Building science
For instance, it is widely known that occupants' thermal sensation and comfort may vary depending on their sex, age, emotion, experiences, etc.
Despite the advancement in data extraction and collection technology in building science, objective measurements alone can hardly represent occupants' state of mind such as comfort and preference.
Models can be used to predict operational energy use, solar heat and radiation distribution, air flow, and other physical phenomena within the building.
An array of in-field testing equipment can be used to measure temperature, moisture, sound levels, air pollutants, or other criteria.
[12] A lack of attention to visual comfort issues often makes the best daylighting intentions ineffective due to excessive brightness and high contrast luminance ratios within the space which result in glare.
If the occupants experience visual discomfort from excessive sunlight penetration through the windows of the buildings, they may wish to close the shading devices which would decrease the daylight availability and increase the electric lighting energy consumption.
It is critical that architects, engineers, and building owners use daylight and glare metrics to evaluate lighting conditions in daylit spaces for occupant health and comfort.
While research has shown that some respiratory symptoms and illnesses can be associated with damp buildings,[16] it is still unclear what measurements of indoor contaminants show that workers are at risk for disease.
Indoor environments are highly complex and building occupants may be exposed to a variety of contaminants (in the form of gases and particles) from office machines, cleaning products, construction activities, carpets and furnishings, perfumes, cigarette smoke, water-damaged building materials, microbial growth (fungal, mold, and bacterial), insects, and outdoor pollutants.
Understanding the sources of indoor environmental contaminants and controlling them can often help prevent or resolve building-related worker symptoms.
Fields of specialization include architecture, HVAC design, thermal comfort, indoor air quality (IAQ), lighting, acoustics, and control systems.
Building science includes the analysis of HVAC systems for both physical impacts (heat distribution, air velocities, relative humidities, etc.)
[23] It is recognized that advanced control strategies implementation is under the scope of developing Building Automation System (BMS) with integrated smart communication technologies, such as Internet of Things (IoT).
It was estimated that due to inadequate interoperability, building industry loses $15.8 billion annually in the U.S.[24] Recent research projects like Haystack[25] and Brick[26] intend to address the problem by utilizing metadata schema, which could provide more accurate and convenient ways of capturing data points and connection hierarchies in building mechanical systems.
As part of its function, the enclosure must control (not necessarily block or stop) the flow of moisture, heat, air, vapor, solar radiation, insects, or noise, while resisting the loads imposed on the structure (wind, seismic).
[32] Therefore, other strategies such as thermal energy storage systems are developed to achieve higher levels of sustainability by reducing grid peak power.
Building decarbonization is most impactful during early-stage design, where materials, systems, and structural choices can be optimized to reduce embodied carbon and improve operational efficiency before moving forward in development stages.
Challenges in addressing embodied carbon include insufficient data, lack of standardization, cost considerations, and regulatory barriers.
[34] These frameworks provide structured approaches to evaluate and quantify life cycle environmental impacts, such as embodied carbon.
Statistical methods and data visualization were often used to suggest which aspects(features) of the building were supportive or problematic to the occupants.
Many of these trades and technologists require and receive some training in very specific areas of building science (e.g., air tightness, or thermal insulation).
