In situ assessment of the fabric and energy performance of five conventional and non-conventional wall systems using comparative coheating tests

Comparative coheating tests have been carried out in five test buildings with walls constructed of Concrete Block Masonry and timber framed Hemp-lime composite, Polyisocyanurate (PIR), Wood Fibre and Mineral Wool. Five different methods of determining heat loss coefficient (HLC) were applied during the data analysis. While some variability in HLC values was observed between the different forms of construction, the hierarchy of HLC values among the test buildings were consistent, with the Concrete Block Masonry exhibiting the highest and Wood Fibre test building exhibiting the lowest HLC values. Except for the Concrete Block Masonry, there was good agreement between the calculated HLC values and those derived by applying the method 5 where the analysis incorporated both the effects of solar radiation and thermal mass. The in-situ U-value for the Concrete Block wall, determined by the average method, was 32.8% higher than its design value, whilst the other wall systems showed marginally lower U-values than their corresponding design U-values

Students’ entrepreneurial intentions: The role of prior learning experiences and emotional, social and cognitive competencies

Despite literature acknowledges that Emotional, Social and Cognitive (ESC) competencies favor entrepreneurial success, research has scantly investigated if they influence entrepreneurial intentions. Moreover, studies use work and extracurricular activities as proxies for competency possession without investigating their impact on competency development. To address this void, we analyze the direct and mediating effects of ESC competencies on self-employment intentions. Results from a sample of university students demonstrate that higher levels of ESC competencies predict entrepreneurial intent, and only international and cultural experiences indirectly favor self-employment intentions. This study offers insight to the debate on competency development in entrepreneurial education