Special Issue "Data Analysis and Modelling of Buildings, Environments, Building Materials, and Sustainability"

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Building Materials, and Repair & Renovation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2023 | Viewed by 4925

Special Issue Editors

Business Intelligence and Informatics, Dalarna University, 791 88 Falun, Sweden
Interests: data analytics; AI; conceptual models
Research Institute of Wood Industry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100714, China
Interests: hygrothermal performance; moisture content; machine learning; wood wall; bamboo building materials; cross-laminated flattened bamboo and timber; data analysis; digital manufacturing
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Longpan Road 159, Nanjing 210037, China
Interests: bamboo/wood modification; bamboo/wood structure and properties; engineered bamboo/wood composites
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Timber is a major building material that has been used in the construction of buildings for thousands of years due to its durability, sustainability, maintainability, and comfort. Indeed, timber is key for the development of cities and towns. However, wood buildings require a large amount of forest resources, which causes significant issues for the environment and for the climate. Solutions to this problem require a deep understanding of timber materials, building structures, the environment, and weather conditions. That is, we need to turn guesswork around how to maintain our buildings earlier into more precise measurement and calculation of the evolution of buildings. Thanks to great advancements in sensor technologies, information technologies, and data analysis technologies, such as machine learning, over the past few decades, an enormous number of sensors have been installed in various buildings and related constructions in cities, which enable researchers and builders to analyze and scrutinize various parts and components of buildings and develop a great collection of methods to maintain buildings. For the last decade, fast-growing research activities have taken place, applying advanced data analysis methods to the use of timber in cities.

The aim of this Special Issue is to publish the current advances in the field of monitoring, controlling, measuring, and modeling timber materials and their use in cities with modern data analysis technologies, also including building materials such as bamboos and rattans. This Special Issue provides a unique opportunity to present the latest knowledge in this field of research, development, and application.

We are pleased to invite you to present your research and development outcomes in the form of research articles or reviews in the following areas:

  1. Data models for timber constructions;
  2. Data analysis approaches to buildings in cities;
  3. Moisture transfer patterns for wood constructions;
  4. Weather impact patterns for timber buildings;
  5. Relation models of climates and constructions;
  6. Machine learning methods in timber structures in cities;
  7. Digital manufacturing of building materials of timber–bamboo.

Prof. Dr. William Wei Song
Dr. Xiaohuan Wang
Dr. Meiling Chen
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Buildings is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • timber in cities
  • moisture transfer patterns
  • data modeling for buildings
  • data analysis methods for building durability
  • climate and constructions
  • machine learning for buildings
  • timber–bamboo materials

