Dissertations for Sustainable Design of Built Environment (SDBE)

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A Comparative Analysis of Green Financing Strategies for achieving Net Zero Energy in UAE
(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2023-12) Al HEFEITI, NOUR OBAID; Professor Bassam Abu-Hijleh
Net zero energy buildings (NZEBs) are a concept that is gaining more and more attention as a feasible way to lower building energy usage. As a growing nation, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has established many policies and guidelines to coordinate the transition to zero energy by 2050. However, various studies conducted worldwide have classified the obstacles that stand in the way of achieving NZEB. This paper's backdrop examines several financial innovations and approaches to overcoming NZEBs' obstacles. In order to assess the viability of implementing these innovative techniques in the UAE, this research has selected three strategies—the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE), and Green Bonds—that are used worldwide. The study uses two methods to paint a realistic image of the application in the United Arab Emirates. The first method is a literature review to combine ideas from various conceptual frameworks for each of the three tactics. From the perspective of members of the public and commercial sectors in the UAE, the second way involves using interviews to validate the three strategies' practicability. The literature review indicates that while they were very successful in the US and EU union, they also had a significant disadvantage. Furthermore, the analysis of the interviews revealed that the respondents had a strong desire to see the mechanisms implemented in UAE because they thought they held great promise for advancing sustainability and energy efficiency in the built environment. But overcoming obstacles like awareness, standardization, and regulations is necessary for success.
Achieving Sustainable Outdoor Thermal Comfort in the American University of Sharjah Campus
(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2016-09) AL KHAWAJA, SARAH JAMAL
There are many factors that impact and influence the success of an urban space. Numerous physical and social environment components and location of the given space in the city are all key components that play part. This study however, mainly focuses on one physical environmental aspect known as the thermal environment. Thermal environments are components of physical environments that dictate the human thermal comfort. The control of this comfort is conducted through exchange of energy between the body and its consequent surroundings, and it can generally be stated that it exists in the circumstance that a body can readily sustain a constant and deep temperature of approximately 37°C. Therefore, thermal comfort can be defined as the relationship between the thermal condition and an individual’s awareness of warmth that makes the impression. The study will carry out a comprehensive research on the layout of the American University of Sharjah (AUS) campus in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Multiple data categories will be collected from the campus users through a series of surveys and interviews to obtain an understanding of the site conditions and their comfort levels. Human thermal comfort is an environmental quality that is directly impacted by the outdoor conditions of the university’s campus. It is among some of the most affected qualities of the environment in the urban outdoors. Since the microclimate of AUS is hot humid, the thermal adaptation of the university’s occupants is quite challenging due to exposure to variation air temperatures. Despite the control the outdoor thermal environment being difficult, there is a need to avail thermal comfortable conditions, which are able to cater for the outdoor activities such as walkability, driving, parking, greenery, shades, water features among others. This study is based on investigating the problem of lack of sufficient thermal conditions to facilitate comfort amongst the University’s occupants. It’s aimed at solving this problem by recommending new improvised design elements for the campus’ thermal adaptation through creating areas with sufficient shades as well as outdoor sophisticated space planning.
Achieving sustainable regeneration and walkable communities through investigation of different urban configurations in Dubai, UAE
(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2017-10) ALMULLA, MOHAMMED
One of the major challenges facing urban planners in Dubai is the rapid growth of population. New developments were constructed within the last few years which caused the urban sprawl to reach the edge of the city. In this research, historical contend and sustainability factors were analysed to achieve sustainable regeneration within the Central Business District of Dubai along with enhancing walkability in the district through achieving thermal comfort within the urban form. The thermal comfort was analyzed through the simulation of different configuration to analyze the main three parameters which includes air temperature, relative humidity and wind speed. ENVI-met modeling was used in this research to simulate the three urban configuration divided into three phases including the following: analysis of building form, analysis of building heights and the analysis of landscaping and vegetation on thermal comfort. Throughout the research it was analyzed that creating wind channel form buildings has the best effect compared to the other proposed form. moreover, uniformed building heights shared similar results while the best height selected was the proposal of different heights in which air temperature was lower than other height configurations. Finally, the best configuration selected within the configuration of landscaping and vegetation was the optimization of grass, trees and water elements which had the lowers air temperature in comparison to the other configurations. It was concluded through the research that there are potentials in enhancing walkability through sustainable regeneration in Dubai.
