Energy efficiency interventions in UK higher education institutions

This paper provides an insight into energy efficiency interventions studies, focusing on issues arising in UK higher education institutions (HEIs) in particular Based on a review of the context for energy efficiency and carbon reduction programmes in the UK and the trends in higher education sector, existing external and internal policies and initiatives and their relevant issues are extensively discussed To explore the efficacy of some internal intervention strategies, such as technical, non-technical and management interventions, a survey was conducted among UK higher education institutions between February and April 2008 Consultation responses show that there are a relatively high percentage of institutions (83%) that have embarked on both technical and non-technical initiatives, which is a demonstration to the joined-up approach in such area Major barriers for intervention studies are also identified, including lack of methodology, non-clarity of energy demand and consumption issues, difficulty in establishing assessment boundaries, problems with regards to indices and their effectiveness and so on Besides establishing clear targets for carbon reductions within the sector, it is concluded that it is important to develop systems for effectively measuring and evaluating the Impact of different policies, regulations and schemes in the future as the first step to explore (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserve

Adoption of Retrofit Strategies for the Housing Sector in Northern Cyprus

This research project is undertaken in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (T.R.N.C.). The study focuses on identifying refurbishment activities capable of diagnosing and detecting the underlying problems alongside the challenges offered by the buildings’ typology in addition to identifying the correct construction materials in the refurbishment process, which allow for the maximisation of expected energy savings. The objective of the research is to investigate the occupants’ behaviour and role in the refurbishment activity by exploring how and why occupants decide to change building components and how to understand why and how occupants consider using energy-efficient measurements. The housing estates are chosen from 22 different projects in four different regions of the T.R.N.C. that include urban and suburban areas. There is, therefore, a broad representation of the common drivers in the property market, each with different levels of refurbishment activity and this is coupled with different samplings from different climatic regions within the country. The study is conducted through semi-structured interviews to identify occupants’ behaviour as it is associated with refurbishment activity. This paper presents the results of semi-structured interviews with 70 homeowners in a selected group of 22 housing estates in five different parts of the T.R.N.C. Alongside the construction process and its impact on the environment, the results point out the need for control mechanisms in the housing sector to promote and support the adoption of retrofit strategies and to minimize non-controlled refurbishment activities, in line with diagnostic information of the selected buildings. The expected solutions should be effective, environmentally acceptable and feasible, given the type of housing projects under review, with due regard for their location, the climatic conditions within which they were undertaken, the socio-economic standing of the house owners and their attitudes, local resources and legislative constraints. Furthermore, the study goes on to insist on the practical and long-term economic benefits of refurbishment under the proper conditions and why this should be fully understood by the householders

Energy Performance Development of Non-regulated Retrofit Mass Housing Estates in Northern Cyprus

This research project was undertaken in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (T.R.N.C). The objective of the research is to investigate the occupants’ behaviour and role in the refurbishment activity; to explore how and why occupants decide to change building components and to understand why and how occupants consider using energy-efficient materials. The study is conducted through semi-structured interviews to identify occupants’ behaviour as it is associated with refurbishment activity. This research paper presents the results of semi-structured interviews with 70 homeowners in a selected group of 16 housing estates in four different regions of the T.R.N.C. The expected solutions should be effective, environmentally acceptable and feasible given the type of housing projects under review, with due regard for their location, the climatic conditions within which they were undertaken, the socio-economic standing of the house owners and their attitudes, local resources and legislative constraints. Furthermore, the study goes on to insist on the practical and long-term economic benefits of refurbishment under the proper conditions and why this should be fully understood by the householders

An Investigation of Urban Process and Mass Housing Estates Development Through Topographical Formations in Urban Peripheries: A Case Study of Famagusta, Cyprus

Problems in mass housing estates in Famagusta, Cyprus, have been an issue for urban planning and policy interventions for many years. Neighbourhoods were designed featuring modernist residential tower blocks and suburban row houses with insufficient green areas and no consideration of either the climatic features of the built site or of urban planning, regulations or law. This study discusses ongoing, uncontrolled construction trying to change the contemporary urban environment, based on the features of housing and urbanism. It investigates whether the natural landscape and extensions to topography have played decisive roles in the construction of mass housing estate developments and uses of the rural periphery of this city. The study develops a base case of urban transformation models representing the morphological characteristics of buildings from three distinct construction eras (the 1970s, 1990s and 2010s). The information collected is enriched and verified by site surveys. Through three case studies, the types of buildings in each era are analysed and evaluated in relation to a number of environmental factors, including analyses of the different context layers, to ascertain the existing strength of the urban block development configurations as well as to evaluate their shortcomings under the threat of urban sprawl. The findings not only provide ground research for developing urban retrofit scenarios, but also employ sustainable planning tools based on those urban processes

Low-energy design strategies for retrofitting existing residential buildings in Cyprus

Problems on mass housing estates are currently a topic for research on energy and policy interventions in Cyprus. Modernist urban detached/semi-detached and suburban row houses often have insufficient green areas and lack consideration of the climatic features of the building site where the neighbourhoods are designed without concern for urban planning laws and regulations. These purpose-built residential building stock models represent 30% of the existing building stock. This research primarily investigates the potential of particular design interventions in detached two-storey houses in a Mediterranean climate in order to reduce the need for fossil fuel to heat and cool the houses. The aim of this study is to develop and test feasible retrofit strategies aimed at optimising the energy performance of the existing residential buildings. To accomplish this, the study first examines the energy performance of a building before and after the retrofitting phases as base case scenario models. The Autodesk Revit 2017 plug-in Green Building Studio energy performance analysis software was used for simulation of the adapted energy-efficient retrofit measures. This study also outlines the results from the prototype analysis to demonstrate the difference between a retrofitted building and the existing state of a building in their respective energy use impacts

