Archive

[Seminar] 35th IEA Energy Storage Seminar, Task 43: Standardized Use of Building Mass as Storage for Renewables and Grid Flexibility

After three years of joint research, #Task43 is reaching its conclusion, demonstrating how thermally activated building systems (TABs) can make buildings active players in the energy transition. As Europe transitions toward 15-minute electricity markets, buildings themselves can become part of the flexibility solution. Rather than adding more batteries, we can

Just Released: Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB): Concepts, Frameworks, and Roadmap for Project Analysis and Implementation – 2nd Edition

I am very pleased to announce the publication of the second edition of my book with Elsevier (Butterworth-Heinemann, September 2025). This updated volume builds on the foundation of the first edition, taking a significant step forward in addressing the carbon challenges of today’s built environment. Over the last decade,

Seminar: PHASE CHANGE MATERIALS IN BUILDINGS: Innovative Use of PCMs in Timber Buildings

International Seminar: PHASE CHANGE MATERIALS IN BUILDINGS - Innovative Use of PCMs in Timber Buildings 🗓️ Wednesday, 3 September 2025 🕘 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM 📍 Hall S.39, Building B37 – Institute of Mathematics, Sart Tilman, Liège (in person only) 🌿 Explore how Phase Change Materials (PCMs) are transforming energy efficiency in

BPSA-NVL Lunchwebinar | Gebouwen en hun uitstoot: hoe simulatie en levenscyclusanalyse samenkomen

🔔 IBPSA-NVL Lunchwebinar | Gebouwen en hun uitstoot: hoe simulatie en levenscyclusanalyse samenkomen 🗓️ Woensdag 3 september 2025 🕧 12:30 – 13:30 (CEST) 🌐 Online via Microsoft Teams 💬 Taal: Nederlands & Engels (afhankelijk van de spreker) 📁 ➤ Voeg toe aan je agenda (.ics-bestand): 📌 Bestandsnaam: NVL Gebouwen en hun uitstoot 📥 Download .ics-bestand: https://lnkd.in/ezJQ47_

Academic Shame: Belgian Universities Collaborate with Israeli Institutions Despite Complicity in Oppression

While scholars like Maya Wind expose how Israeli universities are deeply embedded in the machinery of occupation, torture, and apartheid, some Belgian institutions continue to look the other way. 🔻 In 2025, KU Leuven has once again entered into collaboration with Israeli institutions through the EU Horizon Europe program — despite mounting

ULiège Takes a Historic Stand: Suspending Ties with Israeli Institutions

The University of Liège (ULiège), led by Rectrice Anne-Sophie Nyssen, the Rectoral team, and the members of the University Commission for Guidance and Vigilance on Risky International Relations (CGVRI), has made a historic and courageous decision to suspend institutional collaborations with Israeli universities and companies complicit in the ongoing war

Wonderful 2025... and the epic liberation of Jerusalem and the rise of a new Just Civilization

Best wishes for a wonderful Holiday Season and a Happy New Year from the Sustainable Building Design Lab Team. I would like to thank you on behalf of myself and the entire SBD Lab team for being with us. This year, we hosted researchers from Algeria, Belgium, Burkina Faso, Chile,

Viva Palestine on its road to liberation: Exist, Resist and Return!

Today is October 7th, 2024 — marking one year of ongoing genocide in Gaza. Glory to resistance and the martyrs of the resistance. Long live the Palestinian intifada that changed our lives and will change the whole world for the better. Palestinians, you are 🚩facing a coalition of 40 countries, led

[Keynote] Pathways and Solutions towards Net-Zero Whole-Life Carbon Buildings by 2050

Join the 6th International ASHRAE Conference on Efficient Building Design (3 and 4 October 2024) at the American University in Beirut, Lebanon. The Sixth International Conference on Efficient Building Design, organized by ASHRAE, the ASHRAE Lebanese Chapter, the Munib and Angela Masri Institute of Energy and Natural Resources and the

Webinar 2 on Building’s Life Carbon Emissions Modeling

Join us on Wednesday 29 May for the second webinar on Building’s Life Carbon Emissions Modeling. Click here to register. As part of the DYNAMIC RENOWAVE Project activities and inline with the new EU Energy for Building Performance Directive, we are investigating modeling approaches for life cycle carbon emissions

Two Webinars: Building’s Life Carbon Emissions Modeling

Join us on Wednesday 24 April and 29 May 2024 for the webinars on Building’s Life Carbon Emissions Modeling. Click here to register: https://lnkd.in/eR2-6MBz As part of the RENOWAVE Project activities and inline with the new EU Energy for Building Performance Directive, we are investigating modeling

