Towards a Low Carbon Design: A case study of an Industrial Building

In construction industry a large amount of carbon dioxide is emitted due to embodied and operational energy. In order to reduce the carbon emission from buildings during the operation stage to mitigate the climate change impact, some low carbon and clean technologies should be considered. This study analyses the relationship between different carbon-generating activities and the carbon footprint for an industrial case study in the UK using Carbon Neutral Protocol. The research included data collection through networking and visual inspection in order to identify which activities produce the most carbon emissions and allow investigation for solutions to aspire to a future sustainable building and to achieve carbon neutrality. Results from this study showed that operational carbon, especially from electricity and gas are the largest contributor. Results also showed that CO2e from fossil fuel exceeded the standard benchmark for that type of building. Some clean technologies (solar, ground source heat pump) and energy efficient measures (fabric insulation) were suggested in order to minimise the emissions. The impact of these technologies have been modelled with IES-VE software in order to investigate each system size and potential saving. To achieve the carbon neutrality in the case study, the remaining carbon emission has been offset using an international renewable scheme, this requires the industrial building to pay a certain amount of money for each tonne they produced towards installation of any sustainable measure around the world

Cropping Systems as Water Harvesting Techniques for Barley Production in Arid and Semi-arid Areas in Jordan

The application of water harvesting techniques as a sustainability measure of the cropping system for barley production in the Fa’a farming area located in the northern part of Jordan, was investigated

Nonlinear analysis of single model piles subjected to lateral load in sloping ground

Uncertainty associated due to soil-pile interface and unreliable assessment of the pile bearing capacity constructed in sloping ground have been cited as barriers to the wide utilizations of the deep foundations in sloping ground. Extensive studies were conducted concerning the failure mechanism of laterally loaded piles penetrated in horizontal ground. However, the number of studies regarding the pile in sloping ground is scarce in literatures. In this research, a detailed of numerical modelling using Winkler theory is discussed on the basis of finite element and experimental tests for models input parameters to examine the behaviour of the model piles penetrated in sandy soil subjected to lateral load. An Aluminium of open-ended model piles were utilized embedded in dense dry sloping sand of 1.5 horizontal to 1 vertical (1.5H: 1V). Three piles aspect’s ratio of (18, 24 and 30) were selected to examine the behaviour of both flexible and rigid pile. The results revealed that lateral soil stiffness, effective passive wedge, flexural rigidity, EI, pile slenderness’ ratio (lc/d) and sand morphology as confirmed by scanning electronic microscopy, SEM observation play a key-role on the factors effecting the pile capacity and its lateral response

Piles in sandy soil: A numerical study and experimental validation

Pile foundations are structural elements, highly recommended as a load transferring system from shallow inadequate soil layers into competent soil strata with high performance. There are several theoretical and numerical approaches available concerning the pile bearing capacity in cohessionless soil, however, there is a need for the development of an accurate and more robust predictive model. In this technical note, the details of experimental work to investigate the pile bearing capacity penetrated in dense sub rounded sand as confirmed by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) tests with a Dr of 85% is discussed. A testing programme comprised of three types of model piles (steel open-end, steel closed-end and concrete pile). The piles slenderness’s ratios (lc/d) are varied from 12, 17 and 25 to simulate the behaviour of both flexible and rigid pile designs. In addition, a novel approach of multi-layered artificial neural networks (ANNs) based on the Levenberg-Marquardt approach (LM) was developed. Finally, the accuracy of the developed ANN model was evaluated using independent test data. The results indicated that the optimised model is highly suited for predicting of the pile-load capacity for the described soil with correlation coefficient, R and root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.97095 and 0.074025 respectively

Performance analysis of an evolutionary LM algorithm to model the load-settlement response of steel piles embedded in sandy soil

This study was implemented to examine pile load-settlement response and to develop a rapid, highly efficient predictive intelligent model, using a new computational intelligence (CI) algorithm. To achieve this aim, a series of experimental pile load tests were performed on steel, closed-ended pile models consisting of three piles with aspect ratios of 25, 17, and 12 in an attempt to make site in-situ pile-load tests unnecessary. An optimised, evolutionary, supervised Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) training algorithm was used for this process due to its remarkably robust performance. The model piles were penetrated and tested in three sand relative densities; dense, medium, and loose. Applied load (P), pile effective length (lc), pile flexural rigidity (EA), pile slenderness ratio (lc/d) and interface friction angle (δ) were identified, based on a comprehensive statistical analysis, as these parameters play a key role in governing pile settlement. To evaluate the efficiency and the generalisation ability of the proposed algorithm, graphical comparisons were made between the proposed algorithm and the experimental results with further comparisons made with conventional prediction approaches. The results revealed outstanding agreement between the targeted and predicted pile-load settlement with a coefficient of correlation of 0.985 and a Pearson’s correlation coefficient, P = 2.22 × 10−32 and root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.059 respectively. This, in parallel with a non-significant mean square error level (MSE) of 0.002, validates the feasibility of the proposed method and its potential in future applications

