ENVIRONMENT, INCOME, AND DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

It is widely believed that rural forest and agricultural resources in Southern Africa are overused, in the sense that both biomass and harvest levels are significantly below levels of maximum sustainable yield. However, economic theory suggests that high interest and time preference rates cause the economic optimum to coincide with generally-observed patterns. In addition, low income may be the driving factor behind high interest and time preference rates. In macro-economic terms, Southern Africa may be experiencing a productivity crisis. This leads to a downward shift in the labor demand curve, and an equilibrium result with undesirably low wage rates, high unit labor costs, and high and growing unemployment. In this context, the imposition of pollution control costs might worsen an already negative macro-economic picture. The mechanism would be a reduction in exports and an increase in imports. The productivity problem, in turn, may be a result of social factors unique to Southern Africa. Improvement in these social conditions could resolve much of the economic problem of low productivity. A review of the literature on technology transfer and green technologies offers little basis to presume that new technologies can alter this picture. One approach to positive remedies is to examine international solutions. Three kinds of potential environmental policies are: (A) tradeable pollution permits, (B) leveraged World Bank environmental adjustment programs, and (C) international petroleum taxation and income transfer. Given Southern Africa's unique position as a source of global industrial raw materials, it should be possible to develop policies that simultaneously enhance income levels and environmental protection.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

A review of the lighting performance in buildings through energy efficiency

As developing countries including Malaysia, are now moving towards sustainable development is in line with the Ninth Malaysia Plan, 9th MP, the development should be built to meet current and future needs for achieving sustainability of economic development, social and environmental responsibility for the prosperity without compromising the future generations‘ needs. Over the past five years, there has been a move away from constructing new buildings to refurbishing older and historic ones. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to review and evaluate the approach for the refurbishment of lighting as well as the existing energy efficiency policy and measures in Malaysian historical building for the energy efficiency improvement in the future. The paper takes the form of a review of literature. The main sources of this literature research are based on the articles, journals, and internet search. This study perhaps can add to the breadth of knowledge of lighting performance in the historical building from the perspective of energy efficiency. This study offers new and valuable insights to Malaysia in achieving optimum energy efficiency, saving in financial as well as reducing environmental impact.This paper has been presented at 2nd International Conference on Research in Science, Engineering and Technology (ICRSET’2014) March 21-22, 201

The Daylight Imperative

Hospitals in the US are typically built as thick buildings due to a desire to optimize travel distances and functional relationships within and between clinical and supporting departments. However, this building configuration disconnects building occupants in core work areas from daylight and views to nature. It also promotes high energy consumption due to excessive use of artificial lighting and air-condition. Yet, having access to daylight and the view to nature in buildings is important for human health and wellbeing, especially in hospitals. Daylight regulates the body«s circadian rhythm, is necessary to produce Vitamin D, affects mood, lowers stress, increases concentration, and enables performance of visual tasks. Additionally, having access to daylight can improve the recovery process, it is effective as an antidepressant, and reduces pain. Furthermore, daylit hospitals have a great potential for energy savings, if their design integrates appropriate daylighting strategies and recognition of local climatic conditions. Future generations of hospital design need to become healthier places to deliver care, and become healthier for the planet by minimizing their significant impact on carbon driven climate change. Therefore, improving access to daylight and connections to nature should be a major design driver for hospital buildings and other large healthcare building typologies to protect the health of building occupants and support the 2030 challenge to protect global health and natural resources. An extensive literature review was conducted to study the impact of daylight in buildings on human health and wellbeing as well as the potential for energy savings. Architectural typologies used for hospital buildings in the US and Europe were explored for daylight penetration. Current hospital designs illustrate chances and challenges for providing daylight and views to the outside in core clinical areas. The increasingly dense and compressed footprints of US hospitals make it difficult to integrate daylight without moving to more perforated plans or narrow wings as employed in other parts of the world. The study of global best practices, together with literature research, were used as basis for the development of daylight design guidelines for future US hospitals, that meet the requirements of contemporary programs and codes. Guidelines that were developed include 1) Orientation and location, 2) Narrow building footprint, 3) Perforated thick building footprint, 4) Courtyards in patient, staff and public areas, 5) Shading, and 6) Skylights and clerestories in patient, staff and public areas. A design-proposal for a mid-size [146 bed] community hospital (one of the most common hospital types in the US), implementing the developed daylight-design guidelines, is presented as a test case. The Montgomery hospital replacement project in Norristown, Pennsylvania was picked to implement the thesis proposal on a challenging tight urban site to create a hospital based on the proposed concept: \u27Form Follows Daylight\u27

