Benjamin Weil

This paper presents preliminary data on a series of building comfort experiments conducted in the field. We performed physical in-situ measurements and solicited responses from 409 (184 female; 225 male) university students in six different classrooms at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst during three seasons (fall, winter and spring). Our questions focused on student perception of comfort in varied environmental (temperature and humidity, and air speed) conditions. We collected records of student academic performance in the classes, correlating their comfort perceptions to their test scores. Statistical analysis of classroom environmental variables, thermal satisfaction, and student scores suggest that by enhancing thermal comfort, we can improve academic performance.

Straw bale construction offers a renewable, sustainable and proven alternative to mainstream building methods; still, little is known about its airflow characteristics. To this end, the intent of this paper is to evaluate airtightness of fully constructed and plastered straw bale walls as well as individual plain straw bales. The first experiment entailed measuring the influence of straw bale orientation on airflow characteristics with the finding that straw bale considered alone has poor air flow-retarding characteristics and that plaster is the primary air barrier. A second experiment involved thirty plastered straw bale specimens using three different plaster types. From this experiment, a crack grading system was developed and is herein proposed as a tool to evaluate plaster performance as an air barrier. A third experiment validated the crack grade system through application on four fully constructed straw bale walls. Practical use of the crack grading system was demonstrated o...

The construction sector accounts for 30–40 % of the world’s energy use and produces 40–50 % of the greenhouse emissions, and therefore construction techniques with low environmental emissions have been studied and developed. Most low-energy and net-zero energy building (NZEB) concepts defined by international agencies primarily use operational energy and greenhouse gas emission reduction strategies to minimize the impact of new buildings on global warming. The increase in the embodied energy of buildings has not been included in most NZEB definitions. A definition including life cycle zero energy and emissions is a more reliable approach to address the total environmental impact of new buildings. This study defines a framework which integrates life-cycle analysis of energy and greenhouse gas emissions at a campus level to evaluate the relative portion of embodied energy in the campus energy and emissions growth and also outline optimal conditions for extensive energy retrofits in ex...

This paper describes a method to improve the accuracy of predicted space heating energy usage in existing buildings simulated using eQuest, an energy modeling program. The method is an adjustment of actual energy usage data using heating degree days (HDD) encoded in the inputted TMY weather file and short-term weather data collected on site. TMY weather files, in many cases, do not give an accurate representation of actual site temperatures around a building. An energy model that accurately reproduces energy use for an existing building under pre-retrofit conditions allows greater confidence in the predicted impacts and effects of any proposed changes. This is particularly valuable to stakeholders in the building industry, including contractors, consultants, owners, and managers. The method presented is simpler and less time-intensive than obtaining (if available) multiple years of hourly weather data or collecting those data on-site and then creating a custom TMY weather file. Rath...

Buildings account for about one fifth of the world`s total delivered energy use, and thus methods for reducing energy consumption and carbon emission associated with buildings are crucial elements for climate change mitigation and sustainability. Voluntary challenges, mandates, and, particularly, public institutions have articulated these goals in terms of striving for “net-zero energy” buildings, and mandated measurable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Typically, the definition of net-zero and other energy consumption reduction goals only consider operational energy. By ignoring embodied energy during the entire life-cycle of the building (manufacture, use and demolition of materials and systems), such goals and mandates may drive suboptimal decisions in terms of cost-effective greenhouse gas emission reductions. Many new buildings will require decades of net-zero operational energy consumption to negate climate change and other environmental impacts during the construction ...

Purpose Many institutions of higher education have committed to carbon neutrality. Given this goal, the main economic issue is minimizing cost. As for society as a whole, dominant decarbonization strategies are renewable electricity generation, electrification of end uses and energy efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to describe the optimum combination of strategies. Design/methodology/approach There are four questions for eliminating the primary institutional greenhouse gas emissions: how much renewable electricity to produce on-site; where and at what price to purchase the balance of renewable electricity required; how to heat and cool buildings without fossil fuels; and how much to invest in energy efficiency. A method is presented to minimize decarbonization costs by equating marginal costs of the alternates. Findings The estimated cost of grid-purchased carbon-free energy is the most important benchmark, determining both the optimal level of campus-produced renewable ener...

Although the Indian Forest Service was founded on conservationist principles, by the twentieth century it had become almost exclusively devoted to profitable exploitation of the forests it managed. Quantitative content analysis of the service's primary voice, The Indian Forester, correlates the transition from conservation to extraction to shifts from the dominance of generalists to that of bureaucratic specialists, and from ad-hoc holism to reductionism. Growing emphasis on reductionist science reinforced a mental framework inimical to conservationist arguments based on indirect benefits and appeals to precaution. In the broader culture, these arguments resurfaced in reaction to periodic famines, but by the beginning of the twentieth century, they had lost respectability within the Forest Service. INDIA TODAY FACES the interrelated problems of Himalayan deforestation, soil erosion and salinity, dam siltation, flash floods, and biodiversity loss. The government agencies responsi...

Buildings consume over 40% of the total energy in modern societies, and improving their energy efficiency can significantly reduce our energy footprint. In this article, we present WattScale, a data-driven approach to identify the least energy-efficient buildings from a large population of buildings in a city or a region. Unlike previous methods such as least-squares that use point estimates, WattScale uses Bayesian inference to capture the stochasticity in the daily energy usage by estimating the distribution of parameters that affect a building. Further, it compares them with similar homes in a given population. WattScale also incorporates a fault detection algorithm to identify the underlying causes of energy inefficiency. We validate our approach using ground truth data from different geographical locations, which showcases its applicability in various settings. WattScale has two execution modes—(i) individual and (ii) region-based, which we highlight using two case studies. For...

ABSTRACT In 2007, Mayor Menino and the Boston Redevelopment Authority implemented Article 37, an amendment to the Boston Zoning Code requiring new construction approved under Large Project Review be designed and built to meet the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED certification. The amendment was intended to promote green building practices in the city and reduce the environmental impacts of buildings larger than 50,000 square feet. Article 37 dictates that buildings be LEED "certifiable," but does not require that they actually achieve LEED certification. This study examines how this policy has affected building practice in the city. This research relied on several data sources including public records, communication with public officials, and qualitative research interviews with building industry professionals working in Boston. Interviews were conducted with 9 individuals at 7 firms. Both architecture and engineering firms were included and all have worked under Article 37. The experiences of each firm were treated as a case study, and cases were considered in relation to each other. A cross-case analysis was completed using the qualitative research methods of interpretation, synthesis, meaning condensation, and meaning categorization. It was concluded that Article 37 has advanced sustainability goals in Boston and has provided an educational benefit to building practitioners and clients. However, Article 37 has not had a substantial impact on building practice in the city. The LEED certifiable standard is not actually equivalent to LEED certification and does not set an aggressive goal. This research fills a gap in the literature and is an important step in critically examining the outcomes of green building policy. This understanding of how Article 37 has influenced building practice in Boston is valuable not only to the city, but also to the numerous municipalities that have adopted LEED-based requirements for private construction.