The Impact and mitigation of Climate Change on the building performance of nonresidential buildings: Case studies of typical UK supermarkets

The UK Government's Climate Change Act (CCA) aims to achieve a net zero greenhouse gas emission by 2050. Supermarkets, being among the most energy-intensive non-residential buildings, play a pivotal role in this endeavour. This research delves into the influence of climate change on supermarket buildings, exploring methodologies to mitigate its impact and assessing its effects on operational energy and carbon emissions. The United Nations has emphasized the built environment's significant contribution to global CO2 emissions, necessitating urgent action. Using a quantitative approach, this study employs the TAS – EDSL software to simulate energy consumption, carbon emission, and building regulations for various supermarket case studies. The research also evaluates the performance of these buildings across different UK climates and emission scenarios, incorporating EU Zebra2020 tool metrics. The primary challenge encountered was the scarcity of literature specifically targeting the UK supermarket industry in the context of climate change. The research underscores the importance of balancing energy consumption, carbon emissions, and future climate adaptations, especially given the industry's nZEB target by 2050. The findings of this study serve as a beacon for all non-residential buildings, bridging the knowledge gap between climate change, building futureproofing, and emission reduction strategies. The research underscores the importance of long-term planning, continuous monitoring of energy-intensive buildings, and the holistic approach of reducing emissions across a building's lifespan. This research aims to guide policymakers and building designers in future-proofing structures, emphasizing the need for energy-efficient measures and the integration of renewable technologies. The overarching goal is to foster the creation of sustainable, climate-resilient buildings for future generations

The Metamorphosis of a Logic: Identifying changing conceptions of CSR in the corporate environment

Corporate Social Responsibility has been a phenomenon in the corporate sector since its inception in the mid-20th century. Over the first decade of the 21st century corporations have been engaging and producing CSR efforts in greater numbers. However, there seems to be a very diverse understanding of CSR between theorists and amongst corporations. This study aims to divine what corporations understand as CSR and by investigating what these firms produce in their CSR reporting. This study employs novel data mining techniques to mine data from these reports. It them approaches them using the Institutional Logics perspective and Institutional theory to understand the organisation dynamics at play. This study then contends that the meaning of CSR has indeed shifted over the period in question. It proves this by identifying logics that form CSR and using them to track the development of these ideas across the decade. Using this date this study proves that CSR has now become a complex idea that includes both the drive to deliver social good and the need to satisfy the needs of the organisation

The Effects of Aerobic Exercise on NF-κB and TNF-α in Lung Tissue of Male Rat

Background:Regular aerobic exercise improves theBackground: Regular aerobic exercise improves the inflammatory status in different lung diseases. However, the effects of long-term aerobic exercise on the lung response have not been investigated. The present study evaluated the effect of aerobic exercise on the lung inflammatory.Materials and Methods: 12 adult male Wistar rats were divided to 2 groups: A: control (n=6), B: aerobic exercise (five times per week for 4 week; n=6). The gene expression of NF-κB and TNF-α were analyzed in lung tissue by Real time–PCR. In order to determine the significant differences between groups independent t-test were used.Results: Aerobic exercise inhibited the gene expression of NF-κB and TNF-α. But there was no significant difference between A and B groups for TNF-α and NF-κB.Conclusion: We conclude that four week aerobic exercise decrease inflammatory status in lung tissue. Our results indicate a need for human studies that evaluate the lung responses to aerobic exercise

Prioritization and Management of Industrial Waste in the Ninth Refinery of South Pars Gas Complex

The gas production operation in the gas refinery, in addition to creating special and ordinary wastes, also leads to the production of industrial wastes. Failure to properly manage special waste in such refineries will cause environmental hazards and threaten the workforce’s health. This research aimed to identify, differentiate and prioritize industrial wastes in this refinery to eliminate or reduce environmental risks. After collecting waste information, 19 cases of industrial waste were identified in process units and facilities. Then the data was analyzed through documentation, expert theory and Delphi method, and according to the importance of multi-criteria decision-making method for ranking and waste management, TOPSIS method was used for prioritization. The findings showed waste Sulfur with an amount of 86%, has the highest priority of relative proximity to high-risk waste and mixed laboratory containers, with an amount of 20%, have the least priority of relative proximity to low-risk waste among industrial wastes. Also, based on the percentage distance of the relative closeness of the residues to each other, 5 groups (about 26%) are at the high level, 6 groups (about 32%) are at the medium level and 8 groups (about 42%) are at the low level of industrial wastes were placed