Iluminação para espaços de trabalho sem janelas

Currently, a human spends about 90% of their time indoors, therefore, increasingly spaces are designed to promote comfort and natural light. The lack of a quality indoor space can be the cause of several health problems, such as the inhibition of hormones that affect heart rate, mood and performance. Thus, experts consider the human being a biophilic species, since it is dependent on nature. Besides, the proximity to large windows, natural materials and plants promote your health and well-being. In this sense, this project seeks to answer this problem by developing lighting for a windowless space. The project was conceived for a workspace, taking into account that it is where an ordinary citizen spends most of their day, as well as, where comfort and productivity are essential. In an initial approach to the theme, the search for projects with the same problematic demonstrated that there are already several proposals in this area, indicated for domestic environments, thereby showing the opportunity of the workspace. However, this is a medium with special needs and requirements, and it cannot jeopardize the eye health of its users due to an emotional luminaire. The projected peak in the proposal of a lighting system composed of two types of lighting that balance the needs of the workspace. To this end, an analysis of the workspace and its needs was made, culminating in the design in a versatile and pragmatic way. The system consists of a support structure and two luminaires, designed to be efficient and innovative, balancing the emotional and visual aspect of the user. One of the lamps mimics the sun and the other maintains the balance of the luminance levels of the space. This draft comes after a market analysis of solar mimic lighting fixtures and, its shape and purpose were outlined by the analysis of the selected target audience and space, the office. After the ideal functioning of the product was idealized, we sought to know the shape and elements that can materialize it, from the design of the shape to the design of its electrical system. Throughout the project, the disciplines of design and engineering were addressed in the methodology and procedures used to carry out this project conceptually.Atualmente, o ser humano passa cerca de 90% do seu tempo em espaços interiores e, por isso, cada vez mais os espaços são projetados por forma a promover conforto e luz natural. A falta de um espaço interior de qualidade pode estar na origem de vários problemas de saúde, tais como a inibição de hormonas que afetam o ritmo cardíaco, humor e produtividade. Deste modo, os especialistas consideram o ser humano uma espécie biofólica, uma vez que é dependente da natureza. Ademais, a proximidade a grandes janelas, materiais naturais e plantas promovem a sua saúde e bem-estar. Neste sentido, este projeto procura dar resposta a esta problemática ao desenvolver iluminação para um espaço sem janelas. O projeto foi concebido para um espaço de trabalho, tendo em conta que é onde um cidadão comum passa a maior parte do seu dia, assim como, onde o conforto e a produtividade são essenciais. Numa abordem inicial ao tema, a pesquisa por projetos de problemática idêntica demonstrou que existem já diversas propostas neste âmbito, indicadas para ambientes domésticos, evidenciando, assim, a oportunidade do espaço de trabalho. No entanto, este é um meio com necessidades e requisitos especiais, não podendo colocar em causa a saúde ocular dos seus utilizadores em função de uma luminária emocional. O projeto culmina na proposta de um sistema de iluminação composto por dois tipos de iluminação que equilibram as necessidades do espaço de trabalho. Para tal, foi feita uma análise do espaço de trabalho e das suas necessidades, culminando no desenho de uma forma versátil e pragmática. O sistema é composto por uma estrutura de apoio e duas luminárias, concebidas para serem eficientes e inovadoras, equilibrando a vertente emocional e visual do utilizador. Uma das luminárias mimetiza o sol e a outra mantem o equilíbrio dos níveis de luminância do espaço. Esta proposta surge depois de uma análise de mercado de luminárias de mimetização solar e a sua forma e propósito foram delineadas pela análise do publico e espaço alvo selecionado, o escritório. Após idealizado o funcionamento ideal do produto, procurou-se conhecer a forma e elementos que o podem materializar, desde a o desenho da forma á conceção do seu sistema elétrico. Ao longo do projeto abordaram-se as disciplinas do design e da engenharia na metodologia e procedimentos usados por via a realizar conceptualmente este projeto.Mestrado em Engenharia e Design de Produt

A Review on Energy Consumption Optimization Techniques in IoT Based Smart Building Environments

In recent years, due to the unnecessary wastage of electrical energy in residential buildings, the requirement of energy optimization and user comfort has gained vital importance. In the literature, various techniques have been proposed addressing the energy optimization problem. The goal of each technique was to maintain a balance between user comfort and energy requirements such that the user can achieve the desired comfort level with the minimum amount of energy consumption. Researchers have addressed the issue with the help of different optimization algorithms and variations in the parameters to reduce energy consumption. To the best of our knowledge, this problem is not solved yet due to its challenging nature. The gap in the literature is due to the advancements in the technology and drawbacks of the optimization algorithms and the introduction of different new optimization algorithms. Further, many newly proposed optimization algorithms which have produced better accuracy on the benchmark instances but have not been applied yet for the optimization of energy consumption in smart homes. In this paper, we have carried out a detailed literature review of the techniques used for the optimization of energy consumption and scheduling in smart homes. The detailed discussion has been carried out on different factors contributing towards thermal comfort, visual comfort, and air quality comfort. We have also reviewed the fog and edge computing techniques used in smart homes

Application of remote sensing to selected problems within the state of California

There are no author-identified significant results in this report