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  • ItemOpen Access
    Making a case for nature-based solutions for a sustainable built environment in Africa
    (Wiley, 2024-02-18) Aghimien, Douglas; Aliu, John; Chan, Daniel W. M.; Aigbavboa, C.; Awuzie, B.
    The potential of using nature-based solutions to address issues of climate change has continued to gain momentum, especially in developed nations. However, the same cannot be said for developing countries, particularly in Africa, where the knowledge and awareness of natural solutions are low, and research on their application within the built environment is scant. Using a sciento-metric and narrative review of published literature, this paper makes a case for research exploration on nature-based solutions for a sustainable built environment in Africa. The findings revealed an opportunity for significant research contributions on nature-based solutions in addressing flood risk management, climate change and urban planning, water quality and carbon emission, sustainable development, and green infrastructure and urban development. These areas are the critical focus of past studies explored. Also, the findings offer guidance for further studies to be conducted in less explored areas, such as carbon sequestration, greenhouse gases, energy utilisation, indoor comfort, and numeric models for using nature-based solutions within the African context. The findings of the study offer an excellent theoretical background to direct researchers and practitioners who seek to attain and promote sustainable built environments through nature-based solutions, especially in Africa.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Using textile testing information to ensure garment quality, longevity and transparency
    (Routledge, 2023-09-25) Lerpiniere, Claire; Davies, Angela
    The fashion and textiles industry is driven by unparalleled expansion, particularly in terms of consumption of low quality, low durability garments (WRAP 2017, EAC 2019). Whilst some retailers already pave the way to a circular textile economy in terms of material use and longevity, new accreditation and legislation such as the new Strategy for Sustainable Textiles (EU, 2021) and upcoming extended producer legislation and Green Claims Code (CMA, 2021) regulations in the UK will inevitably force the hand of the majority into reducing their environmental impacts. Guidelines exist to benchmark product durability in relation to material use, quality, maintenance and end-of-life options. However, to the average consumer, this information is lost in translation due to the low profile of the garment testing processes undertaken by the brands; these are hidden amongst the myriad greenwashing tactics adopted by retailers. It is proposed that industry standards and guidelines not only transparent to the retailers but translated into easy-to-interpret advice for consumers on responsible purchasing, maintenance and textile disposal. This transparency and consumer knowledge can encourage informed purchasing decisions and an overall greater level of consumer and retailer responsibility for climate and resource preservation.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Exploring constraints in integrating indoor environmental quality (IEQ) into building designs: a case of Nigerian quantity surveying firms
    (Emerald Publishing Limited, 2024-02-06) Oke, A. E.; Aliu, John; Agbaje, Doyin Helen; Ebekozien, Andrew; Aghimien, Douglas; Leo-Olagbaye, Feyisetan; Aigbavboa, C.
    Purpose – The purpose of this study is to identify and evaluate the primary constraints that quantity surveying firms in Nigeria encounter while integrating indoor environmental quality (IEQ) principles into building designs. Design/methodology/approach – The study used a quantitative approach by administering a well-structured questionnaire to 114 quantity surveyors. The collected data were analyzed using methods such as frequencies, percentages, mean item scores, Kruskal–Wallis test and exploratory factor analysis. Findings – The top five ranked constraints were limited access to funding or financing options, limited availability of green materials, limited availability of insurance for sustainable buildings, limited availability of sustainable design resources and limited diversity and inclusivity within the design profession. Based on the factor analysis, the study identified six clusters of constraints: structural-related constraints, technical related constraints, financial-related constraints, capacity-related constraints, legal-related constraints and culture-related constraints. Practical implications – This study has several practical implications for quantity surveying firms, policymakers and industry stakeholders involved in building design and construction in Nigeria. The findings of this study can also inform future research on the integration of IEQ principles into building designs. Originality/value – By identifying and structuring the clusters of constraints faced by quantity surveying firms in Nigeria when implementing IEQ principles, this study provides a novel approach to understanding the challenges associated with IEQ implementation in the building sector. This understanding can guide policymakers, industry stakeholders and quantity surveying firms in developing effective strategies to overcome these constraints and promote IEQ principles in building design and construction.
