38,662 research outputs found
Energy efficiency opportunities in the service plants of cast iron foundries in Italy
Though in a foundry most of the energy is used in the process plants and particularly in energizing furnaces, service plants require absolutely large amounts of energy, above all as electricity. The most energy consuming service is compressed air preparation, but large amounts are due to lighting, HVAC, pumps and fans. These energy users are common to most of industrial branches with different weights both in absolute and relative terms.
This paper reports on the experience of some energy audits carried out in five Italian cast iron foundries allowing to identify the relative importance of different services in this industrial branch. The analysis is based on real data measured during the audits. Energy saving actions were then conceived, comparing the results of new technologies applied in some factory sectors and the energy usage of the previous equipment
Training of Social Workers in the Innovative Educational Environment of a University: Conceptual Ideas and Innovation Mechanisms
The study presents a reflection of the problem of innovation training of future social workers in Ukraine in the context of forming the innovative educational environment of higher educational institutions.
Changes in the system of social workers training are characterized, frames of adding and widening their realization by conceptual ideas and mechanisms as to education in the field of social work are outlined. There is presented the multi-vector type of educational evolution in the field of social education that provides co-existence, development and interaction of conceptions, statements and views, different by their ideas as to the theoretical-methodological base of social workers training.
Solving the problem of functioning of the innovative educational environment of social workers training provides a purpose-oriented preparation to elaboration and implementation of social work innovations, based on ideas of pedagogical innovation, competence-oriented and project teaching, social partnership. This process is specially organized, purpose-oriented, dynamic, which socio-pedagogical conditions are realized in the common activity of teaching subjects due to integration of innovative possibilities of the educational environment and personal potential of a specialist, support of students\u27 ideas and initiatives, introduction of the method of situational modeling of social situations, provision of teaching subjects\u27 interaction as a special type of social partnership of state institutions and public organizations.
Such social workers training provides orientation on general scientific principles (system, open, variation, complex ones), concrete-scientific principles of organizing the educational environment (subjective activity, innovation, reflection, integration of the content of educational and other types of activity, principle of social partnership as realization of interaction between social institutions, organization of studio training).
It has been proved, that renovation of social workers training as a process of purpose-oriented support of the innovative content of environment possibilities corresponds to the characteristics (practice-orientation, polyfunctionality, openness, innovativeness) and may be provided by organization-managerial, scientific-methodological, activity-practical mechanisms
Green buildings and design for adaptation: strategies for renovation of the built environment
The recent EU Directives 2010/31 and 2012/27 provide standards of nearly zero energy buildings for new constructions, aiming at a better quality of the built environment through the adoption of high-performance solutions. In the near future, cities are expected to be the main engine of development while bearing the impact of population growth: new challenges such as increasing energy efficiency, reducing maintenance costs of buildings and infrastructures, facing the effects of climate change and adjusting on-going and future impacts, require smart and sustainable approaches. To improve the capability of adaptation to dynamics of transformation, buildings and districts have to increase their resilience, assumed as ‘the capacity to adapt to changing conditions and to maintain or regain functionality and vitality in the face of stress or disturbance’ (Wilson A., Building Resilience in Boston, Boston Society of Architects, 2013). This paper describes the research methodology, developed by the Department of Architecture, a research unit of Technology for Architecture, to perform the assessment of resilience of existing buildings, as well as the outcomes of its application within Bologna urban context. This methodology focuses on the design for adaptation of social housing buildings, aiming at predicting their expected main impacts (energy consumption, emissions, efficiency, urban quality and environmental sustainability) and at developing models for renovation
Large firms and catch-up in a transitional economy: the case of Shougang Group in China
This study examines the possibility of catch-up of the Chinese steel industry, in particular the Shougang Group, with the leading global steel giants. Shougang is one of the four steel companies that have been selected by the Chinese government to constitute the core of the future Chinese steel industry. The contract system at Shougang, which operated from 1979 to 1995, unleashed an extraordinary entrepreneurial energy in the formerly traditional state-run steel plant. In the post-contract system, Shougang's range of decision-making independence in respect to the purchase of inputs, its production structure and product marketing has increased substantially compared to the contract system, when the government still controlled many of the key decisions. As a result of institutional constraint, the low value-added steel products dominate Shougang's portfolio. To challenge the established giants in the steel industry, Shougang has to divest the loss-making non-core businesses, slowly downsize employment in the core business, raise capital on the stock market and generates the resources for continued upgrading of its steel technology and diversifying its product portfolio
