Smart energy performance indicators for live historical and normative feedback systems

Communicating building energy performance to building users has been identified as a significant opportunity to support behaviour change. This research pursues the concept of continuous, automated feedback designed to support motivated building users to learn how their behaviour impacts building energy performance. Automated energy consumption data collection presents an opportunity to develop approaches for continuous feedback systems. However, energy performance is a complex notion and consumption data alone are not suitable to convey performance. In order to be of use, performance indicators designed specifically for providing feedback to building users must reflect changes in user behaviour which may be small relative to total consumption. A new building energy performance indicator is proposed based on the concept of continuous improvement. The indicator combines the benefits of historic and normative feedback by producing a normalised index of improvement or deterioration over time. The indicator is also well suited to communicating building energy performance in a user-friendly way. The indicator is based on a predictive consumption model fitted to data for a rolling baseline period. The scale of the indicator is defined in terms of the variation in baseline model residuals. This allows for a direct comparison between buildings on the basis of improvement or deterioration from the baseline performance. A direct comparison can be made even between very different buildings. A case study of five university buildings is presented. Consumption is predicted at half-hourly resolution using a variation of a standard variable degree day model. The indicator is calculated for each half hour beyond the initial 365-day baseline period on a rolling basis with a new baseline model being calculated each week. The indicator reflects even small changes to regular consumption patterns, both persistent and transient. Persistent changes are absorbed into the rolling baseline model after a few months. Critically the indicator is sensitive enough to detect small changes in consumption patterns and can be compared between buildings. As a feedback tool the indicator has the benefit of having a common scale and being comparable across buildings

Space Station Freedom coupling tasks: An evaluation of their space operational compatibility

The development of the Space Station Freedom tasks that are compatible with both telerobotic as well as extravehicular activity is a necessary redundancy in order to insure successful day to day operation. One task to be routinely performed aboard Freedom will be the changeout of various quick disconnect fluid connectors. In an attempt to resolve these potentially contradictory issues of compatibility, mock-ups of couplings suitable to both extravehicular as well as telerobotic activity were designed and built. An evaluation performed at the Remote Operator Interaction Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center is discussed, which assessed the prototype couplings as well as three standard coupling designs. Data collected during manual and telerobotic manipulation of the couplings indicated that the custom coupling was in fact shown to be faster to operate and generally preferred over the standard coupling designs

A human factors evaluation of the robotic interface for Space Station Freedom orbital replaceable units

An orbital replaceable unit (ORU) is often defined as any orbital unit aboard Space Station with a wearout life of less than 30 years. The capability of successful changeout of these units by remote manipulation is critical to the ORU to telerobot interface design. A human factors evaluation of the selected interface showed certain inadequacies of the alignment target concept that was part of the interface package. Alternative target concepts which addressed these inadequacies were developed and are presented. Recommendations will be incorporated into NASA requirements documents which ORU suppliers and manufacturers must then build to

Liver injury in workers exposed to dimethylformamide

An apparent epidemic cluster of toxic liver disease was reexamined among workers exposed to the solvent dimethylformamide. A demographically similar but unexposed group from a preemployment population was used for comparison. Analysis, after data transformation of the liver transaminases, revealed significant differences between the two populations with respect to the serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase and the ratio of serum glutaminic oxaloacetic transaminase to serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase. Thus a value of the ratio of serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase to serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase. Thus a value of the ratio less than 1 may be suggestive of toxic liver disease. Medical surveillance of the working population for 14 months revealed no further cases of toxic liver disease. Dimethylformamide was almost certainly the causative agent of the original epidemic. The use of preemployment populations as a source of unexposed subjects in the analysis of occupational clusters is recommended, especially in the scenario of relatively acute, and highly prevalent, occupational diseases