Best wishes for a wonderful Holidays Season and a Happy 2024

Best wishes for a wonderful Holiday Season and a Happy New Year from the SBD Lab Team. I would like to thank you on behalf of myself and the entire SBD Lab team for being with us. This year, we hosted researchers from Belgium, Chile, France, India, Iraq, Iran, Italy,

[Participation Call] Launching a database for construction details disassembly evaluation

📋You have relevant building construction details that are designed for disassembly ❓ We invite you to contribute by filling in the questionnaire-based database: https://lnkd.in/e7HcEzhdWe, Enola Giannasi, Muheeb Al-Obaidy and Shady Attia, invite you to contribute to our new database for building connections and disassembly evaluation. The ultimate objective

[Video] Data Availability Statement

This is the last video in our playlist on 🔓 Open Science in 2023. The future of science requires open access for all. The major environmental, economic, and social challenges the 🗺️ world is facing require to make science accessible and reproducible. Publicly funded scientific data must be made available to the

[IEA Annex 89] Meeting 01: Ways to Implement Net-zero Whole Life Carbon Buildings

The first meeting of IEA Annex 89 occurred on October 19-20, 2023 - Department of the Built Environment at AAU, Copenhagen, Denmark. The project is focusing on the pathways and actions needed by various stakeholders and decision-makers to implement whole lifecycle-based net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from buildings in policy

[New Article] Thermal resilience in a renovated dwelling during intense heat waves

During the last two years, our research team has been performing intensive field observations in the streets of Brussels during summers. The result of our observations is alarming. By 2030, the effect of bioclimatic design strategies during heat waves on improving thermal comfort will diminish completely in Brussels. Thermal mass,

[Video] Harvard Dataverse Repository

Dataverse is an open-source 📂 application to publish, share, reference, extract and analyze 📊 research data. It facilitates making data available and allows you to replicate others' work. 🎓Researchers, data authors, publishers, data distributors, and affiliated institutions receive appropriate credit. The Harvard Dataverse Network is open to all scientific data from

[PhD Defense] Dr. Muriel Diaz, Methodology for the evaluation of Indoor Environmental Quality in school classrooms

Congrats to Dr. MURIEL DIAZ for an excellent dissertation. The Ph.D. was defended on Friday, 17th of November 2023, at 13:00 in B28 Auditorium R07 at Liège University, Belgium. Dr. Diaz demonstrated significant skill in using statistical analysis and regression techniques to develop a multicriteria evaluation index for

[Sneak Preview] New Playlist on Observational Research in 2024

Starting in 2024, a new playlist of Observation Research Methods (Correlational) will be released bi-monthly, covering the topics of statistics, surveys and monitoring-based research. After releasing the two playlists on 🟧 Qualitative Research Methods and 🟥 Experimental Research Methods, it is time to continue with 🟦 Observational Research. Last year, and under the

[China 02] Visit to Southwest Jiaotong University

My second visit to ⛩️China occurred in October 2023, hosted by Southwest Jiaotong in Chengdu 🐼. The visit is part of our collaboration project on 🌡️ phase-change materials and the creation of the🧫 experimental setting. Two weeks full of meetings, workshops, 🕖 lectures and quality exchange resulted in initiating two new projects that

[New Article] Thermal performance of a dynamic insulation-PCM system in multilayer hollow walls

In China 🇨🇳, most buildings are not insulated, and it seems they won't be insulated soon. 🉐 China does not 👮impose an environmental taxation system on⛽ fossil fuels, and as a consequence, architects and building engineers mainly focus on the energy efficiency of HVAC systems and not the envelope in

[IEA Task 43] 2nd Meeting: Standardized use of building mass as storage for renewables and grid flexibility

🤝 Hosted by Aalborg University, the international #Task43 community met for the second time to discuss all things #thermalactivatedbuildingmass on the 2nd and 3rd of October 2023. Besides interesting presentations from industry and academia, the work towards the respective Subtask goals was advanced further to fuel our goal of widespread integration

[Video] Novelty in Research

Novelty in research refers to introducing a new idea 🎯or a unique perspective that adds to the existing knowledge in a particular field of study. It involves bringing something fresh and new 🚀 to the scientific landscape that has not been done before or exploring an existing topic in a new

[Examiner KULeuevn] Ayu Miyamoto on Parametric Modelling for Architectural Early Design Stages

Congratulations, Ayu Miyamoto, for passing your viva exam. On 10/10/2023 at 14h, I attended online the public defense 🎓 of Ayu Miyamoto as an Examiner at the Design and Engineering of Construction and Architecture, KULeuven, Belgium. Her dissertation's title is: « Sustainability of Residential Buildings: Parametric Modelling and

