scholarly journals Simulation of Energy Efficiency Measures for the Residential Building Stock: A Case Study in the Semi-Arid Region

2021 ◽  
Vol 1090 (1) ◽  
pp. 012018
Author(s):  
Kawar Salih ◽  
Gabriela Ledesma ◽  
Zaid O. Saeed
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Arid Region ◽  
Residential Building ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Energy Efficiency Measures ◽  
Efficiency Measures ◽  
Residential Building Stock ◽  
Semi Arid Region ◽  
Semi Arid

scholarly journals Modeling Insights into Precipitation Deuterium Excess as an Indicator of Raindrop Evaporation in Lanzhou, China

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 193
Author(s):  
Fenli Chen ◽  
Mingjun Zhang ◽  
Athanassios A. Argiriou ◽  
Shengjie Wang ◽  
Qian Ma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Arid Region ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Isotope Composition ◽  
Sampling Site ◽  
Western China ◽  
Cloud Base ◽  
Deuterium Excess ◽  
Semi Arid Region ◽  
Semi Arid

The deuterium excess in precipitation is an effective indicator to assess the existence of sub-cloud evaporation of raindrops. Based on the synchronous measurements of stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen (δ2H and δ18O) in precipitation for several sites in Lanzhou, western China, spanning for approximately four years, the variations of deuterium excess between the ground and the cloud base are evaluated by using a one-box Stewart model. The deuterium excess difference below the cloud base during summer (−17.82‰ in Anning, −11.76‰ in Yuzhong, −21.18‰ in Gaolan and −12.41‰ in Yongdeng) is greater than that in other seasons, and difference in winter is weak due to the low temperature. The variations of deuterium excess in precipitation due to below-cloud evaporation are examined for each sampling site and year. The results are useful to understand the modification of raindrop isotope composition below the cloud base at a city scale, and the quantitative methods provide a case study for a semi-arid region at the monsoon margin.

scholarly journals Application of Urban Scale Energy Modelling and Multi-Objective Optimization Techniques for Building Energy Renovation at District Scale

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (20) ◽  
pp. 11554
Author(s):  
Fahad Haneef ◽  
Giovanni Pernigotto ◽  
Andrea Gasparella ◽  
Jérôme Henri Kämpf
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Optimization Techniques ◽  
Multi Objective Optimization ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Energy Efficiency Measures ◽  
Multi Objective ◽  
Efficiency Measures

Nearly-zero energy buildings are now a standard for new constructions. However, the real challenge for a decarbonized society relies in the renovation of the existing building stock, selecting energy efficiency measures considering not only the energy performance but also the economic and sustainability ones. Even if the literature is full of examples coupling building energy simulation with multi-objective optimization for the identification of the best measures, the adoption of such approaches is still limited for district and urban scale simulation, often because of lack of complete data inputs and high computational requirements. In this research, a new methodology is proposed, combining the detailed geometric characterization of urban simulation tools with the simplification provided by “building archetype” modeling, in order to ensure the development of robust models for the multi-objective optimization of retrofit interventions at district scale. Using CitySim as an urban scale energy modeling tool, a residential district built in the 1990s in Bolzano, Italy, was studied. Different sets of renovation measures for the building envelope and three objectives —i.e., energy, economic and sustainability performances, were compared. Despite energy savings from 29 to 46%, energy efficiency measures applied just to the building envelope were found insufficient to meet the carbon neutrality goals without interventions to the system, in particular considering mechanical ventilation with heat recovery. Furthermore, public subsidization has been revealed to be necessary, since none of the proposed measures is able to pay back the initial investment for this case study.

22. The Feminization of Agricultural Labour in India, With a Case Study of the Semi-Arid Region of Andhra Pradesh: A Means of Empowerment or a Method of Domination?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Shinoff
Keyword(s):  
Arid Region ◽  
Andhra Pradesh ◽  
Rural India ◽  
Public Spheres ◽  
Agricultural Work ◽  
Economic Disparity ◽  
Semi Arid Region ◽  
Semi Arid ◽  
Agricultural Labourers

With the general shift of men turning to out-migration work in times of economic disparity, women in rural India, specifically in the region of Andhra Pradesh, are forced to step in and fill the gap in agricultural labour left by migrating men. This phenomenon, coupled with the increased desire for female agricultural labourers – because of their tolerance of low wages – has led to a significant increase in the feminization of agricultural labour in India since the 1990s. While neoliberal writers argue that the increasingly feminized workforce of agricultural labour in rural India is largely demand-driven – both by male-out migration and thus the freeing up of agricultural work for women, I will argue, in accordance with the Marxist-feminist school of thought, that the increased feminization of agricultural labour in rural Andhra Pradesh does not reflect rural prosperity, but in fact is the “consequence of increasing pauperization among the small peasantry” (Garikipati 2008:630). This paper will explore the debate of whether or not the feminization of the agricultural workforce in rural Andhra Pradesh has accelerated female independence and empowerment in both the private (household) and public spheres. This locality study will thus add to a critical Marxist-feminist perspective of the feminization of agricultural labour in India generally, and the semi-arid region of Andhra Pradesh specifically, while raising the question of who truly benefits form the feminization of the agricultural workforce. 

scholarly journals Towards Urban Mining—Estimating the Potential Environmental Benefits by Applying an Alternative Construction Practice. A Case Study from Switzerland

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 5041
Author(s):  
Efstathios Kakkos ◽  
Felix Heisel ◽  
Dirk E. Hebel ◽  
Roland Hischier
Keyword(s):  
Impact Category ◽  
Residential Building ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Experimental Unit ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Urban Mining ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Residential Building Stock ◽  
Construction Practice

Modern cities emerged as the main accumulator for primary and waste materials. Recovery of both types from buildings after demolition/disassembly creates a secondary material stream that could relieve pressure from primary resources. Urban mining represents this circular approach, and its application depends on redefining current construction practice. Through the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology and assuming primary resources as step zero of urban mining, this study estimates the impacts and benefits of conventional versus a circular construction practice applied to various buildings with different parameters and the country-level environmental potential savings that could be achieved through this switch in construction practice—using the increase of the residential building stock in Switzerland between 2012 and 2016 as a case study and key values from the experimental unit “Urban Mining and Recycling”, designed by Werner Sobek with Dirk E. Hebel and Felix Heisel and installed inside the NEST (Next Evolution in Sustainable Building Technologies) research building on the Empa campus in Switzerland. The results exhibit lower total impacts (at least 16% in each examined impact category) at building level and resulting benefits (i.e., 68–117 kt CO2-Eq) at country level over five years, which can be further reduced/increased respectively by using existing or recycled components, instead of virgin materials.

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