Loss and Waste in the Australian Fresh Apple Value Chain

Apples are a significant and popular fruit among t e Australian opulation, and in the case of fresh apples, the domestic market is relatively self-sustaining. Retail and consumer preferences are the driving force for quality standards for apples along the chain, with actors working to provide the best quality selection of produce. In order to meet these high standards, loss and waste occurs in the lower grades which are simply a by-product of first grade production. Globally, loss and waste of fresh produce is amongst the highest of all food groups and from the limited data available, apples appear to be no exception. While there is not accurate specific data regarding loss and waste data of fresh apples in the Australian value chain, reporting is increasing as is awareness of the broader issues of food loss and waste. Following along the value chain, there appear to be discrepancies in quantities of fresh apples available at the various stages, with these variations potentially reflective of loss and waste along the chain. Using best estimates from the literature, the total amount of fresh apples, conservatively, that is potentially diverted from the Australian fresh apple supply chain is around 163,000 tonnes which is about 41 per cent of total production at the farm level. What is also lacking from Australian market data and literature, other than robust primary loss and waste data, is the cost of food loss and waste, and the extent of the externalities that occur due to loss and waste along the value chain. Not only do negative externalities incur costs to the broader society, there are additional costs of intervention, and analysis is required to determine the feasibility and appropriateness of intervention strategies

Consciously Pursued Joint Action: Agricultural and Food Value Chains as Clubs

Certain members of a population consciously and deliberately decide to take joint action to provide particular types of goods or services that are at least partly excludable and at least partly congestible because it is too costly to provide such goods individually. These goods are called club goods or collective goods. We first define some key concepts in club theory and public choice. This includes the prospects for determining the optimal level of membership of a club, how to determine the optimal level and range of provision of services by a club, and consideration of the dynamics of club membership. Then we examine the ways in which club theory can help provide an alternative approach to recognising and overcoming market failure in agricultural and food value chains. We note that useful insights can be gained by considering value chains as ‘latent clubs’. That is, they are systems that exist but which are either inactive or have not been fully developed, but which have the potential for improvement through collective action. If value chain members do exploit an opportunity to reap the rewards of collective action, then forming a club that comprises the whole chain or a subset of chain members offers an efficient organisation design to do so. We find that all of the calculus that has been identified for clubs can be applied to agricultural and food value chains. However, there are two particular issues that require further consideration. One is the nature of risk in agricultural value chains, and how it is related to member preferences, and the other is the form of collective action to be taken by agricultural value chains in the future

Consciously Pursued Joint Action: Agricultural and Food Value Chains as Clubs

Certain members of a population consciously and deliberately decide to take joint action to provide particular types of goods or services that are at least partly excludable and at least partly congestible because it is too costly to provide such goods individually. These goods are called club goods or collective goods. We first define some key concepts in club theory and public choice. This includes the prospects for determining the optimal level of membership of a club, how to determine the optimal level and range of provision of services by a club, and consideration of the dynamics of club membership. Then we examine the ways in which club theory can help provide an alternative approach to recognising and overcoming market failure in agricultural and food value chains. We note that useful insights can be gained by considering value chains as ‘latent clubs’. That is, they are systems that exist which are either inactive or have not been fully developed, but which have the potential for improvement through collective action. If value chain members do exploit an opportunity to reap the rewards of collective action, then forming a club that comprises the whole chain or a subset of chain members offers an efficient organisation design to do so. We find that all of the calculus that has been identified for clubs can be applied to agricultural and food value chains. However, there are two particular issues that require further consideration. One is the nature of risk in agricultural value chains, and how it is related to member preferences, and the other is the form of collective action to be taken by agricultural value chains in the future

Food Value Chain Coordination in Practice: European and Australian Case Studies of the Creation of Chain Good Innovations