An Analysis of the Development of Modular Building Design Elements to Improve Thermal Performance of a Representative High Rise Residential Estate in the Coastline City of Famagusta, Cyprus

Passive design strategies can reduce heating and cooling demands with integration of more efficient building systems as well as the potential to integrate modular off-site construction technology and its technical systems to offset overall energy consumption. This study evaluates the energy performance of the nationally representative post-war social housing estate in the southeastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus where the weather is subtropical (Csa) and partly semi-arid (Bsh). This study employed a mixed methods research design approach which was based on a thorough field study that consisted of a questionnaire survey conducted with residents of the social housing estate in the hottest summer month of August, to explore the occupants’ thermal sensation votes (TSVs), their habitual adaptive behaviour, and home energy performance concurrently. On-site environmental monitoring was performed, and in-situ measurements of each occupied space were recorded to identify ‘neutral’ adaptive thermal comfort. The selected representative high-rise residential development was modelled using Integrated Environmental Solutions’ Virtual Environment (IES-VE) software, where extensive dynamic thermal simulations have been produced to assess existing energy performance and energy effectiveness of retrofitting strategies. The results demonstrated that a moderate–strong relationship was found between orientation and reasons for thermal discomfort (χ2 = 49,327, p < 0.001, Cramer’s V = 0.405). Individual levels of thermal comfort were not limited to household socio-demographic characteristics, however; environmental factors were also determinants in the development of adaptive thermal-comfort theory. Furthermore, the occupants’ TSVs indicated that in a southeastern Mediterranean climate, 28.5 °C is considered a neutral temperature, and the upper limit of the indoor-air thermal-comfort range is 31.5 °C

Feasibility of Application of Modern Methods of Construction in Iran

Various plans and policies have been adopted by the Iranian Government to address the housing shortages in Iran. Some of these policies have been successful and some have failed dramatically deteriorating the housing conditions. Technology transfer from other countries, such as the UK, may facilitate industrialisation which has been recognised as an effective way to address housing deficiencies in Iran. The Iranian and UK construction industries, however, differ in various respects which may increase the risk of failure if transferred technologies are not adapted to Iranian needs and conditions. This paper compares the current conditions of the Iranian and UK construction industries to identify the risks and opportunities if Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) were to be transferred from the UK to Iran. Several issues such as demand and supply, regulations and standards, practicality, costs, design, sustainability, and governmental policies have been studied in detail. The results reveal that MMC could potentially improve the housing conditions in Iran by addressing major issues such as skilled labour shortages, energy and materials wastes, building quality and speed of construction. The major risks are also identified as volatile economy and housing market, transportation and industry capacity. The chance of successful adoption is considerably higher for those MMC that are suitable for small projects, do not require highly skilled labour and heavy machinery, and are compatible with prevailing methods of construction in Iran

Recycling of Tire Waste Using Pyrolysis: An Environmental Perspective

End-of-life tires are a common and hazardous type of waste. According to estimates, over 2 billion tires are produced each year, and all of these tires will eventually be discarded as waste. Landfilling waste tires is strictly prohibited by the regulations of the European Union and the Environmental Protection Agency; they should be retreated and reused in an alternative scenario. As a waste-to-energy technology, pyrolysis, can emerge as a useful technique to thermally degrade waste tires and produce useful byproducts in the form of liquid, gas, and char. The derived products can be filtered and used in further industries as biofuel substances. Pyrolytic oil has a high calorific value of 35–45 MJ/kg and can be used as an alternative to diesel to fuel specific vehicles. However, the environmental footprint of the technology has been widely neglected when using waste tires as feedstock. Made from synthetic and natural rubbers, tires contain a high amount of sulfur and styrene, which can cause toxic emissions and negatively affect the environmental sustainability of pyrolysis. This concept paper aims to elaborate the parameters of an operating rotary kiln reactor by reviewing previous life cycle assessment studies and applying the methodology to an industrial-scale pyrolysis plant in Northern Cyprus. Results found a maximum production yield of 45.6% oil at an optimal temperature of 500 °C. Influential parameters such as temperature, residence time, and heating rate are reviewed based on their overall contribution to the production yield and the environment. The outcome of this paper emphasizes the need in the literature to apply environmental analyses to industrial and commercial-scale reactors to test the sustainability of using pyrolysis as a tire waste management strategy. In addition, complex engineering concepts and tasks in waste recycling will be discussed in a broad and accessible manner, with the implications and future work discussed

Discovery of the Orbit of the Transient X ray Pulsar SAX J2103.5+4545

Using X-ray data from the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), we carried out pulse timing analysis of the transient X-ray pulsar SAX J2103.5+4545. An outburst was detected by All Sky Monitor (ASM) October 25 1999 and reached a peak X-ray brightness of 27 mCrab October 28. Between November 19 and December 27, the RXTE/PCA carried out pointed observations which provided us with pulse arrival times. These yield an eccentric orbit (e= 0.4 \pm 0.2) with an orbital period of 12.68 \pm 0.25 days and light travel time across the projected semimajor axis of 72 \pm 6 sec. The pulse period was measured to be 358.62171 \pm 0.00088 s and the spin-up rate (2.50 \pm 0.15) \times 10^{-13} Hz s^{-1}. The ASM data for the February to September 1997 outburst in which BeppoSAX discovered SAX J2103.5+4545 (Hulleman, in't Zand and Heise 1998) are modulated at time scales close to the orbital period. Folded light curves of the 1997 ASM data and the 1999 PCA data are similar and show that the intensity increases at periastron passages.Comment: To appear in The Astrophysical Journal (Letters