Smart lighting in a historic context: a case study

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 282-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Beccali ◽  
Marina Bonomolo ◽  
Alessandra Galatioto ◽  
Emanuela Pulvirenti
Keyword(s):  
Energy Savings ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Integrated Design ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Historical Building ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Smart Lighting ◽  
Design Concepts ◽  
Good Energy ◽  
The City

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address a project for lighting an old town in Italy. Its originality lies in the holistic approach that aims to fulfil several objectives. One is to reduce energy consumption by using efficient lamps and advanced control systems; the second one is to make the network viable and useful for many purposes by integrating ICT devices; the third one is to provide a new identity to the older part of the city by using new technologies and design concepts; while the last one is to ensure street and pedestrian safety according to codes and standards. Design/methodology/approach The plan of the city of Bagheria and the stock of luminaires of the city are analysed. A multidisciplinary approach has been adopted in order to: analyse the existing lighting infrastructure highlighting critical areas; design a new displacement and select typologies of luminaries able to provide proper light quality and distribution; propose an aesthetic solution and technical design for relevant historical building; and to include in the design process the concept of a new multifunctional pole. Together with an analysis of social benefits, an assessment of economic costs and benefits are discussed. Findings The project allows good energy savings, meets the standard requirements and gives a relevant and strategic improvement in social and environmental management of the city. Originality/value The work provides an example of integrated design of street lighting infrastructures for urban renovation in old cities in degraded environments.

From place branding to placemaking: the role of events

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Greg Richards
Keyword(s):  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Network Effects ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Place Branding ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The City

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine developments in the use of events by places from a predominantly place branding role based on image and economic impacts towards a broader placemaking approach aimed at holistic improvements in place quality. Design/methodology/approach The research is based on a single case study approach, with the Dutch city of ‘s-Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch) as the focus. Data sources include resident surveys, depth interviews and analysis of policy documents. Findings The Den Bosch case illustrates the emergence of a more holistic approach to the use of events as a placemaking tool. The city shifted from an ad hoc events policy to the development of a multi-annual programme designed to produce economic, image, social cultural and network effects. This approach seems to have been successful in stimulating visitation, increasing visitor spend and raising the international profile of the city. At the same time, the city has developed many activities designed to mobilise local stakeholder groups and increase social cohesion, which provide essential support for the necessary investment. Research limitations/implications There are indications that sustaining such a programme over the longer term is difficult in the face of political and economic change. Adoption of a holistic approach also requires the mobilisation of a wide range of stakeholders. Practical implications Critical success factors for placemaking are identified. Social implications The Den Bosch programme helped to increase social cohesion in the city by involving residents and local cultural groups in different projects. However, this required a differentiated approach based on the needs of each group. Originality/value This study presents a placemaking model that can help to identify the different elements required in a successful placemaking programme. This is developed from a practice approach, which has the value of paying attention to how event programmes can be initiated and sustained by a group of actors.

Assessing occupant satisfaction and energy behaviours in Toronto’s LEED gold high-rise residential buildings

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 492-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Brown ◽  
Mark Gorgolewski
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Indoor Environmental Quality ◽  
Efficient Manner ◽  
Content Type ◽  
High Rise ◽  
Evaluation Approach ◽  
Occupant Satisfaction

Purpose – This paper aims to present four purposes: to assess occupant satisfaction with indoor environmental quality (IEQ); to determine if occupants appear to be operating their dwellings in an energy efficient manner; to suggest ways that occupant satisfaction and behaviour can help or hinder energy efficiency; and to show that the post-occupancy evaluation approach is an effective tool in diagnosing and improving satisfaction and energy efficiency in high-rise residential buildings. Design/methodology/approach – Beyond measuring occupant satisfaction with IEQ, this paper uses scores and user comments from occupant questionnaires to identify success and indicate frustration and/or confusion with particular building technologies. It also extrapolates the energy efficiency implications of these responses in four Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold residential towers. Findings – The research highlights where problems occur, particularly with the adoption of new technologies which may not be well understood by the occupants. It also identifies behaviour patterns that may negate energy efficiency strategies. Research limitations/implications – The lack of dwelling metre data prevents this research from making causal links between behaviours and their energy implications. Also, the lack of Canadian benchmarks for satisfaction of occupants means that comparisons can only be made to cases from the UK, which is less robust. Originality/value – This type of work has never been done in Canadian residential high rise towers before. It helps to better understand the process of ensuring that occupants successfully adopt innovation that can lead to energy savings.

