An approach to optimal nearly zero-energy buildings under Finnish and Spanish conditions

Europe has stablished the path towards nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEB), soon required in every new construction and large renovation in existing buildings. Regarding to this, the European energy performance of buildings directive (EPBD) proposes to search for cost-optimal building designs. The current study explores a great number of single-family house configurations, consisting on different energy-saving measures and energy-supply systems. In order to do this, a multi-stage methodology is used to reduce the number of needed simulations, performed by the Dynamic Building Energy Simulation model (DBES). The studied cases consist on single-family houses in Finland and Spain. Starting from reference buildings in these countries, different envelope parameters, heat recovery units, heating/cooling systems and renewable energy sources were considered. Results reveal cost-optimal solutions with primary energy consumption close to 125 kWh/m2a in Finland and 122 kWh/m2a in Spain. In order to achieve nZEB level, i.e., to reduce that consumption to 50 kWh/m2a, 20 m2 of PV-panels are needed in Spain to generate electricity. However, this value rises to 50 m2 in Finland. Global annual costs remain similar, or lower in the case of Spain, to those of the reference buildings. It has been proved that improving the insulation of the thermal envelope beyond current regulation requirements is not cost-efficient. Low installation-cost heating systems (e.g. air-to-air heat pumps) are the base of cost-optimal solutions, under the financial parameters considered in this study. Although, more efficient systems (e.g. ground source heat pumps) could soon reach the cost-optimal solutions if their costs keep decreasing

Evaluación de las propiedades físico mecánicas del concreto F’C=210 Kg/Cm2 sustituyendo el agregado grueso por alambrón reciclado, Huaraz - Ancash - 2021

Este presente trabajo tiene como título “Evaluación de las Propiedades Físico Mecánicas del Concreto F’c=210 Kg/Cm2 Sustituyendo el Agregado Grueso por Alambrón Reciclado, Huaraz-Ancash -2021”, con el objetivo de determinar las Propiedades Físico Mecánicas del concreto f’c=210 kg/cm2 sustituyendo el agregado grueso por alambrón reciclado, Huaraz-Ancash -202; así mismo, el tipo de estudio a fue aplicada y experimental. En los resultados se encontró que al usar el alambrón reciclado en la mezcla de concreto al 11% se tiene 4 ½” de Slump y con 14% se encontró 3 pulgadas de Slump, en cuanto, la resistencia de flexión y compresión aumenta fuerza la resistencia de medida que pasa los días; además se observó que la concentración adecuada es con la sustitución al 11%. En conclusión el uso del alambrón reciclado mejora las propiedades físicas mecánica del concreto

Passive smoking at home is a risk factor for community-acquired pneumonia in older adults: a population-based case-control study

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether passive smoking exposure at home is a risk factor for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in adults. SETTING: A population-based case-control study was designed in a Mediterranean area with 860 000 inhabitants >14 years of age. PARTICIPANTS: 1003 participants who had never smoked were recruited. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Risk factors for CAP, including home exposure to passive smoking, were registered. All new cases of CAP in a well-defined population were consecutively recruited during a 12-month period. METHODS: A population-based case-control study was designed to assess risk factors for CAP, including home exposure to passive smoking. All new cases of CAP in a well-defined population were consecutively recruited during a 12-month period. The subgroup of never smokers was selected for the present analysis. RESULTS: The study sample included 471 patients with CAP and 532 controls who had never smoked. The annual incidence of CAP was estimated to be 1.14 cases×10(-3) inhabitants in passive smokers and 0.90×10(-3) in non-passive smokers (risk ratio (RR) 1.26; 95% CI 1.02 to 1.55) in the whole sample. In participants ≥65 years of age, this incidence was 2.50×10(-3) in passive smokers and 1.69×10(-3) in non-passive smokers (RR 1.48, 95% CI 1.08 to 2.03). In this last age group, the percentage of passive smokers in cases and controls was 26% and 18.1%, respectively (p=0.039), with a crude OR of 1.59 (95% CI 1.02 to 2.38) and an adjusted (by age and sex) OR of 1.56 (95% CI 1.00 to 2.45). CONCLUSIONS: Passive smoking at home is a risk factor for CAP in older adults (65 years or more)

Relationship between the use of inhaled steroids for chronic respiratory diseases and early outcomes in community-acquired pneumonia.

