Life cycle emissions analysis of two nZEB concepts

The net-zero emissions building (nZEB) performance is investigated for building operation (EO) and embodied emissions in materials (EE) for Norway's cold climate. nZEB concepts for new residential and office buildings are conceived in order to understand the balance and implications between operational and embodied emissions over the building's life. The main drivers for the CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e) emissions are revealed for both building concepts through a detailed emissions calculation. The influence of the CO₂e factor for electricity is emphasized and it is shown to have significant impact on the temporal evolution of the overall CO₂e emissions balance. The results show that the criterion for zero emissions in operation is easily reached for both nZEB concepts (independent of the CO₂e factor considered). Embodied emissions are significant compared to operational emissions. It was found that an overall emissions balance including both operational and embodied energy is difficult to reach and would be unobtainable in a scenario of low carbon electricity from the grid. In this particular scenario, the net balance of emissions alone is nonetheless not a sufficient performance indicator for nZEB.     

Environmental performance of a naturally ventilated city centre library

To tackle climate change it is essential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. To this end, it is important to reduce the energy demands of non-domestic buildings. Naturally ventilated buildings can have low energy demands but the strategy is difficult to implement in deep plan, urban locations. The Frederick Lanchester Library at Coventry University, UK, incorporates natural ventilation, daylighting and passive cooling strategies. By using lightwells and perimeter stacks to supply and exhaust air, it can be ventilated by natural means despite its deep plan form and sealed façade. This paper describes the building and presents the energy consumption and the internal temperatures and CO₂ levels recorded in 2004/2005. The building's performance is compared to the original design criteria and good practice guidelines. Recommendations for the design of such buildings are made and the likely performance in other UK cities is assessed. It is concluded that the building uses under half the energy of a standard air-conditioned building and yet, in summer, can keep the interior comfortable and up to 5 °C below ambient. The design would perform equally well in the typical weather conditions experienced at 13 other UK cities, but not in London. It is concluded that deep-plan, naturally ventilated buildings with sealed facades, if well designed, could maintain thermal comfort in all but a very few UK locations, whilst consuming much less energy than even good practice standards.     

Sanierungsforschung in regional kontaminierten Aquiferen (SAFIRA) – 1. Information zum Forschungsschwerpunkt am Standort Bitterfeld

The SAFIRA-project (remediation research in regionally contaminated aquifers) focuses on innovative in situ remediation technologies to treat complex groundwater contamination. For this purpose, a model site located in Bitterfeld, Germany, was selected. The site is heavily contaminated with aliphatic and aromatic chlorinated hydrocarbons. The goal of the project is to develop, test and optimize new technologies of reactive barriers under controlled in situ conditions in a pilot plant. In order to create the necessary basis for this model project, the hydrogeological and hydrogeochemical conditions at the selected field site were investigated and various technologies for the design of the in situ pilot plant were examinated. Small-scale laboratory studies and tests in a mobile test unit (scale 1 m) were carried out in order to test the technologies prior to their application in the field. The technologies now tested in the reactive columns at the pilot plant include physico-chemical, microbial and combined techniques.     

Sub-micrometer particulate air pollution and cardiovascular mortality in Beijing, China

Background

While the link between particulate matter and cardiovascular mortality is well established, it is not fully investigated and understood which properties of the aerosol might be responsible for the health effects, especially in polluted mega-city areas.

Objectives

Our goal was to explore the association between daily cardiovascular mortality and different particle metrics in the sub-micrometer range in Beijing, China.

Methods

We obtained daily counts of cause-specific cardiovascular deaths in the Beijing urban area for the period March 2004 to August 2005. Concurrently, continuous measurements of particle number size distributions were performed. Particle number concentrations (NC) between 0.003 μm and 0.8 μm were converted to particle mass and surface area concentrations assuming spherical particles. Semi-parametric Poisson regression models adjusting for trend, seasonality, day of the week, and meteorology were used to estimate immediate, delayed and cumulative particle effects. Additionally, effect modification by air mass origin was investigated.

Results

We observed associations between daily cardiovascular mortality and particle NC for a 2-days delay. Moreover, nearly all particle metrics showed 2-days delayed associations with ischemic heart disease mortality. The strongest association was found for particle NC in the size range 0.03-0.1 μm (7.1% increase in daily mortality with a 95%-confidence interval of 2.9%-11.5%, per an increase of 6250 particles/cm³). Results for surface and mass concentrations with a lag of two days indicated effect modification by air mass origin, whereas effects of particle NC were not modified.

Conclusions

Results show an elevated risk of cardiovascular mortality in Beijing from short-term exposure to particulate air pollution in the sub-micrometer range. Results also indicate that locally produced smaller particles and regionally transported particles may exhibit different effects in Beijing.     

Combination of UDP‐Glc(NAc) 4′‐Epimerase and Galactose Oxidase in a One‐Pot Synthesis of Biotinylated Nucleotide Sugars

The enzymatic epimerization of uridine 5′‐diphospho‐α‐D ‐glucose (UDP‐Glc, 1 ) and uridine 5′‐diphospho‐N‐acetyl‐α‐D ‐glucosamine (UDP‐GlcNAc, 2 ) and the subsequent oxidation of uridine 5′‐diphospho‐α‐D ‐galactose (UDP‐Gal, 3 ) and uridine 5′‐diphospho‐N‐acetyl‐α‐D ‐galactosamine (UDP‐GalNAc, 4 ) were combined with chemical biotinylation with biotin‐ε‐amidocaproylhydrazide in a one‐pot synthesis. Analysis by CE and NMR revealed a mixture (1.0:1.4) of the biotinylated nucleotide sugars uridine 5′‐diphospho‐6‐biotin‐ε‐amidocaproylhydrazino‐α‐D ‐galactose (UDP‐6‐biotinyl‐Gal, 7) and uridine 5′‐diphospho‐6‐biotin‐ε‐amidocaproylhydrazino‐α‐D ‐glucose (UDP‐6‐biotinyl‐Glc, 9 ), respectively, in a reaction started with 1 . One product, uridine 5′‐diphospho‐6‐biotin‐ε‐amidocaproylhydrazino‐N‐acetyl‐α‐D ‐galactosamine (UDP‐6‐biotinyl‐GalNAc, 8) was formed when the reaction was initiated with 2 . It could be demonstrated for the first time that a UDP‐Glc(NAc) 4′‐epimerase (Gne from Campylobacter jejuni) and galactose oxidase from Dactylium dendroides can be used simultaneously in enzymatic catalysis. This is of particular interest since the coaction of an enzyme demanding reductive conditions and an oxygen‐dependent oxidase is unexpected.