Achieving thermal comfort by applying passive cooling strategies to courtyard houses in Dubai (UAE)
(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2014-05) Feroz, Sheikh Mehreen
A passive design approach is centered upon integrating the microclimatic requests into the design to accomplish advanced comfort levels with lower energy depletion. The purpose of this research was to examine the cooling effect of designated passive parameters on the outdoor air temperature, wind speed , shading, indoor and outdoor daylight of an open courtyard. Numerous variables that demonstrated formerly to improve the outdoor environments were assessed conjointly to achieve the effect that passive design has over outdoor air temperature. The computer simulation was discovered to be the utmost appropriate tool for analysis affording to the resources accessible. Three variables were examined originally, orientation, geometry and vegetation among these the coolest parameter were combined into one scenario titled the enhanced scenario. Two scenarios entitled the existing scenario presents a specific site circumstances and the enhanced scenario conjoining the coolest parameters, were equated and assessed. The NW orientation, the highest geometry of a height to width (H:W) ratio of 1.35, groups of trees and continuous grass were discovered to be the coolest parameters included in the enhanced scenario. The enhanced scenario was then equated to the existing case scenario constructed with NNE orientation, 0.85 H:W ratio and no vegetation which had the higher temperature ranks. The outcomes discovered had a small increase in improvement of the outdoor air temperature owing to the passive principles pertained. The proportional outcomes performance cased a smaller progress among the enhanced scenario and the existing scenario presenting the site conditions of Dubai the villa owed to the assimilation of a these principles only. The outcomes of temperature and wind patterns verified and helped in accepting numerous outdoor performances which are helpful for directing an ecological design for courtyard spaces. One of the foremost conclusions was the reality of a limit to the amount of passive applications to accomplish a substantial enhancement still, an increase in it was achievable. Nevertheless, the performance of the outdoor parameters remains somewhat complicated and impulsive that involves additional exploration.
Adoption of Greywater Reuse Systems in Hotels in Abu Dhabi
(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2021-12) Hammad, Areej
Availability of water resources has become a global issue that is imperative to resolve to achieve sustainable growth for generations to come. Various solutions have been launched to conserve the environment in all its aspects and the availability of clean water is one of the most challenges facing humanity today. The UAE is ranked in the top 10 countries in regards to high baseline of water stress. Innovative approaches need to be taken by authorities, businesses, and people alike to work together to conserve water resources. One such solution is the reuse of treated greywater. Greywater is the effluent from wash basins, showers, laundry, and kitchens. Treating and reusing greywater for purposes of irrigation and toilet flushing could relieve strain on water resources. The study examined the factors that can contribute to greywater adoption in hotels in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi is an attractive destination with 168 hotels. A survey was designed and distributed to hotel professionals in Abu Dhabi. The survey was designed around the Theory of Planned Behaviour in order to identify the factors that will impact the behaviour in question in this case, greywater adoption. Greywater adoption in existing and new hotels was examined and results were obtained and analyzed using SPSS. The results showed that management perception, government support and risk associated with greywater impacted decisions to adopt greywater in existing hotels while customer perception and government support were the main factors that impacted adoption of greywater in new hotels according to hotel professionals in Abu Dhabi and the conducted statistical analysis. The study concludes by providing recommendations for future research.
Agent Based Modeling to Optimize Supermarkets Spatial Dimensions
(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2019-05) NASIF, MAJD
The purpose of our research is to study the impact of supermarket size and spatial dimensions on crowding. To improve supermarkets layout from the social aspect, to increase the human comfort and reduce crowding. Despite the supermarket is a major part of our life, but there is one undesirable situation that a lot of people suffer from it, which is crowding. It is the situation where the shoppers feel that the supermarket is overloaded with people at certain times. We solved this problem by providing an optimal area range for the supermarket where we reduced the crowding levels dramatically, while avoiding unnecessary increase in space dimensions. We used a simulation methodology, using Massmotion software to create and analyse the proposed scenarios. Two sets of scenarios were tested, one with 1000 shoppers per day and the other with 2000 shoppers per day. It was shown that the area range from 1450 to 1650 square meters is the optimal area of the supermarket. The results shown that an increase in the critical zones, i.e. the fresh produce, pre-prepared zone and the sixth isle of general items, had the major cause in the reduction of congestion cost, journey cost, higher LOS, such as LOS E and F. We learnt how to find the optimal area of the supermarket or any other space with minimal effect on human comfort. Our research finding shows that the uncrowded isles can be 1.3 meters width, but the crowded isles, such as the fresh produce, pre-prepared food area and the sixth isle in the general items, should be larger with minimum 2.7 times the uncrowded zones, i.e. they should have a width of 3.6 meters, as shown in the seventh scenario.
