Energy-Efficient Timber-Glass Houses (eBook)

The book discusses combining timber and glass, two eco materials, with a view to developing an optimal contemporary energy-efficient house with an attractive design. Furthermore, the book connects an architectural design approach with structural research to show the possibilities of stabilizing the building with an increased size of the glazing.

Research results where the glazing is considered as a load-bearing structural element are therefore presented in a manner leading to the development of an optimal model of the timber-glass house, considering both the structural and energy related aspects. The presented research work can be useful to designers and future experts in their planning of optimal energy-efficient timber buildings.

The study is based on using timber and glass, which were previously neglected as construction materials. With suitable technological development and appropriate use, they are nowadays becoming essential construction materials as far as energy efficiency is concerned. However, their combined use is extremely complicated, from both the constructional point of view as well as from that of energy efficiency and sets multiple traps for designers. A good knowledge of their advantages and drawbacks is thus vitally important, which is shown in the present monograph.

Energy-efficient timber-glass houses was selected by the Slovenian National Research Agency as an extraordinary scientific achievement in the field of technical sciences/civil engineering for the year 2013.

Dr. Vesna Žegarac Leskovar graduated at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Ljubljana, in 2000. She brought her PhD studies to an end in January 2011 at the Faculty of Architecture, Technical University Graz with the presentation of her doctoral thesis Development of Design Approach for the Optimal Model of an Energy-efficient Timber House. In April 2012, she was granted the title of assistant professor at the University of Maribor, Faculty of Civil Engineering. Since 2009 she has been active in researching the issues of energy efficiency in buildings with a focus on timber-glass construction. She is the author of three works indexed by SCI in international journals in the fields of civil engineering and architecture. Recently she has published a scientific monograph on energy-efficient timber buildings.
Prof. dr. Miroslav Premrov was granted the title of full professor at the University of Maribor in January 2009. From 1999, his major focus of research has been the strengthening of timber-frame buildings, supplemented by the area of their energy-efficiency, primarily through the increased glazing sizes. He is the author of twenty-one works indexed by SCI and the reviewer for the most reputable international journals in the fields of civil engineering structures. He recently published two scientific monographs belonging to the domain of timber structures. As a member of WG 5 he is active in preparations of Slovene standards in the field of timber structures. Since 2012, he has been a head of the Slovenian part in the international research project Load-bearing timber-glass composites.

---

The book discusses combining timber and glass, two eco materials, with a view to developing an optimal contemporary energy-efficient house with an attractive design. Furthermore, the book connects an architectural design approach with structural research to show the possibilities of stabilizing the building with an increased size of the glazing. Research results where the glazing is considered as a load-bearing structural element are therefore presented in a manner leading to the development of an optimal model of the timber-glass house, considering both the structural and energy related aspects. The presented research work can be useful to designers and future experts in their planning of optimal energy-efficient timber buildings. The study is based on using timber and glass, which were previously neglected as construction materials. With suitable technological development and appropriate use, they are nowadays becoming essential construction materials as far as energy efficiency is concerned. However, their combined use is extremely complicated, from both the constructional point of view as well as from that of energy efficiency and sets multiple traps for designers. A good knowledge of their advantages and drawbacks is thus vitally important, which is shown in the present monograph.Energy-efficient timber-glass houses was selected by the Slovenian National Research Agency as an extraordinary scientific achievement in the field of technical sciences/civil engineering for the year 2013.