This paper aims at discussing the historical setting and role of the Javanese Mosques under the Sultanates. The discussion will focus on where the mosques were built and what was the main purpose of mosques constructed under each Javanese Sultanate until the end of nineteenth century. Under Sultanates, many mosques were believed to be founded by wali (saint), sultan, sultan′s family, or kyai (Islamic/religious teacher) ordered by the sultan. Referring to this kind of mosque, 71 surveyed mosques will be analyzed by historical setting and roles of the mosque, because there are some varieties in each sultanate. Based on this analysis, this paper argues that there are four types of mosques: Agung (Grand) Mosque, Langgar Kraton (Palace) Mosque, Community Mosque, and Isolated Mosque. It also argues that the historical setting of mosque always has a close relationship with its roles in each sultanate.

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This study aims at analyzing the evolution and spatial characteristics of specific walls that dinstinguish Mies van der Rohe′s buildings, by introducing the concept of ″the wall as objet″ for an analysis tool. The wall as objet signifies that the wall has characteristics as a visual and plastic object. In Mies′s works, the wall as objet evolved gradually throughout his architectural career. In its early stage, the wall as objet becomes a visual object, while it functions as an independent element in self-complete form. However, it gradually changes to become a component of the whole rather than a self-complete element. As for its physical properties, while the earlier wall keeps its identity through materiality of the wall itself, characteristics of the objet as a pure image gradually increase, and eventually exclude materiality. This evolution process of dematerialization of the wall as objet is also accompanied by the gradual changes in its spatial characteristics which as a continuous and empty background.

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Malay woodcarvers in Peninsular Malaysia and Southern Thailand observed three determining factors in selecting timber species for their carvings. The factors are availability of timber, physical characteristics and durability, and craftsmen′s spiritual beliefs toward the timber species. Most carved building components are made from heavy hardwood species such as cengal and merbau because of their strength and durability and availability of sawn timber in large volumes. Motifs of flora, calligraphy, geometry, fauna and cosmic features are depicted on to the components as well as to crafts such as weapons, utensils, tools and furniture. However timber species with fine grains and lustrous surfaces and believed to possess strong spirit such as kemuning and kenaung are carved into hilts of weapons. These criteria address the intrinsic knowledge of the woodcarvers upon the beauty and meaning of tropical timbers and hence in the identity of the carving.

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This paper first discusses the fundamental notion of shape morphing and morphing techniques. Then it sets out to introduce early applications of the notion in architecture. Antoni Gaudi′s Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Spain and Le Corbusier′s Firminy Chapel in France are examined with regard to shape morphing. The examination seeks to cast new light on the significance of the two designs whose morphing method has become the legacy of an innovative characteristic of considerable contemporary architecture.

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This paper discusses stone relief images of four gods preserved as a Grade 1 National Monument at Lung Shan Temple, Lu Kang, Taiwan R.O.C.. The weathering of these four stone relief′s is severe due to loss of mineral compositions, formation of a weathered shell and stripped scales. When observed with a polarizing microscope, the thin weathered shell section was found to exhibit fiord shaped voids; When observed with a stereo microscope, the weathered shell was found to exhibit salt crystals on the weathered shell and void surfaces. SEM microscopy presented continuous mineral particle stripping. XRD examination showed that the gypsum exhibited salt crystals in the weathered shell. The results from this study will serve as a reference for subsequent preservation and conservation of stone cultural artifacts.

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This paper aims to clarify the relationship between the global idea on the environment (″Sun, Space, Green″) by Le Corbusier and its realization at the local site, analyzing the change process of architectural form of Villa Shodhan (1951-1956) at Ahmedabad in India. According to the analysis of Le Corbusier Archives and Carnets (Sketchbooks), Le Corbusier studies the problem of the weather condition, especially the glaring sunlight at Ahmedabad, with his own architectural languages from the start of the project. However, in the process of this project, the independent parasol roof is integrated into the main structure of this house. That is to say, the roof as equipment to get shade from the sun, becomes the border space between the sky and the building, like the roof garden of Villa Savoye in 1929, which is open to the sky and joins the inside to the outside of the architectural work at the same time. In short, the main theme of this project realized in Ahmedabad by Le Corbusier is the ″space″ (″espace″ in French), as architectural environment, which can′t be measured by the conventional architectural language of ″roof″ or ″wall″.

