Effect of electricity tariff on the optimum insulation-thickness in building walls as determined by a dynamic heat-transfer model

Thermal insulation is one of the most effective energy-conservation measures in buildings. Despite the widespread use of insulation materials in recent years, little is known regarding their optimum thickness under dynamic thermal conditions. Insulated concrete blocks are among the units most commonly used in the construction of building walls in Saudi Arabia. Typically, the insulation layer thickness is fixed at a value in the range 2.5–7.5 cm, regardless of the climatic conditions, type and cost of insulation material, and other economic parameters. In the present study, a numerical model based on a finite-volume, time-dependent implicit procedure, which has been previously validated, is used to compute the yearly cooling and heating transmission loads under steady periodic conditions through a typical building wall, for different insulation thicknesses. The transmission loads, calculated by using the climatic conditions of Riyadh for a west-facing wall, are fed into an economic model in order to determine the optimum thickness of insulation (L_opt). The latter corresponds to the minimum total cost, which includes the cost of insulation material and its installation plus the present value of energy consumption cost over the lifetime of the building. The optimum insulation thickness depends on the electricity tariff as well as the cost of insulation material, lifetime of the building, inflation and discount rates, and coefficient of performance of the air-conditioning equipment. In the present study, the effect of electricity tariff on the computed optimum insulation thickness is investigated. Different average electricity tariffs are considered; namely, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 SR/kWh (designated as Cases 1–5, respectively; 1 US$ = 3.75 Saudi Riyals). Results using moulded polystyrene as an insulating material show that the values of L_opt are: 4.8, 7.2, 10.9, 13.7 and 16.0 cm for Cases 1–5. Under the conditions of optimal insulation thickness for each electricity tariff, Case 1 gives the lowest total cost of 17.4 SR/m², while Case 5 gives the highest total cost of 53.1 SR/m². Corresponding thermal performance characteristics in terms of yearly total and peak transmission loads, R-value, time lag and decrement factor are presented.     

当前宁波地区住宅产品可持续发展浅析

文章从居住社区的规划设计和建筑设计两方面以低能耗的角度分析了城市居住功能的分布、社区住宅建筑布局的合理性、社区景观设置的合理性以及停车、中水处理与被动式太阳能住宅建筑的相关先进生态理念,希望通过居住社区的生态可持续性设计改善社区的舒适性和能源的可持续性.     

高层建筑结构设计的分析判断与优化

对高层建筑设计而言,设计前期的初步结构方案需通过结构软件的计算分析,判断该方案是否正确与合理,从而对其进行有针对性的修改和优化。文章结合具体实例,介绍了分析判断计算结果的主要几项内容及可采取的相应优化措施,从而可以提高设计的准确性和工作效率。     

与环境友好的绿色建筑材料

实施绿色建筑的主要途径之一是开发和使用绿色建筑材料，使得建筑与人和环境的关系和谐融洽。本文介绍了建筑材料对环境和人类健康的不利影响，并对绿色建筑材料的设计和开发作了探讨。     

常速度梯度射线追踪与二维层速度反演

速度问题是勘探地震学的核心 ,可以借助常速度梯度射线追踪方法 ,从反演的角度探讨速度建模问题。在射线追踪方面 ,从程函方程出发 ,将复杂的速度场剖分成小的矩形单元 ,并假设在每个矩形单元内速度具有常速度梯度 ,由此导出的一组常速度梯度射线追踪公式 ,可实现非均匀介质的射线追踪 ,具有适应性强、精度高和快速的优点。在层速度反演方面 ,采用相干速度反演的思想 ,根据各向同性介质中 ,零偏移距射线在界面处是法向入射的原理 ,建立了合成共中心点道集与射线深度偏移的正反演关系 ,由此利用合成共中心点道集与观测的共中心点道集逼近 ,采用层剥离方法进行层速度反演。通过理论推导与模型试算得到如下的认识与结论 :常速度梯度射线追踪具有较高的计算精度与效率 ,公式采用向量形式很容易推广到三维 ;确定层速度采用的是正反演相结合的方法 ,可得到稳定的速度场 ;该方法屏弃了基于双曲时矩关系确定层速度场的假设 ,使其能适应任意的速度分布。     

利用微机设计保护煤柱

根据保护煤柱设计原理 ,利用微机采用垂线法留设保护煤柱的数学模型、程序流程以及得到的算例结果。利用该方法 ,只要将有关资料输入计算机 ,就能快速准确地自动计算出煤柱角点坐标、煤柱面积和压煤量。     

Wood inspection with non-supervised clustering

Abstract. The appearance of sawn timber has huge natural variations that the human inspector easily compensates for mentally when determining the types of defects and the grade of each board. However, for automatic wood inspection systems these variations are a major source for complication. This makes it difficult to use textbook methodologies for visual inspection. These methodologies generally aim at systems that are trained in a supervised manner with samples of defects and good material, but selecting and labeling the samples is an error-prone process that limits the accuracy that can be achieved. We present a non-supervised clustering-based approach for detecting and recognizing defects in lumber boards. A key idea is to employ a self-organizing map (SOM) for discriminating between sound wood and defects. Human involvement needed for training is minimal. The approach has been tested with color images of lumber boards, and the achieved false detection and error escape rates are low. The approach also provides a self-intuitive visual user interface. Received: 16 December 2000 / Accepted: 8 December 2001 Correspondence to: O. Silvén     

带状大比例尺地形图在分带接边处的接边处理

介绍带状大比例尺地形图在分带处高斯平面上拼接的原理和方法，并编制了相应的接边数据处理程序。作业实践说明，该接边方法简便实用，计算程序正确可靠。     

多层砖砌体房屋震害分析及抗震措施

介绍了我国砖砌体房屋历年来遭受震害的程度以及砖砌体的抗震性能，针对一些震害现象，分别从建筑布置和抗震措施加强对砖砌体的抗震性能进行论述。     

现代智能建筑防雷措施浅析

主要介绍系统防雷技术的具体防护方法。包括电源系统、UPS电源系统、终端设备电源、通讯网络系统、电话线及专线、局域网线路、卫星接收天馈线的防护以及接地保护系统。