The unsustainability of academic aeromobility in Australian universities

This article analyzes how certain forms of unsustainable hypermobility - primarily air travel - are embedded in the institutional orientations of Australian universities, and hence, into the professional practices of academics in the country. Academic air travel is commonly recognized as a key component of a scholar's ability to cultivate and maintain international collaborations, achieve high-impact journal publications and win large research grants. Despite the environmental sustainability implications that regular international and domestic air travel entails, a normative system of 'academic aeromobility' has developed. We discuss the results of a qualitative textual analysis of Australian university-sustainability policies as well as research and internationalization strategies. We find that the ambitions of academic institutions to reduce carbon emissions from air travel are discordant with broader policies and strategic orientations around international mobility. These findings foreground the paradoxical relationship between many university-sustainability policies and the sector's broader strategic aims of internationalization and mobility of staff and students, suggesting the limits to piecemeal approaches to organizational policy and practices pertaining to sustainability. We conclude by discussing the role of technology and 'slow scholarship' as a means to reduce academic aeromobility

Benefits and challenges of energy efficient social housing

This paper presents a multi-method (interviews, cost-benefit analysis, technical monitoring) longitudinal evaluation of ten social housing dwellings in Horsham (Victoria, Australia), including four low-energy and six control houses. Occupants of the low-energy houses purchased 45-62% less electricity, had lower utility bills resulting in financial savings of $1,050/year, had improved thermal comfort, health and social outcomes. However, there were several challenges for the providing government department and tenants, including supporting tenants to use certain sustainability features of the house as designed. The paper concludes by providing discussion to help guide similar projects in the future to more sustainable outcomes

Does tenure matter for occupant experiences of low-energy housing?

International policy settings are looking toward low-energy and near zero-energy homes as a solution to address environmental impacts, particularly anthropogenic climate change. There is increasing research evaluating sus-tainable housing developments from a technical and occupant perspective. One of the key determinants of household energy use is tenure. However, there is limited research which has looked at if tenure impacts on how oc-cupants experience low-energy homes. This paper contributes to the litera-ture by exploring three low-energy housing developments and exploring the role of tenure in relation to how the households experience the dwellings. The case studies demonstrate that social housing tenants have frustrations with a lack of control over what they could, or could not, do to their low-energy dwellings, in comparison to owner-occupier housing

Smart homes and their users:a systematic analysis and key challenges

Published research on smart homes and their users is growing exponentially, yet a clear understanding of who these users are and how they might use smart home technologies is missing from a field being overwhelmingly pushed by technology developers. Through a systematic analysis of peer-reviewed literature on smart homes and their users, this paper takes stock of the dominant research themes and the linkages and disconnects between them. Key findings within each of nine themes are analysed, grouped into three: (1) views of the smart home-functional, instrumental, socio-technical; (2) users and the use of the smart home-prospective users, interactions and decisions, using technologies in the home; and (3) challenges for realising the smart home-hardware and software, design, domestication. These themes are integrated into an organising framework for future research that identifies the presence or absence of cross-cutting relationships between different understandings of smart homes and their users. The usefulness of the organising framework is illustrated in relation to two major concerns-privacy and control-that have been narrowly interpreted to date, precluding deeper insights and potential solutions. Future research on smart homes and their users can benefit by exploring and developing cross-cutting relationships between the research themes identified

A comprehensive view on climate change: coupling of Earth system and integrated assessment models

There are several reasons to strengthen the cooperation between the integrated assessment (IA) and earth system (ES) modeling teams in order to better understand the joint development of environmental and human systems. This cooperation can take many different forms, ranging from information exchange between research communities to fully coupled modeling approaches. Here, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches and try to establish some guidelines for their applicability, based mainly on the type of interaction between the model components (including the role of feedback), possibilities for simplification and the importance of uncertainty. We also discuss several important areas of joint IA–ES research, such as land use/land cover dynamics and the interaction between climate change and air pollution, and indicate the type of collaboration that seems to be most appropriate in each case. We find that full coupling of IA–ES models might not always be the most desirable form of cooperation, since in some cases the direct feedbacks between IA and ES may be too weak or subject to considerable process or scenario uncertainty. However, when local processes are important, it could be important to consider full integration. By encouraging cooperation between the IA and ES communities in the future more consistent insights can be developed