Alternative Facades: Assessment of Building Integrated Photovoltaic and Electrochromic Glazing— Energy Benefits and Future Potentials in Office Building in UAE
(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2010-12) Katanbafnasab, Mohammad
With the decline of conventional fossil fuels and the rapid growth of human population, the importance of curbing our energy consumption and reducing our dangerous emissions is now more obvious than ever. Since buildings are one of the top consumers of energy, it is not surprising that many designers, engineers, and architects are starting to address the significance of the building envelope in minimizing energy demands especially in office buildings. While many new alternative façades offer such energy saving benefits, the use of two particular technologies has not been studied enough in the gulf region. Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) and Electrochromic (EC) glazing are perhaps also more important because the potential of both of these technologies is very closely related to the availability of sunshine, which is very abundant in this region. Thus, the aim of this research was to explore the energy benefits and future potential of these two systems within the climatic conditions of the city of Abu Dhabi. A computer energy modeling program was used to assess the energy performance, mainly the reductions in HVAC and lighting, of each system compared to a base case scenario for south, east, west, and north facing facades. Additionally, an economic analysis explored the feasibility of applications of these systems within Abu Dhabi’s construction industry. The result of this research showed that the BIPV is most advantageous on the south façade while the EC glazing performs best on the north facing windows. The BIPV model achieved a maximum energy consumption reduction of about 20.66%, 16.69%, 16.86%, and 1.35% for the south, east, west and north orientation, respectively against the base case model. On the other hand, the EC glazing model had much less benefit against the base case model with ‐2.86%, 1.35%, 0.89%, and 7.41% energy savings for the same orientations, respectively. The increase in glass shading coefficient increased the energy savings (15%) in the BIPV model against the base case. Similarly, the EC glazing showed significant improvement in energy savings (11.17%) over the base case which used higher shading coefficient. Moreover, the change in sensor location from 2m to 4m increased the energy savings for both cases, although the change was very marginal compared to the change of the glass properties. The results of the economic analysis showed that due to high capital cost and low cost of electricity, neither system is currently feasible for investment. However, with future advances in each system and more efficient designs, the pay back periods would become tangible and therefore yield better performances. In conclusion, using an automated light control system with dimming for both models, compared against the standard on‐off lighting mechanism in the base case, the BIPV proves to have a higher energy saving potential than the EC glazing. If these two technologies were to be combined, the best configuration would be to install BIPV on the East, South, and West façade, while the EC glazing is used on the North façade.
An Analysis of Thermal Comfort at the School Outdoor Spaces: A Case Study of the American School of Creative Science, Dubai, UAE
(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2022-06) ABU-QULBAIN, LANA
Outdoor school spaces are significant spaces which, regardless of a child’s residential area, provide great opportunity for outdoor space exploration leading to overall enhancement to the students’ wellbeing. This paper analyzes the outdoor school spaces of a school in Dubai to optimize its outdoor school spaces and ensure their thermal comfort. To achieve this aim, and using mixed methodology approach of survey, field observation, workshops and ENVI-Met V5.3 software simulation, the initial school outdoor spaces were analyzed and then enhanced by means of several proposed heat mitigation strategies. The enhanced outcome was evaluated against the initial one, using PET (physiological equivalent temperature), revealing that shade separately had the highest impact on its corresponding location with a decrease of up to 16% in PET, but no decrease to the overall PET of the microclimate. Additionally, the addition of vegetation alone had an impact on the microclimate decreasing it by 5%. Thus, combining the strategies of vegetation, shade, green facades/roofs and small water features resulted in 5% to 25% reduction in PET depending on the corresponding location being analyzed. The enhancements also led to reduction in the building energy flux, by up to 5%. The results obtained provide insight and guidelines for school designers and school board members on how to evaluate and enhance the school outdoor spaces to ensure they are thermally comfortable.
Applying Appropriate Passive Cooling Strategies to the Office Building to Improve Building Energy Efficiency The Case is Existed Office Building in Dubai
(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2024-06) ZIZAN, SHADI; Professor Hanan Taleb
In response to the hot local climate in Dubai, the study suggests passive cooling strategies to reduce building energy consumption and maximize the indoor comfort level for building users in office buildings in Dubai. It begins to try to find ways to enhance or increase the natural air velocity and decrease indoor temperature in interior spaces by contributing some parameters to building design and enhancing building specifications without using electricity. In addition, this research aims to modify building design by applying passive cooling strategies to a building model and using computational building software “IES” to compare and find the optimum building design in terms of building efficiency. The study selected an office building, and multi-passive cooling strategies were applied to the energy simulation software IES to test and evaluate the building's energy savings and consumption. The study re-modelled the building in five design phases to apply passive cooling techniques and test it individually. Firstly, finding optimal building orientation, then the window enhancement phase, applying shading devices and external wall insulation, and finally, phase five, applying a green roof. As a result, the building achieved 35% at the optimal developed model in terms of energy savings during the summer season, while the spring scenario saved about 26% and in the winter about 25%. On the other side, the indoor thermal comfort and indoor temperature indicated in this study help understand how the applied passive cooling strategies impact building behavior.