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Macao is the first western city in East Asia, founded by Portuguese merchants, adventurers and missionaries. The first permanent urban complex in the city was the Jesuit′s Saint Paul College (SPC) that had a decisive role in Macao′s history. The objective of this paper is to analyze the role, influence and functions of Saint Paul College in the last 450 years. Because no plans or drawings survived to the present days, retrieving of the SPC historical layout, role and influence made use of a scientific method that consisted of a systematic survey and a comparison analysis of data from 1) graphic images and maps; 2) historical documents; and 3) archeological findings. This method could provide enough data to elaborate on a conjectural model of the SPC that would be needed to visualize its architecture. Historical research evidences showed that the SPC had three major functions: a) as a religious center and university college (1594-1762); b) as a military facility (1789-1835); and c) as a tourist and archeological site (1970′s - present). The conclusions showed the influence of SPC in the architecture of other religious facilities as well in the external use of squares as a baroque space introductory to the sacred buildings. The SPC was important for the understanding of Macao Architecture.

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This paper studies the street and block plans of Mohenjodaro and Sirkap of Pakistan, and Thimi of Kathmandu Valley. Mohenjodaro was a reknowned city of Indus civilization, while Sirkap of Taxila, was an important cultural center in later half of first millennium BC. While both of the cities are archaeological remains, Thimi is still a living town. The three cities, apparently separated by enormous time span and geographic space, exhibit certain features that is striking to draw the attention of archaeologists and urban historians. This study finds that all the three settlements employ exactly the same grid dimension in making the division of urban blocks. The standard modules conform to ′danda′ and ′rajju′, which are stated in Arthasastra, the work of Kautilya who lived during the later quarter of 4th century BC. This paper makes a morphological analysis of the revealed plans of Mohenjodaro, Sirkap and Thimi, and demonstrates a relationship in their town plan, the division of quarter blocks and the plot divisions as shown by the built clusters and street boundaries. This is the first direct evidence to link the urban civilization of Indus with the living settlements that continue to exist up to modern times.

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After the devastating earthquake of September 21, 1999, the principal structure and decorative fixtures of one of Taiwan′s foremost historic buildings, Lungshan Temple in Lugang, were severely damaged. The debate on how to handle the reconstitution and preservation of Lungshan Temple has been a source of many conflicts. In this paper, the reconstitution process of Lungshan Temple will be used as a case study to investigate the contradictions and problems prevalent in the preservation of Taiwan′s historic buildings.
In this analysis, the influences of Taiwan′s preservation strategies (this includes reconstitution and the structural preservation process) for Lungshan Temple are investigated. What must also be considered was the role of the public (private citizens, private organizations, business groups) in the preservation work on this historic building. This makes the entire preservation system even more complicated. Therefore, the behavior and interactions of the participators involved in the reconstitution process are explored. The issues concerning in the reconstitution process for Lungshan Temple are categorized into the following aspects:
1. Experts and Theory
2. Ethics of Conservation
3. Materials
4. The Participation of Private Citizens and Organizations

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The Senate was the civil institution that for centuries ruled Macao, the first western city in Asia. In 400 years the Senate building, seen as a representative of Macao′s civil architecture, adapted different layouts. Researching its evolution is important in understanding the history of Macao′s Architecture, and the reason why several scholars attempted to provide a picture of the first building, based only in 18th century references. The result was the creation of a conjectural image, which become popular but unfortunately it is supported with insufficient historical and scientific fundamentals. The objective of this paper is to analyze the evolution of the Senate building, from its foundation until the present. In order to retrieve a more faithful view of the building′s historical evolution, this study is based on a scientific method that consists in systematic analysis and comparison of: 1) Graphic data; 2) Historical documents; and 3) Archeological findings. After that this combined data was compared with similar data obtained from western Iberian buildings of the period. The conclusions of this study show a more realistic picture of the long history of the Senate building, as well resolves some of the enigmas and misconceptions surrounding it.

