FACULTY OF APPLIED SCIENCES

ARGENCO DEPARTMENT
SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS DESIGN LAB

Tutor: Prof. Dr. Shady Attia

Number of students for Master Thesis (TFE): 1
Thesis Language: French (English is optional)
Publication: Recommended but not required
Duration: 2014-2015.

1. Design and Assessment of a Positive Impact House

The human demand on the planet is exceeding the planet's regenerative capacity. In order to correct this
imbalance, current generations have taken on the challenge of better resource conservation and
management. Many scholars and committees have analyzed how to close the energy cycle of buildings, or
for that matter how to close the land, water or material cycles of buildings. However, very few examples
that translate those ideas in the built environment exist. Therefore, the aim of this project is to develop a
design prototype that integrates those ideas, (particularly energy and materials) following the regenerative
Cradle to Cradle design paradigm. For this project, the concept development of the suggested design
prototype should integrate those ideas, through a performance-based methodology. The methodology will
focus on setting C2C performance objectives, in order to prescribe desired results instead of traditional
design practice. The project will embrace different design, construction materials and methodologies
(bamboo or straw bale) that use tools and methods to set the building energy performance and building life
cycle assessment.

2. Building Renovation concepts for Plus-Energy House with prefabricated active roof and
facade elements
The main objective of the research is to implement the foregoing developments in the field of active and
passive facade modules and engineering modules in practice in a demonstration project in Liege.The
combination of prefabricated facades and HVAC modules to a practical example as pioneering
redevelopment opportunity (Lighthouse Project) is not yet implemented in Belgium. There are the premade active and passive facades and HVAC basic modules are used in the pilot project. The developments
will be in accordance with the evaluation to a production-ready product. An implementation through the
use of heat and electricity networks to increase energy composite is sought. The idea of the project is
propose design concepts and optimize the building design with innovative energy and distribution concept
with a reduction in the energy consumption by more than 80% and a share of renewable energy in total
energy consumption greater than 80%.

3. DenCity: Zero Energy Light Construction Unit

Belgium has a serious challenge in housing sector. The Federal planning bureau estimates the increase of
population by one million inhabitants by 2030, which represent 600.000 additional family requiring
accesses to new housing facilities. The shortage of vacant land and the increasing energy performance
requirements is pushing the idea urban densification and efficient building stock renovation. The Net Zero
Energy Light Construction Unit design is based on three basic principles aiming to achieve a natural
architectural image. These concepts are based on bioclimatic design techniques and systems that are simple
and reliable for temperature, light and humidity control. The first is the principle is achieving an ample
thermal comfort, avoiding overheating risk during summer and air dryness during winter. The second
principle is balancing the energy use through solar energy generation on annual basis. Thirdly, the unit
shall use sustainable materials away from the cradle to grave life cycle. This means selecting materials with
low embodied energy for construction and furnishing that could be recycled and avoiding landfills.

4. Decision Support Tool for Economic and payback calculations of Zero Energy Buildings
The aim of this research is to analyse the decision support processes towards energy efficiency and
improvement of the environmental quality in buildings from a economic point of view. The main cost
criteria in the decision analysis of buildings are categorized. The decision alternatives which may formulate
specific actions for buildings sustainability are analysed. The decision methodologies will presented in a

FACULTY OF APPLIED SCIENCES

ARGENCO DEPARTMENT
SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS DESIGN LAB

tool (based on real-cost of buildings) and offline decision approaches. Both approaches are supported by
simulation, and multi-criteria decision analysis techniques and their combinations in order to reach cost
parameters (cost of energy to operate the system for one period, initial system cost, annualized system cost,
annual insurance costs, discount rate, inflation rate, energy rate etc..). The advantages and drawbacks of the
various methods are discussed and analysed.

5. Assessment of the impact of climate change on thermal comfort and energy efficiency in
existing residential buildings of Belgium
Projecting the local climate for buildings based on climate change scenarios is important. This study
investigated the potential impact of climate change on thermal comfort and the heating and cooling (H/C)
energy requirements of existing houses in Belgium. The study is based on the detailed sensitivity and
scenario assessment with a unified reference to the global warming temperature, to which the local climate
of buildings is correlated. It was found that a significant climate change impact on thermal comfort and
heating and cooling energy demands is envisaged within the lifespan of existing houses.

6. Assessment of the impact of climate change on thermal comfort and energy efficiency in
existing residential buildings of Belgium
Projecting the local climate for buildings based on climate change scenarios is important. This study
investigated the potential impact of climate change on thermal comfort and the heating and cooling energy
requirements of existing houses in Belgium. The study is based on the detailed sensitivity and scenario
assessment with a unified reference to the global warming temperature, to which the local climate of
buildings is correlated. It was found that a significant climate change impact on thermal comfort and
heating and cooling energy demands is envisaged within the lifespan of existing houses.

7. Acoustic design of lightweight timber frame multifamily constructions

The use of wood for building is growing. Wood construction presents numerous strong points for
sustainability: it allows for CO2 storage, it is a renewable raw material, it provokes only small construction
waste on site and it requires little energy to produce. But the share of single family housing in the number
of dwellings is diminishing in Belgium: the cost of building plots and construction is rising, transport
problems are stimulating people to settle near city centers, public authorities favor the urbananistic
approach of more densely built environments to safeguard open spaces and to limit infrastructure costs etc.
The dwindling share of single family houses in the construction market, the increase in number of
competitors and the growth in size of many of these companies, are pushing LWTF companies to start
building other projects than just single family houses. But when it comes to terraced houses or apartments,
acoustic quality becomes a major challenge. Unfortunately there are not that many examples of acoustically
successful apartment constructions using the LWTF-technology. Sufficient impact sound insulation and the
realization of satisfying comfort against vibrations in particular appear to be the major challenges. Using
acoustic simulation tool the research will present different design concepts and show that the evaluation
should go below 50 Hz to explain all of this and to obtain a real description of the acoustic comfort in the
proposed designs of lightweight timber frame multifamily constructions.

8. Hospital bedroom of the future: A holistic assessment framework

What will the hospital bedroom look like in the future? How can we improve the comfort of the patient and
positively influence his recovery while enhancing the efficiency of cares and facilitating the work of the
medical teams? Many technologies and applications are related to this evolution: antimicrobial coatings,
monitoring material, POC diagnostic tools Several hospitals and projects in Europe are working on these
topics and would like to find design concepts to work on one of these topics. This research will be
conducted in collaboration with the University of Lige CHU. The research has to present guidelines on the
various aspects of the bedroom design and it impact on patients in hospitals, within a holistic assessment
that links the overall impact directly to well being of patients in hospitals.