When the war is over: Lithgow, Western Sydney and the search for higher education options

2014 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-61
Author(s):  
Mark Hutchinson
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Educational Vision ◽  
Australian City ◽  
The City ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the interaction between a liminal rural Australian city (Lithgow) and the development of higher education options across the city's history. The paper proposes a nuanced interaction between national, social, religious, political, regional and local forces to explain why an industrial city such as Lithgow, with obvious educational strengths, would be overlooked while others (such as Wollongong and Bathurst) were not. Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes the form of a longitudinal study of educational institutions, placed in their historical contexts, in order to demonstrate the fluctuation of educational vision with the rise and fall of socio-economic contributors to the town's fortunes. Findings – The paper finds that the city's formation and dependence on war-related industries created boom-bust cycles which negatively impacted on its entrepreneurial, managerial and working class elites, and so on its ability to bring cultural and political influence to bear in the formation of local higher education options, across a period in which higher education becomes an increasingly federal responsibility. Practical implications – The paper suggests policy ramifications for the support of higher education options in the city. Social implications – The paper supports the interpretation that it is not merely that education itself promotes social mobility, but that what type of education is important, along with an eye to how education contributes to the overall well-being and cross-class profile of the city of Lithgow. Originality/value – This paper fills a gap in historical knowledge about Lithgow's educational institutions, the study of which heretofore has tended to be located with either labor historical or heritage approaches. This paper takes a socio-cultural and longitudinal/holistic approach which brings together a variety of approaches previously not treated.

Which factors determine the success of strategic niche developments?

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erwin Mlecnik
Keyword(s):  
Success Factors ◽  
Integrated Design ◽  
Enterprise Network ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Design Concepts ◽  
Architectural Innovation ◽  
Integrated Design Approach ◽  
Network Composition ◽  
Market Niche ◽  
Regional Enterprise

Purpose – The study ' s purpose is to review and discuss limitations of “strategic niche management” (SNM) success factors in relation to the experiences of an enterprise network to improve niche development for integrated design concepts. Design/methodology/approach – The emergence of a successful passive house innovation network in the Flemish Region is described. The innovation journey of the network is related to success factors detected in SNM literature regarding market niche development. Findings – The study identifies additional success factors for systemic innovation, such as involving small- and medium-sized innovators and demonstration projects and using a dedicated regional enterprise network. Research limitations/implications – The qualitative analysis specifically reflected on SNM success factors such as envisioning, learning, and network composition and formation. The study confirms the importance of these success factors by means of one detailed innovation journey. It identifies additional success factors and discusses opportunities to improve the relation of SNM literature with other seminal fields. Practical implications – Government seed money is important in providing a breakthrough in enterprise network initiatives. A focus on architectural innovation instead of technology innovation is to be preferred for stimulating integrated design concepts. Originality/value – The paper addresses the relevance and limitations of SNM success factors during the formation of enterprise networks. The study shows how an integrated design approach was used to cluster innovation opportunities and to inspire innovation development and collaboration for know-how development between multiple players.

scholarly journals From the Sum of Near-Zero Energy Buildings to the Whole of a Near-Zero Energy Housing Settlement: The Role of Communal Spaces in Performance-Driven Design

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgios Artopoulos ◽  
Gloria Pignatta ◽  
Mattheos Santamouris
Keyword(s):  
Production Management ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Simulation Engine ◽  
The City ◽  
Zero Energy Buildings