[Featured in Press] ‘I Don’t Want to Go Home.’ Europe’s Housing Is Not Heat-Ready

Olivia Rudgard (BLOOMBERG/ NEWSROOM:) 🎙 Our article has been featured in the Bloomberg News! We feel both humbled and elated to see the impact of our research. Our commitment to the 🌍🔜🌡️🥵 climate change agenda and our efforts in promoting and producing knowledge on 🚨overheating risks on 🌍 all scales of the 🌇 built

[New Paper] A review of BIPV-induced temperature effects on urban heat islands

Urban Heat Islands 🚨 (UHI) occur in and around cities, leading to🔆 warmer temperatures than in surrounding rural areas. The UHI effect increases energy demand, air pollution levels, and heat-related illness and mortality. Solar energy is one of the most widely adopted renewable energy generation technologies in the built environment. 🔆 Solar

[Examiner TU-Dublin] Hani Alkhathib on Adaptive Building Facades Control

Congratulations, Hani Alkhatib, for passing your viva exam. On 09/10/2023 at 10h, I attended the viva exam 🎓 of Hani Alkhatib as an Examiner at the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Technological University Dublin, Ireland. His dissertation's tentative title is: « Adaptive Building Fabric as a Cyber-physical

[Design Studio] Circularity in the Built Environment - University of Liège

Seeing is believing! This is the 9th version of our architectural design studio at Liege University on 'Regenerative Architecture and Circular Building Design.' The studio's goals and objectives align with the latest circularity principles and allow us to bring better tools and building references of sustainable

[Standard Development] CEN/TC 350/SC1: Framework, principles and definitions for Circular economy in the construction sector

The European Green Deal is a roadmap and a series of policy measures to ensure that the EU’s economy is sustainable and meets climate and environmental challenges whilst enabling economic growth. A key focus of the Green Deal is moving towards a circular economy that decouples economic activity from

[Participation Call] Survey: Lifespan of high-rise timber building elements

📋 By clicking the following link, you can share your valuable insights: https://lnkd.in/dUArxf54 The global construction sector🏗 is accountable for one-third of carbon dioxide emissions 🌫, as well as forty percent of the world’s energy use 💡 and waste production 🗑. Given these environmental challenges, transitioning to sustainable and renewable

[Video] Zenodo Datasets Repository

Zenodo is a general-purpose 🗄️repository developed under the European OpenAIRE program. Zenodo is an online open-access repository that facilitates making 📢 data available. It allows researchers to deposit research papers, data sets, research software, reports, and other digital artifacts. It allows you to replicate others’ work. Zenodo helps researchers receive credit

[PhD Defense] Dr. Ramin Rahif, Impact of Climate Change on High-Performance Belgian Houses

Congrats to Dr. Ramin Rahif for an excellent dissertation. The Ph.D. was defended on Friday, 15th of September 2023, at 10:00 in B37 Auditorium 02 at Liège University, Belgium. Dr. Rahif demonstrated significant skill in using building performance simulation techniques to estimate the impact of climate change on

[New Standard] CEN ISO 52016-3 Adaptive Building Envelope Elements Energy Performance Calculation is Published

The only way to introduce long-lasting changes is by reacting to shocks or complying with standards. In this new standard, we produced trusted knowledge on how to design and operate adaptive facade elements. We aim to use this standard to operate adaptive envelopes and better calculate their impact and smartness

[Special Issue] Enhancing Thermal Comfort & Climate Resilience of Buildings During Heat Waves

I am running a Special Issue called "Enhancing Thermal Comfort and Climate Resilience of Buildings during Extreme Events" https://lnkd.in/eh3EWCdv for the SCIE-indexed open-access journal Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050; IF: 3.889). The special issue is evaluating buildings' resilience against short, and long-term climate change-related disruptions.

