25,161 research outputs found
A Survey of Green Networking Research
Reduction of unnecessary energy consumption is becoming a major concern in
wired networking, because of the potential economical benefits and of its
expected environmental impact. These issues, usually referred to as "green
networking", relate to embedding energy-awareness in the design, in the devices
and in the protocols of networks. In this work, we first formulate a more
precise definition of the "green" attribute. We furthermore identify a few
paradigms that are the key enablers of energy-aware networking research. We
then overview the current state of the art and provide a taxonomy of the
relevant work, with a special focus on wired networking. At a high level, we
identify four branches of green networking research that stem from different
observations on the root causes of energy waste, namely (i) Adaptive Link Rate,
(ii) Interface proxying, (iii) Energy-aware infrastructures and (iv)
Energy-aware applications. In this work, we do not only explore specific
proposals pertaining to each of the above branches, but also offer a
perspective for research.Comment: Index Terms: Green Networking; Wired Networks; Adaptive Link Rate;
Interface Proxying; Energy-aware Infrastructures; Energy-aware Applications.
18 pages, 6 figures, 2 table
System Design of Internet-of-Things for Residential Smart Grid
Internet-of-Things (IoTs) envisions to integrate, coordinate, communicate,
and collaborate real-world objects in order to perform daily tasks in a more
intelligent and efficient manner. To comprehend this vision, this paper studies
the design of a large scale IoT system for smart grid application, which
constitutes a large number of home users and has the requirement of fast
response time. In particular, we focus on the messaging protocol of a universal
IoT home gateway, where our cloud enabled system consists of a backend server,
unified home gateway (UHG) at the end users, and user interface for mobile
devices. We discuss the features of such IoT system to support a large scale
deployment with a UHG and real-time residential smart grid applications. Based
on the requirements, we design an IoT system using the XMPP protocol, and
implemented in a testbed for energy management applications. To show the
effectiveness of the designed testbed, we present some results using the
proposed IoT architecture.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, journal pape
A sustainable approach towards the retrofit of the public housing building stock: Energy-architectural experimental and numerical analysis
Nowadays, energy retrofit interventions on the existing building stock are of paramount importance towards energy consumption and emissions reductions in the construction sector. Such interventions are also crucial in the view of increasing cities resilience with respect to the intensification of frequent extreme weather events, such as cold spells and heatwaves. Indeed, a wide portion of our cities is dated and lacking with respect to performances. These are the motivations behind the proposed sustainable approach, which deals with the environmental perspective, but also with social and economic ones, by proposing the retrofit of the Public Residential Building stock (Edilizia Residenziale Pubblica, ERP). The objective is to improve the energy performance of ERP stock by means of construction materials coming from local km0 agricultural waste and by-products. The research was conducted by means of in field and numerical analyses of the energy performances of a relevant case study building. Different layers of bio-based, recycled construction materials for the envelope were tested with respect to their efficacy in improving the energy performance of a case study building. The results demonstrate that the most performing envelope solutions and their combination are able to reduce up to 36% of the yearly energy consumption for heating
Exploring the Effects of Climate-Adaptive Building Shells: An Applicative Time-Saving Algorithm on a Case Study in Bologna, Italy
Adaptive façades represent a viable and effective technological solution to reduce the building energy demand for cooling while achieving interesting aesthetic effects on the building envelope to screen solar radiation. During the last decade, many different design solutions, including those based on shape memory alloys, have been experimented to obtain appropriate responses without being dependent on electro-mechanically actuated systems. Several recent and ongoing studies have been published in the scientific literature regarding the different actuator typologies, as well as the different properties of the materials used, which usually determine the adaptive solution characteristics after a series of complex and time-consuming simulations using specialised dy-namic modelling software. Due to the time and resources required, this kind of evaluation is usually delivered during the last and more advanced design stage as a form of assessment of al-ready-taken architectural and technological choices. The study reported in the paper aims to offer a quick, time-saving simplified algorithm to calculate the response of an adaptive façade, ac-cording to the ISO 13790 standards, to be adopted during the early design stage to evaluate the possible effects of design decisions. The study includes three main steps: (a) the conceptualisation of the adaptive solution considering the context conditions; (b) the definition of the calculation algorithm; (c) the application of the method to a test room in a case study building located in Bologna for supporting the discussion of the related outcomes
