scholarly journals Empowering Students to Save Energy through a Behavioural Change Campaign in University Accommodation

2021 ◽  
pp. 156-166
Author(s):  
Vasileios Ntouros ◽  
Joanna Romanowicz ◽  
Constantinos Charalambous ◽  
Ioannis Kousis ◽  
Marina Laskari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Behavioural Change ◽  
Save Energy

Using Green Public Procurement (GPP) for sustainable consumption and production

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 319-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alenka Burja
Keyword(s):  
Public Procurement ◽  
Behavioural Change ◽  
Sustainable Consumption ◽  
Environmentally Friendly ◽  
Hazardous Substances ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Sustainable Consumption And Production ◽  
Procurement Procedure ◽  
Save Energy

AbstractEach year public authorities spend approximately 2 trillion euros (17% of the EU's Gross Domestic Product) on purchasing a variety of goods, services and works. If they can be encouraged to purchase environmentally friendly products and services instead of conventional ones with the same functions, they can save energy, natural resources and water, reduce harmful emissions and hazardous substances, generate less waste, improve health and stimulate behavioural change towards sustainable consumption and production. In this way, public authorities will be promoting modes of production that are more environmentally friendly and stimulate the supply of green goods and services. Politically GPP has been widely recognised as a powerful voluntary instrument in most of the Member States. At EU level European Commission sets a target that, by 2010, 50% of all tendering procedures should be green, where green means compliant with endorsed common core GPP criteria. Also, GPP guidance tools have been developed, together with common criteria for 10 priority product groups, and translated into all EU languages. However, in order to make GPP a standard practice of procurement procedure, more needs to be done to develop further common GPP criteria, and to train procurement officials, and possibly to establish a product database at EU level.

Obesity and adiposity: the culprit of dietary protein efficacy

2020 ◽  
Vol 134 (4) ◽  
pp. 389-401
Author(s):  
Carla El-Mallah ◽  
Omar Obeid
Keyword(s):  
Food Intake ◽  
Behavioural Change ◽  
Physiological Mechanism ◽  
Short Term ◽  
The Past ◽  
Body Adiposity ◽  
Reduce Sugar ◽  
Eye Opening ◽  
Potential Strategy ◽  
Limitations And Exceptions

Abstract Obesity and increased body adiposity have been alarmingly increasing over the past decades and have been linked to a rise in food intake. Many dietary restrictive approaches aiming at reducing weight have resulted in contradictory results. Additionally, some policies to reduce sugar or fat intake were not able to decrease the surge of obesity. This suggests that food intake is controlled by a physiological mechanism and that any behavioural change only leads to a short-term success. Several hypotheses have been postulated, and many of them have been rejected due to some limitations and exceptions. The present review aims at presenting a new theory behind the regulation of energy intake, therefore providing an eye-opening field for energy balance and a potential strategy for obesity management.

It takes more than information to save energy.

1992 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 814-815 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Scott Geller
Keyword(s):  
Save Energy

Study of effective factors in the design of zero energy buildings in arid climate (case of Isfahan City)

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 211-221
Author(s):  
Negar Aminoroayaei ◽  
Bahram Shahedi
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Arid Climate ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Zero Energy Building ◽  
Cost Of Energy ◽  
Current Century ◽  
Increase Productivity ◽  
Save Energy ◽  
Zero Energy Buildings

In the current century, a suitable strategy is concerned for optimal consumption of energy, due to limited natural resources and fossil fuels for moving towards sustainable development and environmental protection. Given the rising cost of energy, environmental pollution and the end of fossil fuels, zero-energy buildings became a popular option in today's world. The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors affecting the design of zero-energy buildings, in order to reduce energy consumption and increase productivity, including plan form, climatic characteristics, materials, coverage etc. The present study collects the features of zero-energy building in Isfahan, which is based on the Emberger Climate View in the arid climate, by examining the books and related writings, field observations and using a descriptive method, in the form of qualitative studies. The results of the research showed that some actions are needed to save energy and, in general, less consumption of renewable energy by considering the climate and the use of natural conditions.

