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Building science is the collection of scientific knowledge that focuses on the analysis and control of the physical phenomena affecting buildings. This includes the detailed analysis of building materials and building envelope systems.

The practical purpose of building science is to provide predictive capability to optimize building performance and understand or prevent building failures.

Indoor Environment

One of the purposes of a building is to control the indoor environment. This includes controlling temperature, humidity, and indoor air quality.

Building indoor environment

Temperature control

A building's temperature is mechanically controlled by heating and cooling systems. In addition, building temperature can be controlled by ventilation and overall building design (see passive solar building design).

Heat flows in and out of a building via conduction through walls, ceilings and floors. People and appliances create internal heat gains, in addition to solar radiation through windows and skylights. These heat flows are controlled by insulation, window glazings, and varying appliance efficiencies.

Moisture control

Humidity control is a desired aspect of a home. Moisture enters a house through internal gains from showers, dishwashers, and cooking. Moisture also enters and leaves via ventilation and infiltration. In humid climates, moisture control is especially problematic. Air conditioning and dehumidifiers removes moisture in the air. These devices expend seemingly large amounts of energy to remove moisture from air because of the high specific heat of water.

In some climates, it is sometimes desirable to increase the humidity of the house. High relative humidity can cause several indoor air quality problems beyond occupant discomfort. Humidity levels above 50% are more conducive to dust mites. In addition, in humid climates, humid outdoor air can condense on the outside of very cool buildings, seep inside and cause extensive mold damage.

relative humidity - humidity - dew point - humidifier - dehumidifier - mold health issues -

Indoor Air Quality

Air can be transported into a building in several different ways. It may flow into the house through cracks in windows or walls, ceilings, and floors. This unintentional air flow is called infiltration. Intentional air flow into a house is called ventilation and is achieved by opening windows and fans. Air flow into a building is controlled by the air tightness of a home.

Sustainability

Energy

Energy Loads

Domestic energy use

Configuration of building

Energy lost through walls, floors and ceilings depends on area and amount of insulation used in those locations. The greater the R-value of the insulation, the less heat loss/gain will result.

Window orientation can greatly change a building's energy use, especially in hot climates. East and especially west-facing glass usually increases cooling loads in the summer while windows facing the equator maximize heat gain in the winter and with proper overhangs, minimizes heat gain in the summertime.

Infiltration/ventilation allow exterior air to penetrate a building, which can raise cooling/heating loads as well as increase humidity.

HVAC systems have varying efficiencies. Cooling system efficiency is measured by EER and SEER ratings, while heating system efficiency is measured by % AFUE, HSPF (in heat pumps), and Coefficient of Performance (COP) (in electric resistance heating).

Duct leakage can pose a significant contributor to building loads for buildings with ducted heating and air-conditioning systems. Ducts are often placed in the attic and, if leaky, can severely lower the HVAC system's capacity. In addition, leaky supply ducts can cause negative pressure in a house, which draws more outdoor air inside of a house.^[1]

Large appliances and miscellaneous electric loads (MELs) directly use electricity or fuel, but also adds to cooling

Water Heating

Effect of varying climates

Structural

Space conditioning

Climate greatly influences

Structural design

All kinds of structures are projected according to two strain conditions: static and dynamic. The static ones are tied to the structure’s dead loads added to the so-called accidental loads (of people, furniture, etc.), the dynamic ones are tied to the natural and artificial movements (earthquake and wind) the structure can sustain during its life cycle. The parameters which characterize structure dynamics are tied to the geometry of the building and to the physical and mechanic properties of its composition. The parameters are:

- The fundamental frequency of vibration (f) and the respective oscillation period (T=1/f) (see oscillation frequency);

- The equivalent dumping coefficient (neq);

- The mode shape (the way in which the structure buckles);

The first parameter varies according to the structure stiffness; very tall and then very flexible buildings as skyscrapers (low oscillation frequencies) oscillate slowly with respect to lower and squat buildings, and according to the building mass. The second parameter takes into account all the dissipation phenomena tied to the viscosity of materials and to friction phenomena. The mode shape describes the way of deformation which the structure is subjected to during the seismic event, and highlights whether or not the structures presents a good seismic behavior.

Reducing the effect of earthquakes on buildings

By monitoring the response of structures subject to earthquakes and by applying new knowledge and technologies, scientists and engineers continuously develop design and repair techniques on buildings, so that their ability to control the earthquake effects will grow. In order to reduce the destructive effects of earthquakes both on new-built buildings and especially on older ones, there exist some seismic adjustment techniques, with the aim of reducing the strain effects that earthquake causes. These techniques can be divided into two different categories:

Base isolation: it is aimed to untie the ground-foundation system, so that the structure can be seen as it is “floating” on the ground during the seismic event, thus reducing the strains.

Dissipation systems: there exist various types of dissipation systems, but they all have in common the effect of increasing the previously seen viscous dissipation coefficient of the structure. The better known base isolation technique consists of inserting some special equipment (isolator (building design)) in the proximity of foundations. This equipment offers a high stiffness for vertical loads so that the structure is not subject to sinking, while offering a low stiffness for horizontal ones, which are peculiar of seismic events. This way all seismic effects are absorbed by the equipment, whereas the structure is subject to low oscillations and consequently to low strains.

The dissipation systems (dissipator (building design)) are made by a series of devices inserted on the inside of the building frame using different techniques, with the aim of slowing down the structure oscillation and dispelling seismic energy.