Screening of energy efficient technologies for industrial buildings' retrofit

This chapter discusses screening of energy efficient technologies for industrial buildings' retrofit

Implementation of preventive strength training in residential geriatric care: a multi-centre study protocol with one year of interventions on multiple levels

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is scientific evidence that preventive physical exercise is effective even in high age. In contrast, there are few opportunities of preventive exercise for highly aged people endangered by or actually in need of care. For example, they would not be able to easily go to training facilities; standard exercises may be too intensive and therefore be harmful to them; orientation disorders like dementia would exacerbate individuals and groups in following instructions and keeping exercises going. In order to develop appropriate interventions, these and other issues were assigned to different levels: the individual-social level (ISL), the organisational-institutional level (OIL) and the political-cultural level (PCL). Consequently, this conceptional framework was utilised for development, implementation and evaluation of a new strength and balance exercise programme for old people endangered by or actually in need of daily care. The present paper contains the development of this programme labeled "fit for 100", and a study protocol of an interventional single-arm multi-centre trial.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The intervention consisted of (a) two group training sessions every week over one year, mainly resistance exercises, accompanied by sensorimotor and communicative group exercises and games (ISL), (b) a sustainable implementation concept, starting new groups by instructors belonging to the project, followed by training and supervision of local staff, who stepwise take over the group (OIL), (c) informing and convincing activities in professional, administrative and governmental contexts, public relation activities, and establishing an advisory council with renowned experts and public figures (PCL). Participating institutions of geriatric care were selected through several steps of quality criteria assessment. Primary outcome measures were continuous documentation of individual participation (ISL), number of groups continued without external financial support (at the end of the project, and after one year) (OIL). Secondary outcome was measured by sensorimotor tests and care-related assessments in the beginning and every 16 weeks (ISL), by qualitative outcome descriptions 12 months after group implementation (OIL) and by analysis of media response and structured interviews with stakeholders, also after 12 months (PCL).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Exemplarily, preventive exercise has been established for a neglected target population. The multi-level approach used here seems to be helpful to overcome institutional and individual (attitude) barriers.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN55213782</p

Development of a response factor approach for modeling the energy effects of combined heat and mass transfer with vapor adsorption in building elements

High humidity levels in a building adversely affect occupant comfort, and air conditioning equipment performance. In many situations condensation can lead to damage of materials in storage through corrosion, deterioration, and other destructive processes. Other detrimental effects from high indoor moisture levels are growth of mold, mildew, and deterioration of building materials. Most building materials like concrete, wood, wall finishes, etc., are porous materials. In porous materials, moisture tends to migrate to the cooler material side under the influence of a temperature gradient. This can occur through a process of evaporation, vapor flow, liquid flow, and condensation in the material. The heat transmission process through moist materials is very complex whenever there is appreciable moisture migration. Under these conditions, calculation of heat transfer with heat conduction theory alone is just an approximation.Air conditioning systems can rapidly remove stored moisture in the zone air, but removing the adsorbed moisture in the building elements, furniture, window treatments, etc., often accounts for a significant fraction of the overall cooling load, especially upon starting the system after a shut-down period. To determine the contribution of the moisture capacitance in the building, an analysis that takes into account simultaneous diffusion of heat and mass in the building elements is required.The thesis used the Evaporation-Condensation theory to develop and implement combined heat and mass transfer models with vapor adsorption using moisture transfer functions (MTF's) in an existing hourly energy analysis building simulation program, Integrated Building Load Analysis & System Thermodynamic (IBLAST). The analysis takes into account the vapor adsorption/desorption, and diffusion in composite building elements. Vapor adsorption is one of the primary parameters that couples the mass and energy equations and is crucial for interactions between the mass and heat equations. The model is capable of analyzing the entire building (not just one building element) with moisture effects for a Design Day or an entire year, with an hourly simulation. The development and implementation of these algorithms in the IBLAST program will advance the energy analysis technology to the next level, but still maintain a simulation with a reasonable execution time.U of I OnlyETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permissio