Applying morpho-emergent theory to the evolution of public buildings: new design strategies for the building envelopes
(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2014-04) Jaheen, Noha
Recent accelerating concerns about the ramifications of global warming have enhanced the need for finding unconventional solutions. The versatility and vicissitudes of nature highlight survival abilities as a main feature of the adaptation and development of organisms through time. Concurrent environmental hazards and the increasing size of construction projectshasraised the importance of buildings in terms of creating healthy conditions for users. Envelopes, as the common factors between indoor and outdoor conditions, have become the main controller of the survival process. Performance has converged between living organism shells and building shells creating morphological principles for finding solutions. The change in sequence in both macro and microclimates shows the requirement for integrating highly adaptive and responsive envelopes for buildings in the construction field. Morpho-science in the interests of both structure and behaviour was involved the consideration of new design techniques aiming to achieve better indoor environmental quality while saving energy. The aim of this dissertation is to design a multifunctional responsive building shell and to apply a depth of systematic thinking within the integration system. That led to the selection of the ‘Emilia Coccolith’ as a surviving unicellular natural concept to be analysed using aspects of morpho-genetics, morpho-structure and morpho-behaviour. Ontological and computational methods were used in simulating the selected concept to extract utilisations for designing strategies for the construction field. Generative analysis involved physical models of both ‘Hetero’ and ‘Holo’ crystals to find their lighting, ventilation and load performance to form the internal validity for this study. ANSYS and Project Falcon simulation software were used to analyse crystals at a conceptual level showing the efficiency of Holo inspired frames in discharging load per unit in contrast with identical hexagonal frames. Hetero crystals simulation pointed out the interest of crystallographic orientation and bi-refringent ability in forming advanced elements that have a special aesthetic shape which can generate synchronised movement while forming multi-directional ventilation. For the purpose of imitating the natural performance of the analysed crystals in the construction field, advanced smart materials had been involved in new innovative infill and secondary layers of the building envelope, presenting an intelligent skin which has high automation, response, dynamic and energy generative abilities. External validity was presented by examining the newly innovated shell in dry, tropical, and temperate climates using IESVE, Vasari Beta 3, Ecotec Analysis and Flow Design simulation software. Consequently the study draws a new path of design responsive efficient shells for low-rise public buildings which can achieve lighting, ventilation and thermal comfort levels while reducing energy consumption. In the different climatically selected zones of the UAE, UK and Brazil, indoor thermal comfort levels were achieved. This was seen by the envelope dry mode of 21˚C through daylight with gradual increases in humidity levels to cross 40%, especially at night when it automatically shifted the envelope to wet mode. That succeeded in reducing the cooling load in dry and tropical climates to about 44% while showing 35% for the heating load in temperate climate. Furthermore, lighting achieved the comfort level for low-rise public buildings of 2% according to ASHREA, LEED and BREEAM standards - which saved 20% lighting energy consumption. Finally, the Morpho Emergent theory was successful in designing a highly advanced breathing building skin comparable to a natural organisms’ shell while making a contribution to creating global green principles. This is important in terms of exploring sustainability awareness throughout the Middle East.
Applying Passive Design Strategies to Achieve Energy Efficient Mosque in UAE: The Case of Uptown Mirdif Mosque
(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2021-09) ALKHALESI, SAREH JAVAD
Energy and electricity have become a basic and necessary need that must be available in any place where the population is located, especially to use air-conditioning devices to obtain a comfortable thermal environment in hot and humid areas such as the United Arab Emirates. Burning fossil fuels to produce energy, as the percentage of carbon emissions increased, which is one of the types of greenhouse gases that lead to environmental pollution and global warming. Therefore, it was necessary to search and find solutions that help reduce energy consumption and alternative solutions to produce energy from clean sources. Many studies have been conducted to search for solutions and strategies that contribute to reducing energy consumption. This research aims to help build sustainable mosques that consume the least possible amount of energy while maintaining a comfortable indoor thermal environment for worshipers. By clarifying and knowing some of the different passive design strategies that can be used in building mosques such as thermal insulations, glazing, shadings, green roofs and the production of clean energy using solar panels. This research helps to know the different types and possibilities for each strategy, evaluate these strategies and types, and know their efficiency in reducing the energy consumption of the building, especially in an atmosphere similar to that of the UAE, using the IES-VE simulation program. Then a comparison was made between the strategies and their types to find out which of them are more efficient and capable of reducing building energy consumption, as the results showed that thermal insulation is the most efficient strategy than other strategies.
