1,720,956 research outputs found
Environmental impacts of waterproof membranes with respect to their radon resistance
Full text linkGas radon is the main source of ionising radiation for humans and the second most common cause of lung cancer after tobacco smoke. Radon is present in the ground, and its concentration differs between different soils according to parameters such as permeability and mineral composition. As radon mainly penetrates buildings through cracks and fractures at the foundation level, this area requires research focus. This study aims to assess the contribution of environmental embodied impacts of ten macro-categories of membranes that are installed to protect buildings against radon. This study aims to evaluate membranes because they are one of the cheapest and easiest radon level-reducing solutions for both new and existing buildings. The data used in the comparison were obtained from environmental product declarations (EPDs) downloaded from open-access databases. The environmental embodied impacts were calculated for the A1–A3 Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) stages and compared with each other in relation to one square meter and radon resistance, which are the parameters that highlight the performance of a membrane in terms of effectiveness for protection against radon. Finally, a comparison of the performance of the radon-proofing solutions with their environmental embodied impacts was conducted using the CML2001 methodology. The results of this investigation enable, for the first time, the selection of the most efficient and environmentally friendly radon-proof membrane at the design stage. Through this analysis (combining performance and environmental impacts), we found that polymeric membranes, such as HDPE and LDPE membranes, were the best options for achieving radon resistance in the range of 100–150 Ms/m in terms of environmental impacts, whereas the PVC membrane displayed the highest values of embodied impacts
Implementing resilience in sustainable building design: Testing selected resilience criteria in a case study
Full text linkClimate change is causing unprecedented changes in precipitation, extreme
temperatures, and weather-related threats. Without effective intervention, these changes are
expected to escalate in the coming years, potentially causing substantial damage to buildings.
Paradoxically, the buildings themselves possess the potential to both exacerbate and alleviate
climate change. To achieve a balance, the design of the building must adhere to minimal
sustainability standards, taking into account resilience. Popular building rating systems,
currently skewed towards sustainability, often neglect resilience principles. This paper aims to
assess five selected resilience criteria from a new module incorporated into an existing building
certification system, SBToolCZ. Validation occurs through a multi-residential building case
study in Prague, evaluating the effectiveness of the criteria in terms of feasibility, accuracy,
consistency, and time/data requirements. The results of this criteria test determine the clarity,
achievability, and informativeness of the selected criteria. If gathering information and meeting
benchmarks within a specific time frame proves challenging, adjustments to the criteria may be
necessary for attainability and specificity. Integrating resilience features into sustainability rating
systems, typically used in the early stages of design, can encourage designers to incorporate
resilience into their projects. This proactive approach could lead to long-term reductions in
environmental, social, and economic impacts, especially during weather-related hazards
Exploring the Common Ground of Sustainability and Resilience in the Building Sector: A Systematic Literature Review and Analysis of Building Rating Systems
Full text linkOver the last ten years, due to the increase in frequency and severity of climate change effects, resilience in buildings has become a growing topic in the current global discussion on climate change adaptation. Designing both sustainable and resilient constructions would help to face such effects; however, sustainability and resilience in design have been mostly treated separately so far. Since sustainability has been considered more than resilience, paying deeper attention to the latter is indispensable to reducing building vulnerability. The purpose of this article is to examine the commonalities between the sustainability and resilience of buildings using two different approaches: (i) a systematic literature review, taking into consideration a 10-year period for selecting records, and (ii) an analysis of five green building rating systems and five resilience rating systems and guidelines selected according to their popularity and number of certified buildings. There is an overlap in some indicators between the two domains at the building level, as shown by the results from both paths. These aspects could assist in considering sustainability and resilience from the very beginning of the design process. This will ensure that buildings may be designed more effectively by considering and enhancing the synergies between the two domains. This paper targets potential stakeholders who may be interested in including such an integrated implementation in their designs
SBToolCZ new version: An analysis of a few updated environmental parameters on a case study
No full textIn the past decade, the world has faced many challenges, including the effects resulting from human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. In the construction industry, efforts are being made to combat climate change and protect the environment by developing rating systems aimed at designing sustainable buildings. One of these tools is SBToolCZ, the Czech national certification used to assess the sustainability of various building typologies. Still, as buildings are becoming more energy-efficient, which should ensure low carbon emissions, the environmental impacts of building components should be methodically examined. This paper compares two versions of the tool specifically addressed to office buildings – the one developed in 2011 and the recently updated version developed in accordance with the new priorities indicated by the European Green Deal. The comparative analysis investigates what has been changed, focusing on six environmental impacts calculated for the A1-A3, B4 and B6 LCA stages applied to an office building. On this basis, the paper aims to assess two different SBToolCZ versions and understand how the Methodology has been modified considering a case study and six environmental parameters
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe 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
Full text link“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
Full text linkWe 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
Full text linkWe 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
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