Sun Series program for the REEDA System

Modifications made to data bases and to four programs in a series of computer programs (Sun Series) which run on the REEDA HP minicomputer system to aid NASA's solar activity predictions used in orbital life time predictions are described. These programs utilize various mathematical smoothing technique and perform statistical and graphical analysis of various solar activity data bases residing on the REEDA System

Estimating the impacts of federal efforts to improve energy efficiency: The case of building

The US Department of Energy`s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy [EE] has for more than a decade focused its efforts on research to develop new technologies for improving the efficiency of energy use and increasing the role of renewable energy; success has usually been measured in terms of energy saved or displaced. Estimates of future energy savings remain an important factor in program planning and prioritization. A variety of internal and external factors are now radically changing the planning process, and in turn the composition and thrust of the EE program. The Energy Policy Act of 1992, the Framework Convention on Climate Change (and the Administration`s Climate Change Action Plan), and concerns for the future of the economy (especially employment and international competitiveness) are increasing emphasis on technology deployment and near-term results. The Reinventing Government Initiative, the Government Performance and Results Act, and the Executive Order on Environmental Justice are all forcing Federal programs to demonstrate that they are producing desired results in a cost-effective manner. The application of Total Quality Management principles has increased the scope and importance of producing quantified measures of benefit. EE has established a process for estimating the benefits of DOE`s energy efficiency and renewable energy programs called `Quality Metrics` (QM). The ``metrics`` are: Energy; Environment; Employment; Risk; Equity; Economics. This paper describes the approach taken by EE`s Office of Building Technologies to prepare estimates of program benefits in terms of these metrics, presents the estimates, discusses their implications, and explores possible improvements to the QM process as it is currently configured

DEMONSTRATION OF THE DOE INTERIM ENERGY CONSERVATION STANDARDS FOR NEW FEDERAL RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS

In accordance with federal legislation, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has sponsored a study to demonstrate use of its Interim Energy Conservation Standards for New Federal Residential Buildings. The demonstration study was conducted by DOE and the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL). The demonstration is the second step in a three-step process: I) development of interim standards, 2) demonstration of the interim standards, and 3) development of final standards. The standards are mandatory for federal agency housing procurements. Nevertheless, PNL found at the start of the demonstration that agency use of the interim standards had been minimal. The purpose of the standards is to improve the energy efficiency of federal housing and increase the use of nondepletable energy sources. In accordance with the legislation, the standards were to be performance-based rather than prescribing specific energy conservation measures. To fulfill this aspect of the legislation, the standards use a computer software program called COSTSAFR which generates a point system that individualizes the standards to specific projects based on climate, housing type, and fuel costs. The standards generate minimum energy-efficiency requirements by applying the life-cycle cost methodology developed for federal projects. For the demonstration, PNL and DOE chose five federal agency housing projects which had been built in diverse geographic and climate regions. Participating agencies were the Air Force, the Army (which provided two case studies), the Navy, and the Department of Health and Human Services. PNL worked with agency housing procurement officials and designers/architects to hypothetically apply the interim standards to the procurement and design of each housing project. The demonstration started at the point in the project where agencies would establish their energyefficiency requirements for the project and followed the procurement process through the designers' use of the point system to develop a design which would comply with the standards. PNL conducted extensive interviews with the federal agencies and design contractors to determine what impacts the standards would have on the existing agency procurement process as well as on designers. Overall, PNL found that the interim standards met the basic intent of the law. Specific actions were identified, however, that DOE could take to improve the standards and encourage the agencies to implement them. Agency personnel found the minimum efficiency levels established by the standards to be lower than expected, and lower than their existing requirements. Generally, this was because the standards factor in fuel costs, as well as energy savings due to various conservation measures such as insulation, when they determine the minimum efficiency levels required. The demonstration showed that federal agencies often pay low prices for heating fuel and electricity; these lower costs "tipped the scales," allowing designers to meet the efficiency target with designs that were relatively inefficient. It appeared, however, that the low prices paid by agencies directly to suppliers did not capture the agencies' full costs of providing energy, such as the costs of distribution and storage. Agency personnel expressed some concern about the standards' ability to incorporate new energy-efficient technologies and renewable resource technologies like solar heating systems. An alternative compliance procedure was developed to incorporate new technologies; however, demonstration participants said the procedure was not well documented and was difficult and time consuming to use. Despite these concerns, most agency personnel thought that the standards would fit into current procurement procedures with no big changes or cost increases. Many said use of the standards would decrease the time and effort they now spend to establish energy-efficiency requirements and to confirm that proposed designs comply. Personnel praised the software and documentation for being easy to use and providing energy efficiency requirements in energy dollars. Personnel were concerned about how the standards could be modified to analyze unusual design features. A centralized information source for agencies using the standards was suggested. Housing designers agreed that the DOE standards were easy to use to determine that their designs meet energy efficiency goals. They noted that the information provided by the standards could be useful in their design process. Most designers agreed with agency personnel that the alternative compliance procedure was too time consuming. They suggested that assistance be available so that the proposal and procurement process would not be interrupted. Additional conclusions were that training and assistance is needed by field office personnel because much of the federal agency procurement activity occurs at the field offices. Agency training needs fall into three categories: 1) specific improvements in the documentation, 2) materials and courses to educate users, and 3) mechanisms for providing information to users. Designers will need additional help, particularly in understanding how to design housing with improved energy-efficiency. A procedure to update the standards will be needed. DOE has met its legal requirement for obtaining public input but successful implementation of the standards will depend on mechanisms for continued public, industry, and agency feedback. Based on the demonstration, PNL recommends establishing task forces that will actively involve agency personnel and others in future revisions and development of the final standards. PNL also recommends that agencies use fuel and energy prices in the standards that reflect total costs better than the direct fuel prices that the agencies pay their suppliers. A number of ways are recommended to improve communications and the tools for implementing the standards. Several recommendations are made for increasing the number of renewable resource options that are included in the standards. Finally, PNL recommends on-going monitoring activities to continue to identify ways in which the standards can be improved

