Understanding Household Energy Challenges in Himalayan Communities Using Participatory Design Approaches

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Tang ◽  
Arnav Patel ◽  
Daniel J. Sweeney ◽  
Nilanjana Banerjee ◽  
Amit K. Thakur ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Participatory Design ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Space Heating ◽  
Cultural Significance ◽  
Rural Villages ◽  
Improved Cookstove ◽  
Cooking Practices ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Clean Cookstoves

Abstract Traditional biomass-burning stoves are used for cooking and heating across the globe. These stoves generate smoke that results in household air pollution, which poses a significant risk to human health. In the past decades, there have been many efforts to promote the adoption of improved cookstove designs, but uptake of improved stoves is often slow due to high costs, inconsistent supply chains, and incompatibility with local cooking practices. This paper presents survey results from rural villages in Uttarakhand, India regarding routines and attitudes on cooking and space heating. Significant findings include the dual use of liquified petroleum gas and biomass fuels, the interconnected and seasonal nature of cooking and space heating, the cultural significance of traditional cookstoves, and the prominence of locally available materials in cookstove construction and maintenance. Comparisons of these surveys’ findings to previous investigations on energy use in the Himalayan region show many common trends, but also reveal regional differences. The paper concludes that due to the significance of culture and context in cookstove design, understanding user needs and behaviors and working with local communities are integral parts the design methodology for clean cookstoves. These results provide a case study which agrees with existing literature on the importance of participatory design in global development.

TEACHING INNOVATION AND THE USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKS IN ARCHITECTURE: LEARNING BUILDING SERVICES DESIGN FOR SMART AND ENERGY EFFICIENT BUILDINGS

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 367
Author(s):  
Samuel Domínguez-Amarillo ◽  
Jesica Fernandez-Aguera ◽  
Patricia Fernandez-Aguera
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Participatory Design ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Professional Community ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Teaching Innovation ◽  
Energy Efficient Buildings

Today’s buildings are evolving from structures comprising unchanging, static elements scantly able to interact with their surroundings, towards complex systemic compounds with an impact on the environs that entails more than mere anthropic alteration. In pursuit of energy efficiency and true sustainability, buildings must acquire the ability to interact as well as to generate synergies. The most prominent features of this approach are energy management and information flows which, intelligently designed, not only enhance buildings’ capabilities, but also introduce a significant change in their relationship with the surrounds (‘smart cities’) and its inhabitants. This new paradigm calls for revisiting undergraduate architectural instruction, adopting a more complex overview of energy use and management in the design process, regarding buildings as dynamic rather than static entities. The methodology focuses on creating learning environments that favour students’ participation in problem solving and assessment, encouraging teamwork based on case studies and stressing the connection between this new architecture, ICTs included, and social networks as participatory design tools. These ideas were implemented in a pilot learning experience conducted at the University of Seville for undergraduate students. The use of ICTs and the collaboration of non-academic experts were observed to further student promotion and projection beyond the academic environment and introduce them to the professional community.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Urban-Scale Building Energy-Use Models and Tools—Application for the City of Fribourg, Switzerland

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1595
Author(s):  
Valeria Todeschi ◽  
Roberto Boghetti ◽  
Jérôme H. Kämpf ◽  
Guglielmina Mutani
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Space Heating ◽  
Engineering Model ◽  
Building Energy Use ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

Building energy-use models and tools can simulate and represent the distribution of energy consumption of buildings located in an urban area. The aim of these models is to simulate the energy performance of buildings at multiple temporal and spatial scales, taking into account both the building shape and the surrounding urban context. This paper investigates existing models by simulating the hourly space heating consumption of residential buildings in an urban environment. Existing bottom-up urban-energy models were applied to the city of Fribourg in order to evaluate the accuracy and flexibility of energy simulations. Two common energy-use models—a machine learning model and a GIS-based engineering model—were compared and evaluated against anonymized monitoring data. The study shows that the simulations were quite precise with an annual mean absolute percentage error of 12.8 and 19.3% for the machine learning and the GIS-based engineering model, respectively, on residential buildings built in different periods of construction. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis using the Morris method was carried out on the GIS-based engineering model in order to assess the impact of input variables on space heating consumption and to identify possible optimization opportunities of the existing model.

scholarly journals Early Childhood Reading in Rural China and Obstacles to Caregiver Investment in Young Children: A Mixed-Methods Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 1457
Author(s):  
Rui Li ◽  
Nathan Rose ◽  
Yi Ming Zheng ◽  
Yunwei Chen ◽  
Sean Sylvia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Cognitive Development ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Parenting Practices ◽  
Rural China ◽  
Reading Practices ◽  
Rural Villages ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Childhood Reading

