1,721,175 research outputs found
A cross-climate assessment of the visual and energy performance of flexible photochromic films for in-situ window retrofits
Driven by their low thermal resistance and static transmittance to solar radiation, existing static clear windows are often considered the least-efficient components in the building envelope, driving the heating and cooling demands and compromising the thermal and visual comfort of building occupants. Hence, window retrofit technologies that utilize innovative coatings are critical for enhancing energy efficiency and indoor daylight quality in the existing building stock. In particular, dynamic photochromic window films that reversibly modulate solar gains responding to the abundance of ultraviolet radiation are promising but received little attention. In this paper, five commercial flexible photochromic window films were experimentally characterized, and their energy and daylighting performance were numerically and parametrically evaluated in a representative office with different window configurations and orientations across six representative cities with a diverse range of climates. This is one of the first works dealing with photochromic window films as a retrofit technology. The results show that the films exhibit excellent colour-rendering and cyclic stability with rapid switching/bleaching rates. In addition, annual energy savings in the 1% − 4% range were observed for low window-wall ratios, reaching 10% − 14% in cooling-dominated climates with lower latitudes using PC-1, which resulted in the most significant cooling energy savings. Although the film influenced the quantity of light, resulting in lower daylight autonomy, improvements in the useful daylight illuminance and significant reductions in discomfort glare levels were the major benefits of retrofitting existing double-glazed clear windows with the photochromic film
Energy modelling and saving potential of polymeric solar-responsive thermochromic window films
Windows are often considered the weakest components in the thermal envelope driven by their low thermal resistances and static transmittances to solar gains. While low-E coatings improve the former, climate-responsive coatings that adjust their thermo-optical properties in response to changing boundary conditions are promising to address the latter. In particular, thermochromic films are passive technologies that rely on intrinsic material properties to adapt to varying ambient conditions and are more accessible with simpler structures than their active counterparts; hence, they prevail for solar control applications. However, the nature of current building energy simulation tools imposes limitations on evaluating their performance. In this article, a 1-D transient heat transfer model was developed in MATLAB/Simulink to evaluate the annual heating and cooling energy performance of thermochromic glazing while overcoming several limitations of current building energy simulation tools by accounting for spectral-selectivity, gradual transmittance change, hysteresis behaviour, and delayed switching time. The model was benchmarked against EnergyPlus, and the annual energy performance of a representative room was then evaluated for several double-glazing configurations, window-wall ratios, and exposures in the cold and hot climates of Toronto, ON and Abu Dhabi, UAE, respectively, while quantifying the effects of varying the hysteresis width and switching time. The results showed that commercial thermochromic glazing outperformed clear and low-E windows for both climate conditions. In particular, for a window-wall ratio of 80 % and compared to clear reference glazing, annual energy use intensity reductions up to 6.3 kWh/m2 and 12 kWh/m2 were realized in Toronto and Abu Dhabi, respectively, utilizing a glazing configuration that combined exterior thermochromic and interior low-E coated panes, where the latter helped in increasing the former's temperature causing it to switch at lower ambient temperatures. While the typical 30-minute switching time of thermochromic coatings was found to increase the annual energy use intensity by up to 0.5 kWh/m2, a 5 °C hysteresis reduced the annual cooling energy use intensity by up to 0.2 kWh/m2 in Abu Dhabi. Less significant effects and savings were found for lower window-wall ratios, particularly in Toronto, where the coating rarely reached temperatures higher than 45 °C
A smart hybrid energy system grid for energy efficiency in remote areas for the army
The current energy inefficiencies in relocatable temporary camps of the Armed Force troops create logistic challenges associated with fuel supply. The energy needs of these camps are primarily satisfied by diesel engine generators, which imply that a significant amount of fuel needs to be continuously provided to these camps, often built in remote areas. This paper presents an alternative solution, named Smart Hybrid Energy System (SHES), aiming towards significantly reducing the amount of fuel needed and minimizing transportation logistics while meeting camp energy demands. The SHES combines the existing diesel generators with solar power generation, energy storage, and waste heat recovery technologies, all connected to a microgrid, ensuring uninterrupted electricity and hot water supplies. All components are controlled by an energy management system that prioritizes output and switches between different power generators, ensuring operation at optimum efficiencies. The SHES components have been selected to be easily transportable in standard shipping 20 ft containers. The modularity of the solution, scalable from the base camp for 150 people, is designed according to available on-site renewable sources, allowing for energy optimization of different camp sizes in different climates
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
We conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
We have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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