1,720,987 research outputs found
Multi-Objective Optimization Models to Design a Responsive Built Environment: A Synthetic Review
No full textA synthetic review of the application of multi-objective optimization models to the design of climate-responsive buildings and neighbourhoods is carried out. The review focused on the software utilized during both simulation and optimization stages, as well as on the objective functions and the design variables. The hereby work aims at identifying knowledge gaps and future trends in the research field of automation in the design of buildings. Around 140 scientific journal articles, published between 2014 and 2021, were selected from Scopus and Web of Science databases. A three-step selection process was applied to refine the search terms and to discard works investigating mechanical, structural, and seismic topics. Meta-analysis of the results highlighted that multi-objective optimization models are widely exploited for (i) enhancing building’s energy efficiency, (ii) improving thermal and (iii) visual comfort, minimizing (iv) life-cycle costs, and (v) emissions. Reviewed workflows demonstrated to be suitable for exploring different design alternatives for building envelope, systems layout, and occupancy patterns. Nonetheless, there are still some aspects that need to be further enhanced to fully enable their potential such as the ability to operate at multiple temporal and spatial scales and the possibility of exploring strategies based on sector coupling to improve a building’s energy efficiency
Optimized Cool Coatings as a Strategy to Improve Urban Equivalent Albedo at Various Latitudes
No full textThis research study aimed to investigate the influences of angular-selective retro-reflective (AS-RR) and retro-reflective (RR) materials on the urban equivalent albedo (αeq). Full ray tracing solar analyses were conducted through the Monte Carlo-based numerical model validated in a previous work. Different geometry scenarios with different patterns of urban density were modelled. AS-RR and RR materials were alternately applied to the street and to the most irradiated façade. AS-RR materials were proposed to enhance the αeq of the urban environment particularly during summer. Solar analyses were reiterated for three latitudes (i.e., Oslo, Milan, Cairo). RR pavements and façades were capable of increasing the αeq throughout the year. However, implementing an angular-selective behavior allowed for a reduction of the mitigation potential of RR materials during the winter season. In their best application, RR and AS-RR materials enabled higher αeq in summer (122%) with negligible effects during the winter (7%). Finally, the study highlighted the need for exploiting numerical models capable of conducting full ray tracing solar analyses when investigating materials whose optical properties depend on the angle of incidence of the sunrays (such as RR materials)
Investigating alternative development strategies for sport arenas based on active and passive systems
No full textRaising energy consumption observed in sport events for the last decades leads the organizing associations to developing adequate countermeasures. While the enhancement of active systems (installed on or integrated in buildings) had been already boosted to increase their efficiency in producing renewable energy, passive strategies still present room for development. The hereby study aims at providing useful information which can orient decision-makers towards wiser choices through the comparison of two alternative configurations, respectively based on active and passive strategies. A building-integrated photovoltaic (BiPV) plant and a cool surface treatment to increase the envelope solar reflectance were investigated in the Dacia Arena football stadium (Italy). Economic and environmental analyses were carried out in order to identify limits and potentials. The variables considered in the analyses included the installing costs, costs for the replacement, earnings due to energy production, profits from Emission Trading System for carbon credits, and savings from reduced energy consumption (if compared to initial configuration). Results demonstrated that highly-reflective coating guarantees a lower impact than BiPV plant in terms of economics, and permits paying back installing costs in a shorter time interval. When it comes to the environmental analyses, the amount of compensated emissions equals around 100 kgCO2-eq/m2 for the passive scenario and 1,500 kgCO2-eq/m2 for the active scenario
Evaluation of the odor impact of some environmental gaseous pollutants: calibration of the methodology and preliminary results
No full textDuring the last decades, it has been observed a growing interest on odor impact because of the frequenter social acceptability problems about energy plants handling and processing stored organic materials (e.g., biogas plants, landfills, farms, distilleries, etc.). In this context, the UNI EN 13725:2004 indicates the “dynamic olfactometry method” as validated, recognized, and adequate measurement procedure for estimating the odor concentration. This protocol is carried out by a panel of specifically trained and selected human receptors, but alternative analytical methodologies are currently under discussion. This work aims to describe the initial steps of a wider research toward the definition of a new analytical protocol for monitoring odor concentration. The alternative methodology is here presented through the implementation of a case study: stored organic materials exploited on an energy plant in Central Italy. The paper describes the preliminary activities related to the survey of the case study (i), the definition of alternative methods and devices for conducting emissions sampling (ii), and the adopted experimental approach (iii). Finally, preliminary results are also presented (iv). The resulting protocol, once validated, could be employed by local authorities to measure both the odor impacts and the effectiveness of specifically designed mitigation strategies
Towards Zero Energy Stadiums: The Case Study of the Dacia Arena in Udine, Italy
No full textThe environmental impacts of sport events have been growing during the last decades, which has led to the organizing associations developing adequate countermeasures to both reduce carbon emissions due to construction and operational stages compensate for the emissions. This work aims at proposing an approach to stadiums energy enhancement that includes strategies largely recognized as effective and applicable to several building typologies (residential, commercial, academic, etc.). The selected case study is the Dacia Arena in northern Italy that has been recently refurbished and renovated. The proposed workflow has as a goal minimizing the increment of the operational emissions, caused by new heated areas in the stadium. Firstly, the energy consumption was estimated in dynamic state for Scenario 0 (current state) and Scenario 1 (refurbished state) to quantify the new plant’s energy demand. Secondly, two hypothetical system layouts were proposed and evaluated. In the first, the power for lighting, cooling and heating is supplied by a system that couples photovoltaic panels with heat pump. In the second, the same photovoltaic plant is integrated with a biomass plant and an absorption chiller. The comparison highlights the suitability of those interventions and the environmental advantages deriving from their exploitation
Assessment of operating temperature within the new pavilion for slag management in Terni
No full textThe whole metallurgic sector produces up to 200 million tons of slag, which are tapped from the blast furnace (at a temperature of 1,500°C), and then need to be cooled down before
disposal. These cooling processes are generally conducted open-air, significantly affecting local environmental quality of the surroundings. The present study aims at investigating the potential
of an innovative slag cooling system housed within a pavilion, designed in order to minimize the emission of dust and pollutants out from the metallurgic plant. Such a system consists of a
depressurized environment whose top surface is treated with black pigments and cooled down by water streams above it. Air is continuously extracted and then adequately filtered before being
released outdoor. A numerical model was elaborated for evaluating the main heat flows developed within and through the pavilion’s envelope for the case study in Terni, central Italy. Once the physical and geometrical properties of the slag and the pavilion were defined, the heat exchanged with the air and water due to convection, as well as the latent heat dissipated through water evaporation was quantified. Results demonstrated the effectiveness of the water-based cooling system in keeping the roof temperature lower than 328 K without compromising the mechanical properties of the material. The evaporated water mass ranged between 4.2 kg h-1 and 79.6 kg h-1 and was strongly influenced by seasonal weather conditions
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
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