Studies have shown that nearly half of rural toddlers in China have cognitive delays due to an absence of stimulating parenting practices, such as early childhood reading, during the critical first three years of life. However, few studies have examined the reasons behind these low levels of stimulating parenting, and no studies have sought to identify the factors that limit caregivers from providing effective early childhood reading practices (EECRP). This mixed-methods study investigates the perceptions, prevalence, and correlates of EECRP in rural China, as well as associations with child cognitive development. We use quantitative survey results from 1748 caregiver–child dyads across 100 rural villages/townships in northwestern China and field observation and interview data with 60 caregivers from these same sites. The quantitative results show significantly low rates of EECRP despite positive perceptions of early reading and positive associations between EECRP and cognitive development. The qualitative results suggest that low rates of EECRP in rural China are not due to the inability to access books, financial or time constraints, or the absence of aspirations. Rather, the low rate of book ownership and absence of reading to young children is driven by the insufficient and inaccurate knowledge of EECRP among caregivers, which leads to their delayed, misinformed reading decisions with their young children, ultimately contributing to developmental delays.

scholarly journals A Global Perspective on Firefly Extinction Threats

BioScience ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara M Lewis ◽  
Choong Hay Wong ◽  
Avalon C S Owens ◽  
Candace Fallon ◽  
Sarina Jepsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Conservation Status ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Cultural Significance ◽  
Comprehensive Review ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Recent Attention

Abstract Insect declines and their drivers have attracted considerable recent attention. Fireflies and glowworms are iconic insects whose conspicuous bioluminescent courtship displays carry unique cultural significance, giving them economic value as ecotourist attractions. Despite evidence of declines, a comprehensive review of the conservation status and threats facing the approximately 2000 firefly species worldwide is lacking. We conducted a survey of experts from diverse geographic regions to identify the most prominent perceived threats to firefly population and species persistence. Habitat loss, light pollution, and pesticide use were regarded as the most serious threats, although rankings differed substantially across regions. Our survey results accompany a comprehensive review of current evidence concerning the impact of these stressors on firefly populations. We also discuss risk factors likely to increase the vulnerability of certain species to particular threats. Finally, we highlight the need to establish monitoring programs to track long-term population trends for at-risk firefly taxa.

scholarly journals A Complementary Approach to Traditional Energy Balances for Assessing Energy Efficiency Measures in Final Uses: The Case of Space Heating and Cooling in Argentina

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 6563
Author(s):  
Roque G Stagnitta ◽  
Matteo V Rocco ◽  
Emanuela Colombo
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Primary Energy ◽  
Embodied Energy ◽  
Space Heating ◽  
Output Analysis ◽  
Final Energy ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
Energy Balances ◽  
The Impact

Energy balances have been historically conceived based on a supply-side perspective, providing neither detailed information about energy conversion into useful services nor the effects that may be induced by the application of policies in other sectors to energy consumption. This article proposes an approach to a thorough assessment of the impact of efficiency policies on final energy uses, focusing on residential space heating and cooling, and capable of: (1) quantifying final useful services provided and (2) accounting for the global impact of efficiency policies on final energy use, taking advantage of Input–Output analysis. This approach is applied in five cities of Argentina. Firstly, the quantity of energy service provided (i.e., level of thermal comfort) for each city is evaluated and compared with the defined target. It is found out that heating comfort is guaranteed approximately as established, whereas in the cooling case the provision is twice the established level. Secondly, primary energy consumption of heating and cooling services is evaluated before and after different efficiency improvement policies. The results show that the major primary energy saving (52%) is obtained from the upgrading appliances scenario and reflect the importance of accounting for embodied energy in goods and services involved in interventions.

scholarly journals Analysis of Annual Energy Use Intensities (EUIs) by End-Use in Apartment Units According to Stratification Variables (2017 – 2018)

2019 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 04013
Author(s):  
Hye-Sun Jin ◽  
Han-Young Lim ◽  
You-Jeong Kim ◽  
Soo-Jin Lee ◽  
Sung-Im Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Energy Conservation ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Space Heating ◽  
Building Sector ◽  
Domestic Hot Water ◽  
Space Cooling ◽  
End Use