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    Retrofit Strategies for Alleviating Fuel Poverty and Improving Subjective Well-Being in the UK’s Social Housing
    (MDPI, 2024-01-23) Shwashreh, Leena; Taki, Ahmad; Kagioglou, Mike
    This research delves into the intricate realm of social housing flat units within tower blocks in Leicester, as a microcosm that serves as a perfect reflection of the larger problem of fuel poverty among social housing systems within the UK. The multifaceted approach intertwines energy efficiency upgrades, indoor comfort, and resident satisfaction. Rooted in a comprehensive methodology, this research seeks to address pressing societal challenges within these architectural projects, from fuel poverty and well-being to environmental sustainability and social justice. Through surveys, interviews, audits, simulations, and detailed analyses of summer and winter thermal performance, this study navigates the complex interplay of factors that influence retrofit success. The findings underscore the transformative potential of comprehensive retrofit measures and the paramount importance of resident engagement while offering a potential holistic checklist for future projects. This research paves the way for future studies encompassing contextual diversity, interdisciplinary collaboration, and long-term impact assessment. As it advances, these findings guide the commitment to fostering positive change, enhancing lives, and contributing to a more sustainable and equitable future in social housing retrofit endeavours.
  • ItemEmbargo
    PLS-SEM assessment of the impact of job satisfaction on the organisational commitment of women quantity surveyors
    (Taylor and Francis, 2024-01-30) Aghimien, Douglas; Aliu, John; Akinradewo, Opeoluwa; Aghimien Lerato; Aigbavboa, Clinton; Ditsele, Kakanyo
    This study investigates the impact of job satisfaction on the organizational commitment of women quantity surveyors (WQS) in the South African construction industry. This investigation was done to promote female participation within the construction industry by establishing significant job satisfaction factors that organizations can improve upon. A post-positivism philosophical approach, using a questionnaire survey, was employed to obtain quantitative data from registered WQS. The data obtained were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, mean item scores, Kruskal–Wallis H-test, and partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Using the organization commitment scale developed in past studies, it was found that WQS in the study area exhibited more continuance commitment. Also, their job satisfaction level is below average. PLS-SEM revealed that the continuance commitment exhibited is negatively influenced by the job satisfaction variables. The findings of this study provide valuable benefits to employers of construction organizations as the creation and enhancement of supportive work practises, structures, and cultures can help to attract and retain female quantity surveyors in the construction sector.
  • ItemOpen Access
    A scientometric analysis of quantity surveying research: trends and future direction
    (University of Johannesburg, 2023-12-27) Aghimien, Douglas; Adegbembo, Taiwo
    The development of people, organisations and professions is driven by several factors including research. As such, evaluating research trends within a given field of study is necessary to understand current issues and identify gaps to make meaningful contributions to the body of knowledge. The scientometric analysis offers the opportunity to understand these research trends while identifying leading contributors (authors, countries, institutions), impactful contributions and areas of focus in existing studies. Using the scientometric analysis, this paper presents a visualisation of quantity surveying (QS) research published from 2003 to 2023 and indexed in the Scopus database. Using an interpretivist philosophical stance, the study found that QS studies have emanated from diverse countries, including the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Nigeria, South Africa and Australia. Journal outlets are the major sources of disseminating QS research findings, while the lack of proper indexing of many QS conference proceedings is responsible for fewer conference publications. Past QS studies have focused on six major areas, which are (1) QS professional service and management, (2) QS and BIM in design and cost estimating, (3) QS competencies, (4) QS education and training, (5) QS in the construction industry, (6) QS and project planning. These identified areas create room for future studies to research less explored areas such as human resource management, higher education, information theory, QS and climate change adaptation, green/circular/bio-economy, digitalisation, and innovative construction.