Background The role of inhaled steroids in patients with chronic respiratory diseases is a matter of debate due to the potential effect on the development and prognosis of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). We assessed whether treatment with inhaled steroids in patients with chronic bronchitis, COPD or asthma and CAP may affect early outcome of the acute pneumonic episode. Methods Over 1-year period, all population-based cases of CAP in patients with chronic bronchitis, COPD or asthma were registered. Use of inhaled steroids were registered and patients were followed up to 30 days after diagnosis to assess severity of CAP and clinical course (hospital admission, ICU admission and mortality). Results Of 473 patients who fulfilled the selection criteria, inhaled steroids were regularly used by 109 (23%). In the overall sample, inhaled steroids were associated with a higher risk of hospitalization (OR=1.96, p = 0.002) in the bivariate analysis, but this effect disappeared after adjusting by other severity-related factors (adjusted OR=1.08, p=0.787). This effect on hospitalization also disappeared when considering only patients with asthma (OR=1.38, p=0.542), with COPD alone (OR=4.68, p=0.194), but a protective effect was observed in CB patients (OR=0.15, p=0.027). Inhaled steroids showed no association with ICU admission, days to clinical recovery and mortality in the overall sample and in any disease subgroup. Conclusions Treatment with inhaled steroids is not a prognostic factor in COPD and asthmatic patients with CAP, but could prevent hospitalization for CAP in patients with clinical criteria of chronic bronchitis

Empfehlung zur Weiterentwicklung des Berliner Energie- und Klimaschutzprogramms 2030

EMPFEHLUNG ZUR WEITERENTWICKLUNG DES BERLINER ENERGIE- UND KLIMASCHUTZPROGRAMMS 2030 Empfehlung zur Weiterentwicklung des Berliner Energie- und Klimaschutzprogramms 2030 / Alt-Harnack, Claudia (Rights reserved) ( -

An approach to optimal nearly zero-energy buildings under Finnish and Spanish conditions

Europe has stablished the path towards nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEB), soon required in every new construction and large renovation in existing buildings. Regarding to this, the European energy performance of buildings directive (EPBD) proposes to search for cost-optimal building designs. The current study explores a great number of single-family house configurations, consisting on different energy-saving measures and energy-supply systems. In order to do this, a multi-stage methodology is used to reduce the number of needed simulations, performed by the Dynamic Building Energy Simulation model (DBES). The studied cases consist on single-family houses in Finland and Spain. Starting from reference buildings in these countries, different envelope parameters, heat recovery units, heating/cooling systems and renewable energy sources were considered. Results reveal cost-optimal solutions with primary energy consumption close to 125 kWh/m2a in Finland and 122 kWh/m2a in Spain. In order to achieve nZEB level, i.e., to reduce that consumption to 50 kWh/m2a, 20 m2 of PV-panels are needed in Spain to generate electricity. However, this value rises to 50 m2 in Finland. Global annual costs remain similar, or lower in the case of Spain, to those of the reference buildings. It has been proved that improving the insulation of the thermal envelope beyond current regulation requirements is not cost-efficient. Low installation-cost heating systems (e.g. air-to-air heat pumps) are the base of cost-optimal solutions, under the financial parameters considered in this study. Although, more efficient systems (e.g. ground source heat pumps) could soon reach the cost-optimal solutions if their costs keep decreasing

Mechanical and thermal properties of calcium carbonate-filled PP/LLDPE composite

Polymer blends typically are the most economical means to develop new resins for specific applications with the best cost/performance balance. In this paper, the mechanical properties, melting, glass transition, and crystallization behavoir of 80 phr polypropylene (PP) with varying weights of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) at 10, 20/ 20 wt % CaCO3, 30, 40, and 50 phr were studied. A variety of physical properties such as tensile strength, impact strength, and flexural strength of these blends were evaluated. The compatibility of these composite was examined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to estimate Tm and Tc, and by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) to estimate Tg. The fractographic analysis of these blends was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It has been confirmed that increasing the LLDPE content trends to decreases the tensile strength and flexural strength. However, increasing the LLDPE content led to increases in the impact strength of PP/LLDPE blends. It was also found that up to 40 phr the corresponding melting point (Tm) was not effected with increasing LLDPE content. Each compound has more than one Tg, which was informed that there is a brittle-ductile transition in fracture nature of these blends, the amount of material plastically deformed on the failure surface seems to increase with the increasing the LLDPE content. And PP/LLDPE blends at temperature (23°C) showed a ductile fracture mode characterized by the co-existence of a shear yielding process; whereas at lower temperature (-20°C) the fractured surfaces of specimens appear completely brittle. The specimens broke into two pieces with no evidence of stress whitening, permanent macroscopic deformation or yielding

Reuse of aeronautical uncured prepreg

The content of this project is focused on the development of a process to reuse uncured A350 prepreg scrap obtained in production plants. The main aim is to reduce the current buy to fly ratio, which is the used raw material versus the material that will finally fly and, thus, to achieve clear benefits in terms of environmental aspects. The key properties of the new virgin material obtained after this reusing process have been evaluated in order to assess potential applications in aeronautical or other fields (e.g. automotive, sport, civil works…). Additionally, some aeronautical demonstrators or pilot cases with the reused material and process were produced. Regarding the key conclusions of this workt up to now: an effective process has been developed to reuse A350 uncured prepreg scrap, mainly mono-ply, based on chopping the prepreg to obtain a new virgin material, which will be used to produce a part by applying a compression molding process. Although the properties of the new raw material show high scatter, some of them stay close or even higher versus the reference (e.g. CAI). To end with, several aeronautical demonstrators with acceptable quality have been produced with the prepreg reuse process developed in this project (e.g. complex brackets, gaskets, manholes…)