[New Paper] Sensitivity analysis and weather condition effects on hygrothermal performance of green roof models

The root purpose of green roof technology invention is to delay the rainwater/runoff to prevent the overflow of the sewage system. The purpose of green roofs is to reduce cooling or improve thermal comfort. Therefore, this study conducted a sensitivity analysis and assessed the effects of long-term weather conditions

[Expert Day] Gebouw geïntegreerde faseovergangsmaterialen

Op 12 oktober 2023 spreek ik op de Kazamatten in Gent, samen met een groep experts over thermische opslag in gebouwen. Over grootschalig warmtedelen is er al veel expertise opgedaan, maar hoe maken we warmtedelen tussen aanpalende en nabijgelegen gebouwen mogelijk? In Pixxi Expert Day zoomen we in op het

[New Project] Kickoff Meeting: Dynamic Renowave

This new project aims to develop a dynamic life cycle energy and greenhouse-gas-emissions analysis model for retrofitting residential buildings. The model will be developed based on a data-driven parameterization and simulation of renovation solutions across the dimensions of geometry, climate, materials, building systems, and energy mixes. The project name is

[President] Doctoral College of Architecture and Urban Planning at Liège University

I have been nominated as a president (2023-2025) of the Doctoral College in Architecture and Urban Planning at Liege University, serving two faculties (schools). The Doctoral College in Architecture and Urban Planning has two sections: a section serving the students of the Faculty of Architecture and a section serving the

[Dataset] Field measurements of a nearly zero-energy office building performance in temperate oceanic climate

Field measurement data is significant in calibrating buildings regarding essential parameters, such as air temperature, energy use, and GHG emissions, among others. In addition, this dataset can be used to identify problems in building operations and to develop alternative means for improving building efficiency. Field measurement data is usually the

[Event] PhD Defense of Mr. Ramin Rahif 15.09.2023 in Liege

We are pleased to invite you to the thesis defense of Mr. Ramin Rahif in face-to-face format ONLY. The defense will occur on Friday, September 15, 2023, at 10 a.m., in Amphitheater 01 of the Institute of Mathematics (Building B37). Campus du Sart Tilman - Quartier POLYTECH 1 Allée

[Video] Data Management Plan

A Data Management Plan specifies how research data will be handled during and after a research project. It identifies key actions and strategies to ensure that research data are high-quality, secure, sustainable, and – to the extent possible – accessible and reusable. More and more research funders require a short data management

[Conference] Building Simulation 2023 in Shanghai, China

We are currently attending the Building Simulation 2023 Conference in Shanghai with some of the Sustainable Building Design Lab Members Alireza Norouziasas, Ramin Rahif, and Farimah Piraei . With the theme 'Simulation for the low-carbon design/operation/city' the conference provides a platform for participants to share their latest

[New Paper] Overheating calculation methods, criteria, and indicators in European regulation for residential buildings

With the ongoing significance of overheating calculations in the residential building sector, building codes such as the European Energy Performance of Building Directive (EPBD) are essential for harmonizing the indicators and performance thresholds. This paper investigates Europe's overheating calculation methods, indicators, and thresholds and evaluates their ability to

[Section Editor] Data in Brief Journal

I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as Section Editor in Civil Engineering for the Data in Brief journal at Elsevier! Data in Brief is a multidisciplinary, open-access, peer-reviewed journal that mainly publishes short, digestible data articles that describe and provide access to research data.

[New Paper] The Influence of Passenger Car Banning Policies on Modal Shifts: Rotterdam’s Case Study

The influence of the Low Emission Zones and its traditional accompanying measures (i.e., park-and-ride, incentive schemes, and electric vehicles’ infrastructure) on the usage of other modes of transport has not been sufficiently researched in the academic literature. This creates a gap that leads to difficulty in defining the policy

[Video] Personal Data Protection & GDPR

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is an example of the 'Brussels Effect' on the whole world. The impact of GDPR on research and artificial intelligence is remarkable. Therefore, the goal of this module is: To 1) learn about personal data and how to handle it, 2) learn

[Book Chapter] Adapting the Built Environment for Climate Change: Design Principles for Climate Emergencies

The purpose of this book is to structure and summarize the latest knowledge on the field of adapting the built environment for climate change 🌦️. The resilient definition, according to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction ⛑️, encompasses the ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to

[Student Award] Ramona Sadek on Heat Island Effect Simulation Tools

Congratulations to Ramona SADEK, one of my master's students in architectural engineering, School of Engineering at Liege University who was designated by the jury of the Nova Tectum Prize 2021-2022 as a winner of the competition. The thesis was supervised by Prof. Aurélie de Boissieu and Shady Attia.