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    The Pilgrim as Temporary Pauper: The Changing Landscape of Hospitality on the Camino de Santiago, 1550-1750
    (Manchester University Press, 2023-09-01) Tingle, Elizabeth
    Pilgrimage, a journey undertaken for spiritual purposes, was one of the most enduring devotional activities of pre-modern Catholic Christianity. Pilgrims, particularly those travelling to distant as opposed to neighbourhood shrines, voluntarily took on the identity of ‘pauper’ in order to imitate Christ and the apostles, and to perform a penitential good work. The motive of the pilgrim in becoming a temporary pauper, and the civic and religious institutions which relieved this distinctive traveller, are examined in this essay, with particular reference to the Camino de Santiago through northern Italy, France and Spain, in the period 1550-1750. Long-distance pilgrimage across Europe declined in the mid-sixteenth century, a result of Protestant Reformation in many states, along with war and unrest throughout the continent, but it became important again as a devotional activity from c.1575 onwards. Attitudes towards and institutions for pilgrims inherited from the Middle Ages, which transformed across the seventeenth century, show us a great deal about the changing views of poverty and paupers themselves. From the central Middle Ages, many towns had institutionally organised ‘pasado’, food and small coin alms for pilgrims, along with hostels run by confraternities and religious orders. In these, paupers and pilgrims were often relieved together. As attitudes to poverty and especially vagrancy changed from the sixteenth century onwards, there was increasing separation of the two: ‘false’ pilgrims, that is, beggars in disguise, were the subject of laws and punishment, to separate the religious from the fraudster and to ensure they did not benefit from alms for religious travellers. At the same time, hostels and hospitals were increasingly given over to the poor and pilgrims were marginalised or excluded. Finally, from the later seventeenth century, pilgrims themselves were increasingly seen as errant, treated by an increasingly regulatory state as ‘masterless’ men and women, and discouraged. Pilgrims were no longer looked on as holy folk; religious devotion, as with charity, was best kept at home.
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    Overview. France in the Sixteenth Century: Monarchy, Renaissance and Reformation 1494-1610
    (Routledge, 2023-12-23) Tingle, Elizabeth
    In traditional historiography, the period 1494-1610 in France was one of transition from medieval to early modernity, through the state building of the Renaissance Monarchy of the later Valois kings and the early absolute monarchy of the first Bourbon king Henry IV. The early modern interests of the annaliste historians and their descriptions of long-enduring social structures of demography, family formation, tenure and economic forms of production, with clear regional differences across France, encouraged alternative interpretations of continuity and the importance of impersonal historical agents but also of history from below. The more recent cultural turn in history has shaken up both paradigms: diversity, dissidence and agency has been shown in peasant, urban and courtly societies and such historians have sought to uncover and explain the ties, theoretical, institutional and material, that bound them together. In this overview, three central themes of this current Sixteenth-century historiography will be explored in a broadly chronological outline. The first theme is that of nonarchy, the royal state and the culture of politics in sixteenth-century France. The growth in authority of the Valois kings Louis XII, Francis I and Henry II was visible to contemporaries and later generations, although its causes, nature and scope have been debated. Here, we will examine evolving theories of kingship and changes in state administration at the centre and in the provinces of France - law-making and the judiciary, including the parlements, growth of fiscal apparatus and exactions, administrative growth across the realm - all were vital to the new assertiveness of the crown. The religious wars which broke out in the early 1560s reduced the practical authority of the later Valois kings and limited their freedom of action. The result was a series of creative ‘experiments’ in theoretical bolstering, assertion of royal law and the creation of institutions of peace-making and pacification, held together by the royal person, a vital precursor to the absolutist developments of the following century. Across the whole period, other features of political practice affected the development of the royal state: the creation of a public sphere no matter how small, through print and polemic; the marshalling of visual and material culture in the service of political authority; the role of gender and the place of royal women in the exercise of power. The assassination of Henry IV in 1610 – which was a crisis but did not lead to catastrophe for the monarchy – will end the section. The second theme is that of Renaissance, Reformation and religious conflict. The relationship between Church and Crown was central to the theory and practice of royal authority. Religion also lay at the core of all French subjects’ lives. Evangelical reform, influenced by Humanist scholarship, was prominent in France in the first half of the reign of Francis I, who was sympathetic towards it. But as Lutheranism and then Reformed Protestantism or Calvinism expanded, the monarchy moved to repression. Simultaneously, a resurgent Catholicism, influenced by the Council of Trent and other reforming agents, became more militant and yet also more pastorally-focused. These changes will be traced in the chapter, as will the causes and evolution of the religious wars of the later sixteenth century. The religious cultures of Huguenot and Catholic, text, material culture, new religious institutions and popular responses, have received lively study and the ideas of ‘community of believers’ and ‘confessionalisation’ will be touched on here. The third theme is that of communities and networks in sixteenth-century France, that is, social groups and their interaction. Knowledge of the nobility is fundamental to any understanding of the workings of the monarchical state, whether political process or causes of religious war. Noble cultures, patronage and clientage, including the role of women, will be examined as they have received much recent scholarly attention. Also, the changing nature of urban society has growth of population and economies, urbanism and space, and some of the resultant social issues, such as poverty and new forms of poor relief, criminality and justice, family and gender relations. A brief look at other forms of dissidence – namely popular revolt and witchcraft – will also be given. Overall, the chapter will provide a chronology for sixteenth-century France, along with a discussion of causation and consequence, understood through recent historical writing on the period.