Assessment and mitigation strategies to counteract overheating in urban historical areas in Rome
As urban overheating is increasing, there is a strong public interest towards mitigation strategies to enhance comfortable urban spaces, for their role in supporting urban metabolism and social life. The study presents an assessment of the existing thermal comfort and usage of San Silvestro Square in Rome during the summer, and performs the simulation of cooling strategies scenarios, to understand their mitigation potential for renovation projects. The first stage concerns a field analysis of the thermal and radiative environment on the 1st and 2nd of August 2014, including meteorological measurements and unobtrusive observations, to understand how people experience and respond to extreme microclimate conditions. In the second stage, the research proposes scenario simulations on the same day to examine the influence of cool colored materials, trees and vegetative surfaces on thermal comfort. The thermal comfort assessment was based on Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET), whereas microclimatic simulations were conducted with CFD calculations (ENVImet v.4.3.1). The first stage shows a strong relationship between lower PET values and attendance rate, depending on daily shading patterns. The second stage shows a relevant improvement of thermal comfort, with PET values of 12 °C comparing to the no-intervention scenario, associated with a combination of cool materials and trees
Bibliometric Maps of BIM and BIM in Universities: A Comparative Analysis
Building Information Modeling (BIM) is increasingly important in the architecture and engineering fields, and especially in the field of sustainability through the study of energy. This study performs a bibliometric study analysis of BIM publications based on the Scopus database during the whole period from 2003 to 2018. The aim was to establish a comparison of bibliometric maps of the building information model and BIM in universities. The analyzed data included 4307 records produced by a total of 10,636 distinct authors from 314 institutions. Engineering and computer science were found to be the main scientific fields involved in BIM research. Architectural design are the central theme keywords, followed by information theory and construction industry. The final stage of the study focuses on the detection of clusters in which global research in this field is grouped. The main clusters found were those related to the BIM cycle, including construction management, documentation and analysis, architecture and design, construction/fabrication, and operation and maintenance (related to energy or sustainability). However, the clusters of the last phases such as demolition and renovation are not present, which indicates that this field suntil needs to be further developed and researched. With regard to the evolution of research, it has been observed how information technologies have been integrated over the entire spectrum of internet of things (IoT). A final key factor in the implementation of the BIM is its inclusion in the curriculum of technical careers related to areas of construction such as civil engineering or architecture
Work Organisation and Innovation - Case Study: Company X, Slovenia
[Excerpt] Company X is one of the largest and most successful commercial grocery retailing chains in south-eastern Europe (Euromonitor, 2011). It was established over 60 years ago in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Company X is the largest Slovenian retailer with 24,000 employees and approximately a third of the market share for its sector (Gvin.com, 2012). Company X also operates in six other countries in the region: Serbia (9% market share), Croatia (9% market share), Bosnia and Herzegovina (5% market share), Montenegro (19% market share), Bulgaria (0.5% market share) and Albania (1% market share) (Company X, 2011). Company X’s main activity is retail and wholesaling of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG). The chain has been expanding its core activity by selling clothing, furniture and household appliances as well. Company X has 1,581 outlets including hypermarkets, supermarkets, convenience stores, specialised stores, etc. (Company X, 2011)
Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Roofs and Pavements. A Case Study at Sapienza University Campus
The progressively emerging concept of urban resilience to climate change highlights the
importance of mitigation and adaptation measures, and the need to integrate urban climatology
in the design process, in order to better understand the multiple effects of combined green and
cool technologies for the transition to climate responsive and thermally comfortable urban open
spaces. This study focuses the attention on selected mitigation and adaptation technologies; two
renovation scenarios were designed and modeled according to the minimal intervention criterion. The
study pays attention to the effect on surface temperature and physiological equivalent temperature
(PET) of vegetation and high albedo materials characterizing the horizontal boundaries of the site.
The Sapienza University campus, a historical site in Rome, is taken as a case study. These results
highlight the importance of treed open spaces and the combination of permeable green pavements
associated with cool roofs as the most effective strategy for the mitigation of summer heatwaves and
the improvement of outdoor thermal comfort
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