To achieve the goal of reducing greenhouses gases, many countries have recognized the importance of energy conservation in the building sector, and such countries are considerably strengthening their building energy conservation policies by reinforcing design standards, encouraging remodeling, and requiring zero-energy construction. In order to effectively strengthen these policies, it is necessary to provide information concerning energy consumption in the building sector to ensure the technical and economic feasibility of policies in the marketplace, and to allow building users and policy makers to easily access and understand energy consumption characteristics. It is important to provide information that allows people to effectively understand the state of energy consumption by end-use (space heating, space cooling, domestic hot water, etc.) as part of the creation of a concrete plan for energy reduction that incorporates various service systems and is familiar to people. This is because providing such information plays an important role in establishing concrete policies and encouraging voluntary energy performance improvements by building occupants. South Korea operates the Korea Energy Statistics Information System (KESIS) and the information provided by this type of information system consists mainly of energy consumption by energy source (electricity, gas, etc.), and such systems remain inadequate for providing effective information on energy consumption and energy use intensity (EUI) by end-use (space heating, space cooling, domestic hot water, etc.) as part of the creation of a concrete plan for energy conservation. In order to accurately provide energy consumption information by end-use rather than limit the information to mainly consumption corresponding to energy sources, in this study, measurement systems were installed in 2014 ~ 2016 based on the overall sampling designs of previous studies for apartment units, classifications, measurement and data gathering methods for energy consumption by end-use. The annual statistical values for EUI by end-use were collected from the measurement data for 71 sample apartment units from May 2017 to April 2018. This data was calculated and analyzed using stratification variable levels for completion year, supplied area, and the heat source type.

scholarly journals Dynamic thermal response of low-energy residential buildings based on in-wall measurements

2019 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 04002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyriaki Foteinaki ◽  
Rongling Li ◽  
Alfred Heller ◽  
Morten Herget Christensen ◽  
Carsten Rode
Keyword(s):  
Air Temperature ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Measurement Data ◽  
Thermal Response ◽  
Low Energy ◽  
Space Heating ◽  
Internal Wall ◽  
Load Bearing ◽  
Concrete Elements

This study analysed the dynamic thermal response of a low-energy building using measurement data from an apartment block in Copenhagen, Denmark. Measurements were collected during February and July 2018 on space heating energy use, set-points, room air temperature and temperature from sensors integrated inside concrete elements, i.e. internal walls and ceiling, at different heights and depths. The heating system was controlled by the occupants. During February, there were unusually high set-points for some days and a regular heating pattern for some other days. Overheating was observed during July. A considerable effect of solar gain was observed both during winter and summer months. The room air temperature fluctuations were observed at a certain extent inside the concrete elements; higher in the non-load-bearing internal wall, followed by the load-bearing internal wall and lastly by the ceiling. The phenomenon of delayed thermal response of the concrete elements was observed. All internal concrete masses examined may be regarded as active elements and can contribute to the physically available heat storage potential of the building. The study provides deep insight into the thermal response of concrete elements in low-energy residential buildings, which should be considered when planning a flexible space heating energy use.

scholarly journals Full-scale Studies of Improving Energy Performance by Renovating Historic Swedish Timber Buildings with Hemp-lime

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 2484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulien Strandberg-de Bruijn ◽  
Anna Donarelli ◽  
Kristin Balksten
Keyword(s):  
Energy Saving ◽  
Material Properties ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Full Scale ◽  
Space Heating ◽  
Original Material ◽  
Insulation Material ◽  
Thermal Transmittance

With an increased focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, energy saving is of great importance in all sectors of society. EU directives set targets for member states to reduce energy use in buildings. Energy saving in historic buildings requires special measures, balancing energy-saving renovations against the preservation of heritage values. Traditional constructions are open to vapor diffusion and generally work differently from modern constructions. Modern materials in traditional constructions sometimes damages the original material as they are usually diffusion-tight. The aim of this study was to investigate whether hemp-lime could be used as an insulation material to improve the energy efficiency of historic timber building envelopes with a rendered façade in Sweden. The objective was to determine the actual energy savings for space heating. An additional objective was to determine the actual thermal transmittance and to study thermal buffering through in-situ measurements in a full-scale wall renovated with hemp-lime. Two full-scale wall sections were constructed at the Energy and Building Design laboratory at Lund University: A traditional post-and-plank wall with a lime render (80 mm), and a post-and-plank wall with a hemp-lime render (90 mm). Energy use for space heating was monitored continuously over a period of one year. The wall with a hemp-lime render required 33% less energy for space heating than the traditional post-and-plank wall with a lime render. This was accomplished without changing the framework, appearance or material in the render and without drastically changing the hygric properties of the façade. From the gathered data, the thermal transmittance (U-values) for both walls was calculated using two different methods, one based on material properties and the other based on energy use data. For both walls, thermal transmittance based on actual energy use data during the heating period was lower than what was expected from their material properties. This indicates that more material properties than thermal conductivity and material thickness need to be taken into account when performing energy use calculations. With hemp-lime, a renovation can be accomplished without damaging the timber structure and wooden slats, and it can be done with local traditional materials and building methods with no difference in appearance to a traditional lime render. This allows for heritage values to be preserved, while also allowing the building to comply with modern standards and with increased thermal comfort and reduced energy use.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document