Assess the level of public awareness in UAE - Green roof & Facades (benefits & obstacles)
(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2016-12) GAFFAR, RASHA ABDULGHAFFAR
Introduction - Green roofs and façade are getting more and more popular across the globe, it’s not a new born concept it has been around since human lived in caves. Although the UAE has witness a major development in the last four decades, but still there is a lot to do when it comes to using these systems. Research question – research aims to find out about the green roofs and façade benefits on different aspects for the end-user, also know how much people know about green systems, and their effect on buildings, and finally understand the reason behind lower demand of green roofs and façade in UAE. Methods- in an attempt to answer the research question that is targeting community response toward greenery an online survey took place to in order to collect the maximal number of responds from different backgrounds, also interviews with architects contractors and policy maker to get more specified data from experienced individuals and finally case studies was part of the research to know results of existing examples of green envelope and how do the building managers user feel about this experience and how can they take it to the next level. Results and findings- after conducting the surveys, interviews and field visits the author collected reasonable data about the level of community individual awareness and finding out challenges that face using this technology, as well as the learned lessons of the existing projects (case studies)
Assessing Energy Saving Potential in Existing Buildings in Abu Dhabi through Passive Retrofitting Strategies: Case Study –Office Buildings
(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2013-12) Manneh, Abeer
The UAE as a leading country in the region has set goals to reduce CO2 emissions by 2020 in line with Copenhagen Accord. However, the challenge is considered great since the UAE has been identified as one of the highest ecological footprint in the World in 2007. The future plans in the country invest heavily on sustainability frameworks and future plans such as Abu Dhabi Plan 2030. While the sustainability codes and regulatory frameworks have been recently developed in the country, the regulations are only applicable to minor percentage of the overall building stock. In general the new buildings represent only 0.5% to 2% of the total building stock. Therefore, sustainability guidelines for existing building refurbishment are considered to be critical to reduce the energy consumption in the built environment and associated CO2 emissions. This research has studied the existing urban development in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and identified the commercial buildings as a major contributor to the energy consumption in the capital, with almost one third of the total energy consumption being accounted for commercial uses. An additional 25% for governmental usage has common elements with commercial buildings, yet needs to be further detailed for their sub-categories. The paper has identified two building prototypes as representation of the existing commercial building stock for the periods from 1980-1989 and 1990-1999 and prior to the implementation of the Estidama pearl building rating system for new construction. Computer modelling was used to assess the savings in electricity consumption, associated cooling loads, energy consumption, and CO2 emissions for the selected 1980s prototype, with an indication of the annual electricity savings for a typical floor layout for a 1990s prototype. The 1980s case study of 17 stories building was modeled in three simulation models; typical floor, roof floor, and ground and mezzanine floors. Building simulations for each of the models were conducted to assess savings due to individual elemental refurbishment and combined scenarios considering upgrades to 1 and 2pearl rating thermal properties. The potential reduction in cooling loads for the overall building varies dramatically depending on the refurbishment application. For the upgrades to 1 pearl rating standard, the savings ranged from 0.21% in the case of roof, to 5.13% and 11.90% in the case of the wall and fenestration upgrades respectively. However, for the upgrades to 2-5 pearls rating requirements, the savings were estimated at 0.22% for the roof upgrades, 5.61% and 14.67 for the wall and fenestration upgrades respectively. The study indicated that the savings achieved through refurbishment of the roof is negligible compared to that for the replacement of glazing due to the roof area being 6.4% of the building’s external envelope while the glazing forms 25.2% of the same. In this context, the glazing upgrades are considered the most efficient II | P a g e solution. The study also concluded that individual elements of the building, and individual floors could be looked at for prioritized refurbishment strategy depending on the individual savings that could be achieved, easement of implementation, and economic feasibility. Moreover, the study highlights that combined solutions achieve greater savings than when individual refurbishment applications are considered. The savings for the overall building are considered significant estimated at 18.90% and 22.12% for the 1 pearl and 2 pearls upgrades respectively. Solar gain and external conduction gain analysis indicated that the elements behavior and specifically the external conduction gain profile varies for the various applications. As an example, the 2 pearl combined scenario has 0.0727 MWh less annual conduction gain than the sum of the individual scenarios. The economic feasibility study indicated that the most feasible refurbishment solution for the building prototype of 1980s is for 2 pearls glazing upgrade, where 9 years payback period could achieve savings of 164.2157 MWhe of annual electricity consumption. However, it was noted that the highest savings for the combined solution in the case of 2 pearls upgrades would return its capital cost in around 16 years. The simple payback period calculations excludes the savings in government electricity cost subsidies, evaluation of building envelop performance upgrades such as humidity resistance, air tightness, aesthetical appearance, as well as future increases in the cost of electricity. It is expected that once all the benefits are quantified, the Simple Payback Period (SPP) analysis will result in reasonable timeframe for the owners to recoup their initial investment cost. Finally, the research is concluded by extrapolating the annual reduction in electricity consumption to represent the savings across Abu Dhabi. For the 1980s, the implementation of a combined retrofitting scenario to 2 pearls rating requirements; is estimated to achieve annual reduction in electricity consumption of 18,433 MWeh/yr. Whereas, the refurbishment of the most economically feasible solution to upgrade the building glazing to 2 pearl rating standards, can achieve an overall reduction of 12,214 MWeh/yr. CO2 emissions reduction for the combined solution of 2 pearls rating is estimated at 9,530,968 KgCO2/yr. Moreover, an indication of the typical building prototype upgrade for the period from 1990-1999 has indicated that the overall savings for Abu Dhabi for the 1990s buildings, when the glazing elements are upgraded, are 28,599 MWeH/yr and 20,152.MWeh/yr for the 2 pearls and 1 pearl rating respectively.
