Life cycle assessment of Integra House: a case study of modern methods of construction using truss technology.

Increasing demand for housing is one of the biggest challenges facing the world. Affordable housing is a key priority of the UK government in addressing this challenge, which calls for innovative constructions to address the issue of fuel poverty at an affordable cost. Timber based modern methods of constructions are believed to be a key way forward for the construction industry to resolve the existing housing crisis while managing the climate change. Therefore, this paper presents a case study of "Integra House", which is a proof of concept of a novel truss technology. The case study is an affordable housing prototype that performs well in both life cycle carbon and cost. The proposed construction uses a novel timber truss technology which makes up the floor, walls and roof of the house, thereby reducing on-site operations and waste, while providing a low carbon low cost design. The prototype underwent a simulation-based optimisation to maximize its performance in cost and carbon by replacing milled timber trusses with whole timber trusses and rockwool insulation with wood wool insulation. Life cycle cost and carbon comparison of the two design prototypes concluded that the whole timber design outperformed the milled timber design in both cost and carbon aspects, by 23% and 30% respectively due to being extremely inexpensive and requiring minimal processing compared to the milled timber option

Design optimisation and prototyping for affordable rural housing.

The current shortage of new-build homes in rural areas calls for innovation and improved productivity. Integra House was designed as part of a project that focused on optimising and prototyping the digitally-integrated production of affordable rural housing. The project also explored the potential for using digital methods in housing construction. The aims of the project were to produce affordable and good quality rural housing, to reduce rural fuel poverty, to improve the health and well-being of occupants, and to reduce waste and CO2 emissions. The design was developed using iterations of computer-aided design (CAD), energy and environmental simulation, and structural and capital/life cycle cost-analysis. The design provided a cases study for the comparison of robotic versus artisan assembly of low-energy and low-carbon rural housing, with an emphasis on affordability. The prototype was constructed using whole and milled timber combinations

Space Telescope and Optical Reverberation Mapping Project. VIII. Time Variability of Emission and Absorption in NGC 5548 Based on Modeling the Ultraviolet Spectrum

We model the ultraviolet spectra of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 5548 obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope during the 6 month reverberation mapping campaign in 2014. Our model of the emission from NGC 5548 corrects for overlying absorption and deblends the individual emission lines. Using the modeled spectra, we measure the response to continuum variations for the deblended and absorption-corrected individual broad emission lines, the velocity-dependent profiles of Lyα and C IV, and the narrow and broad intrinsic absorption features. We find that the time lags for the corrected emission lines are comparable to those for the original data. The velocity-binned lag profiles of Lyα and C IV have a double-peaked structure indicative of a truncated Keplerian disk. The narrow absorption lines show a delayed response to continuum variations corresponding to recombination in gas with a density of ∼105 cm−3. The high-ionization narrow absorption lines decorrelate from continuum variations during the same period as the broad emission lines. Analyzing the response of these absorption lines during this period shows that the ionizing flux is diminished in strength relative to the far-ultraviolet continuum. The broad absorption lines associated with the X-ray obscurer decrease in strength during this same time interval. The appearance of X-ray obscuration in ∼2012 corresponds with an increase in the luminosity of NGC 5548 following an extended low state. We suggest that the obscurer is a disk wind triggered by the brightening of NGC 5548 following the decrease in size of the broad-line region during the preceding low- luminosity state

Space Telescope and Optical Reverberation Mapping Project. VIII. Time Variability of Emission and Absorption in NGC 5548 Based on Modeling the Ultraviolet Spectrum

We model the ultraviolet spectra of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 5548 obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope during the 6 month reverberation mapping campaign in 2014. Our model of the emission from NGC 5548 corrects for overlying absorption and deblends the individual emission lines. Using the modeled spectra, we measure the response to continuum variations for the deblended and absorption-corrected individual broad emission lines, the velocity-dependent profiles of Lyα and C iv, and the narrow and broad intrinsic absorption features. We find that the time lags for the corrected emission lines are comparable to those for the original data. The velocity-binned lag profiles of Lyα and C iv have a double-peaked structure indicative of a truncated Keplerian disk. The narrow absorption lines show a delayed response to continuum variations corresponding to recombination in gas with a density of ~105 cm−3. The high-ionization narrow absorption lines decorrelate from continuum variations during the same period as the broad emission lines. Analyzing the response of these absorption lines during this period shows that the ionizing flux is diminished in strength relative to the far-ultraviolet continuum. The broad absorption lines associated with the X-ray obscurer decrease in strength during this same time interval. The appearance of X-ray obscuration in ~2012 corresponds with an increase in the luminosity of NGC 5548 following an extended low state. We suggest that the obscurer is a disk wind triggered by the brightening of NGC 5548 following the decrease in size of the broad-line region during the preceding low-luminosity state