Dynamic Daylight Metrics for Electricity Savings in Offices: Window Size and Climate Smart Lighting Management

Daylight performance metrics provide a promising approach for the design and optimization of lighting strategies in buildings and their management. Smart controls for electric lighting can reduce power consumption and promote visual comfort using different control strategies, based on affordable technologies and low building impact. The aim of this research is to assess the energy efficiency of these smart controls by means of dynamic daylight performance metrics, to determine suitable solutions based on the geometry of the architecture and the weather conditions. The analysis considers different room dimensions, with variable window size and two mean surface reflectance values. DaySim 3.1 lighting software provides the simulations for the study, determining the necessary quantification of dynamic metrics to evaluate the usefulness of the proposed smart controls and their impact on energy efficiency. The validation of dynamic metrics is carried out by monitoring a mesh of illuminance-meters in test cells throughout one year. The results showed that, for most rooms more than 3.00 m deep, smart controls achieve worthwhile energy savings and a low payback period, regardless of weather conditions and for worst-case situations. It is also concluded that dimming systems provide a higher net present value and allow the use of smaller window size than other control solutions

A review of the School adjustment process in Secondary from the democratic education perspective

Llamamos adaptación al proceso por el que los/as educandos/as se incorporan a un nuevo centro educativo y llegan a un estado de ajuste escolar, conformado por la autonomía académica, el bienestar emocional y la integración social. En este trabajo se estudian los conceptos de adaptación escolar y ajuste escolar. Se ha realizado una revisión teórica que ayude a contextualizar el trabajo de la tesis doctoral “Transformación de los procesos de ajuste en secundaria en una escuela democrática”, cuyo propósito es producir una guía o decálogo de buenas prácticas que sirva de referencia en centros educativos de secundaria en la gestión de los procesos de admisión, adaptación y ajuste. Se observa que las distintas aproximaciones teóricas que han investigado sobre el ajuste escolar utilizan dichas dimensiones de un modo recurrente para definir dicho concepto. Por otra parte, los/as educandos/as, entrevistados/as en el proceso de confección de la tesis, describen el ajuste escolar utilizando ideas asociadas a las mismas dimensiones.The process that a school, a student and the environment carries out from the admission to the moment when the student is completely adjustend is what we can call the school adjustment process. The elements that shape this process are the academic autonomy, the emotional wellbeing and the social integration. In this work we have studied the concepts of school adjustment process and the state of school adjustment by doing a theoretical review to support the research associated with the PhD Thesis “Transformation of the adjustment processes in secondary school at a democratic school” and provide the researcher with proper context and information. The research main goal is to produce a guide or decalogue of good practices that could be referential for other secondary schools to manage and plan the school admission and adjustment processes. It has been observed that the literature that studied the school adjustment processes previously have consistently used the same three dimensions to define it. Besides, the students that were interviewed as a part of the main research describe the school adjustment concept using ideas strongly linked to these dimensions.Fac. de EducaciónTRUEpu

Técnicas para obtener observabilidad en una arquitectura basada en microservicios

Máster Universitario en Ingeniería del Software para la Web (M134

Carbon tax sectoral (CATS) model: a sectoral model for energy transition stress test scenarios