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The development of pedestrian malls in Taiwan has unfolded along two different tracks. The first is driven by government policies aimed at revitalizing a declined city center. The second is initiated by private groups in the hope of raising real estate prices. Although the impetus for these two types of development has originated in different sectors, they have many things in common.
This study will examine the two initiating cases of pedestrian malls in Taiwan, the Xi-Men pedestrian mall in Taipei City and Jing-Ming First Street in Taichung City. These two cases are representative of the two types of pedestrian mall developments. The both cases have a significant influence on the shape of subsequent pedestrian malls in Taiwan. As such, they contain important lessons for future pedestrian mall projects and for urban planning generally.
The aim of this paper is to track the development of each pedestrian mall, comparing and contrasting the two cases. The following questions will be addressed: How and why were the malls developed? What were the key factors that made them successful? How do the two projects differ? Specifically, this paper will explore the differences in the character of the respective sites, the participating groups, development concepts and strategies, spatial features, functions, and operating and management tactics.

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One of the most important issues in public transportation oriented urban structure is pedestrians′ accessibility to public transportation station. Pedestrians′ accessibility is influenced by socioeconomic conditions such as personal income and location of working places as well as primary factors such as access time and distance. The purpose of this study was to construct a comprehensive transportation selection model using a logistics model in order to understand the influences of various variables on accessibility focusing on subway stations in new towns in metropolitan areas and to set the proper distance for pedestrians.
According to the results of the study, we can see that the most influencing factors on the use of subway were possession of vehicles, age, distance and income. It was analyzed that people with annual incomes under 50 million won and who lived in a space smaller than 30 pyung used subway most frequently. Additionally, the threshold distance for walking was 700m primarily and 1,100m secondarily. We can increase subway utilization by walking through dense housing layout in this area.

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Living and environmental studies of housing planning, construction and operation have low priority in studies as compared to the conventional interests in cost, size, form, location and aesthetics. In 1994, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) was founded due to the implementation of the Oslo peace agreement. Consequently, many living units have been built to alleviate housing problems with absence of specific studies related to the cultural distributions and environmental comfort of indoor spaces. Therefore, this study focuses on finding proper architectural and physical characteristics of indigenous houses throughout analyzing Gaza′s historical house layout architecturally and environmentally. Investigations have obviously achieved a significant guidance for future planning and construction.

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The residential unit, in which the elderly spends most of their time, is an essential component of a nursing home. In order for a nursing home to provide comfortable environment and good architectural appearances, it is mandatory to have well-designed residential units. We undertook this study to define prototypes of residential units and compare their characteristics. We identified the concept of residential unit and analyzed 67 cases of residential units from 62 nursing homes in four different countries (Korea, Japan, U.S., and the U.K). We then classified architectural prototypes of the residential unit into 12 groups based on the shape and function of corridors. Finally, architectural characteristics were compared analytically in terms of such factors as the number of residents per unit, the number of residents per bedroom, the residential unit area per bed, and the proportion of the bedroom area to the unit area. This work may serve as a knowledge base in designing future nursing homes and contribute to the establishment of a standard guideline for nursing home design.

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Prediction of the cost estimation of apartment house is an important task in the management of construction projects. This study aims at illustrating the compared results of the application of two different approaches which are used case-based reasoning (CBR) and artificial neural networks (ANN) techniques. This study is conducted by using the same 540 cases which are obtained in Korea. 30 cases among the data are used for testing. Testing error rates of 3.69% in the CBR and 6.52% in the ANN were obtained. Results showed that CBR can produce slightly more accurate results and achieve higher computational efficiency than ANN. If the use of CBR and ANN is understood better, as a result, cost estimation can be predicted with reasonability, all parties involved in the construction process could save considerable money.

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In this study, according to the relationship between the extent of the commonness of recognition by local inhabitants and the physical environment, as ascertained from a questionnaire survey of local inhabitants, we will analyze the commonality based on the environmental recognition of inhabitants in their regional space, and determine the patterns of changes from an which is settled by two or more to an area complex as a whole. Then, by analyzing the relationships of legibility and ambiguity in the elements and spatial structures constituting the regional space, we will examine the complexity and metamorphosis patterns of common areas in coastal fishing regions.

