Life-cycle carbon and cost analysis of energy efficiency measures in new commercial buildings

Energy efficiency in new building construction has become a key target to lower nation-wide energy use. The goals of this paper are to estimate life-cycle energy savings, carbon emission reduction, and cost-effectiveness of energy efficiency measures in new commercial buildings using an integrated design approach, and estimate the implications from a cost on energy-based carbon emissions. A total of 576 energy simulations are run for 12 prototypical buildings in 16 cities, with 3 building designs for each building-location combination. Simulated energy consumption and building cost databases are used to determine the life-cycle cost-effectiveness and carbon emissions of each design. The results show conventional energy efficiency technologies can be used to decrease energy use in new commercial buildings by 20-30% on average and up to over 40% for some building types and locations. These reductions can often be done at negative life-cycle costs because the improved efficiencies allow the installation of smaller, cheaper HVAC equipment. These improvements not only save money and energy, but reduce a building’s carbon footprint by 16% on average. A cost on carbon emissions from energy use increases the return on energy efficiency investments because energy is more expensive, making some cost-ineffective projects economically feasible.     

Interacting limits to algal growth: Light, phosphorus, and carbon dioxide availability

Most studies of limiting factors to algal growth seek to quantify the effect of individual factors. However, rates and amounts of photosynthetic carbon fixation in laboratory cultures of Anacystis nidulans show simultaneous dependence on the availability of phosphorus, carbon dioxide, and light. Thus, not all limiting factors may act independently to control algal growth in aquatic systems, and further research into the extent of such interactions is needed.     

Predetermined overall thermal transfer value coefficients for Composite, Hot-Dry and Warm-Humid climates

This paper attempts to formulate Overall Thermal Transfer Value (OTTV) coefficients for Composite, Hot-Dry and Warm-Humid climates, the three main tropical climates in India. Four existing air-conditioned office buildings - two mid-rise and two high-rise were modeled as case studies using eQuest v.3.6, which is a DoE2.2, based building energy simulation tool. Based on the study of building envelope, loads, operation and HVAC system characteristics of these case study buildings, a hypothetical high-rise, 16 storey office building, octagonal in plan was created for parametric studies. 98 types of opaque exterior wall constructions and 93 types of glass constructions were varied sequentially in parametric runs to obtain results for hourly wall conduction, glass conduction and glass radiation heat flow in eight orientations for each of the climate type. These hourly results were processed to obtain annual heat gain intensities for each parametric case for all three modes of heat transfer. Regression analysis was used to obtain the OTTV coefficients - TD_eq, DT and SF for the three climates. A new OTTV equation is obtained and presented. The set of coefficients obtained were verified by calculating the OTTV for the four case study buildings, for various parametric runs. The computed OTTV for the four case study buildings exhibits good linear correlation with the annual space cooling plus heating energy use in three climates.     

Pharmaceuticals, personal care products and endocrine-disrupting chemicals in U.S. surface and finished drinking waters: A proposed ranking system

This study developed a comprehensive ranking system, for the first time as per authors' knowledge, for prioritizing the monitoring of pharmaceuticals and personal care products and endocrine-disrupting chemicals (together termed as EOCs, hereafter; a total of 100 EOCs considered) in U.S. stream water/source water and finished drinking water (termed as “EOCRank,” hereafter). The EOCRank system was developed using a total of 4 criteria: (1) occurrence, (2) treatment in drinking water treatment plants, (3) ecological effects, and (4) health effects and characterized using 7 attributes: prevalence, frequency of detection, removal, bioaccumulation, ecotoxicity (for fish, daphnid, and algae aquatic indicator species), pregnancy effects, and health effects. The health effects attribute was characterized using 7 sub-attributes: carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, impairment of fertility, central nervous system acting, endocrine effects, immunotoxicity, and developmental effects. Rank scores of EOCs were calculated as summations of multiplications of importance weights and utility functions of multiple criteria and were arranged to highlight EOCs needing immediate attention. Two different ranking lists of EOCs were developed for U.S. finished drinking water and stream water/source water and observed to differ with each other, indicating the effect of water type on ranking of EOCs. A ranking list of priority EOCs, developed using a particular criterion, was observed to differ with that, developed using multiple criteria. Health effects and treatment criteria were observed to be important criteria influencing overall data gap rank scores and need further data collection. The generalized nature of the system could be customized for specific geographical locations (occurrence information and importance weights of different components). The developed database of the EOCRank system is available on: http://www.egr.msu.edu/~xagorara/research.html).     

