient operation of commercial buildings: A review with real-world examples T Abuimara, BW Hobson, B Gunay and W O'Brien Optimization of building operations has been emerging among energy management professionals as a relatively low cost means to achieve energy efficiency and minimize occupants' discomfort. To this end, this study introduces a tool-agnostic data-driven workflow to building energy management practitioners that can assist them in achieving increased energy efficiency. The proposed workflow recognizes the interdependency of the various domains of research which have historically been treated independently.