Assessment of Different Commissioning Service Methods and their Ability to Achieve the Performance KPIs in Educational Buildings in Abu Dhabi-UAE
(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2016-10) Kuriakose, Naveen
The vibrant growth of Abu Dhabi’s real estate, tourism and aviation sectors demand sustainable construction in the emirate, to minimise dynamic environmental impacts and to improve comfort levels in the built environment. The construction and operation of buildings contribute greatly towards climate change, global warming, energy crises and water crises, especially in hot-humid climatic zones, such as Abu Dhabi. The pearl rating system of the Abu Dhabi government is a dramatic move towards compulsory sustainable construction, which gives primary importance to water and energy savings. At the same time, building commissioning is a mandatory requirement of the pearl rating system and is the best cost-effective solution for reducing energy and water consumption. Studies show that Abu Dhabi’s building commissioning is still in the infancy stage. Notable researches in this field are yet to be published and this paper is one of the very first researches investigating the analysis of commissioning of educational buildings in Abu Dhabi. Worldwide, the construction industry follows various commissioning service methods, including third party directed commissioning, owner directed commissioning, engineer directed commissioning and designer directed commissioning. However, the selection of the commissioning service method is made typically on an advantage-disadvantage basis. The aim of this research is to go well beyond that, and to find the optimum commissioning service method by performing a thorough analysis of key performance indicators of building construction. Five educational buildings representing different commissioning service methods are selected for this research. Educational buildings have prime importance in the Abu Dhabi government’s sustainability plans. At the same time, the performance of educational buildings will have a significant impact on the physical and mental health of coming generations. Performance analysis of these buildings will reveal the effects of different commissioning service methods on environmental, economic and service level performances of such buildings. This research is classified into five phases. Quantitative analysis of buildings is the first phase, where the performance of four educational buildings are analysed against measurable key performance indicators. In Phase II of the research, qualitative analysis of expert opinions are conducted to analyse the non-measurable key performance indicators of the commissioning process. Phase III is designed to V select the optimum commissioning service method, based on the results obtained in Phase I and Phase II. The research then progresses towards the validation of the Phase III results, through real-life project application and its analysis, this marks Phase IV. The fifth phase of the research is to further fine-tune findings of Phase IV. This research follows literature review, quantitative analysis of building performances and qualitative analysis of expert opinions. The literature review methodology helped to define the key performance indicators. On the other hand, quantitative processing of building trend logs as a preliminary step, supported by field measurements, aided in the analysis of building performances. This analysis revealed considerable differences in the performance of buildings. Buildings commissioned by third party consultants ranked highest in performance, followed by buildings based on owner directed commissioning. Concurrently, qualitative analysis of expert opinions was conducted through a three-stage Delphi study, to analyse those performance indicators that cannot be measured or quantitatively analysed. The results of the Delphi study show that owner directed commissioning is the best in communication and collaboration, while third party directed commissioning is the best in verification and documentation. Designer directed and engineer directed commissioning service methods could not perform well in this analysis, as communication, collaboration and documentation were very poor in these cases, based on the Delphi study results. The results support a third party-owner combined commissioning to share the best practices from each service method. The third party will lead the commissioning service, but the communication and collaboration will be channelled through the owner of the project. The selected commissioning service method is further refined to improve the communication indicator, for advanced optimization. The results of this research can be used to establish key performance indicators for educational buildings in Abu Dhabi. At the same time, this study will help developers to understand various commissioning service methods, to assess their abilities to achieve building key performance indicators (KPIs) and to select the optimum method for constructing educational buildings in Abu Dhabi.
Assessment of the Effectiveness of the Double Skin Facades (DSFs) Configurations on Enhancing the Energy Performance of Multi-Used Building in Hot-Arid Climate The Case in Al-Ain City-UAE
(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2021-10) TOBEISHAT, REEMA A.