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Kampung Luar Batang is located in the northern end of Jakarta, which belongs to former Sunda Kelapa, the oldest area of Jakarta, about 100 meters northwest of Kota (Batavia). The oldest mosque, Al-Aydrus Masjid built in 1739 is located within it; attracts pilgrims from Jakarta and suburbs; and is a declared cultural heritage under the Governor′s Decree No. 475/1993. The area became overcrowded after the independence, thus deteriorating the environmental conditions. Although modern buildings dominate Kampung Luar Batang, traditional houses or houses with traditional architectural characteristics still remained there. Improvement of living conditions and preservation of historical features have become important issues. This paper discusses the characteristics of traditional kampung house, which is required to be preserved, identifying the status and condition of Kampung Luar Batang, based on the field survey.

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It is the purpose of this study to examine the domestic space arrangement of the private rental housings in kampung (urban village) settlement. Kampung Ngentak Sapen, an urban periphery settlement at Yogyakarta, Indonesia was selected as a case study due to the occurrence of a lot of its houses, which were gradually expanded to be a private rental housing. This study focused on how the households re-arrange their domestic space to be shared with the tenants. Besides, the implication of this change on spatial occupation within a private rental housing will be discussed. Investigations found that the occupation adjustment, spatial adjustment and extension of the original housing processes have developed the private rental housings. The domestic space arrangement of the private rental housing could be categorized into maximum separation, moderate separation, and minimum separation based on the number of spaces which might be interchangeably used by both the household and the tenants.

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This research identifies the roles and processes of a traditional mixed-use inner-urban neighborhood, the South of Market Area district in San Francisco, in providing adaptable physical settings and flexible functional mixtures for livable urban communities. Using typo-morphological analyses, it investigates spatial types and functional attributes of elements with regard to how they form physically adaptable and functionally flexible places, and in what way they affect neighborhood evolution. The first part of the research identifies distinct spatial structures and functional patterns of the South of Market Area at an area-wide scale. The second part investigates fundamental components which form diverse neighborhood spaces through an extensive typological study. The third part analyzes evolutionary processes of neighborhoods by means of a morphological analysis for three historical periods beginning in the mid-nineteenth century and continuing into the late 1980s. The fourth part investigates mechanisms of evolutionary patterns which lead to particularly adaptable neighborhood environments. The research concludes that adaptable neighborhoods are formed based on the integration of fine-grained traditional mixed-use neighborhood spaces and individually-planned new small-scale building developments in an incremental and dispersed manner of evolution.

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This is Part 2 of our ″Study on the Living Space Planning in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia,″ whose objective is to determine trends and characteristics in residential and living spaces of apartment complexes in urban parts of Ulaanbaatar, focusing on the relationship between the residential and living environments of apartment complexes in Ulaanbaatar and the lifestyle activities and attitudes of residents. Based on a questionnaire survey of residents and a survey of living spaces within a 500-meter radius of two apartment buildings with differing layouts, both located in urban parts of Ulaanbaatar, we determined the correlations between residents′ attitudes and their residential and living environments, as well as the conditions and characteristics of both apartment buildings. We also studied the need to plan living spaces in a way that is grounded in the intricate interrelationships among residents, activities, and spaces that are unique to Mongolia.

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This research explores the changing appearance of color of architecture. Different seasons create different appearances. The purpose of this research is to demonstrate the changing appearance of color by comparing architecture between summer and winter in Sapporo city. The aspect of visual phenomena, such as color and light, can be understood by analyzing the appearance of architectural spaces. This research aims to clarify the phenomenon about appearance of color of architectures in northern city.