What Would You Ask to Your Home if It Were Intelligent? Exploring User Expectations about Next-Generation Homes
Ambient Intelligence (AmI) research is giving birth to a multitude of futuristic home scenarios and applications; however a clear discrepancy between current installations and research-level designs can be easily noticed. Whether this gap is due to the natural distance between research and engineered applications or to mismatching of needs and solutions remains to be understood. This paper discusses the results of a survey about user expectations with respect to intelligent homes. Starting from a very simple and open question about what users would ask to their intelligent homes, we derived user perceptions about what intelligent homes can do, and we analyzed to what extent current research solutions, as well as commercially available systems, address these emerging needs. Interestingly, most user concerns about smart homes involve comfort and household tasks and most of them can be currently addressed by existing commercial systems, or by suitable combinations of them. A clear trend emerges from the poll findings: the technical gap between user expectations and current solutions is actually narrower and easier to bridge than it may appear, but users perceive this gap as wide and limiting, thus requiring the AmI community to establish a more effective communication with final users, with an increased attention to real-world deploymen
Das AnthropozÀn - Die Erde in unserer Hand
The Anthropocene concept is a comprehensive conceptual "toolbox" for systemic analysis, interdisciplinary monitoring and a new understanding of the gigantic current impact of human activities on the Earth system. At the same time, it neither implies a fatalistic acceptance of an apocalypse, nor does it promote a simplistic "everything will be fine" positivism, but rather allows differentiated observations from different perspectives. Precisely because of its systemic and interdisciplinary approach, the concept does not narrow possible pathways for the development, propagation and application of future options. On the contrary, the Earth system sciences, social sciences, cultural studies and the humanities together and very clearly express that in order to achieve global development goals such as justice, food security, health, peace and other goals for sustainable development (SDGs) (UNSDGs 2015), we keep on needing "assessable" and predictable conditions of an Anthropocene Earth system (Steffen et al. 2016). In order not to completely switch from the relative stability of the Holocene to incalculable risks, but rather to transform the Anthropocene Earth System into a different, but permanently habitable Anthropocene, it is necessary not to exceed planetary boundaries (sensu Rockström et al. 2009, Steffen et al. 2015b) and to see the SDGs as a compass. For this purpose, continuous monitoring of the state of the Anthropocene Earth system is indispensable.
Only then both safe shelter spaces and a creative leeway for shaping the Anthropocene remain guaranteed. Within this framework, and depending on the region, the culture, the social requirements and the sociopolitical goals, it should be possible to negotiate very freely where the future journey should go. Necessary for that is a generally more holistic, systemic view of the integration of humankind into planetary processes, which means an integration of all societal groups, i.e. politics, science, business, administration, civil society groups and individuals. Another prerequisite is the improvement of future literacy via education in schools, universities, companies etc., with the goal to develop skills for better imagining alternate futures, depicting desirable futures, and designing solution portfolios for them.
(excerpt from the conclusions of the paper
Integral open building design methodology
There is a growing awareness of sustainability that leads towards knowledge transfer and research between companies and the Dutch knowledge and research institutes within the building industry. The principles of the IFD (Industrial Flexible Dismountable) concept aim at an integrated approach within the design process to reach a maximum level of integration between designers from different disciplines. A newly developed methodology for structuring integral design processes enables design team support during designing and further stimulates exchange of ideas and concepts. This approach is tested within a professional context of a building design project. To support architects more effectively with their tasks the domain-independent integral design methodology was developed in the lines with Open building This specific multi-disciplinary approach helpd architecture and engineering. We think that the proposed Integral Design methodology is a possible solution for support of the design team in the conceptual phase of building design
- âŠ