The indispensability of good operation & maintenance (O&M) manuals in the operation and maintenance of low carbon buildings

Increase in energy usage, particularly from fossil fuel sources is widely understood to be responsible for the environmental problems (Climate Change) experienced globally today. Response to mitigating this anthropogenic induced consequence created the need for innovative low carbon and renewable technologies in buildings. In the UK presently, every new building is expected to be low-carbon and energy-efficient. However, it is widely acknowledged that significant differences often exist between designed and in-use performances of the buildings. Clients and end-users of these technologies appear not to be getting long term value for their investments; much attention has not been given to how these innovative technologies can be operated and maintained long into the future. Recent researches also underpin the fact that the wide information gap existing between designers and building end-users is one of the factors responsible for the performance-gap. This paper therefore presents excerpts of a research aimed at exploring a best practice approach to operability and maintainability of low-carbon-buildings. The research methodology involved the use of interviews, surveys and case study. Findings suggest that a properly prepared O&M manual is a potential document that that could bridge this gap and that it is an indispensable tool for the effective and efficient operation and maintenance of low carbon buildings

Parametric analysis on the performance of a revolutionary rotary Ericsson heat pump/engine

© The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.A revolutionary mechanical heat pump/engine system utilizing the Ericsson thermodynamic cycle has been proposed to provide efficient and environmentally friendly cooling. Computer simulation models have been developed to simulate the rotor positions. Further modelling has been conducted to predict the torque and power of the rotary Ericsson heat pump (REHP). Parametric and optimization study has been conducted to evaluate the factors affecting the mechanical and thermal performance of the conceptually designed REHP. It has been found that the rotor size, compression ratio and base pressure are the factors determining the maximum torque and power of the MG.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Thoughts of a design team: Barriers to low carbon school design

Copyright © 2014 Elsevier. NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Sustainable Cities and Society. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Sustainable Cities and Society Vol. 11 (2014), DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2013.11.006With the increasing threat of serious climate change, various governments are aiming to substantially reduce their carbon emissions. In the UK all new schools and domestic buildings are required to be ‘zero-carbon’ from 2016. Schools are seen as community centres of activity and learning by local authorities, as such there is an emphasis to make schools exemplar buildings within the community and demonstrate best practice with regards to low and zero-carbon design. This paper focuses on what are the pertinent drivers and obstacles to low carbon school design based upon literature review and a survey of experts in the field. We find that more barriers are identified than drivers for low carbon design, with the greatest drivers being legislation, environmental concerns and running costs. The greatest barriers were identified as increased equipment in modern schools, complexity of building systems and the perceived extra cost of low carbon design and technologies. It is suggested that most barriers could be overcome by improving communication between the design team, client and end users, and that truly integrated design teams are the key to mainstream low carbon school design.Devon County Council (as part of the Montgomery School project

Atria

3. edAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:2354.353(BSRIA-Bib-LB--50/88) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Environmental code of practice for buildings and their services

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:3058.14569(1) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

The commissioning of water systems in buildings

Originally published June 1989Available from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:2354.351(2/89/2) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Commissioning of VAV systems in buildings

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:2354.351(1/91) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Environmentally friendly cooling products

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:2354.3538(16/98) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Flushing and cleaning of water systems

30.00Available from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:2354.351(BSRIA-AG--1/89) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Condition based maintenance for building services

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:2354.354(BSRIA-TN--1/95) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo