Linking Constructive and Energy Innovations for a Net Zero-Energy Building

Abstract

INTRODUCTION This article explains the design, construction and energy strategies of LINQ, a netzero energy building that was successfully entered into the Solar Decathlon Middle East 2018 held in Dubai. Students of engineering, building physics, architecture and urban planning designed, built and operated LINQ. It is mainly powered by solar energy and made of bio-materials. Some of LINQ's innovations are the ventilated façade with customizable bio-based tiles, the indirect evaporative water cooling system, and the light building integrated photovoltaic-thermal system. LINQ sent more energy to the grid than it drew throughout the competition. However, energy production could have been improved according to simulations and technical specifications. LINQ is a good example of current and future building expectations—combining multiple criteria, strategies, and solutions—to contribute to environmental, social and economic sustainability.

Characterization of Customized Encapsulant Polyvinyl Butyral Used in the Solar Industry and Its Impact on the Environment

“…Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) gives an overview of the glass transition temperatures (Tg) and melting points (Tm) for recycled polyvinyl butyral [22]. We obtained important information that helped us decide the right manufacturing process for the material.…”

Scenario-Based Comprehensive Assessment for Community Resilience Adapted to Fire Following an Earthquake, Implementing the Analytic Network Process and Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enriched Evaluation II Techniques

“…Fire following the earthquake will bring huge social and economic losses to the urban system. When a fire following the earthquake breaks out in an urban community, residents and other people in the community may suffer burns, scalds, suffocation, jump off buildings, and other hazards [13,67]. High temperature and burning cause damage to buildings, structures, and infrastructure and cause losses to residents' properties and other community assets.…”

“…To settle this issue, improving the system performance of the cities when these natural hazards occur has drawn a climbing degree of attention [8][9][10][11]. There are a lot of research scholars and participants realize that the sustainable development goals of cities should be embedded into the concept of resilience [12][13][14][15]. Hence, exploring the performance of the communities, which are the essential unit of the cities, after disasters and measuring Buildings 2021, 11, 523 2 of 24 the capability of the communities when adapting to the disasters is vitally significant and imperative [16][17][18].…”