Implementation of double-skin facades DSFs is a sustainable technical solution for enhancing energy performance of building, but the climatic conditions could affect the DSF performance. Al-Ain city-UAE is a hot-arid climate zone and characterized by higher solar gains which play a key role in the DSF performance. In this work, the parametric study was carried out to assess the impact of DSF geometry, cavity depth, glazing properties, openings vents, shading devices SDs and air flow mode in enhancing energy performance and thermal comfort. A multi-used building (commercial and residential) in Al Ain city was selected as a reference base case model for this study. Four -types of ventilated DSFs were applied in the reference building under a wide range of strategies and scenarios based on modifying parametric study of (Cavity width, glazing properties, solar shading devices SDs positions), through replacing the conventional building wall of reference case with DSF system. Different strategies were adopted to analyze the energy performance (total annual cooling loads and total annual electricity consumption) of the building. This work is based on numerical simulation methodology, the IES-VE software tool was utilized to perform the simulation of total energy consumption. IES-VE tool is connected to different applications based on thermal analysis and energy consumption such as, MacroFlo and MicroFlo-CFD used to assess and predict the optimal type and parameter, based on measuring the efficient energy performance, air flow-rate, and air velocity of an integrated base building with DSF types. CFD application was used to simulate the airflow behavior with the air cavity and predicting the influence of DSF in promoting energy performance. To identify the optimum configurations among the four types of natural ventilated DSFs system with External Air Curtin (EAC) mode; the 4 -types of DSFs based on partitioning cavity (Box-Window, Shaft-Box, Corridor and Multi-Story facade) were investigated and compared in this work. The final findings found that the most effective parameter in reduction cooling loads is opening size area, glazing properties, cavity width, airflow within cavity, and shading devices SDs in sequence. The most optimal case was Multi-Storey façade achieving about 10.30% reduction in cooling loads in comparison to the reference base. Overall, all types of DSFs achieved efficient performance in reduction the total annual cooling loads and total annual electricity consumption. In comparing with reference traditional building envelope. The target of this study is to investigate the thermal performance and the effectiveness of DSFs systems to improve the building energy efficiency, to afford a comparison and evaluation of the tested types of DSFs, and to determine the optimal design of the four DSF cases in dealing with thermal performance under hot-arid climate.
Assessment of Virtual Reality technology as a tool to enhance beauty and skincare e-commerce targeting Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2020-03) Almomani, Suzan
This paper explores whether a virtual shopping experience using immersive VR technologies can enhance and possibly substitute an in-store presence of a consumer shopping for beauty and skincare products. Differences in age groups directly affect consumers’ approach towards shopping and lead their shopping patterns while browsing for beauty and skincare products. Three generational cohorts including Gen Z aged between (7-22 years old), Millennials aged between (23-38 years old) and Gen X aged between (39-54 years old) were selected for the purpose of this study. Each group consisted of 10 female participants, thus a total of 30 responses were analysed and studied. VR experiment combined with survey research method was adopted to develop an understanding of how generational cohorts are unique in the way they perceive and engage with physical and online shopping. MAC cosmetics hypothetical virtual store was designed in 3D using SketchUp program and launched as a VR experiment using a plugin called Enscape. Three surveys in a 5-point Likert scale format were distributed among all participants to analyse the positive potential of introducing VR features into beauty and skincare e-commerce. First survey collected general feedback about online shopping and VR, second survey gathered responses about MAC cosmetics current physical stores’ design and the third survey was taken to record the feedback after undergoing the MAC cosmetics virtual store experiment. This research found that generational differences affect the acceptance and engagement levels with novel technological advancements in retail. Millennials were observed to be the most educated about the progression of VR technology into retail in general. Overall, all participants had positive feedback about the virtual store experience, however Gen X had reported difficulties in navigation and needed more human assistance during the experiment. No motion sickness was reported and all participants were interested to shop in future virtual stores equipped with features like virtual mirrors and digital skin analysis with Gen Z being the most supportive and excited.
Barriers in Implementing Zero Energy Building Policies in the United Arab Emirates
(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2019-11) Ather, Syed Waqas
It is a well-known fact that human activities over the past few decades have led to the cause of climate change. Building sector is responsible for approximately 28% of the overall carbon emissions. To tackle this, several initiatives such as the Sustainable Development Goals are in place to make cities and human settlement inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. In the building sector, Zero Energy Buildings (ZEB) can have a huge impact by demanding a combination of both energy efficiency measures, and reliance on renewable energy generation. Even though, there are examples of ZEB in the European Union, and the United States of America (USA). United Arab Emirates (UAE) is yet to explore the concept of ZEB in entirety. The aim of this paper is to identify the barriers, and challenges in implementing ZEB policies in the UAE. Economic barriers such as the high upfront construction costs, longer payback periods, and need of sustainable model that consider short-term and long-term goals of ZEB were the main barriers identified through a survey. Also, lack of ZEB codes and standards are also seen as a barrier to implement ZEB policies. Reliance on on-site renewable energy for high-rise residential buildings is seen as a challenge to ZEB. For future legislations pertaining to ZEB in the UAE, the existing codes and standards must coexist with the ZEB codes and standards. Also, the targets set for the ZEB must be coherent with the existing strategies such as the UAE Clean Energy Strategy 2050.
