Under the supervision of the Ministry of the Interior (MOI), the Architecture and Building Research Institute (ABRI) is the driving force behind the national building research and development programs. The related significant outcomes in 2015 are summarized as follows:
1.Building Fire Safety
1.1 16 research projects were completed which covered the following topics: fire regulation and risk assessment, the integration of building sustainability and fire safety, fire safety of disabled evacuee, advanced fire-performance design technology and application,compartment assembly and structural fire safety,and fire-resistance of steel construction.
1.2 The following innovative achievements were obtained from the researches on smart evacuation system integrating with intelligent guidance & broadcasting and signage functions ,and Non-destruction detection technique for RC assembly after fire damage. Achievements of four patent drafts on "Evacuation system and method having sound and light indications", "Fire damage judgment for cement-based structural material based on acoustic method" and so on have been reviewed by the Intellectual Property Office, Ministry of Economic Affairs. The "Simplified smoke two-zone verification method" calculation software was revised and transferred to 23 using units.
2.Urban and Architecture Disaster Prevention
2.1 In response to the increasing frequency and expanding scale of extreme weather events, according to the flood mitigation policy in urban area of MOI, eights projects were conducted including the decision support and cloud operating system for the allocation of stormwater detention capacity, the impact assessment and warning value determination for hillside communities under extreme rainfall, the application of handbook of implementing comprehensive flood mitigation strategies into urban design review system,the establishment of computer-aided design tool for low Impact development (2/2) , etc.
2.2 To review implementation performances of urban disaster prevention and response of a series of demonstration projects of urban disaster prevention spatial system planning, the revising spatial system planning manual for urban disaster prevention : connecting overall review of urban planning with local disaster prevention and protection plans, the Strategies and evaluations for resilient cities construction on confronting natural disasters, the fundamental plan for regional resilience in Japan were proposed. The research results will be subsumed in policy-making and urban planning overall reviews and applied to regulation amendment, etc.
3.Intelligent Green Building Promotion Program
3.1 659 buildings or building projects known as green buildings, 54 buildings or building projects known as intelligent buildings, and 229 Green Building Materials Labels were certified.
3.2 37 existing buildings for adopting the mandatory intelligent building design, and 38 publicly owned buildings for upgrading their energy efficiency were subsidized. As a result, the achievements of these projects have been:
-About 6,596,000 KWH of electricity were saved
-About 71,000 cubic meters of gas were saved
4.Innovative Low- Carbon Green Building and Environment Technology Plan
4.1 In response to "the Sustainable Green Building, Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction Plan”, the content of "the Innovative Low-Carbon Green Building and Environment Technology Plan (2011-2014)” continuously involved in Low-carbon green buildings technology, the evaluation for eco environment and city, innovative building materials and reduce carbon and save energy technology, educational promotion for regulation along with application .In addition, research and analyze on fundamental research topics related to develop materials and technology, life cycle cost analysis, strategy for promoting industry, and international exchange etc.
4.2 Ecological green building technologies and techniques adapted to the subtropical climate in Taiwan are being continually developed. As a result, a total of 11 research projects have been completed. These research topics mainly are application for building envelop and external wall, net-zero energy building design, natural ventilation and indoor thermal environment, along with reducing electricity, green materials durability, and water preservation.
5.Plan for Building Advanced Technological Innovation Development, Promotion, and Applications
5.1 The MOI released 3 research reports, which were concerned with construction material properties, and the strength and durability of tile adhesives. The national testing standard draft was proposed and non-destructively quantifiable pipe leakage evaluation techniques were developed.
5.2 The MOI released 3 research reports, which were concerned with various experimental studies on the seismic performance of building frames with SRC and RC structures, as well as ceiling suspension systems. Amendments of the SRC Design Code and structural design manual of low-rise reinforced concrete street residential buildings were proposed.
6.Plan for Building Information Modeling Development, Promotion, and Applications
6.1 6 research projects were completed which covered Research Project Executive BIM collaboration guidelines, BIM elements and common format specification, COBie-TW Green BIM standards and Green BIM building information modeling and other cases.
6.2 Presented 3 technical papers including domestic BIM Collaboration Guidelines (draft), domestic BIM element generic specification (draft), Taiwan COBie-TW standard (draft), can reduce technology adoption barriers.
7.Plan for Holistic Care Living Environment Science and Technology Development
7.1 The MOI conducted 10 research projects related to study and advocate barrier-free living environments, planning, design and improvement of various types of living architecture, and holistic care related experiments.
7.2 In order to promote and share information, the MOI awarded a total of 164 Friendly Building prizes in 2015. Friendly Building App mobile software are being continually developed, including the functions of digital map, route planning, building data, interior Views, winners testimonials, and winning cases links to other related websites. The seminar activities on promoting the friendly building was held, e.g. " Conference on friendly building promoting ", to attract more than 180 professional personnel participating in the above event.
8.Plan for the Intelligent Living Space Industry Development and Promotion
8.1 The 2015 Intelligent Living Space Scenario Design Competition, 38 ILS policy promotion seminars, ILS related symposiums, and training courses, which centered on the intelligent buildings, were held with an estimated 2,500 attendees. In addition, a total of over 36,000 participants visited "Intelligent Living Space Exhibition Hall - Living 3.0", along with the "Smart Home" showrooms in Taichung and Kaohsiung.
8.2 The CPA has accelerated output values; this included the ILS SIG (Special Interest Groups) and promoting ILS by running an ILS exhibition center.