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The structure of a village is strongly related to the society and culture in the surrounding area. This study focuses on villages in Zambia. Zambia is a developing country and the lifestyle of the people is changing rapidly. In the Northern part of Zambia, people fish or farm for their sustenance.
Over the past 100 years, the lives of the people have been affected by explorers, missionaries, and industrialization. Industrialization has changed the structure of the village by influencing lifestyles and patterns of work and forcing greater reliance on cash incomes.
This study investigated the relationship between the structures of the villages and the structure of society, by field survey and by literature documentation. As the social structure of a village matures, the spatial structure of the village, which is centered on blood relationships, becomes weaker. However, in Zambian society, blood relationships are still highly respected, and these relationships must be maintained even as the social structure becomes more complex.

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Census data and GIS were used to examine population growth rate patterns, changes in land use and the characteristics of mixed land use in Metro Manila, Philippines, one of the most rapidly growing cities in Southeast Asia. Small-scale analysis of land use change in the urban fringe of Metro Manila was carried out to understand past and ongoing land use changes. A highly complex mixture of urbanized and agricultural land was observed to spread like a belt around the center of the city. This area was found to be absorbing rapid population growth in Metro Manila. In the fringe of Metro Manila, rapid urban growth was absorbed by two types of residential areas: squatter residential areas that expanded along the main street, and a subdivision development on backmarsh land that had formerly been used as paddy fields. The study found the latter development caused many environmental problems, and that a strategy to avoid such developments and to control urban and rural land use is needed.

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The purpose of this study is to identify the bending creep behaviour of sawn lumber beam of Japanese Cypress and the compressive creep behaviour of full-size masugumi, which is one of the most important components in old wooden Japanese buildings in terms of both structure and decoration. As the former, practical size sawing (120×240×6000mm) was applied, and bending creep test was carried out for 4 years. As a result, approximate formula for bending creep behaviour was obtained. According to this formula, total deflection after 100 years later is estimated to be about two and a half times as big as initial deflection. As the latter, by using full-size masugumi component, which was modeled on that in national treasure building ″Toshodaiji Kondo″, compressive creep test was carried out for 4 years. As a result, approximate formula for compressive creep behaviour was obtained. According to this formula, total compressive deformation after 100 years is estimated to be about five times as big as initial deformation.

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The importance of architectural planning phase has been arisen because of the changing conditions of construction market in Korea. The existing feasibility cannot fulfill its purpose in construction development projects because they are based on intuitive approach rather than systematic approach. The purpose of this study is to make a prototype of feasibility model to be a good investment. To build the model, first, risk factors which can be occurred in project had to be selected. Second, risk factors were divided into several groups in basis of characteristic risk. Third, economical risk factors were input on financial analysis. Then, to catch the relevance and influence of all risk factors, influence diagram and decision tree was made. Finally, sensitivity analysis was activated, then what the critical factors were, and how those factors could be solved. Through these procedures, the feasibility model that was made in this study could include both quantitative and qualitative factors. This model is expected to be used as a guide of feasibility study and is to serve systematic frame in planning and feasibility stage.

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This paper presents a conceptual information management model for the efficient management of social overhead capital (SOC) projects. Case studies were conducted on SOC projects currently under construction to investigate information infrastructure, operational processes and programs, and project management information system (PMIS) operation and maintenance aspects. On the basis of the case studies, improvements to the current PMISs were suggested and reflected in the model developed in this paper. The suggested model can integrate and manage the enormous amount of information generated in the different construction project phases and project management functions during an SOC project.

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Most cities in Malaysia experience hot and humid climate during most part of the year. In large metropolitan cities such as Johor Bahru, the use of air conditioners to cool dwelling units has been increasing sharply partly due to continuing rise in disposable income brought about by recent high economic growth. This has resulted to significant rise in non-renewable energy consumption, thus does not contribute toward sustainability. Natural wind flow is one of the most effective energy-saving methods to improve the thermal environment at the neighborhood level. This paper presents the results of several wind tunnel tests on selected residential areas in Johor Bahru Metropolitan City. By comparing the average of wind velocity of each case studies, the paper discusses the planning methods at the residential neighborhood level area in order to create sufficient wind flow and help achieve energy saving and sustainability objectives in Malaysia.