[Video] Creative Commons

Creative Commons (CC) licenses are public licenses. You can use them to indicate what others can do with your work. Each work is automatically protected by copyright, meaning others will need to ask your permission as the copyright owner. CC licenses let you easily change your copyright terms from the

[Special Issue DIB] Data acquisition and monitoring of urban infrastructures

📢 Call for Papers: Data acquisition and monitoring of urban infrastructures, Data in Brief Journal Data acquisition for urban infrastructure includes creating high-resolution data to create 3D models, GIS maps, remote sensing maps, active monitoring of energy systems, and investing in modal transport data. Optimizing the performance of urban infrastructures by

[Video] Open Access & Author Rights

To be able to disseminate knowledge in open access format you will need to learn about your rights as an author and your data ownership status. When we publish an article we sign an agreement with the publisher to copyright the form of the final manuscript. When you publish an

[New Paper] Performance Evaluation of a nZEB in Temperate Climate Based on Field Measurements

Without continuous monitoring and multicriteria certification will never be able to close the energy performance gap and avoid discomfort. In this case study, we aimed to assess the performance of a new nearly Zero Energy Clinic with Office Spaces recently built in Ottignies, Belgium. Field evaluation of building performance parameters

[Guest Visit] Reza Roshan at ULiège

Finally, after more than 10 years of collaboration, I met my supportive co-author Gholamreza Roshan. Reza is an outstanding climatologist and associate professor at Golestan University in Gorgan, Iran. Our first exchange was in 2013 via email, where we decided to collaborate on common topics related to bioclimatic architecture and

[Advisory Board] ENvelope meSh aNd digitAl framework for building REnovation, ENSNARE

On the 31st of May, the 5th Assembly of the ENSNARE European Project was held in Burgos. During these days, the project consortium had the opportunity to review all the underway tasks and, especially for us, the tasks related to the proposed façade solution. All the members of the Project,

[New Paper] Overheating analysis of optimized nearly Zero-Energy dwelling during heatwaves coincided with a cooling system outage

How to optimize the building for final HVAC energy use and thermal comfort using passive design strategies during heat waves and under-cooling power outages? Overheating or accumulating heat in buildings forfeits occupants’ productivity, comfort, and health, which in severe cases, can lead to heat exhaustion, dehydration, and heat stroke. According

[Tip] Building Energy Modeling Skills

Mastering building/urban 🏬 energy modeling skills is extremely important. Design teams and modelers rarely discuss building energy modelers' levels of expertise👨 💻 and competencies 👩 🔧when performing simulations for buildings and cities. There is a need to set forth expectations, training materials, and professional development paths for learning this specialized skill.

[3rd Meeting] CA20139 HELEN - Holistic design of taller timber buildings

Our 3rd Meeting of the COST Action CA20139 — “Holistic design of taller timber buildings” (HELEN) took place on May 15-16, 2023, in Lisbon, Portugal. COST Actions are intergovernmental programs that promote cooperation between research organizations from different European countries in science and technology. For further information, please check the Action

[Video] Open Source Coding

Open 📖, reproducible research includes sharing the raw data, codes, and 🧾 programming scripts in open source. If you use 🐍 Python, Java or Matlab to any other 🧾 programming language, you can share it so that others can use it and cite or even continue its development and build on it. Open Code

[Committee Member] CEN/TC 350/SC 1 - Circular Economy in the Construction Sector

Another successful meeting in Coimbra on the 12th of June 2023 as part of the CEN/TC 350/SC 1 - Circular Economy in the Construction Sector. Under the leadership of Danemark, particularly WG1, Prof. Lisbeth M. Ottosen Ottesen, our lab is participating in this new CEN committee on circular

[1st Meeting] Implementation of Circular Economy in the Built Environment (CircularB) Shady Attia Shady Attia

The first meeting occurred on the 26th to 28th of April, 2023, in Skopje, Macedonia. Two intensive presentation days place as part of the CIRCULAR_B European Project workshop on Circularity in the Building Industry - the latest innovation and strategic action for a Circular Economy in Europe and beyond.

[New Paper] Climate change-sensitive sizing and design for nearly zero-energy office building systems in Brussels

As climate change continues, the risk of 🌡️overheating is expected to rise in both new and existing 🏢 buildings in 🌍 Europe. To address this challenge, our new #EnergyandBuilding paper "Climate change sensitive sizing and design for nearly zero-energy office building systems in Brussels" introduced a novel climate change-sensitive 🤌 sizing

[Special Issue] Enhancing Thermal Comfort & Climate Resilience of Buildings During Heat Waves

I am running a Special Issue called "Enhancing Thermal Comfort and Climate Resilience of Buildings during Extreme Events" https://lnkd.in/eh3EWCdv for the SCIE-indexed open-access journal Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050; IF: 3.889). The special issue is evaluating buildings' resilience against short, and long-term climate change-related disruptions.

