Four Years of On-Going Commissioning in CTEC-Varennes Building with a BEMS Assisted CX Tool

The development of Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) offers new opportunities to automate some aspects of commissioning. Reduction of process cost and manual effort on site, transformation of a one time application to a continuous process generating benefits over the entire life of a building, development of a detail systematic approach to improve quality assurance process and integration of energy audit capabilities to improve the overall performance of buildings are some of them. This paper presents the four years result of an on-going commissioning project performed in the CANMET Energy Technology Centre - Varennes (CETC-V) building that has generated 35 % reduction in the energy used. An ongoing BEMS assisted commissioning tool, DABO, developed under IEA Annex 40 by the Canadian team has largely contributed in the verification and optimisation of the performance of the building

A BEMS-Assisted Commissioning Tool to Improve the Energy Performance of HVAC Systems

The evolving capabilities of Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) offer new opportunities to automate some parts of the commissioning process and can generate benefits over the entire life of a building. These benefits include a reduction of process cost and manual effort on site, improved quality assurance process and the adoption of automated energy audit capabilities to improve overall building performance. This paper presents the concept for a new automated commissioning tool that verifies and optimizes the performance of building HVAC systems using the capabilities of BEMS. The tool is applicable mainly to commercial and institutional buildings. In its simplest form, the tool monitors building control data and stores it in a structured database to be used online or upon request. Data resulting from standardized test procedures invoked manually or automatically are also stored in the database. A reasoning algorithm performs an intelligent analysis of the monitored data and also performs additional automated commissioning of HVAC components and systems, identifying faults, diagnosing them, and evaluating the potential energy efficiency improvements. The process is completed by sending detailed comprehensive reports to the user. This paper also includes an example showing how an automated BEMS-assisted commissioning tool can potentially be applied to improve the energy performance of variable-air-volume fan systems

Evaluation of a case-based Reasoning Energy Prediction Tool for Commercial Buildings

This paper presents the results of an energy predictor that predicts the energy demand of commercial buildings using Case Based Reasoning (CBR). The proposed approach is evaluated using monitored data in a real office building located in Varennes, Quebec. The energy demand is predicted at every hour for the following three hours using weather forecasts. The results show that during occupancy, 7:00 to 17:00, the coefficient of variance of the root-mean-square-error (CVRMSE) is below 12.3%, the normalized mean bias error (NMBE) is below 1.3% and the root-meansquare- error (RMSE) is below 16.6 kW. When the statistical criteria are calculated for all hours of the day, the CV-RMSE is 13.9%, the NMBE is 2.7% and the RMSE is 17.9 kW. The case study demonstrates that CBR can be used for energy demand prediction and could be implemented in building operation systems

A new dromaeosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous Wulansuhai Formation of Inner Mongolia, China

We describe a new dromaeosaurid theropod from the Upper Cretaceous Wulansuhai Formation of Bayan Mandahu, Inner Mongolia. The new taxon, Linheraptor exquisitus gen. et sp. nov., is based on an exceptionally well-preserved, nearly complete skeleton. This specimen represents the fifth dromaeosaurid taxon recovered from the Upper Cretaceous Djadokhta Formation and its laterally equivalent strata, which include the Wulansuhai Formation, and adds to the known diversity of Late Cretaceous dromaeosaurids. Linheraptor exquisitus closely resembles the recently reported Tsaagan mangas. Uniquely among dromaeosaurids, the two taxa share a large, anteriorly located maxillary fenestra and a contact between the jugal and the squamosal that excludes the postorbital from the infratemporal fenestra. These features suggest a sister-taxon relationship between L. exquisitus and T. mangas, which indicates the presence of a unique dromaeosaurid lineage in the Late Cretaceous of Asia. A number of cranial and dental features seen in L. exquisitus and T. mangas, and particularly some postcranial features of L. exquisitus, suggest that these two taxa are probably intermediate in systematic position between known basal and derived dromaeosaurids. The discovery of Linheraptor exquisitus is thus important for understanding the evolution of some salient features seen in the derived dromaeosaurids

Using Building Control System for Commissioning

This paper summarizes the different approaches developed during Annex 40 (research project of International Energy Agency - Energy Conservation in Buildings & Community Systems ) for carrying out commissioning activities using the control system. During our work we have found that control systems in buildings have the potential to greatly improve the commissioning process. In particular, control systems can be used to carry out automated testing on the energy systems in a building in a systematic way. Technologies for carrying out automated commissioning are still in their infancy and very few tools are available for practitioners to use. However, our work has demonstrated that tools can be built using existing infrastructure at relatively low cost. In many cases, tools are software programs that can be implemented on most microprocessor-based platforms

Ground simulations of electron current to wide probes for electrodynamic tethers

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/76486/1/AIAA-2001-3337-341.pd

Requirements for Commissioning HVAC Systems Using BEMS and Commissioning the BEMS Itself Based on Questionnaire Surveys

In this paper the present status and requirements for commissioning of HVAC Systems using Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) and commissioning the BEMS itself are investigated and summarized. The information presented is based on the results of the questionnaire and interview survey of experts which was carried out in four countries; Japan, the USA, France and Canada. This paper intends to clarify the requirements and future scope of the above issues by analyzing similarities and differences between the countries

Osteology of the alvarezsauroid Linhenykus monodactylus from the Upper Cretaceous Wulansuhai Formation of Inner Mongolia, China, and comments on alvarezsauroid biogeography

published_or_final_versio

Science, evolution and natural selection: in praise of Darwin at the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn of Naples

Copernicus, Galileo, Newton and other physical scientists ushered in a conception of the universe as matter in motion governed by natural laws. Their discoveries brought about a fundamental revolution, namely a commitment to the postulate that the universe obeys immanent laws that can account for natural phenomena. The workings of the universe were brought into the realm of science: explanation through natural laws. Darwin completed the Copernican revolution by extending it to the living world. Darwin demonstrated the evolution of organisms. More important yet is that he discovered natural selection, the process that explains the 'design' of organisms. The adaptations and diversity of organisms, the origin of novel and complex species, even the origin of mankind, could now be explained by an orderly process of change governed by natural laws. The origin of species and the exquisite features of organisms had previously been explained as special creations of an omniscient God. Darwin brought them into the domain of science