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Experiments verified that a thermoelectric heat pump system is more efficient than an electrical heating device, for its heating coefficient reached more than 1.6 with suitable operating conditions. Two novel instantaneous water heaters were developed and tested successively. The prototype with circulating water pump can save power consumption more than 40% in comparison with conventional electric water heaters, while the prototype integrating with thermosiphon can save more than 38%. Comparing two prototypes, the latter prototype becomes more compact, more technologically advanced and practical, because it eliminated the working life choke-point of the former, while holding the advantages, such as high efficiency, reliability, safety, environmental friendly.

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A simple method for estimation of mean angle of deflection i.e. slant angle of wind driven rain from vertical has been recapitulated. The method has been used for computation of average slant angles of rain for twelve driving rain prone stations, viz., Bhopal, Mumbai, Calcutta, Cochin, Indore, Kodaikanal, Mangalore, Port Blair, Sagar Island, Tiruchchirapalli, Tiruvananthapuram, and Veraval. Based on ten years data on mean hourly wind speed and hourly rainfall, the cumulative probability distribution of angle of deflection of rain at these stations were determined and optimum values of these angles were worked out. The values vary broadly from 50° to 65° for the stations covered in the present study.

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A multidisciplinary team comprising researchers at Cranfield University at Kitakyushu, a local architectural and engineering practice and the Development Office for KSRP examined how urban form could enhance the opportunities for more sustainable development. Options for energy provision particularly was considered at the scale of the overall site development and for the individual dwellings, as apartments, terraced and detached housing. A holistic approach was taken for the development of a 1-hectare site in order to assess the potentials and opportunities for energy systems and environmental solutions at this scale.
Subsequently a team from Cranfield University at Kitakyushu and the Environmental Engineering Faculty at Kitakyushu University investigated options for cogeneration on this development site in the form of Combined Cooling Heat and Power (CCHP). The options ranged from a centralised system based within the apartment building that served all the dwellings on the site to individual 1 kW electric cogeneration systems that served individual dwellings. A computer software model was used to examine the energy efficiencies of these options from hourly through to annual timescales, based upon typical electricity, heating, cooling and hot water consumption profiles for Japanese dwellings. In Japan a hot bathtub is filled each evening throughout the year and is used by the whole family. This constitutes a base load for hot water consumption that could be served through thermal storage. At present high output capacity gas boilers are used to provide the hot water for this purpose. Consequently, the computer models considered modes and scales of thermal storage as one of the key parameters for the examination of the relative viability of the options considered.
The analysis was carried out using hourly weather data provided by a Test Reference Year weather data file for the local area.

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A district energy system in Kitakyushu Science and Research Park (KSRP) has been introduced. In this paper, the system′s running situation was analyzed by using the recorded data in 2002. Generating electricity, heat recovery efficiency and recovery heat utilization efficiency for gas engine and fuel cell were calculated. On the basis of the above study, energy saving and CO₂ reduction were evaluated.
The results can be summarized as follows: 1) The on-site generating electricity equipments provided 51.2% of the total electricity demand, including fuel cell with 34.5%, gas engine with 13.4% and PV system with 3.3%. In total heat energy demand, 70% of hot water load, 30.9% of cooling load and 14.3% of heating load were provided by recovering the heat energy from fuel cell and gas engine system. 2) Fuel cell was running 8572 hours with constant generating electricity efficiencies, about 30.8%. Gas engine only run 4281 hours with higher generating electricity efficiencies, about 24.5%. PV system achieved over 8% module conversion efficiencies in 83% of generating electricity time. 3) Fuel cell had lower heat recovery efficiency, but this heat energy recovered almost was utilized by the heat exchanger or absorption chiller. Gas engine had higher heat recovery efficiency, but only 70% of them were utilized by heat recovery equipments. 4) Compared with the conventional energy supply system, the district energy system achieved 56% primary energy utilization efficiency, 10.9% saving energy ratio and 1.32% CO₂ reduction ratio.