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    A Human Laboratory and the Radical Image
    (University of South Wales, 2023-06-01) Kasumovic, Mark
    Delivered as part of the Documentary Futures Symposium at the European Centre for Documentary at the University of South Wales. In the second edition of the Documentary Futures international symposium, we address the state of the image and the rapidly altering landscape of photographic practice in the wake of the explosion and commercialisation of Artificial Intelligence. We explore what role artists, theorists and documentarians can assume within or against the architecture of machine learning at this critical juncture in human-machine development whilst exploring the implications of big data on photography and our shifting relationship to reality as affected by technical imagery. The second aspect and panel of the symposium will seek to understand how we use documentary's own shortcomings and blind spots in a world where fact rather than truth is debated. We discuss what methods are used by practitioners and researchers to embrace the faults, power dynamics and fictions inherent in their medium(s). In doing so we can look to engage in documentary's speculative potential and function in imagining hopeful futures. Recording: https://themothhouse.com/2023/05/08/documentary-futures-online-symposium-redefining-technical-images-and-speculative-blind-spots/
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    Ad-hoc Artist Residencies and the Artist as Researcher
    (London Conference of Critical Thought, 2023-06-01) Kasumovic, Mark
    “A Human Laboratory” is an ongoing visual arts project that explores the many relationships between the artist’s camera and the contemporary scientific techno-instrument. It employs photographic theory, media theory, the philosophy of science and practice-led research to document and explore elaborate scientific experiments. It is particularly interested in complex experiments where researchers are asking questions that are difficult to articulate and whose ramifications are yet unknown. Experiments such as the search for dark matter, understanding the mysteries of quantum mechanics and modelling complex climate change call for creativity and ingenuity, but also require cultural and artistic investigation, which is often considered “after the fact”. What can artists contribute in such curious spaces?
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    The Scientific Instrument and the Camera
    (holt Journal, 2024-01-19) Kasumovic, Mark
    A Human Laboratory is an evolving artist publication consisting of one hundred photographs taken during site visits to thirty-five international scientific research centres, laboratories and field stations over the course of five years. Photographs within this project are accompanied by scientific facts that have been decontextualised and anonymised, loosely chosen for their hypothetical connection to the imagery. This combination of text and image harnesses the symbolic nature of scientific instruments, making apparent the notion that human knowledge is indeed heavily codified and increasingly intangible and that such physical spaces can come to represent the ever “black-boxing” of knowledge construction within culture, amongst other things. This paper proposes that if the primary tool we collectively rely on to understand our visual world is inadequate for describing contemporary visual reality, it sincerely amplifies the notion that we are enveloped within a reality that has little relationship with the material forms that surround us. This problem challenges image makers to move beyond limited and traditional representations and put to work fresh symbolic languages that can reflect a shifting reality. Via examples from A Human Laboratory, poetic and radical photographic documents are analysed for their ability to bring forth new connections in understanding complex phenomena. These categories specifically—via a politic of incoherence—can employ the inventive notions of radical experimentation towards novel interconnections in a visual way.
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    Edward, Harry Francis Vincent
    (Oxford University Press, 2023-06) Polley, Martin
    Biography of Harry Edwards (1898-1973), the first black athlete to win a medal for Great Britain at the Olympic Games (Antwerp 1920).