Investigating the potential impact of future climate change on UK supermarket building performance

The large-scale shifts in weather patterns and an unprecedented change in climate have given rise to the interest in how climate change will affect the carbon emissions of supermarkets. This study investigates the implications of future climatic conditions on the operation of supermarkets in the UK. The investigation was conducted by performing a series of energy modelling simulations on a LIDL supermarket model in London, based on the UK Climate Projections (UKCP09) future weather years provided by the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE). Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations were used to perform the experiment, and the baseline model was validated against the actual data. This investigation ascertains and quantifies the annual energy consumption, carbon emissions, and cooling and heating demand of the supermarket under different climatic projections, which further validate the scientific theory of annual temperature rise as a result of long-term climatic variation. The maximum percentage increase for the annual energy consumption for current and future weather data sets observed was 7.01 and 6.45 for the 2050s medium emissions scenario, (90th) percentile and high emissions scenario, (90th) percentile, respectively, and 11.05, 14.07, and 17.68 for the 2080s low emissions scenario, (90th) percentile, medium (90th) percentile and high emissions scenario (90th) percentile, respectively. A similar inclining trend in the case of annual CO2 emissions was observed where the peak increase percentage was 6.80 and 6.24 for the 2050s medium emissions scenario, (90th) percentile and high (90th) percentile, respectively and 10.84, 13.84, and 17.45 for the 2080s low emissions scenario, (90th) percentile, medium emissions scenario (90th) percentile and high emissions scenario (90th) percentile, respectively. The study also analyses the future heating and cooling demands of the three warmest months and three coldest months of the year, respectively, to determine future variance in their relative values

The Effect of Occupants’ Behaviour on the Building Performance Gap: UK Residential Case Studies

Studies have shown that the assumptions used to create dynamic thermal models of buildings do not reflect their actual energy use. Bridging the energy performance gap is vital in ensuring that a designed or retrofitted building meets the energy performance targets. Using thermal analysis simulation software TAS, this paper presents a simulation model of seven different UK single family houses. The results from the various models are validated by comparing the actual energy demand against the simulated consumption. The simulation results show that the heating set point has the greatest impact on the simulated energy demand. The results also demonstrate that the energy demand of the dwellings can be reduced by applying window opening schemes and by controlling the heating setpoint temperature and schedule. Plug load consumption is also con-sidered by using plug load data of real UK households, as obtained from a longitudinal study, and calibrating the model based on average plug load contributions for the households. The results showed that, by increasing the heating set point and window opening schedules by 10% from self-reported data, and by considering an additional 12% for plug loads, the energy performance gap is reduced to less than >15% for all examined houses

Comparative analysis of the whole life carbon of three construction methods of a UK-based supermarket

The built environment has been a significant contributor to global carbon emissions. It, therefore, has a vital role to play in the reduction efforts of future climate change. While the design of buildings may determine future energy use for cooling, heating, and lighting during the operational stage of the building, this study aims to observe the effect of the building design on the operational as well as the whole-life carbon emissions. Past studies have focused on either the operational carbon or the embodied carbon of a building. Using a cradle-to-grave assessment of a typical UK supermarket, this study explores the relationship between embodied carbon and operational carbon. Additionally, it examines the effects of the variables between three approved construction methods of the same design on the whole life of carbon. These methods are a steel structural frame and cladding panel external wall, steel frame and poroton walls, precast concrete and glulam frame and precast concrete walls. The findings of this research will contribute to mitigation strategies for the environmental impacts of supermarket building construction whilst providing a framework for future assessment of the whole-life carbon of supermarket buildings. Practical Application: Employing the life cycle assessment methodology, this paper examines the potential of minimising both embodied and operational carbon by observing the whole life carbon. Highlighting the influence of the GHG emission contributing factors in each stage on each other. Additionally, the recommended methodology for the supermarket building types of this case study, could be adapted for other types of buildings. The findings could also augment carbon emission research and guide the development of supermarket buildings to low carbon intensive. Furthermore, collaboration with the industry in carrying out this research aids in adopting the findings as practical and theoretical guides for engineers and designers in reducing the building sector’s harmful environmental impact