Food value chain businesses form alliances with horizontal and/or vertical partners to take collective action to either overcome or ameliorate chain failure, or to take advantage of new opportunities available due to innovations in products or processes. The desired outcomes from the collective action would not be possible to achieve if these businesses acted independently. While such alliances may take many forms, depending on degree of commitment and infrastructure linkages, they can often be considered to be clubs. Four such types of clubs can be identified (1) horizontal clubs comprising businesses that take collective action across a single cross-section or an aggregate of multiple cross-sections in the value chain; (2) vertical clubs, which consist of businesses that form a strategic alliance for collective action along a single value chain within a network of chains; (3) clubs that specialise in a single product or multiple products in the value chain; or (4) clubs focusing on a single input/activity or multiple inputs/activities. Thus the path to collective action chosen by clubs may vary according to existing capabilities and the scope for collaboration, particularly in relation to the potential for value-creating innovation. The result of the collective action is the provision of a chain good or service which usually leads to greater and more valuable chain coordination. By collectively identifying, funding and acting to capture positive externalities associated with innovation, businesses in many parts of a food value chain can widen opportunities to increase whole-of-chain surplus as well as increase private profits.In this paper four mini-case studies are presented which demonstrate the breadth of past collective actions that have been undertaken by a substantial proportion of businesses in food value chains, two in Europe and two in Australia. These are (1) the Euro Pool System, (2) Global Standards certification in Europe and globally, (3) Meat Standards Australia, and (4) the OBE Beef organic producer alliance in Australia. Each case study yields insights into the rationale of how businesses in different food value chains in different countries have acted as a club to use their joint resources to internalise positive innovation and coordination externalities that would not have been possible to achieve were these businesses to act independently

Food Value Chain Coordination in Practice: European and Australian Case Studies of the Creation of Chain Good Innovations

Food value chain businesses form alliances with horizontal and/or vertical partners to take collective action to either overcome or ameliorate chain failure, or to take advantage of new opportunities available due to innovations in products or processes. The desired outcomes from the collective action would no t be possible to achieve if these businesses acted independently. While such alliances and collaborations may take many forms, depending on the degree of commitment, the kind of governance and infrastructure linkages, they can often be thought of as “clubs ” for the purpose of economic analysis. Several different types of clubs can be identified, thus the path to collective action chosen by clubs may vary according to existing capabilities and the scope for collaboration, particularly in relation to the potential for value-creating innovation. The result of the collective action is the provision of a chain good or service, which usually leads to greater and more valuable chain coordination. By collectively identifying, funding and acting to capture positive externalities associated with innovation, businesses in many parts of a food value chain can widen opportunities to increase whole-of-chain surplus as well as private profits. In this paper five mini-case studies are presented to demonstrate the breadth of past collective actions undertaken by businesses in food value chains, two in Europe and three in Australia. These are the Euro Pool System, and Global Standards certification in Europe and globally, as well as Meat Standards Australia, an Australian beef organic producer alliance (OBE Organic®), and the supply of food to households during Covid-19 lockdown in Australia. Each case study yields insights into the rationale of how businesses in different food value chains in different countries have acted as a club to use their joint resources to internalise positive innovation and coordination externalities

Summative behaviour change evaluation of up-to-date metered energy feedback in European public buildings

Energy consumption practices and behaviour are increasingly an important focus of attention, for energy efficiency measures. Such is the demand caused by behaviour at the level of the individual, it may cancel out the benefits of engineering solutions, such as more energy efficient appliances (Adua, 2010). This paper focuses on an evaluation of the SMARTSPACES project and its effect on energy-related behaviour change. The project provided two services: an energy management service (EMS) and an energy decision support service (EDSS). These services were implemented in over 450 public buildings across 11 European cities in 8 European countries (Serbia, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Turkey and United Kingdom). Building professionals (energy managers) primarily used the EMS and building staff used the EDSS. These services intended to inform, support and enable target audiences to use up-to-date metered feedback to reduce energy use in public buildings. The theory of change that underpins the evaluation framework is based in the Elaboration Likelihood Model which aims to understand how communication can influence attitudes and the Theory of Planned Behaviour that examines which attitudes are more likely to predict intentions and behaviours (Wilson, 2014). The paper presents results of ex-ante and ex-post surveys to building staff about their levels of awareness, attitudes, perceived control behaviour and intentions in three selected cities: Bristol, Leicester and Venlo. Outcomes varied across the examined cities depending upon the type of information presented, the level of engagement of users with the energy saving campaigns and the amount of previous energy management work undertaken by buildings’ facilities and energy management professionals