The costs of taking it slowly: Fast and slow movement timing in older age.

We investigated adult age-differences in timing control of fast vs. slow repetitive movements using a dual-task approach. Twenty-two young (M = 24.23 yr) and 22 older adults (M = 66.64 yr) performed three cognitive tasks differing in working memory load and response production demands and they tapped series of 550-ms or 2100-ms target intervals. Single-task timing was comparable in both groups. Dual-task timing was characterized by shortening of produced intervals and increases in drift and variability. Dual-task costs for both cognitive and timing performances were pronounced at slower tapping tempos, an effect exacerbated in older adults. Our findings implicate attention and working memory processes as critical components of slow movement timing and sources of specific challenges thereof for older adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A new method for determining the water tightness of building facades

Wind-driven rain and wind pressure are two fundamental climatic parameters affecting the penetration of water through building facades. Water tightness tests attempt to reproduce exposure extremes in order to evaluate the resistance to the passage of water through a facade. However, the exposure conditions for a given return period in a real situation can vary with each location and operating condition. Therefore, standardized test conditions may not be representative of all actual exposure conditions, which prevent a precise evaluation of the facade's performance under operating conditions that differ from test settings. A key challenge for water tightness tests is creating a correlation between standard exposure parameters used in testing and any actual exposure conditions. To address this concern, a new method is proposed that determines the return period associated with the tested exposure for the operating conditions of each facade. The new method is used to assess the adequacy of standardized test exposures (specified by EN 12865:2001 for European localities) on a specific facade at a site in Spain. The method estimates more rigorously the design return period related to water tightness performance of any facade and allows for an improvement of its design using the standardized test results.

La pluie battante et la pression du vent sont deux paramètres climatiques fondamentaux affectant la pénétration de l'eau à travers les façades des bâtiments. Les tests d'étanchéité à l'eau tentent de reproduire les conditions extrêmes d'exposition afin d'évaluer la résistance au passage de l'eau à travers une façade. Cependant, les conditions d'exposition pour une période de retour donnée dans une situation réelle peuvent varier avec chaque lieu et chaque condition d'exploitation. Par conséquent, les conditions de test normalisées peuvent ne pas être représentatives de toutes les conditions d'exposition réelles, ce qui empêche une évaluation précise des performances de la façade dans des conditions d'exploitation qui diffèrent des paramètres de test. L'une des principales difficultés pour les tests d'étanchéité à l'eau est d'établir une corrélation entre les paramètres d'exposition standard utilisés pour effectuer les tests et n'importe quelles conditions d'exposition réelles. Pour faire face à cette préoccupation, il est proposé une nouvelle méthode qui détermine la période de retour associée à l'exposition testée pour les conditions d'exploitation de chaque façade. Cette nouvelle méthode est utilisée pour évaluer l'adéquation des expositions des tests normalisés (spécifiées par la norme EN 12865 : 2001 pour les localités européennes) par rapport à une façade spécifique d'un site situé en Espagne. La méthode estime de manière plus rigoureuse la période de retour de conception en lien avec les performances d'étanchéité à l'eau de n'importe quelle façade et permet d'en améliorer la conception en utilisant les résultats des tests normalisés.

Mots clés: enveloppe des bâtiments, charges climatiques, conception des façades, paramètres de test, étanchéité à l'eau     

Behaving Clean without Having to Think Green? Local Eco-Technological and Dialogue-Based,Low-Carbon Projects in Sweden

Two kinds of local low-carbon initiatives are the focus in this paper: those initiated under the umbrella of a central government program, and those initiated from below by individuals and municipalities in Sweden. The project studied in the first category was focused on eco-technological innovations undertaken by a municipal housing company. The case in the second category was a dialogue-based program with selected citizens willing to test a climate-friendly lifestyle. The latter approach faced strong barriers when going from words to deeds, lacking the large-scale favors of massive eco-technological investments. Highlighting one particular project in each category, we illustrate the potentials and barriers of each approach. It is concluded that policymakers have to find ways to combine the two, otherwise there is a risk that low-carbon committed individuals will become disillusioned or that eco-technological gains will be spoiled by “rebound consumption.”     

