Green buildings: issues for New Zealand

If the mission of ‘green’ rating tools is to accelerate the transformation of the global built environment towards sustainability then a high priority must be placed on the energy consumed by buildings since energy supplies from various sources are depleting. This paper examines the apparent anomaly that almost all designs of ‘green’ office developments in New Zealand have high proportions of unshaded glazing. They are sealed, lightweight, airconditioned buildings that are dependent on an uninterrupted supply of electricity in order to remain habitable. From an architectural science point of view, these characteristics are not normally associated with sustainability. The paper will investigate the drivers behind the highly glazed buildings recently realized in New Zealand, including those components of ‘green’ rating tools that favour this building type

The Northwest Skills Academy

In October 2007 Birmingham’s North West Skills Academy was opened. The 3,270m2 College houses workshops, teaching and learning space for construction industry and automotive training. The building is the latest academy by City College, Birmingham and is the most advanced, of a series of energy efficient academies (see School Building Issue 17, 2007). Having reduced energy demand to a practical minimum, the next stage in the evolution of the College’s academies was to incorporate renewable energy into the design. Throughout the project, the client was keen to integrate renewable energy technologies into the building as much as possible so that the building could be a showcase project and a real focal point for local community

The Impact of Lyrics Choices on Spiritual Edification

Graduate Worship Studie

Climate change, blackouts and society: dress rehearsals for the future

Blackouts serve as a reminder of how dependent mankind has become on electricity and the appliances it powers. Whatever the cause of a blackout, there are patterns in the consequences that take place as a result. These include not only measurable economic losses but also social consequences that are sometimes immeasurable. This paper reviews almost 50 different significant power-outage events that have occurred in 26 countries, mostly over the last decade. The unpredictable nature of blackouts limits the collection of field data. Hence the data in this paper are collected from reputable media coverage of the events. The patterns that are analysed include economic loss, food, health, crime, social unrest, transport and inequalities While many blackouts are caused by systems failures, there is a growing trend of failures due to inadequate energy; whether due to depletion of resources such as oil and coal or due to the vagaries of the climate in the supply of renewable energy. As we enter the period of peak oil and climate change the security of energy supply for electricity generation is under threat. Understanding the nature of blackouts is more than just a record of past systems failures; blackouts are dress rehearsals for the future

The potential of PVs in developing countries: maintaining an equitable society in the face of fossil fuel depletion

The availability of an adequate electrical supply to the whole population is essential for the wellbeing and equity of a society. However, for those countries that are largely dependent on fossil fuels for generating electricity, peak oil and gas threaten energy security and the ability to provide an uninterrupted supply of electricity on an equitable basis. This paper will review future energy demand and supply in Malaysia and implications for its electricity supply. It will demonstrate that there is likely to be an energy deficit that could result in electricity rationing. Difficult decisions will need to be made about the priority of electricity supply that is likely to have a greater impact on the “bottom” layers of society. The paper will also review the extent to which renewable energy, in particular photovoltaics, can contribute to the energy mix in Malaysia. It will be argued that a decentralised renewable energy supply system has the potential to maintain not only an equitable distribution of electricity but also potential earnings to low-income families. In order to achieve this, technical and economic changes are required to make decentralised renewable energy systems a viable proposition. The importance of the introduction of ‘smart meters’ and a ‘smart grid’ as both a means of increasing energy efficiency and equitably distributing electricity will be addressed

The Diversity Distraction: A Critical Comparative Analysis of Discourse in Higher Education Scholarship

This critical literature review investigates how diversity and equity are employed in top-cited higher education scholarship published between 2000 and 2015. No analysis to date has offered such a comparative exploration relative to well-recognized racial disparities in higher education. Findings reveal a divergence with diversity largely attending to affirmative action concerns and equity to analyses of the pursuit of equity in higher education. The article concludes with advocacy for the equity frame because of its presumption of a normative justice-oriented standard and embedded orientation toward inquiry and action, both of which offer greater promise for policy, practice, and research that aim to enhance racial justice in higher education

Differential Geometry on SU(3) with Applications to Three State Systems

The left and right invariant vector fields are calculated in an ``Euler angle'' type parameterization for the group manifold of SU(3), referred to here as Euler coordinates. The corresponding left and right invariant one-forms are then calculated. This enables the calculation of the invariant volume element or Haar measure. These are then used to describe the density matrix of a pure state and geometric phases for three state systems.Comment: 17 pages, LaTeX2e, Accepted by J. Math. Phy

Elastomeric silazane polymers and process for preparing the same Patent

Preparation of elastomeric diamine silazane polymer