DEMONSTRATION OF THE DOE INTERIM ENERGY CONSERVATION STANDARDS FOR NEW FEDERAL RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In accordance with federal legislation, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) bas conducted a project to demonstrate use of its Interim Energy Conservation Standards for New Federal Residential Buildings. The demonstration is the second step in a three-step process: development of interim standards, demonstration of the interim standards, and development of final standards. Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) collected information from the demonstration project and prepared this report under a contract with DOE. The purpose of the standards is to improve the energy efficiency of federal housing and increase the use of nondepletable energy sources. In accordance with the legislation, the standards were to be performance-based rather than prescribing specific energy conservation measures. The standards use a computer software program called COSTSAFR which individualizes the standards based on climate, housing type, and fuel costs. The standards generate minimum energy-efficiency requirements by applying the life-cycle cost methodology developed for federal projects, For the demonstration, the DOE chose live federal agency housing projects: four military housing projects and one project for the Department of Health and Human Services. DOE and PNL worked with agency housing procurement officials and designers/architects to hypothetically apply the interim standards to each housing project. PNL conducted extensive interviews with the federal agencies and design contractors to determine what impacts the standards would have on the existing agency procurement process as well as on designers. Overall, PNL found that the interim standards met the basic intent of the law. Specific actions were identified, however, that DOE could take to improve the standards and encourage the agencies to implement them. Agency personnel and designers expressed similar concerns about the standards: the minimum efficiency levels established by the standards were lower than expected and the standards did not provide an easy way to incorporate new energy-efficient and renewable resource tec.:hnolog:ies like solar heating systems. Agency personnel said the standards would fit into current procurement procedures with no big changes or cost increases, Many said the standards would decrease the time and effort they now spend to establish energy-efficiency requirements and to confirm that proposed designs comply with those requirements. Agency personnel praised the software and documentation for being easy to use and providing energy-efficiency requirements in energy dollars. Housing designers agreed that the DOE standards were easy to use to determine that their designs meet energy-efficiency goals. Many felt the information provided by the standards could be useful in the design process. Based on the demonstration, PNL recommends establishing task forces that will actively involve agency personnel and others in future revisions and development of the final standards. PNL also recommends that DOE and federal agencies investigate the use of market fuel and energy prices in the standards, rather than the prices paid by the agencies, to better reflect actual costs. A number of recommendations are made for improving communications between DOE and the users of the standards and for enhancing tools to implement the standards. Several recommendations are made for increasing the number of renewable resources that are included in the standards. Finally, PNL recommends ongoing monitoring activities to continue to identify ways in which the standards can be improved

Analysis and decision document in support of acquisition of steam supply for the Hanford 200 Area

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is now evaluating its facility requirements in support of its cleanup mission at Hanford. One of the early findings is that the 200-Area steam plants, constructed in 1943, will not meet future space heating and process needs. Because the 200 Area will serve as the primary area for waste treatment and long-term storage, a reliable steam supply is a critical element of Hanford operations. This Analysis and Decision Document (ADD) is a preliminary review of the steam supply options available to the DOE. The ADD contains a comprehensive evaluation of the two major acquisition options: line-term versus privatization. It addresses the life-cycle costs associated with each alternative, as well as factors such as contracting requirements and the impact of market, safety, security, and regulatory issues. Specifically, this ADD documents current and future steam requirements for the 200 Area, describes alternatives available to DOE for meeting these requirements, and compares the alternatives across a number of decision criteria, including life-cycle cost. DOE has currently limited the ADD evaluation alternatives to replacing central steam plants rather than expanding the study to include alternative heat sources, such as a distributed network of boilers or heat pumps. Thirteen project alternatives were analyzed in the ADD. One of the alternatives was the rehabilitation of the existing 200-East coal-fired facility. The other twelve alternatives are combinations of (1) coal- or gas-fueled plants, (2) steam-only or cogeneration facilities, (3) primary or secondary cogeneration of electricity, and (4) public or private ownership