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

Article
A Novel Approach to Discovering Hygrothermal Transfer Patterns in Wooden Building Exterior Walls
Buildings 2023, 13(9), 2151; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13092151 - 24 Aug 2023
Viewed by 226
Abstract
To maintain the life of building materials, it is critical to understand the hygrothermal transfer mechanisms (HTM) between the walls and the layers inside the walls. Due to the extreme instability of weather data, the actual data models of the HTM—the data being [...] Read more.
To maintain the life of building materials, it is critical to understand the hygrothermal transfer mechanisms (HTM) between the walls and the layers inside the walls. Due to the extreme instability of weather data, the actual data models of the HTM—the data being collected for actual buildings using modern sensor technologies—would appear to be a great difference from any theoretical models, in particular, for wood building materials. In this paper, we aim to consider a variety of data analysis tools for hygrothermal transfer features. A novel approach for peak and valley detection is proposed based on the discrete differentiation of the original data. Not to be limited to the measure of peak and valley delays for HTM, we propose a cross-correlation analysis to obtain the general delay between two daily time series, which seems to be representative of the delay in the daily time series. Furthermore, the seasonal pattern of the hygrothermal transfer combined with the correlation analysis reveals a reasonable relationship between the delays and the indoor and outdoor climates. Full article
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Article
A Study on the Aesthetic Preference of Bamboo Weaving Patterns Based on Eye Movement Experiments
Buildings 2023, 13(6), 1558; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13061558 - 19 Jun 2023
Viewed by 535
Abstract
Bamboo weaving is an intangible cultural heritage in China. Exploring people’s aesthetic preferences for bamboo weaving patterns to better serve the design of bamboo architectural decoration can help promote the upgrading of traditional crafts. This study explored the differences between genders in the [...] Read more.
Bamboo weaving is an intangible cultural heritage in China. Exploring people’s aesthetic preferences for bamboo weaving patterns to better serve the design of bamboo architectural decoration can help promote the upgrading of traditional crafts. This study explored the differences between genders in the oculomotor indicators in different bamboo weaving patterns through an eye-movement experimental study combined with a subjective questionnaire to explore whether different genders have aesthetic preferences for people’s pictures of bamboo weaving patterns. The results showed that both males and females preferred less visually striking and softer corrugated patterns, with males paying more attention to the more ‘angular’ hexagonal and triangular patterns, while females were more interested in the more regular and uniform brickwork and diagonal patterns. Full article
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Article
Hygrothermal Properties Analysis of Bamboo Building Envelope with Different Insulation Systems in Five Climate Zones
Buildings 2023, 13(5), 1214; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13051214 - 04 May 2023
Viewed by 829
Abstract
Laminated bamboo lumber (BLL) and bamboo scrimber (BS) are potential environmentally friendly building materials, considering that they are hygroscopic materials and that their hygrothermal performance is closely related to the occupants’ comfort, their building durability, and building energy consumption. This study carried out [...] Read more.
Laminated bamboo lumber (BLL) and bamboo scrimber (BS) are potential environmentally friendly building materials, considering that they are hygroscopic materials and that their hygrothermal performance is closely related to the occupants’ comfort, their building durability, and building energy consumption. This study carried out material property tests on bamboo-based materials (BLL and BS) and analyzed hygrothermal performance simulations on bamboo exterior wall constructions in five major climatic zones using WUFI. Results show that BS had a greater heat storage capacity than BLL. However, BLL showed a relatively higher moisture sorption capacity, and BLL was more easily permeated by vapor than BS. The water content (WC) of 12 walls of BLL and BS was below 20%. BLL and BS met the requirements of the envelope, and the WC of BS was lower than that of BLL. Based on the results, the walls designed in this study are suitable for the corresponding climate zones. In the cold and severe climate zones especially, the external insulation system walls performed better than the internal insulation system. The external insulation system was recommended for these two climate zones. The design and simulation results of walls made of two types of bamboo-based materials provide a scientific basis for the application of the material. Full article
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Article
Experimental Research on Motion Analysis Model and Trajectory Planning of GLT Palletizing Robot
Buildings 2023, 13(4), 966; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13040966 - 05 Apr 2023
Viewed by 743
Abstract
To improve wood structure processing efficiency, a palletizing robot suitable for loading and unloading glued laminated timber (GLT) has been developed. The robot comprises a six-axis connecting rod mechanism and a sponge sucker as a grasping actuator, which can enable the intelligent automatic [...] Read more.
To improve wood structure processing efficiency, a palletizing robot suitable for loading and unloading glued laminated timber (GLT) has been developed. The robot comprises a six-axis connecting rod mechanism and a sponge sucker as a grasping actuator, which can enable the intelligent automatic loading and unloading and palletizing operations for small-sized GLT. Matlab robotics was used to construct the kinematic model of the GLT loading and unloading robot. Based on Matlab and Monte Carlo methods, the robot workspace was simulated and analyzed to determine the scope of the robot workspace. Using the high-order quintic and sixtic polynomial curve interpolation method, the trajectory of wood structure parts in the process of loading and unloading operations was planned, respectively, under the two conditions of staying and not staying. Tests verified that the simulation results of the pose of the end-effector were consistent with the actual pose of the robot. The robot’s working range could be analyzed intuitively and effectively. The robot’s operation trajectory planning provides data support and a parameter basis for the automatic control and program design of a loading, unloading and palletizing robot. Full article
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Article
Airtightness of a Critical Joint in a Timber-Based Building Affected by the Seasonal Climate Change
Buildings 2023, 13(3), 698; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13030698 - 06 Mar 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 756
Abstract
The airtightness of buildings is an essential topic regarding energy preservation. The development of new and more sophisticated materials and technology approaches is inevitable. Uncontrolled infiltration is undesirable in buildings with lower energy demands with regulated ventilation. Envelope structure, building method, quality, and [...] Read more.
The airtightness of buildings is an essential topic regarding energy preservation. The development of new and more sophisticated materials and technology approaches is inevitable. Uncontrolled infiltration is undesirable in buildings with lower energy demands with regulated ventilation. Envelope structure, building method, quality, and others are the main factors influencing the airtightness of the building. However, the correlation between airtightness and climatic factors is less known and researched. This paper comprises measurements of a critical timber-house corner in climatic chambers. It captures the correlation between airtightness and gradual temperature and relative humidity adjustments, simulated from the exterior side. The initial timber moisture content was 12%, and during the experiment it increased with the exterior conditions to 18%. Afterward, we simulated conditions causing a humidity decrease while measuring airtightness. The drying process caused a decrement in airtightness by 18%. In addition to this experiment, this paper also analyses two methods of an airtight membrane connection—constricting or taping the contact. The discrepancy between those two methods was more than 21% in favor of tape. Full article
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Article
Analysis of Harvesting Methods of Moso Bamboo
Buildings 2023, 13(2), 365; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13020365 - 29 Jan 2023
Viewed by 1373
Abstract
Bamboo is widely used as an excellent engineering material in construction and furniture. The harvesting equipment and the bamboo application process need to be integrated better. According to the application requirements of the original bamboo structure building, the mechanism and practical experience of [...] Read more.
Bamboo is widely used as an excellent engineering material in construction and furniture. The harvesting equipment and the bamboo application process need to be integrated better. According to the application requirements of the original bamboo structure building, the mechanism and practical experience of bamboo harvesting were analyzed using field experiments in bamboo forests and the finite element method. The operation stability and the side-face planeness of the saw were the direct factors affecting bamboo cutting quality. Further, the indirect factors were the clamp saw effect on the cutting surface, the hollow structure and diaphragm of bamboo, the density and moisture, and the swarf pocket. Full article
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