Effects of buildings’ refurbishment on indoor air quality. Results of a wide survey on radon concentrations before and after energy retrofit interventions

Energy regulation, policy and targets enhance energy retrofit in buildings with a wide distribution in Europe and Switzerland. These actions are mainly aimed at reducing heat dispersion through the envelope. The interventions affect the permeability of the envelope influencing indoor air quality. Focusing on radon concentration, this study reports the results of a survey on 154 buildings measuring the radon concentrations before and after energy remediation. The buildings were located in the southern part of Switzerland (Canton Ticino), a region with measurements of radon concentration in more than half of the buildings (over 55,000 building in 2018), within a population of approximately 355,000. These figures make this region an area with an exceptionally high number of radon measurements, performed in 2005–10 upon mandate of the local public health authorities. The survey reveals the increasing of radon concentrations, in particular where windows were replaced with more performant ones. Results underline the need of considering energy saving and indoor air quality at the same time, in the frameworks of orienting public and private investment towards improving long-term public health. Adequate techniques for improving ventilation could be very helpful to that end

Analysis of the electricity consumptions: A first step to develop a district cooling system

Space cooling represents an increasingly and often understated important energy demand even in moderate climates. Usually space cooling is provided at building level by electric driven appliances. This implies several problems in summer due to the peak of electricity consumption. Analytical methods for investigating energy consumption due to space cooling demand at urban or regional level are needed. The research here reported is focused on the territory of southern Canton Ticino, in Switzerland, and is based on real data provided by the local electricity company. The research investigates the electricity consumptions of big users in order to verify if there is a significant cooling demand, how this demand affects electricity consumptions and if this demand can be satisfied by district cooling (DC). The possible DC connections were selected by a defined procedure and mapped by GIS, as well as the density of the electricity consumption and the peak power. Three main areas suitable for DC were identified. The analysis demonstrates that DC could represent an alternative to electric driven air conditioning systems, with benefits for the consumers, the utilities and the environment

Indoor radon and air quality investigations in new or renovated energy-efficient swiss single-family dwellings

The perspectives of a new energy crisis subsequent to the depletion of natural resources along with the increase of energy costs make, more than forty years after the first oil crisis, energy savings a priority. This lead to rethink building practices so as to make it more sustainable and economical in terms of energy consumption by ensuring the air tightness and a good thermal insulation. Indeed, the less we ventilate such sealed houses, the more moisture, number and level of pollutants increase in the indoor environment. The deterioration of the indoor air quality and the appearance of occupants non-specific health disorders are the consequences. Preliminary results indicate the attention to pay to energy-efficient buildings. On the one hand, the concentration of indoor radon has a clear tendency to increase after an energy saving action. On the other hand, it appears that even though the new Swiss energy efficient houses seem less affected by this problem than the traditional renovated houses, or even transformed according to these label requirements, unexpected situations may still arise. People living in energy saving buildings need to be well informed about the risks and about “what-to-do and not-to-do” living in such “high tech” houses. Maintenance of technical installation can also be troublesome

РЫНОК ПЕРЕСТРАХОВАНИЯ В ПЕРИОД ГЛОБАЛЬНОЙ РЕЦЕССИИ

Abstract: В статье исследован рынок перестрахования в период глобальной рецессии. Рассмотрен рынок перестрахования и его место в глобальном страховом пространстве. Рассмотрены сущность рынка перестрахования и особенности его развития. Выделены процессы капитализации на мировом рынке перестрахования, определен процесс становления рынка перестрахования и циклы его развития. Раскрыто современное состояние отечественного и иностранного рынка перестрахования и тенденции его развития в условиях глобальной рецессии. Раскрыт механизм функционирования глобальных перестраховщиков на рынке перестрахования. Раскрыто перспективы развития отечественного рынка перестрахования с учетом глобальных тенденций

Using Smartphones to Profile Mobility Patterns in a Living Lab for the Transition to E-mobility

Part 2: Smart and Mobile Devices Used for Environmental ApplicationsInternational audienceThe diffusion of electric vehicles is currently the most promising opportunity to reduce the dependency on fossil fuel in the mobility sector. However, the adoption of the electric vehicles seems to be still hindered by psychological and behavioural barriers. Thus, in order to understand and to foster the transition towards more sustainable mobility styles, it becomes essential to adopt an inter-disciplinary approach. In this framework, the e-mobiliTI project was launched in late 2012 in Southern Switzerland. It aims at understanding the potential for transition in the mobility system at the local level, with a special focus on electric mobility. The project builds upon a small living lab made up of around twenty families, who will be monitored in all their trips through smart mobile devices, in order to get quantitative data, and through focus groups, in order to get qualitative data and perceptions.Here we discuss the major challenge in the initial stage of the e-mobiliTI project, that is the gathering of reliable and high-quality data on users’ behaviour. We describe the automatic tracking system, and the data processing and the qualitative assessment approach and comment on the overall performances of the living lab experiment

A method for mapping areas potentially suitable for district heating systems. An application to Canton Ticino (Switzerland)

The technical literature underlines the strategic role of district heating systems (DHS) in the decarbonization process in the European context. The main scope of this work is to develop a method for identifying areas potentially suitable for DHS, taking heat need density as the main metric. The method is tested for the case study of Canton Ticino (Switzerland) and allows analysis of the total and public building stock. This implies the collection and elaboration of energy data about public buildings, providing a dataset formerly unavailable. Because these buildings are managed by a few owners who are generally asked to be exemplary in terms of sustainability, they could have a pivotal role for the development of DHS. By using a multi-criteria and GIS- supported method, the study ensures the mapping of areas potentially suitable for DHS and renewable sources available for thermal purposes toward low carbon targets. Based on the results of the research, it is estimated that potentially 17% of the global heat needs in Canton Ticino could be satisfied by DHS, by also exploiting thermal renewable energy sources locally available. The consistency of the method was tested through a validation on the existing DHS