[Project Closure] IEA Annex 80 on Resilient Cooling of Buildings

Our 8th Expert Meeting of the International Energy Agency Annex 80 - Resilient Cooling of Buildings occurred on April 20-21, 2023, in Vienna, Austria. Since our last expert meeting, we have finalized the simulation guideline, regulations review, case study reports, REHVA guideline, weather files data set and the technology fact

[Editorial Board] Member for Energy and Buildings Journal

I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as Early Career Editorial Board Member for Energy and Buildings journal at Elsevier! Energy and Buildings is an international journal publishing articles explicitly linking energy use in buildings. The aim is to present new research results and new

[Video] Open Peer Review

I have been experiencing systematic biases among referees since I started my career publishing in scientific journals. I understand that any evaluation is subjective, but with the growth of the publishing market, there is more and more evidence of bias against Asians, specifically Chinese researchers, female applicants, and African and

[Deux offres de doctorat] Utilisation de bloc de terre comprimee pour un habitat durable à Ouagadougou

Dans le cadre du projet HABIMO –«  VERS UN HABITAT BIO-CLIMATIQUE ET MODULABLE EN TERRE CRUE AMÉLIORÉE À OUAGADOUGOU », financé par l’ARES-PRD (Belgique), l’Institut 2iE recrute deux (02) doctorants. Ce programme de bourses débutera en septembre 2023, et s’adresse aux candidats titulaires d’un Master. Les candidatures se

[Fieldwork] Installation of Weather Stations in Brussels for ILOTS Project

The team of SBD Lab installed a series of weather stations in Brussels 🇧🇪 and is working on producing an 🌦️ urban climate map of the capital with the purpose of deriving evidence-based recommendations for a more sustainable urban development pathway. To collect weather data, researchers from Liege University installed several weather

[Examiner] Dr. Abdulrahim Ali - Systematic Assessment of Machine Learning for building performance analysis

Congratulations, Dr. Abdulrahim Haroun Ali. On 04/04/2023 at 10h, I attended the Ph.D. defense of ABDULRAHIM ALI as an Examiner at the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, College of Engineering of Khalifa University. His dissertation title is: « Systematic Assessment of Machine Learning for building performance analysis:

[New Paper] Implementation of ISO/DIS 52016-3 for adaptive façades in an office building

This project results from the collaboration between universities, architectural design firms, standardization authorities, and facade industry representatives. We are talking about a 3-year non-funded project that has had a long-lasting impact under the leadership of young and outstanding researcher Alireza Norouziasas and the SBD Lab team at Liege University in

[New Project]: IEA Task 43: Standardized use of building mass as storage for renewables and grid flexibility

Buildings in Western Europe are switching from heating dominated to mixed (heating and cooling) dominated regimes. 🏢 Buildings are important pillars for the future energy system. 🌍 Therefore, I attended the kick-off meeting of the recently started International Energy Agency (IEA) IEA Energy Storage TCP Task 43 on thermal-activated building mass storage

[Video] Publishing A Data Article in Data in Brief

👀 Do you 👨 💻 have a dataset 🗃️ that you wish to publish 🌱 as a 🗂️ Data Article 🤔? 👀 Do you know the difference between a dataset repository 🗃️, a data article 🗂️, and a classical journal article 🤔? This presentation aims to understand the meaning and value of publishing 🌱 a dataset article and encourage 🦅 researchers to publish

[Workshop] Action for Cool Cities in North Africa, the Middle East, and Sub-Saharan Africa

Cities 🌍 are already on the front line of climate change 🌩️. At least 70% of them are currently dealing with sudden-onset disasters and long-term environmental stress. Mid-size and small cities 🏗️ are under enormous pressure ⏳ of endless urban sprawl driven by capitalistic 💱real estate 🏙️. As part of the Connective Cities project, we

[New Paper] A systematic review on the role of humidity as an indoor thermal comfort parameter in humid climates

The accepted humidity limits indoors remain to be topical and widely discussed. There is a scarcity of scientific literature explaining the role of humidity as a thermal comfort parameter for spatial assessment. These studies focus on operative temperature as a primary parameter that influences thermal comfort, which also considers relative

[Expertise] How to accelerate the financing of energy-efficient buildings in Egypt? BUILD_ME III

I have been invited as an external expert for the national kick-off workshop 🗒️executed on the 📅 15. March 2023 at the Intercontinental City Stars Hotel, Cairo, Egypt 🇪🇬. The Integrated Development Group, in partnership with Egyptian Housing and Building Research Center and Guidehouse Germany, kicked off the third phase in Egypt

[New Project] HABIMO: Towards bioclimatic and modular housing of compressed earth blocks in Burkina

HABIMO project aims to improve the overall housing construction quality in Burkina Faso (from the brick to the entire building). The project objectives include working on the missing links and reinforcing the socio-economic ecosystem necessary to launch the earth construction sector. Indeed, the socio-anthropological analysis has shown that the resistance

