101,934 research outputs found
Recommended from our members
System-level key performance indicators for building performance evaluation
Quantifying building energy performance through the development and use of key performance indicators (KPIs) is an essential step in achieving energy saving goals in both new and existing buildings. Current methods used to evaluate improvements, however, are not well represented at the system-level (e.g., lighting, plug-loads, HVAC, service water heating). Instead, they are typically only either measured at the whole building level (e.g., energy use intensity) or at the equipment level (e.g., chiller efficiency coefficient of performance (COP)) with limited insights for benchmarking and diagnosing deviations in performance of aggregated equipment that delivers a specific service to a building (e.g., space heating, lighting). The increasing installation of sensors and meters in buildings makes the evaluation of building performance at the system level more feasible through improved data collection. Leveraging this opportunity, this study introduces a set of system-level KPIs, which cover four major end-use systems in buildings: lighting, MELs (Miscellaneous Electric Loads, aka plug loads), HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning), and SWH (service water heating), and their eleven subsystems. The system KPIs are formulated in a new context to represent various types of performance, including energy use, peak demand, load shape, occupant thermal comfort and visual comfort, ventilation, and water use. This paper also presents a database of system KPIs using the EnergyPlus simulation results of 16 USDOE prototype commercial building models across four vintages and five climate zones. These system KPIs, although originally developed for office buildings, can be applied to other building types with some adjustment or extension. Potential applications of system KPIs for system performance benchmarking and diagnostics, code compliance, and measurement and verification are discussed
A metal–organic framework/α-alumina composite with a novel geometry for enhanced adsorptive separation
The development of a metal–organic framework/α-alumina composite leads to a novel concept: efficient adsorption occurs within a plurality of radial micro-channels with no loss of the active adsorbents during the process. This composite can effectively remediate arsenic contaminated water producing potable water recovery, whereas the conventional fixed bed requires eight times the amount of active adsorbents to achieve a similar performance
Causality Problem in a Holographic Dark Energy Model
In the model of holographic dark energy, there is a notorious problem of
circular reasoning between the introduction of future event horizon and the
accelerating expansion of the universe. We examine the problem after dividing
into two parts, the causality problem of the equation of motion and the
circular logic on the use of the future event horizon. We specify and isolate
the root of the problem from causal equation of motion as a boundary condition,
which can be determined from the initial data of the universe. We show that
there is no violation of causality if it is defined appropriately and the
circular logic problem can be reduced to an initial value problem.Comment: 5 page
On Resource-bounded versions of the van Lambalgen theorem
The van Lambalgen theorem is a surprising result in algorithmic information
theory concerning the symmetry of relative randomness. It establishes that for
any pair of infinite sequences and , is Martin-L\"of random and
is Martin-L\"of random relative to if and only if the interleaved sequence
is Martin-L\"of random. This implies that is relative random
to if and only if is random relative to \cite{vanLambalgen},
\cite{Nies09}, \cite{HirschfeldtBook}. This paper studies the validity of this
phenomenon for different notions of time-bounded relative randomness.
We prove the classical van Lambalgen theorem using martingales and Kolmogorov
compressibility. We establish the failure of relative randomness in these
settings, for both time-bounded martingales and time-bounded Kolmogorov
complexity. We adapt our classical proofs when applicable to the time-bounded
setting, and construct counterexamples when they fail. The mode of failure of
the theorem may depend on the notion of time-bounded randomness
- …