  • ItemOpen Access
    Risk Management Practices in Malaysia
    (Springer Cham, 2023-07-27) Oke, A. E.; Adetoro, P. E.; Stephen, S.; Aigbavboa, C.; Oyewobi, L.; Aghimien, D.
    This volume describes risk management practices in the construction industry in selected countries, with an emphasis on developing countries and how these countries can learn from the practices in more developed ones. Risk management in the construction industry can be difficult to understand due to the various complex procedures that are involved and to the unique concerns and contexts associated with each project. The industry has been a key contributor to the economic and social development of many countries of the world and is increasingly incorporating sustainability into its practices. However, it is plagued by various risks that can affect the quality, cost, time and overall sustainability of projects. Therefore, there is a need to effectively manage risk in order to ensure timely completion of construction projects in good quality and within budget, which in turn results in more efficient and often more sustainable practices. The book is divided into four parts. The first section features a primer on risk management practices as they pertain to the construction industry. The second part dives to describe risk management in selected developing countries, including Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi-Arabia, South Africa, Sri-Lanka and Tanzania, as well as the city of Hong Kong. The third section describes the construction risk management practices of a selection of more developed countries with known risk management institutes and established practices of risk management. These countries include Australia, Canada, Sweden and the United States of America. The fourth part offers a general overview of the definition, concepts and process of risk management based on reviewed literature. It also discusses the benefits of effective risk management to clients and project teams, especially from the perspective of ensuring sustainability. This last section also summarizes the risk management practices in both developing and developed countries for the purpose of improving the practices in the former by learning from the latter.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Mitigating Overheating Risks for Modern Flats in London Due to Climate Change
    (MDPI, 2023-10-28) Taki, Ahmad; Jariwala, Mansi
    With the increase in global temperatures, a significant threat of overheating has been reported due to more frequent and severe heatwaves in the UK housing stock. This research analyzes dwellings’ physical attributes through overheating assessments and their adaptation for modern flats in London in the current (2022) and anticipated (2050) weather. According to preliminary research, Southeast and London in England, mid-terraced, and flats (especially built post 2012), among other archetypes, were discovered to be the most susceptible to overheating in the UK. This study employed a case study of a 2015 modern flat located in a high-risk overheating zone in London to understand the building’s overheating exposure. A range of Dynamic Thermal Simulations (DTS) was conducted using EnergyPlus with reference to case studies in order to assess the performance of passive cooling mitigation strategies (PCMS) on peak summer days (15 July) as well as during the summer against CIBSE Guide A and ASHARE 55. Reduced window area and LoE triple glazing were identified as excellent mitigation prototypes, in which solar gains through exterior glazing were reduced by 85.5% due to triple glazing. Zone sensible cooling was reduced by 52%, which minimized CO2 emissions. It was also identified that the final retrofit model passed CIBSE Guide A by achieving a temperature threshold of 20 C to 25 C during the summer months, whereas it failed to accomplish the ASHARE 55 criteria (20–24 C). The outcome of this study justifies the necessity of tested PCMS and advises UK policymakers on how to foster resilient housing plans to overcome overheating issues.
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    Photographic Networks in the Venus Transit
    (Science Museum Group, 2023) Wilder, Kelley
  • ItemEmbargo
    Photology, Photography, and Actinochemistry: The Photographic Work of John Herschel
    (Cambridge University Press, 2024) Wilder, Kelley
    John Herschel published at least nine important articles on photographic chemistry between 1819 and 1858. He introduced hyposulphite as a fixer and seven new imaging processes, among them the Cyanotype or, as it became commonly known, the blueprint. He produced negatives on glass, anticipating the breakout innovation of the 1850s by a decade. He is well known for popularizing important vocabulary like “photography,” “snapshot,” “negative,” and “positive,” and he was instrumental in supporting a thriving network of individuals now considered photographic pioneers. This chapter demonstrates how Herschel's contribution to photochemistry should be evaluated outside of photographic history, and how it relates to the growing field of industrial chemistry in the nineteenth century.