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In Japan, during the last 20 years, combined heating and power (CHP) system has been developed rapidly. In order to grasp the present condition of introduction and the existing problems of CHP system, the questionnaire survey on CHP system had been carried out at Tokyo.
According to the results of investigation, it can be summarized as follows: 1) CHP system had been used widely in various sectors. The generating electricity capacity ranged several ten to several thousands kilowatt. 2) The percentage of CHP total capacity to the electricity demand peak was low and the average value for all users investigated was only 25%. 3) Gas turbine and gas engine achieved 60%-80% overall energy utilization efficiency with 20%-34.5% generating electricity efficiency and 19.5%-50% exhaust heat utilization efficiency. 4) Education buildings had the maximum average generating electricity efficiency with 30.6%, followed by hospital buildings with 29.6%, amusement facilities with 29.5%, office buildings with 28% and compound buildings with 25%. Hospitals attained the maximum average exhaust heat utilization efficiency with 46.1%, followed by offices with 41.3% and compound buildings 39.8%. 5) Various users had different motivation of selecting CHP system. Both office and compound buildings selected economy as the most important reason introducing CHP system; while hospital and education users concerned more saving energy. Hospital and office users were satisfied with the CHP system introduced; while compound building users were not satisfied very much with the CHP system

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In this research, the authors have carried out the research to investigate the characteristics of building energy standards of the residential building in China. Efforts have also been made to promote a better understanding of the energy policy and relevant standard for architects and building designers to achieve optimal energy efficient building design in China. The results can mainly summarized as follows:(1) As for the thermal environment design, the climate of China has been classified five zones.(2) The sunlight, lighting, ventilation environment of residential building have been specified in the new standards.(3) Prescribed the building design elements, such as layout, orientation, shape, color, plan and the type of window. In particular, the thermal insulation measures for heating system has been added in hot summer and cold winter region, which was not described in old standard.(4) It is admitted that there is still a difference compared with the standard of many foreign countries, and the improvement in the further heat insulation performance and positive execution of the standard continue to be expected.

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Countries in subtropical areas always overlook the issue of building hot water supply systems due to the short winter and high average temperature. However, the hot water supply system is still identified as requisite residential building equipment in subtropical countries such as Taiwan. Previous research with an overview of residential water usage revealed that building hot water consumes a great amount of energy and some critical problems are disregarded. This paper focuses on the residential building hot water supply system using Taiwan as a subtropical area example. Several significant hot water supply system features are presented with the quantitative parameters from Taiwan.

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As a building energy saving equipment, the air-source heat pump is used broadly in china. At present, the lumped parameter model of frost, which is based on experiences and depend heavenly on the running conditions, is widely used in simulation study of air-source heat pumps. In this paper, a dynamic distributed parameter model is presented. The model takes the frost deposition on evaporator as one dimensional, transient formulation, whose mass and heat is transferred in porosity and has a moving boundary. Result shows that the proposed model favorably predicted the key parameters in frost formation and compared well with the experimental data.

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It has been understood that the environmental impact of housing design, construction and operation has lower priority in research studies as compared to the conventional interests in cost, size, form, location and aesthetics. Gaza′s climatic data indicates that both cold and warm percentages are in the extreme values such as finding a flexible design tool that can satisfy human comfort is an important requirement in a predominantly sustainable architecture concept. Using this new concept to improve the thermal environment and ventilation of buildings through identifying, developing, and testing innovative concepts that can have potential for achieving human satisfaction in homes. Herein, basic principles of Successive Integration Method have been utilized on some materials and varying passive elements to achieve an adequate module′s elements. An integrated design with floor cooling and heating, natural ventilation and some additional passive techniques found that indoor temperature could be properly maintained.

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In this study, the relation of urbanization in China urban areas has been investigated with energy consumption, social economics, infrastructure, transportation and environment. The results showed that the impact of those factors on the urbanization become significant. The deep investigation is needed in clearing the effect of the local development on the urbanization. In this paper, the energy consumption, social economics, infrastructure, transportation/communication and environment have been used as a index to evaluate the importance of the urbanization in China Province with the urbanization area and population. By using the statistical method, the classification of urbanization has been made. As the result, the provinces in China could be divided into the IV classification. Also, the energy index, the infrastructure index, the social economy index increased as to make a city progressed but it found that the environment index fell oppositely from the factor analysis.

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