Considering the impact of situation-specific motivations and constraints in the design of naturally ventilated and hybrid buildings

A simple logical model of the interaction between a building and its occupants is presented based on the principle that if free to do so, people will adjust their posture, clothing or available building controls (windows, blinds, doors, fans, and thermostats) with the aim of achieving or restoring comfort and reducing discomfort. These adjustments are related to building design in two ways: first the freedom to adjust depends on the availability and ease-of-use of control options; second the use of controls affects building comfort and energy performance. Hence it is essential that these interactions are considered in the design process. The model captures occupant use of controls in response to thermal stimuli (too warm, too cold etc.) and non-thermal stimuli (e.g. desire for fresh air). The situation-specific motivations and constraints on control use are represented through trigger temperatures at which control actions occur, motivations are included as negative constraints and incorporated into a single constraint value describing the specifics of each situation. The values of constraints are quantified for a range of existing buildings in Europe and Pakistan. The integration of the model within a design flow is proposed and the impact of different levels of constraints demonstrated. It is proposed that to minimise energy use and maximise comfort in naturally ventilated and hybrid buildings the designer should take the following steps: 1. Provide unconstrained low energy adaptive control options where possible, 2. Avoid problems with indoor air quality which provide motivations for excessive ventilation rates, 3. Incorporate situation-specific adaptive behaviour of occupants in design simulations, 4. Analyse the robustness of designs against variations in patterns of use and climate, and 5. Incorporate appropriate comfort standards into the operational building controls (e.g. BEMS)

Fundamental Weights, Permutation Weights and Weyl Character Formula

For a finite Lie algebra $G_N$ of rank N, the Weyl orbits $W(\Lambda^{++})$ of strictly dominant weights $\Lambda^{++}$ contain $dimW(G_N)$ number of weights where $dimW(G_N)$ is the dimension of its Weyl group $W(G_N)$. For any $W(\Lambda^{++})$, there is a very peculiar subset $\wp(\Lambda^{++})$ for which we always have $$dim\wp(\Lambda^{++})=dimW(G_N)/dimW(A_{N-1}) .$$ For any dominant weight $\Lambda^+$, the elements of $\wp(\Lambda^+)$ are called {\bf Permutation Weights}. It is shown that there is a one-to-one correspondence between elements of $\wp(\Lambda^{++})$ and $\wp(\rho)$ where $\rho$ is the Weyl vector of $G_N$. The concept of signature factor which enters in Weyl character formula can be relaxed in such a way that signatures are preserved under this one-to-one correspondence in the sense that corresponding permutation weights have the same signature. Once the permutation weights and their signatures are specified for a dominant $\Lambda^+$, calculation of the character $ChR(\Lambda^+)$ for irreducible representation $R(\Lambda^+)$ will then be provided by $A_N$ multiplicity rules governing generalized Schur functions. The main idea is again to express everything in terms of the so-called {\bf Fundamental Weights} with which we obtain a quite relevant specialization in applications of Weyl character formula.Comment: 6 pages, no figures, TeX, as will appear in Journal of Physics A:Mathematical and Genera

On two theorems for flat, affine group schemes over a discrete valuation ring

We include short and elementary proofs of two theorems characterizing reductive group schemes over a discrete valuation ring, in a slightly more general context.Comment: 10 pages. To appear in C. E. J.

Non-linear Microwave Surface Impedance of Epitaxial HTS Thin Films in Low DC Magnetic Fields

We have carried out non-linear microwave (8 GHz) surface impedance measurements of three YBaCuO thin films in dc magnetic fields $H_{dc}$ (parallel to c axis) up to 12 mT using a coplanar resonator technique. In zero dc field the three films, deposited by the same method, show a spread of low-power residual surface resistance, $R_{res}$ and penetration depth, $\lambda$ (T=15 K) within a factor of 1.9. However, they exhibit dramatically different microwave field, $H_{rf}$ dependences of the surface resistance, $R_s$, but universal $X_s(H_{rf})$ dependence. Application of a dc field was found to affect not only absolute values of $R_s$ and $X_s$, but the functional dependences $R_s(H_{rf})$ and $X_s(H_{rf})$ as well. For some of the samples the dc field was found to decrease $R_s$ below its zero-field low-power value.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. To be published in IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., June 199