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    Designing Sustainable Housing Using a User-Centred Approach: Paipe Case Study
    (MDPI, 2023-09-30) Abbakyari, Maryam; Abuzeinab, Amal; Adefila, Arinola; Whitehead, Timothy; Oyinlola, Muyiwa
    This paper presents a user-centred design method for developing prototype housing designs in the Paipe community of Abuja, Nigeria, addressing the challenges posed by rapid urbanisation in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). UCD is a qualitative methodology that prioritises end users in the design process. This study employs qualitative methods to collect data through interviews, field surveys, and site analysis using a single case study. The UCD approach was used to develop a profile of residents and identify their needs and preferences. Thematic analysis of the data led to the creation of design specifications and prototype designs. Two design options were developed: a cluster design based on field survey observations and an enclosed modern design based on residents’ preferences. This study contends that user-centred design (UCD) is essential for sustainable housing provision in LMICs, aligning with the United Nations’ adequate-housing programme.
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    BartramONeill Actions 2009 - 2014
    (Apple, 2014-03-06) O'Neill, Mary; Bartram, Angela
    Angela Bartram and Mary O’Neill are a collaborative partnership whose work centres on art and ethics and the documentation of performance through situated writing and text that moves beyond formal academic conventions. They offer an alternative creative strategy to the binaries of theory and practice, academic and artist, event and text. The site of their practice is not just the physical location, but includes the artist's body, the anticipated audience, the environment, the document, and the atmosphere. Rather than prioritising one form over another, each manifestation is seen as having generative potential for further creative responses, creating an ongoing work.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Thermal performance characterization of cement-based masonry blocks incorporating rice husk ash
    (Elsevier, 2023-07-21) Onyenokporo, Nwakaego; Taki, Ahmad; Zapata, Luis; Oyinlola, Muyiwa
    Owing to climate change and its effects, interest has grown in finding alternative building materials to improve the energy efficiency of building envelopes and reduce CO2 emissions and costs. This study focuses on the thermal performance of cement-based masonry blocks, which are popular in many parts of the world for masonry wall construction. Masonry blocks were incorporated with rice husks, which are agricultural wastes commonly found in tropical countries and are usually dumped in landfills. Previous research on the use of rice husk ash (RHA) for construction purposes has focused on the durability properties of the product without much consideration for properties such as thermal conductivity or thermal transmittance coefficient (U-value), which are important for quantifying the overall energy performance of buildings. High U-values of building elements typically result in high heat gains in tropical countries, which increases the use of mechanical cooling systems to improve occupants’ thermal comfort, thereby increasing building energy consumption. The study involved an experimental investigation using the laboratory hot box and heat flow metre method for U-value measurements in accordance with BS EN ISO 8990 and 9869. Several samples were prepared by partially replacing Portland cement with 5%, 10%, and 15% RHA by weight of cement. The results reflect up to a 17% reduction in the U values and thermal conductivities of all block samples. The lowest value of 3.04 W/m2K was obtained from RHA 15% compared to 3.67 W/m2K from the control sample. The results of this study show the prospects of improving building energy consumption, occupants’ thermal comfort, and building CO2 emissions using masonry blocks incorporating RHA for external building walls in tropical countries.
  • ItemEmbargo
    Daylight Performance Simulation Prediction Accuracy: Processing Speed Trade-off
    (College Publishing, 2023-06-20) Abdelwahab, Sahar; Rutherford, Peter; Mayhoub, Mohammed
    In daylighting performance simulations of façade systems, a trade-off is often required between processing speed and prediction accuracy. This is particularly relevant at design onset, where plausible simulation outcomes are essential to drive decisions between several alternative façade configurations. To help address this trade-off, this paper presents a sensitivity analysis evaluating the influence of key input parameter settings, namely ambient bounces and grid size, on the convergence of performance outcomes and on simulation run times. The results provide statistical evidence that, although lower precision settings mostly accelerate calculations, they decrease the accuracy of prediction estimates, particularly for complex façades. Conversely, the relative increased accuracy resulting from higher precision simulations might reach a point where differences have a negligible practical impact. The paper concludes with a range of recommendations to support the early-stage selection of parameter settings and contributes to more robust simulation outcomes towards reducing the gap between simulated and measured data.