[Video] Open Data & Data Sharing Platforms

Ensuring proper dissemination of your research data is a great responsibility of any scientist. It is becoming more and more difficult to publish a scientific article without providing a data availability statement. Sharing of datasets, metadata, models, software, and other sources – promises to speed up discoveries, improve reproducibility and expand

[Workshop] Action for Cool Cities in MENA and Sub-Saharan Africa

Back in Amman after COVID-19 with the support of GIZ Bonn and GIZ Amman and the German BMZ (Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung). Cities are already on the front line of climate change. At least 70% of them are currently dealing with sudden-onset disasters and long-term environmental stress. As

[New Paper] A qualitative assessment of integrated active cooling systems: A review with a focus on system flexibility and climate resilience

I assume that less than 5% of existing buildings worldwide are designed by architects and do not involve any notion of passive, bioclimatic, and or climate-responsive architectural design. We are surrounded everywhere by ugly blocks of buildings implemented by contractors and only designed for functionality and structural safety. Even safety

[Tip] Peak Cooling Degree Days Indicator

The peak Cooling Degree Days CDD indicator is the most effective way to quantify the impact of 🌍 climate change concerning 🥵 heatwaves 🌊, urban heat island effects, and heat stress on 🏬 buildings. The indicator is helpful to estimate the cooling load occurring due to the increase in outdoor temperatures. According to ASHRAE

[Special Issue] Enhancing Thermal Comfort & Climate Resilience of Buildings during Cold Waves

Cold spells and cold waves, sometimes known as a cold snap or deep freeze, are extreme events that could become more common as climate change accelerates. The force behind this deep freeze is cold conveyed from the Arctic by the jet stream, a ribbon of high winds that girdle the

[Video] Open Access Publishing

The benefits of publishing your publication in an open-access format are massive. It increases the articles' readership, promotes scientific rigor, and increases researchers' visibility. On one hand, some might criticize the Article Processing Charges of open-access journals. On the other hand, I believe open access is the only

[2 PhD positions] Dynamic Life Cycle Assessment and Energy Simulation of Building Renovation Strategies

We are looking for two highly 📚 motivated doctoral👨‍🔬 candidates👩‍🔬 to join our groups and contribute to the ongoing scientific research project dealing with🧱 Life Cycle Assessment and 🛢️ Energy Simulation of 🏡 Building Renovation Strategies. We invite candidates for two Ph.D. positions within the Dynamic Renowave project starting summer of 2023.

[New Paper] Thermal performance analysis of an existing building heating based on a novel active phase change heater

Latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) can store energy in a narrow temperature range. Usually solid–liquid phase change is used, by melting and solidification of a material. Upon melting heat is transferred to the material, storing large amounts of heat at constant temperature; the heat is released when the

[Teaching] Building Services Course: Site Visit

Teaching 👍 gives me energy ⚡! As part of our Building Envelope and Building Services courses, our bachelor students visited a newly constructed office building. In November 2022, we visited a case study for a newly constructed, nearly zero-energy office building in Liège, Belgium. The office building 🏢 is designed by helium3 based

[Publications] Impacts of climate change on the indoor environment of buildings in Belgium

On the 15th of November 2022, the OCCuPANt project consortium met in Arlon. The project investigates the influence of climate change on the thermal comfort, air quality, and energy performance of the Belgian residential building stock. The project attendees and members are Anne-Claude Romain, Mohsen Pourkiaei, Essam Elnagar, Vincent Lemort,

[Playlist] Open Science

Open Science is a disruptive phenomenon that is emerging around the world and especially in Europe. Open Science brings about sociocultural and technological change, based on openness and connectivity, in how research is designed, performed, assessed, and disseminated. Open Science concerns (a) scientific publications (open access publication platforms), (b) research

[Ph.D. Defense] Dr. Marie Reine NISHIMWE - Multi-scale and dynamic energy mapping for strategic decision-making in Wallonia

Congratulations, Dr. Marie Reine Nishimwe, PhD. On 05/12/2022 at 15h, I attended the Ph.D. defense of Marie Reine NISHIMWE as a jury member at the Urban and Environmental Engineering Department, School of Engineering at Liege University. Her dissertation title is: « Multi-scale and dynamic energy mapping for strategic

[Data Article] Data on residential nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB) design in Eastern Europe

This is the first data article published by our lab (the Sustainable Building Design Lab). Data articles are short, digestible descriptions of research data made publicly available, either through a repository or directly within the data article, making it easier to comprehend and reuse. This is our first manifesto to

