Assessment of Energy-Efficient Building Details for Seismic Regions

This open access book presents a methodology for the assessment of structural building details, taking into account the contemporary guidelines for earthquake-resistant and energy-efficient buildings. A review of structural details for energy-efficient buildings revealed that in some cases the structural system is interrupted, leading to solutions which are not suitable for earthquake-prone regions. Such typical examples would be the use of thermal insulation under the building foundation and reduction of the load-bearing elements’ dimensions – also at the potential locations of plastic hinges which are crucial for the dissipation of seismic energy. The proposed methodology of assessment favours a collaboration of architects, engineers, contractors and investors in the early stage of building design. By this the methodology enables efficient decision-making and contributes to a selection of optimal building structural details.

The book starts by presenting the typical structural details of the thermal envelope of energy-efficient buildings together with the scientific background required for understanding the process of detail development from all the relevant aspects. Over 20 examples of most frequent details are described and analysed to raise awareness of the importance of earthquake resistance, sustainability, energy-efficiency and thermal comfort for users.

Boris Azinovic, PhD, is a civil engineer, whose main research interests include connections in timber and hybrid structural systems, tall timber buildings, seismic behaviour and structural design methods for building structures. Since 2017 he has worked at the Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute as a research assistant in the Department for Structures, Section for Timber Structures. He has collaborated on several successful research projects, such as the European project InnoCrossLam - Innovative solutions for cross-laminated timber structures, in which he acted as a coordinator.

Vojko Kilar, PhD, is professor at the Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy of the University of Ljubljana. His research interests focus on earthquake engineering and the earthquake resistant design of building structures. The results of his research activity over the last 15 years have been presented in more than 90 scientific papers, sections of scientific monographs, and four textbooks. He has been involved in more than 80 static projects and in the analysis of a variety of buildings both at home and abroad.

David Koren, PhD, is assistant professor at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Ljubljana. He has published more than 20 scientific papers, two professional papers, two chapters in scientific monographs, one patent and numerous conference contributions, mainly on earthquake engineering, seismic isolation, energy-efficiency, and the seismic resilience of urban systems. As a structural engineer, he has been involved in some important construction projects in Slovenia.