Fort Lewis natural gas and fuel oil energy baseline and efficiency resource assessment

The mission of the US Department of Energy (DOE) Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) is to lead the improvement of energy efficiency and fuel flexibility within the federal sector. Through the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL), FEMP is developing a fuel-neutral approach for identifying, evaluating, and acquiring all cost-effective energy projects at federal installations; this procedure is entitled the Federal Energy Decision Screening (FEDS) system. Through a cooperative program between FEMP and the Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) for providing technical assistance to FORSCOM installations, PNL has been working with the Fort Lewis Army installation to develop the FEDS procedure. The natural gas and fuel oil assessment contained in this report was preceded with an assessment of electric energy usage that was used to implement a cofunded program between Fort Lewis and Tacoma Public Utilities to improve the efficiency of the Fort's electric-energy-using systems. This report extends the assessment procedure to the systems using natural gas and fuel oil to provide a baseline of consumption and an estimate of the energy-efficiency potential that exists for these two fuel types at Fort Lewis. The baseline is essential to segment the end uses that are targets for broad-based efficiency improvement programs. The estimated fossil-fuel efficiency resources are estimates of the available quantities of conservation for natural gas, fuel oils [number sign]2 and [number sign]6, and fuel-switching opportunities by level of cost-effectiveness. The intent of the baseline and efficiency resource estimates is to identify the major efficiency resource opportunities and not to identify all possible opportunities; however, areas of additional opportunity are noted to encourage further effort

Alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use amongst same-sex attracted women: results from the Western Australian Lesbian and Bisexual Women's Health and Well-Being Survey

Background: The prevalence of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use has been reported to be higheramongst lesbian and bisexual women (LBW) than their heterosexual counterparts. However, few studieshave been conducted with this population in Australia and rates that have been reported vary considerably.Methods: A self-completed questionnaire exploring a range of health issues was administered to 917women aged 15-65 years (median 34 years) living in Western Australia, who identified as lesbian orbisexual, or reported having sex with another woman. Participants were recruited from a range of settings,including Perth Pride Festival events (67.0%, n = 615), online (13.2%, n = 121), at gay bars and nightclubs(12.9%, n = 118), and through community groups (6.9%, n = 63). Results were compared against availablestate and national surveillance data.Results: LBW reported consuming alcohol more frequently and in greater quantities than women in thegeneral population. A quarter of LBW (25.7%, n = 236) exceeded national alcohol guidelines by consumingmore than four standard drinks on a single occasion, once a week or more. However, only 6.8% (n = 62)described themselves as a heavy drinker, suggesting that exceeding national alcohol guidelines may be anormalised behaviour amongst LBW. Of the 876 women who provided data on tobacco use, 28.1% (n =246) were smokers, nearly double the rate in the female population as a whole. One third of the sample(33.6%, n = 308) reported use of an illicit drug in the previous six months. The illicit drugs most commonlyreported were cannabis (26.4%, n = 242), meth/amphetamine (18.6%, n = 171), and ecstasy (17.9%, n =164). Injecting drug use was reported by 3.5% (n = 32) of participants.Conclusion: LBW appear to use alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs at higher rates than women generally,indicating that mainstream health promotion messages are not reaching this group or are not perceivedas relevant. There is an urgent need for public health practitioners working in the area of substance useto recognise that drug consumption and use patterns of LBW are likely to be different to the widerpopulation and that special considerations and strategies are required to address the unique and complexneeds of this population

Design of foundations in permafrost.

http://archive.org/details/designoffoundati00shanNAN

Two-Stage Machine Learning Model for Guideline Development

We present a Two-Stage Machine Learning (ML) model as a data mining method to develop practice guidelines and apply it to the problem of dementia staging. Dementia staging in clinical settings is at present complex and highly subjective because of the ambiguities and the complicated nature of existing guidelines. Our model abstracts the two-stage process used by physicians to arrive at the global Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDRS) score. The model incorporates learning intermediate concepts (CDRS category scores) in the first stage that then become the feature space for the second stage (global CDRS score). The sample consisted of 678 patients evaluated in the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the University of California, Irvine. The demographic variables, functional and cognitive test results used by physicians for the task of dementia severity staging were used as input to the machine learning algorithms. Decision tree learners and rule inducers (C4.5, Cart, C4.5 rules) were..