Building systems and indoor environment : simulation for design decision support

This paper outlines the state-of-the-art in integrated building simulation for design support. The ESP-r system is used as an example where integrated simulation is a core philosophy behind the development. The paper finishes with indicating a number of barriers, which hinder routine application of simulation for building design

Integrated simulation for (sustainable) building design : state-of-the-art illustration

Many buildings are still constructed or remodelled without consideration of energy conserving strategies or other sustainability aspects. To provide substantial improvements in energy consumption and comfort levels, there is a need to treat buildings as complete optimised entities not as the sum of a number of separately optimised components

Wireworm Control using Fodder Rape and Mustard – evaluating the use of brassica green manures for the control of wireworm (Agriotes spp.) in organic crops

In a field experiment at ADAS Pwllpeiran in 2001, brassica green manures were grown for 6 weeks and dug in before planting King Edward potatoes, to see if they suppressed wireworm in the crop. There was a trend for potatoes grown after mustard to suffer less damage from both wireworms and slugs than potatoes grown after fodder rape or no green manure, but the differences were not significant. Further trials, with longer green manuring periods, are needed to establish if there is a benefit, and whether the breakdown products of brassica green manures are toxic to wireworms

Research and Teacher Education: The BERA-RSA inquiry. Policy and Practice within the United Kingdom.

Across the four jurisdictions of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) initial teacher education (ITE) is under active development, with its content, location, control and quality often the focuses of sustained debate. Statutory and professional requirements for the sector inevitably reflect differing assumptions about teaching, teacher knowledge and governance. In exploring ITE across the four jurisdictions, this paper reviews policies and practices through two major focuses: first, the relationships between the declared teacher standards (competencies/competences) and research-informed teacher education provision; second, the ‘turn or (re)turn to the practical’ in teacher education, including policy declarations, changes in practices, and emphases and effects of the discourse(s) of relevance

Catalytic constructive deoxygenation of lignin-derived phenols: new C-C bond formation processes from imidazole-sulfonates and ether cleavage reactions

Funding: UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)As part of a programme aimed at exploiting lignin as a chemical feedstock for less oxygenated fine chemicals, several catalytic C-C bond forming reactions utilising guaiacol imidazole sulfonate are demonstrated. These include the cross-coupling of a Grignard, a non-toxic cyanide source, a benzoxazole, and nitromethane. A modified Meyers reaction is used to accomplish a second constructive deoxygenation on a benzoxazole functionalised anisole.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Quantum Faraday Effect in Double-Dot Aharonov-Bohm Ring

We investigate Faraday's law of induction manifested in the quantum state of Aharonov-Bohm loops. In particular, we propose a flux-switching experiment for a double-dot AB ring to verify the phase shift induced by Faraday's law. We show that the induced {\em Faraday phase} is geometric and nontopological. Our study demonstrates that the relation between the local phases of a ring at different fluxes is not arbitrary but is instead determined by Faraday's inductive law, which is in strong contrast to the arbitrary local phase of an Aharonov-Bohm ring for a given flux.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Why radical transformation is necessary for gender equality and a zero carbon European construction sector

This chapter is set in the context of European Union (EU) policy to reduce environment carbon emissions through the European Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), which – despite EU equality objectives – remains gender-blind and in accordance with ecological modernisation, technology-driven, and oriented to innovation. Difficulties in implementing the EPBD relate to vocational education and training (VET) and the labour process requirements for nearly zero energy building (NZEB). The reasons for the failure of VET and labour market policies and practices to improve the participation of women and what is needed to overcome barriers to their inclusion are highlighted. Combined, the requirements for the inclusion of women and a sustainable construction process, provide the pillars on which a transformed industry can be constructed. In examining local and organisational examples of where women have been successfully included and/or NZEB has been achieved, the ingredients are identified for developing an eco-equitable and socially useful construction sector and the coalition of actors involved – above all the public authorities, VET institutions, unions, women in construction, and environmental organisations

Unions and the green transition in construction in Europe: contrasting visions

The construction industry, responsible for 40% of European Union (EU) end-use emissions, is targeted as a major area of transformation particularly through the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive requiring nearly zero energy building (NZEB). Through a case study approach, union responses to EU strategy on the implementation of energy efficiency standards are evaluated in Denmark, Germany, Italy and UK (Scotland), presenting a varied picture, from minimal acknowledgement to broad support along the lines of ecological modernisation to radical transformation. Radical appraisals of the industry and its exploitative and high-carbon practices are rare, though engaging with the employment and vocational education and training (VET) implications. The article presents a labour-centred alternative to a technical-driven transition agenda, focusing on how the labour process needs to change in a sector dominated by small firms, self-employment, a fragmented labour process, and often low levels of VE

Just Green Transitions and Global Labour Organisations

This report presents the findings from two research projects undertaken under the programme Adapting Canadian Work and Workplaces to Respond to Climate Change: Canada in International Perspective, based in York University, Ontario, Canada