Almost a century ago Modernism challenged the structure of the city and reshaped its physical space in order to, amongst other things, accommodate new transportation infrastructure and road networks proclaiming the, nowadays much-debated ‘scientificated’ pursuit of efficiency for the city. This transformation has had a great impact on the way humans still design, move in, occupy and experience the city. Today major cities in Europe, such as Paris and London, are considering banning vehicles from their historic centers. In parallel, significant effort is currently underway internationally by designers, architects, and engineers to integrate innovative technologies and sophisticated solutions for energy production, management, and storage, as well as for efficient energy consumption, into the architecture of buildings. In general, this effort seeks for new technologies and design methods (e.g., DesignBuilder with EnergyPlus simulation engine; Rhicoceros3D with Grasshopper plugin and Ecotect, Radiance and EnergyPlus tools) that would enable a holistic approach to the spatial design of Near-Zero Energy buildings, so that their ecological benefits are an added value to the architectural design and a building’s visual, and material, impact on its surrounding space. The paper inquires how the integration of such technological infrastructure and performance-orientated interfaces changes yet again the structure and form of cities, and to what extent it safeguards social rights and enables equal access to common resources. Drawing from preliminary results and initial considerations of ongoing research that involve the construction of four innovative NZE settlements across Europe, in the context of the EU-funded ZERO-PLUS project, this paper discusses the integration of novel infrastructure in communal spaces of these settlements. In doing so, it contributes to the debate about smart communities and their role in the sustainable management of housing developments and settlements that are designed and developed with the concept of smart territories.

Innovation through practice

2019 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie Dossick ◽  
Laura Osburn ◽  
Gina Neff
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Integrated Design ◽  
Process Innovation ◽  
Information Modeling ◽  
Distributed Teams ◽  
Discussion Paper ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Design And Construction

Purpose Through the study of visualizations, virtual worlds and information exchange, the purpose of this paper is to reveal the complex connections between technology and the work of design and construction. The authors apply the sociotechnical view of technology and the ramifications this view has on successful use of technology in design and construction. Design/methodology/approach This is a discussion paper reviewing over a decade of research that connects three streams of research on architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) teams as these teams grappled with adapting work practices to new technologies and the opportunities these technologies promised. Findings From studies of design and construction practices with building information modeling and energy modeling, the authors show that given the constructed nature of models and the loose coupling of project teams, these team organizational practices need to mirror the modeling requirements. Second, looking at distributed teams, whose interaction is mediated by technology, the authors argue that virtual world visualizations enhance discovery, while distributed AEC teams also need more traditional forms of 2D abstraction, sketching and gestures to support integrated design dialogue. Finally, in information exchange research, the authors found that models and data have their own logic and structure and, as such, require creativity and ingenuity to exchange data across systems. Taken together, these streams of research suggest that process innovation is brought about by people developing new practices. Originality/value In this paper, the authors argue that technology alone does not change practice. People who modify practices with and through technology create process innovation.

Milestone solution for snow removal problem in Moscow

2019 ◽  
pp. 66-72
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Environmental Safety ◽  
Winter Period ◽  
Special Importance ◽  
Master Plan ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Snow Removal ◽  
Surface Areas ◽  
The City ◽  
Deicing Agents

The main principle of the strategy for the complex improvement of the functioning of northern cities in winter, including their infrastructure development, is a comprehensive solution of the problem of industrial-scale snow-mass collection, removal and utilization at different areas of urban roadway networks. For its implementation in the capital of Russia, “MosvodokanalNIIproject” JSC developed in 2002 the Snow Removal Master Plan for the city of Moscow. The meteorological conditions in the city, which have changed considerably in the recent years, including the changes in the snow-cover depth and in the road-surface areas to be cleaned, as well as emerging of new technologies for the cleaning of urban streets, yards and sidewalks and some new types of deicing agents, resulted in the necessity to update the above-mentioned Snow Removal Master Plan developed for the city of Moscow. Efficient application of deicing agents is of special importance for its updating in the context of the environmental safety of the city in a winter period. The article considers the results of the implementation of the updated Snow Removal Master Plan and contains some proposals concerning snow removal under the conditions of extreme snowfalls.

scholarly journals Geocomputing, New Technologies and Historical Analysis: Tools for a Changing Planet

Proceedings ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Sebastiano Trevisani
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Research Topic ◽  
The Other ◽  
Historical Records ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Relationship

Modern Earth Scientists need also to interact with other disciplines, apparently far from the Earth Sciences and Engineering. Disciplines related to history and philosophy of science are emblematic from this perspective. From one side, the quantitative analysis of information extracted from historical records (documents, maps, paintings, etc.) represents an exciting research topic, requiring a truly holistic approach. On the other side, epistemological and philosophy of science considerations on the relationship between geoscience and society in history are of fundamental importance for understanding past, present and future geosphere-anthroposphere interlinked dynamics.