BIM for Economic Green Retrofitting based on LEED- EBOM
(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2020-09) MEREB, EMAN
The current situation of global warming requires many actions to reduce the GHG emissions and resources depletion so the governments around the world defined several visions and plans to be achieved within long term and short-term programs. Built environment is considered as one of the main participants in the global warming since it releases 40% of the total GHG in the planet. Green retrofitting can be an effective solution to reduce the negative impacts of the existing built environment through optimizing the energy efficiency, reduce the energy and water consumption, maintain the internal comfort level, eliminate the usage of non-environmentally friendly building materials and many other practices that can be very effective. The proposed solutions should be evaluated based the green retrofitting standards like LEED-EBOM and should be costly viable since the owners are normally looking for minimum cost and shortest payback period. In the UAE, there are many projects were retrofitted and achieved significant savings through applying different strategies and initiatives to reduce the GHG emissions and resources consumptions. This research aims to check the potentials of green retrofitting actions that can be applied to upgrade an existing Nursery building to be LEED-EBOM certified and to reduce the cost of energy and water consumption by using Revit model for each retrofitting option which will help to calculate the amount of energy and water saving, the cost reduction, the payback period and the LEED-EBOM credits for each retrofitting options which include exterior wall insulation, double glazing windows installation, roof insulation, new AC system, air quality system, new lights with sensors, new solar water heaters and condensation system. The total energy reduction of the proposed retrofitting options is 43% (135987kW/year) and the reduction of water consumption is 56% (1022 m3/year) besides these savings, the internal environment will be better by adding fresh air unit and the AC will be unified for all spaces with minimum noise level and the building will be LEED-EBOM certified.
Bio-mimicry and Urban Design A case study of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed City
(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2018-02) TIMRAZ, AHMAD F.M.
I would like to thank and appreciate the hard work and the best advice from my advisor, Dr. Hanan Taleb, and her continuous support. I am also very grateful to my family for their continued support and their prayer to me to have a successful journey in BUID and in the rest of my life. Finally, many thanks to all professors and academic staff who were there to develop my learning skills and knowledge in order to increase my efficient working experience in both academic and working fields.
Building Practices Enhancements in Relation to Thermal Performance and Energy Saving. A Case Study of Residential Building in Cairo, Egypt
(The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2018-04) EL-DIN EL-ATTAR, MAY MOHAMED DIAA
The global climate changes have been affecting Egypt with rising temperatures in the summer for the past 10 years all over Egypt, which lead to exponential increase in energy demand to achieve thermal comfort. This trend is expected to continue, as the demand for mechanical cooling will rise especially in the main cities and would lead to higher emissions. However, Egyptian recent studies on residential building designs and construction materials do not take into consideration the climate conditions and various environmental factors. One of the main reasons behind this is the local regulations, which are not reflecting the local climate conditions and environmental conditions. Also, it was stated that residential buildings in Egypt has low thermal performance quality and low indoor air levels as there is no use for building air tight envelops, insulation to walls, shading objects or double-glazed openings. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of different building envelop treatments on the energy consumption in residential building in Cairo, Egypt. The study was done through analyzing the relation between each treatment and energy consumption by using IES-VE computer simulation software, in addition to an economic study. A residential building in Cairo, Egypt was selected to investigate the building construction practices in Egypt and how this can be improved in order to save electricity consumption in cooling, and heating. The study was divided into three steps. First step was conducted in the form of test matrix of simulations that consists of three main strategies diverted from the parameters of the study. Each strategy was covered by a number of simulations using different configurations for each parameter, 8 simulations were tested for external walls, 5 scenarios for external glazing and three scenarios for exposed roof treatments. In addition to calculation the payback period for each scenario depending on the simulation’s energy consumption results. While in the third step, the most energy saving scenario and the shortest payback period scenario were selected from each parameter and combined in a new matrix to investigate the impact in a form of combined matrix. Results showed that simple enhancements in the current building envelop of residential buildings can save 18% of electricity consumption with a payback period of 5 years. On the other hand, using more sustainable building materials can save more energy however it would extend the payback period. In combined matrix simulations, annual electricity savings percentages ranged between 18% and 22%, with a corresponding payback periods between 5 years and 11.6 years.

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