Este artículo presenta un modelo de equilibrio general diseñado para producir escenarios macroeconómicos que incorporen los riesgos de transición asociados a las políticas adoptadas para evitar el proceso de cambio climático (no los riesgos físicos asociados al coste del cambio climático a largo plazo). El modelo está calibrado para la economía española, y puede simular el impacto de shocks en el precio y la cobertura de derechos de emisión de gases efecto invernadero, con particular atención a las asimetrías sectoriales provenientes de i) la intensidad de uso de la energía; ii) la fuente de dicha energía, y iii) las interdependencias entre industrias. Mostramos que, tras un incremento en el precio de los derechos de emisión similar al observado en los últimos años (de aproximadamente 25 € por tonelada de CO2 en 2019 a casi 100 € por tonelada en 2022), el modelo predice una caída acumulada del PIB después de tres años del 0,37 %. La pérdida de valor añadido es muy heterogénea entre distintas industrias, con valores que van de pérdidas del 4 % en las industrias más afectadas a un impacto prácticamente nulo en los sectores menos afectados. En relación con el uso del modelo para pruebas de estrés, esta heterogeneidad apunta a la existencia de riesgos potenciales para la estabilidad financiera, y a la importancia de una correcta diversificación bancaria para disminuir su exposición a los riesgos de transición.This paper presents a general equilibrium sectoral model designed to produce macroeconomic scenarios that incorporate transition risks associated with policies to curb climate change (but not physical risks associated with the long-term costs of climate change). The model is calibrated to the Spanish economy, and can simulate the impact of shocks to the price and coverage of greenhouse gas emission allowances, with particular attention to sectoral asymmetries arising from (i) the energy intensity of each industry, (ii) the source of that energy, and (iii) the interdependencies with other industries. We show that for an increase in the price of emission allowances similar to that observed in recent years (from approximately €25 per tonne of CO2 in 2019 to almost €100 per tonne in 2022) the model predicts a cumulative decline in Spanish GDP after three years of 0.37%. The loss in value added is very heterogeneous across industries, ranging from 4% in the most severely affected industries to virtually no impact in the least affected industries. In terms of the use of the model for stress testing, this heterogeneity points to potential risks for financial stability and the importance of the right diversification for banks to diminish their exposure to transition risks

The design of macroeconomic scenarios for climate change stress tests

The challenges of climate change affect all aspects of the economy, including financial stability, which may be affected both by the physical risks (associated with the climate change process itself) and the transition risks (associated with initiatives to curb the climate change process). This article presents a model designed to produce macroeconomic scenarios, chiefly related to transition risks, to serve as a basis for stress tests to verify that all the components of the financial system are prepared for possible adverse events of this type. In particular, these scenarios are based on a hypothetical rise in the price of CO2 emission allowances, over a 2-5 year horizon. The model simulates the impact of this shock on the Spanish economy, paying particular attention to sectoral asymmetries arising from the intensity with which different types of energy are used in each industry, the interdependencies summarised in the input-output tables for the Spanish economy and the general equilibrium effects in terms of relative price changes and sectoral reallocation

Failure under stress of grapevine wood: The effects of the cerambycid xylotrechus arvicola on the biomechanics properties of vitis vinifera

Xylotrechus arvicola is an insect pest on Vitis vinifera in the main wine-producing regions of Spain. X. arvicola larvae bore inside grapevine wood, which cause structural damages in the plants´ biomechanical properties. Grapevine wood affected and unaffected by larvae, were collected from vineyards. Compression and flexural tests were used to quantify biomechanical wood properties. Affected wood broke more quickly and endured a lower supported force than unaffected wood in both varieties and moisture states. Tempranillo was the most resistant variety on trunks, while Cabernet-Sauvignon was the most resistant variety on branches, where all infested varieties showed a lower rate of bending. Grapevine wood affected by X. arvicola larvae shows an important decrease in its resistance in both moisture states - dry and wet wood - and it is observed due to the faster break in time and a lower supported force. These damages give the affected wood greater sensitivity to external mechanical factors in the vineyards, such as strong winds, harvest weight and the vibration exerted by harvesting machines. The aspect of stress-time curves in all cases follow similar patterns, so in future studies might be possible to stablish relationships between both wet and dry samples and different infestation levels

Semantic Characterization of Context of Use and Contents for User-Centric Media Retrieval

When users access online media, they need and desire to get an experience tailored to their specific, personal context and situation. This is becoming more and more relevant with the ever-increasing amount of available contents users may choose from. In order to provide user-centric functionalities (such as relevant searches, content adaptation, customization and recommendation), both the annotation of contents with semantically rich metadata and an accurate model of the individual users and their respective contexts of use are needed. In this context, we propose a solution to automatically characterize both the context of use and the contents. It provides dynamic, adaptive user models, with explicit and implicit information; as well as content descriptors that may be later used to match the most suitable contents for each user. Users always keep a pivotal role throughout the whole process: providing new contents, contributing to moderated folks onomies, overseeing their own user model, etc