Conference report: innovation, interaction … and a lot of data: first time reflections on Internet Librarian International, UK 2018

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 21-22
Author(s):  
Ray Harper
Keyword(s):  
Best Practice ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Conference Report ◽  
Library Services ◽  
New Techniques ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Making A Difference ◽  
Analyse Data ◽  
Physical Spaces ◽  
First Time

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to summarise a number of presentations at Day 1 of the Internet Librarian International conference, London, UK (16 October 2018). This was the 20th conference in the series, and the three key themes included were the next-gen library and librarian; understanding users, usage and user experience; and inclusion and inspiration: libraries making a difference. Design/methodology/approach This paper reports from the viewpoint of a first-time attendee of the conference. This summarises the main issues raised by each presentation and draws out the key learning points for practical situations. Findings The conference covered a variety of practical ways in which libraries can use technology to support users and make decisions about services. These include developing interactive physical spaces which include augmented reality; introducing “chat-bots” to support users; using new techniques to analyse data; and piloting new ways to engage users (such as coding clubs). A key theme was how we use and harness data in a way that is ethical, effective and relevant to library services. Originality/value This conference focussed on practical examples of how library and information services across sectors and countries are innovating in a period of huge change. The conference gave delegates numerous useful ideas and examples of best practice and demonstrated the strength of the profession in adapting to new technologies and developments.

Mitigation of road traffic crash hazard in Pakistan

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 567-585
Author(s):  
Muhammad Masood Rafi ◽  
Ashar Hashmat Lodi ◽  
Muhammad Arsalan Effendi
Keyword(s):  
Road Traffic ◽  
Evaluation Model ◽  
Road Traffic Crash ◽  
Potential Hazard ◽  
Suggested Model ◽  
Male Population ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Road ◽  
On The Road ◽  
The City

Purpose – Road traffic crashes (RTCs) result in creating significant social and economic hazard for affectees, their families and society. The purpose of this paper is to present studies which were conducted to study the patterns of RTCs in Karachi which is a metropolitan city of Pakistan. The studies were conducted on one of the busiest roads in the city named as Shara-e-Faisal. The influence and contribution of different factors in RTCs has been studied and hazardous road sections of Shara-e-Faisal have been identified. Based on the data analysis, an evaluation model has been suggested to reduce the hazard of RTCs on Shara-e-Faisal. The objective of the presented studies is to increase the present level of safety of road travel by reducing crashes on Shara-e-Faisal. Design/methodology/approach – Existing data of RTCs in Karachi have been analysed for the presented studies. For this purpose, Shara-e-Faisal was divided in sections of 1 km length to study the vehicle crash pattern. Location surveys were conducted to record physical conditions of this road. A cluster analysis was carried out to identify hazardous sections of the road. An evaluation model has been suggested in the end to reduce the hazard of RTCs by identifying hazardous road sections of Shara-e-Faisal. Findings – The analysis of the data revealed that the crashes were higher over weekend and on Monday. Male population, particularly young people, and motorcycle riders were the largest affectees of RTCs. In general, more daytime crashes were recorded as compared to nighttime crashes. The crashes in the mid block of the road and those involving rear-end collisions were higher. The hazardous road locations were related to poor road conditions. Statistical analysis indicated that alternate routes were required to reduce the RTC hazard on Shara-e-Faisal. Research limitations/implications – The paper is a small, but an original, contribution to identify a potential hazard which is faced by the community in the city. This is the first attempt (to the best of authors’ knowledge) to address the issue of RTCs in Karachi from an engineering view point. Practical implications – The suggested model can be employed by the authorities as a guideline to mitigate the hazard of road crashes in the country. Originality/value – The paper provides valuable information on the road traffic incidents, their pattern and contributing factors in one of the largest metropolis of Pakistan. The suggested model can become helpful in reducing RTCs in Pakistan.

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