Shifting Home Energy Consumption Through a Holistic Understanding of the Home System of Practice

This chapter describes the concept of the home system of practice, which can be used to provide a deeper understanding of the social system of the home and inform long-term solutions for enabling domestic energy reduction. More traditional methods have attempted to persuade occupants to change behaviour through the use of information campaigns and feedback technology. However, these interventions are usually short lived as they ignore the underlying reasons for practices to occur. A more effective solution is through practice-oriented design, which co-creates innovative technology with the user. In addition, the emergence and use of automated technology enables practices to act independently of the user. Yet, the success of automation is also reliant on an understanding of the home system of practice, occupant needs and skills

Exercise capacity in children with isolated congenital complete atrioventricular block: does pacing make a difference?

Item does not contain fulltextThe management of patients with isolated congenital complete atrioventricular block (CCAVB) has changed during the last decades. The current policy is to pace the majority of patients based on a variety of criteria, among which is limited exercise capacity. Data regarding exercise capacity in this population stems from previous publications reporting small case series of unpaced patients. Therefore, we have investigated the exercise capacity of a group of contemporary children with CCAVB. Sixteen children (mean age 11.5 +/- 4; seven boys, nine girls) with CCAVB were tested. In 13 patients, a median number of three pacemakers were implanted, whereas in three patients no pacemaker was given. All patients had an echocardiogram and completed a cardiopulmonary cycle exercise test. Exercise parameters were determined and compared with reference values obtained from healthy Dutch peers. The peak oxygen uptake/body mass was reduced to 34.4 +/- 9.5 ml kg(-1) min(-1) (79 +/- 24% of predicted) and the ventilatory threshold was reduced to 52 +/- 17% of peak oxygen uptake (78 +/- 21% of predicted), whereas the peak work load/body mass was 2.8 +/- 0.6 W/kg (91 +/- 24% of predicted), which was similar to controls. Importantly, 25% of the paced patients showed upper rate restriction by the pacemaker. In conclusion, children with CCAVB show a reduced peak oxygen uptake and ventilatory threshold, whereas they show normal peak work rates. This indicates that they generate more energy during exercise from anaerobic energy sources. Paced children with CCAVB do not perform better than unpaced children.1 april 201

Quantifying the effectiveness of climate change mitigation through forest plantations and carbon sequestration with an integrated land-use model

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Carbon plantations are introduced in climate change policy as an option to slow the build-up of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations. Here we present a methodology to evaluate the potential effectiveness of carbon plantations. The methodology explicitly considers future long-term land-use change around the world and all relevant carbon (C) fluxes, including all natural fluxes. Both issues have generally been ignored in earlier studies.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Two different baseline scenarios up to 2100 indicate that uncertainties in future land-use change lead to a near 100% difference in estimates of carbon sequestration potentials. Moreover, social, economic and institutional barriers preventing carbon plantations in natural vegetation areas decrease the physical potential by 75–80% or more.</p> <p>Nevertheless, carbon plantations can still considerably contribute to slowing the increase in the atmospheric CO₂concentration but only in the long term. The most conservative set of assumptions lowers the increase of the atmospheric CO₂concentration in 2100 by a 27 ppm and compensates for 5–7% of the total energy-related CO₂emissions. The net sequestration up to 2020 is limited, given the short-term increased need for agricultural land in most regions and the long period needed to compensate for emissions through the establishment of the plantations. The potential is highest in the tropics, despite projections that most of the agricultural expansion will be in these regions. Plantations in high latitudes as Northern Europe and Northern Russia should only be established if the objective to sequester carbon is combined with other activities.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Carbon sequestration in plantations can play an important role in mitigating the build-up of atmospheric CO₂. The actual magnitude depends on natural and management factors, social barriers, and the time frame considered. In addition, there are a number of ancillary benefits for local communities and the environment. Carbon plantations are, however, particularly effective in the long term. Furthermore, plantations do not offer the ultimate solution towards stabilizing CO₂concentrations but should be part of a broader package of options with clear energy emission reduction measures.</p