An extended method for comparing watertightness tests for facades

Watertightness tests for building facades attempt to simulate the most relevant climatic exposures for water penetration by reproducing standard conditions. Such conditions do not represent all possible climatic exposures, hence a new method was recently presented that relates test severity to watertightness performance of a facade under any operating conditions. In addition, test conditions vary for each regulatory framework (i.e. the results generated for one test cannot necessarily be extrapolated to other tests). A process is presented for considering the influence of exposure time. This allows a comparison of the severity of the conditions imposed by different watertightness tests independently of the exposure parameters. This comparison, which is based on a performance criterion, can enable a global certification of watertightness of any facade design under any operating conditions using results from only one watertightness test. The method developed herein was applied to facades under various operational conditions at a reference location, comparatively evaluating the conditions recreated by different international watertightness tests. The results suggest that American tests are more appropriate for recreating high climatic exposures, while European tests are more suitable for evaluating moderate and protected conditions of wind-driven rain and wind pressure.     

Artificial neural networks and naturally ventilated buildings

The author found that the results obtained were reliable and indicates that neural networks can be used as a predictor for investigating window opening configurations to study the effects on interior air motion. Further study is needed in the development of the database to cover wider architectural parameters and the implementation of new types of network is also needed, as well as the need to consider variation spatial coefficients more fully.     

Green building standards as socio-technical actors in municipal environmental policy

Methods for the environmental assessment and certification of ‘green’ buildings are increasingly being adopted by local governments and other entities as a means of meeting environmental, and often energy-related, goals. Literature on building environmental assessment has examined how these tools are interpreted by stakeholders in design and construction, but less attention has been paid to their interpretation and usage as objects of policy – despite this being a channel through which they have a potentially huge impact. Based on a case study of the emergence of green building in Israel, and drawing on socio-technical literatures, this paper explores the meanings attributed to building environmental assessment in the policy context. It finds that these meanings include a platform for divergent environmental goals and a proxy measure for greenhouse gas abatement. The analysis suggests that for policy-makers, the significance of green building lies not in its constituting a set of environmental benchmarks but as a standard that gains currency as a black-boxed policy object. An open discussion is needed on the various logics driving the use of green building tools in public policy, and what they hope to achieve.     

Optimal integration of offshore wind power for a steadier,environmentally friendlier,supply of electricity in China

Demand for electricity in China is concentrated to a significant extent in its coastal provinces. Opportunities for production of electricity by on-shore wind facilities are greatest, however, in the north and west of the country. Using high resolution wind data derived from the GEOS-5 assimilation, this study shows that investments in off-shore wind facilities in these spatially separated regions (Bohai-Bay or BHB, Yangtze-River Delta or YRD, Pearl-River Delta or PRD) could make an important contribution to overall regional demand for electricity in coastal China. An optimization analysis indicates that hour-to-hour variability of outputs from a combined system can be minimized by investing 24% of the power capacity in BHB, 30% in YRD and 47% in PRD. The analysis suggests that about 28% of the overall off-shore wind potential could be deployed as base load power replacing coal-fired system with benefits not only in terms of reductions in CO₂ emissions but also in terms of improvements in regional air quality. The interconnection of off-shore wind resources contemplated here could be facilitated by China's 12th-five-year plan to strengthen inter-connections between regional electric-power grids.     

大气碘化学与含碘气溶胶形成机制的研究进展

含碘气溶胶对全球气候与环境变化有着深远的影响。已有的研究表明含碘气溶胶的形成和生长源于含碘前体物（碘及碘化物）的氧化和后续聚合过程，含碘前体物的初步氧化会形成IO、OIO等具有高度反应活性的初级碘氧化物，进一步的氧化反应产生更稳定的碘氧化物IxOy,再经过后续聚合反应形成碘氧粒子(iodine oxide particles, IOPs)。IOPs的形成机制决定了含碘气溶胶的物化特性，最终决定了环境与气候效应。然而，现有的模型研究与大气观测结果之间，甚至是不同模型研究之间常常存在分歧，这些分歧又进而导致人们在评估含碘气溶胶对全球环境和气候变化影响效应上的不确定性。详细介绍了近年来大气碘化学与含碘气溶胶形成机制的研究进展，并指出了亟待解决的问题和面临的挑战。     

Research‐but no practice

In this revised version of a paper originally presented at the CIB Washington Congress, the author argues that research results in the African Continent take many years to filter through to building practice, if they filter through at all. The main reasons are conditioned attitudes ‐ ‘anything local is no good’ ‐ and the virtual absence of information and documentation centres. He suggests ways to tackle these problems and thus bridge a yawning gap.