2023: The year of Open Science at SBD Lab

Being competitive does not mean hiding behind 🔏 confidentiality claims in the domain of research. Many researchers conducting research hide behind 🔏 confidentiality claims, which does not allow others to reproduce their research. I name this the 'Confidentiality syndrome,'  which is a condition where a researcher pretends to work all

2023 Cairo Workshops in February: Environmental Design

Urban Heat Island Mitigation Strategies                                                           Date: February 04, 2023, from 09:00 to 16:00 - Venue: MQR, 2CCV+PQ New Cairo - Early Bird Registration 14 Jan. 2023. Training Description: https://t.ly/AULO6 LEED Green Associate                                                                                         Date: February 05, 06, 07 February 2023, from 17:00 to 21:

Best wishes for a wonderful Holidays Season and a Happy 2023

Best wishes ❣️ for a wonderful Holiday Season 🎄 and a Happy New 🧨 Year from the Sustainable Building Design Lab Team. I would like to thank you on behalf of myself and the entire SBD Lab team for being with us. This year we hosted researchers from Belgium, Chile, France, India, Iraq,

[Video] Confidence Interval

This is the last video in the playlist of experimental research methods. Conducting experimental research without statistical analysis and without calculating the confidence interval is a fatal mistake. Confidence intervals communicate how accurate an estimate of a population parameter is likely to be. A confidence interval is the mean of

[Teaching] Building Construction Technology

This year, at Liege University, we started the Fall semester (14 September 2022) with 33 students from Belgium, Spain, France, and Luxemburg. A diverse cohort of students joins the Building Construction Technology Course representing Erasmus students and Bachelor students from the architectural engineering and construction engineering programs (2021-2022 / ARCH3275-1). The

[Keynote] Strategies for mitigating heat islands effects in cities (13.12.2022)

Join me during the coming webinar to learn about the state-of-the-art methodologies, adaptation, and mitigation of urban heat island effects in Cities. Examples from Kisumu, Kenya, Brussels, Belgium, Sydney, Australia, and Dortmund, Germany, will be represented. Also, there will be an opportunity to discuss with municipal actors from academia and

[New Paper] Water permeability, water retention capacity, and thermal resistance of green roof layers made with recycled and artificial aggregates

Water permeability and water retention capacity are other critical indicators for green roofs. The shape and type of materials used in green roof drainage and substrate layers significantly impact energy efficiency and rooftop water evacuation. The German FLL guidelines [1] are internationally recognized and widely used to measure the water

[Kickoff] Cost Action 21103 - Implementation of Circular Economy in the Built Environment (CircularB)

The 🥅 net is Closing in on ⭕ circularity greenwashing propaganda! Several breakthroughs took place this year regarding the evaluation and quantification of the circularity of buildings. The #SustainableBuildingDesignLab is at 💚 heart of those changes through their members Muheeb Al-Obaidy and Shady Attia. ISO/TC 323 Circular economy committee started to develop

[Conférence] Stratégies d’adaptation aux risques liés au changement climatique et à l’effet de chaleur urbain

J'interviens 👨 🏫 ce jeudi 24 novembre dans les bâtiments du service RISE - anciennement appelé Interface ULiège (Espace Eurêka, 4 avenue Pré Aily à 4031 Angleur) de 12H à 14H sur la problématique d'îlots de chaleur ♨️ dans les 🌆 villes face au 🌡️ changement climatique. Les villes d'

[Video] Round Robin Test

The 📍 round-robin test is an 🧪 experimental methodology to determine the reproducibility of a “process” where🥼 tests are performed independently multiple times. The results are analyzed 📈 statistically to assess their variability. The 📍 round-robin test is where several laboratories test identical samples of several test subjects to determine the precision of each

[New Standard] CEN ISO 52016-3 Adaptive Building Elements)

Another milestone was achieved with the development of the CEN 🧧 ISO 52016-3 Calculation procedures regarding 🏢 Adaptive Building Elements. The votings in 🌍 ISO and CEN on the prEN / DIS 52016-3 were positive. Most 😐 comments have, in the meantime, been dealt with, both in the form of “secretary observations” (responses to the

[Annex 80] 7th Expert Meeting: IEA EBC Annex 80 - Resilient Cooling of Buildings

We had our 7th Expert Meeting of the International Energy Agency Annex 80 - Resilient Cooling of Buildings took place on October 20-21, 2022, in Florianópolis, Brazil. Check the Annex website: https://lnkd.in/d-g9ra3g 📣 Read and share the 📄 post: https://lnkd.in/edncD6jQ Finally, we would like to thank