Controlling Water Temperature during the Electrocoagulation Process Using an Innovative Flow Column-Electrocoagulation Reactor

A flow column has been innovatively used in the design of a new electrocoagulation reactor (ECR1) that will reduce the temperature of water being treated; where the flow columns work as a radiator for the water being treated. In order to investigate the performance of ECR1 and compare it to that of traditional reactors; 600 mL water samples with an initial temperature of 350C were pumped continuously through these reactors for 30 min at current density of 1 mA/cm2. The temperature of water being treated was measured at 5 minutes intervals over a 30 minutes period using a thermometer. Additional experiments were commenced to investigate the effects of initial temperature (15-350C), water conductivity (0.15 – 1.2 mS/cm) and current density (0.5 -3 mA/cm2) on the performance of ECR1. The results obtained demonstrated that the ECR1, at a current density of 1 mA/cm2 and continuous flow model, reduced water temperature from 350C to the vicinity of 280C during the first 15 minutes and kept the same level till the end of the treatment time. While, the temperature increased from 28.1 to 29.80C and from 29.8 to 31.90C in the batch and the traditional continuous flow models respectively. In term of initial temperature, ECR1 maintained the temperature of water being treated within the range of 22 to 280C without the need for external cooling system even when the initial temperatures varied over a wide range (15 to 350C). The influent water conductivity was found to be a significant variable that affect the temperature. The desirable value of water conductivity is 0.6 mS/cm. However, it was found that the water temperature increased rapidly with a higher current density

Public participation in solid waste management during mega festivals: A pilot study

Large festivals with over 50,000 participants have become a customary but hardly investigated practice in many countries across the world. Festivals management is increasingly being complicated because of their negative consequences such as solid waste accumulation and the destruction to the hosting city attractions. Recycling is an important process to reduce the negative consequences of the waste which public plays an extremely important role regarding its success. Therefore, this study is dedicated to explore campers’ environmental awareness and willingness to participate in the solid waste source separation during mega festivals in Kerbala city, Iraq. The outcome of a structured questionnaire survey completed by 20 camps’ managers during one mega festival showed low environmental awareness among the participants. On the other hand, the majority of the campers were willing to separate their wastes during mega festivals. These results can be invested in establishing a base for implementing a recycling scheme during such festivals

Risk Management - Hygiene and Legionella in water systems in hospitals: Relevance for Facility Management and Facility Services

To guide readers properly, it is necessary to say that this article is part of an ongoing research project. It is divided into four sections. For the purpose of introducing into the topic, a concise summary of the contextual framework and theoretical background is presented first. Here the authors introduce on the topic of hygiene, Legionella and risk management in the context of Facility Management and Facility Services. After sharing the perspective from the research project's context, section two reveals findings of a literature review, which worked out a potential search strategy for people new to the topic. It is also useful for people responsible, who wish to get deeper knowledge about the topics 'responsibility of stakeholders' and the ‘process’ of Legionella prevention. With the contents of section three shifting from research to (legal) practice, some responsibilities of stakeholders and the ‘process’ of Legionella prevention are presented. As the field work of the research project is still running, and participants (interview partners) are still needed, the last section of this article informs briefly about characteristics of the research project

Investigating municipal solid waste management system performance during the Arba’een event in the city of Kerbala, Iraq

Every year, many religious events attended by 300 million pilgrims take place in many holy cities and sites around the world. However, research on municipal solid waste is limited despite the reputation of religious events to generate substantial amounts of waste. This research aims to address this gap and contribute to new knowledge on municipal solid waste management at religious events by investigating and evaluating the municipal solid waste management system applied at the Arba’een event in Kerbala, one of the largest religious events in Iraq. Field observations and in-depth interviews with nine senior managers from Kerbala’s municipalities were conducted during the event in 2016, to develop an overall picture of the municipal solid waste management system applied during the event. The data were analysed using thematic analysis and fed to the ‘Wasteaware’ benchmark indicators framework to evaluate the performance of the event system. The results indicated that the system suffers from operational and governance weaknesses. Despite a focus on municipal solid waste collection and transportation, the collection coverage is only ~ 70%. There is no controlled landfill site in Kerbala. It is estimated that currently ~ 5% of the event municipal solid waste is recycled by informal recyclers: there is no formal recycling scheme. Kerbala does not perform well regarding governance. The inclusivity of providers and users of the municipal solid waste management services is minimal during the event, as the majority of stakeholders are not included in decision-making processes. Municipal solid waste management services are delivered free of charge, thus significantly influencing the financial sustainability of the system. This study recommends that MSW recycling should be encouraged through integrating the informal sector, improving public awareness and introducing a formal recycling scheme to make the event municipal solid waste management system effective and financially sustainable