Cross the River by Touching the Stones: Chinese Architecture and Political Economy in the Reform Era: 1978-2008

China's Open Door Policy and economic development set in motion in 1978 can be regarded as the triumph of pragmatism over theory - specifically Chairman Mao's brand of Marxist theory. Tao Zhu traces the progress of reform over the last 30 years, and its impact on Chinese architectural culture. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Future of Information Modelling and the End of Theory: Less is Limited,More is Different

The computational design strategist Cynthia Ottchen , who was previously Head of Research and Innovation at OMA, offers insights into the future of building information modelling (BIM). Now in the Petabyte Age of the data deluge, she argues that in our adoption of BIM we have to surpass mere data collection and technical optimisation and open up new ways of thinking with the creative use of ‘soft data’. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Health risk associated with dietary co-exposure to high levels of antimony and arsenic in the world's largest antimony mine area

Like arsenic (As), antimony (Sb) is known to be a genotoxic element in vitro and in vivo. Sb is now recognized as a global contaminant and has aroused the global concerns recently. However, knowledge is scarce concerning the transfer of Sb from the environment to humans and the related hazards to human health. In this pilot study, the health risk and main pathway of long-term human exposure to Sb and As for residents around Chinese Xikuangshan (XKS) Sb mine, the world's largest Sb mine, were evaluated by dietary exposure and hair accumulations survey. The concentrations and species of Sb and As in food samples (n = 209) from three main categories and six subcategories, and in hair samples (n = 89) were determined. Residents in the vicinity of XKS had an estimated dietary intake of Sb (554 μg/day) which was 1.5 times higher than the tolerable daily intake (TDI) (Sb, 360 μg/day), whereas their dietary intake of inorganic As (107 μg/day) was slightly lower than the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) of 15 μg/kg BW/week (equal to 129 μg As/day). Hair Sb and As concentrations (Sb, 15.7 mg/kg, DW; As, 3.99 mg/kg, DW) in XKS residents are both above the normal/toxic level. Rice, vegetables (especially leafy vegetable), drinking water, and meat/poultry were the dominant dietary intake sources of Sb for the residents. In contrast, rice was the uniquely dominant dietary intake source of As. Antimonate (Sb(V)) was the dominant Sb species in vegetables, drinking water and residents' hairs. This study highlighted the difference of exposure characteristics between Sb and As. The preliminary results suggested that dietary exposures to Sb, rather than As, was the dominant health risk to local residents. Nevertheless, the adverse effects of As levels on the health of residents still can not be ignored since the elevated As concentrations in human hair have reached the critical level for health risks. In addition, this pilot study did not consider the possible Sb and As combined effects.     

Fast Forwards: 10 Years of Sustainable Initiatives in the Gulf Region

Over the last decade, sustainable initiatives have proliferated in the UAE through a disparate range of public and private sector efforts. Jeffrey Willis , Sustainability Leader for Arup in the Gulf, provides a comprehensive review of these enterprises, highlighting how momentum has been clustered in three distinct periods of activity: previous to 2006 ; 2006 to 2008 ; and then since the global financial crisis in 2008.     

Sustainability: A Clarion Call for a New Approach

Looking beyond the tickbox approach of green-rating systems that apply North American climatic criteria to a Brazilian context, Joana Carla Soares Gonçalves , a professor of environmental design at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of Sâo Paulo, advocates a more far-reaching way forward for sustainability in Brazil.     

Global Village Media: Coming Together in the Early 1970s at Whiz Bang Quick City

Felicity D Scott , Associate Professor of Architecture at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP), describes here the instant city events of the early 1970s. These foreshadowed current global village media practices in what now seems a quaintly material manner: communication between sites involved the physical mailing of videotapes and ‘wire photos’ through the postal service. The sites themselves – in the US and elsewhere – were transformed into ‘instant cities’ through the erection of physical geodesic domes, teepees and inflatables in seas of mud. The true antecedents of today's instant networking, these pioneers embraced the newest technology available at the time and the most innovative forms of temporary architecture.