Improving the Protection of Children Against Air Pollution Threats in Romania � The RokidAIR Project Approach and Future Perspectives

2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 841-846
Author(s):  
Hai-Ying Liu ◽  
Daniel Dunea ◽  
Mihaela Oprea ◽  
Tom Savu ◽  
Stefania Iordache
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Behavioural Change ◽  
Health Assessment ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Personal Exposure ◽  
Mobile Technologies ◽  
Quality Maps

This paper presents the approach used to develop the information chain required to reach the objectives of the EEA Grants� RokidAIR project in two Romanian cities i.e., Targoviste and Ploiesti. It describes the PM2.5 monitoring infrastructure and architecture to the web-based GIS platform, the early warning system and the decision support system, and finally, the linking of air pollution to health effects in children. In addition, it shows the analysis performance of the designed system to process the collected time series from various data sources using the benzene concentrations monitored in Ploiesti. Moreover, this paper suggests that biomarkers, mobile technologies, and Citizens� Observatories are potential perspectives to improve data coverage by the provision of near-real-time air quality maps, and provide personal exposure and health assessment results, enabling the citizens� engagement and behavioural change. This paper also addresses new fields in nature-based solutions to improve air quality, and studies on air pollution and its mental health effects in the urban areas of Romania.

Development of “My Retainers” mobile application: Triangulation of two qualitative methods (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalya Al-Moghrabi ◽  
Fiorella Beatriz Colonio-Salazar ◽  
Ama Johal ◽  
Padhraig Seamus Fleming
Keyword(s):  
Behaviour Change ◽  
Mobile Applications ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Mobile Application ◽  
Behavioural Change ◽  
Patient Experiences ◽  
Application Development ◽  
Participant Preferences ◽  
Orthodontic Retainers ◽  
Purposive Sample

BACKGROUND Diligent wear of removable orthodontic retainers requires prolonged compliance and is invariably necessary to preserve optimal results. Patient-informed behaviour-change interventions represent a promising and novel means of enhancing compliance with retainer wear. OBJECTIVE To describe the development of a patient-informed mobile application aimed to enhance retainer wear. METHODS Four aspects were considered during mobile application development: participant preferences; analysis of publicly-available retainer-related posts on Twitter; available interventions; and behaviour-change theories. Audio-recorded one-to-one interviews were conducted with a subset of participants to account for patient preferences in terms of features, design and content. A criterion-based purposive sample of participants wearing vacuum-formed retainers for at least 4 years was used. Thematic analysis of transcribed data was undertaken. RESULTS The need to facilitate communication with the treating clinician, responsive reminder and tracking systems, and access to useful and engaging written and visual information, in addition to other personalised and interactive features were considered important. Concerns related to retainer wear shared on Twitter informed an exhaustive list of frequently-asked questions. Application features were mapped to relevant theoretical constructs. Determinants of existing behavioural change theories were used to link application features to expected outcomes. CONCLUSIONS A holistic process involving both patient and professional input can be useful in informing the development of mobile applications. The orthodontic application (“My Retainers”) will undergo further scrutiny in relation to its effectiveness in inducing behavioural change and concerning patient experiences prior to finalisation.

Outcomes of a digitally delivered, culturally-sensitive behaviour change platform for BAME adults with type 2 diabetes: 1 year health and engagement outcomes (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Summers
Keyword(s):  
Type 2 Diabetes ◽  
Body Weight ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Behavioural Change ◽  
Culturally Sensitive ◽  
Lifestyle Changes ◽  
Haemoglobin A1c ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Increased Risk

BACKGROUND People from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups are known to have an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes and face greater barriers to accessing healthcare resources compared to their “white British” counterparts. The main mediators of lifestyle behavioural change are gender, generation, geography, genes, God/religion, and gaps in knowledge and economic resources. Dietary and cultural practices of these individuals significantly vary according to gender, generation, geographical origin and religion. Recognition of these factors and implementing culturally sensitive interventions for type 2 diabetes prevention and management is essential in increasing knowledge of healthy eating, engagement in physical activity and improving health outcomes in BAME communities. Few health apps are tailored for BAME populations, and BAME communities are considered hard-to-reach. OBJECTIVE Our objective was to establish whether the Low Carb Program is a viable scalable solution that can be used as an effective tailored type 2 diabetes intervention for BAME communities. We hypothesized that by taking into account cultural sensitivities, providing the platform in native languages and personalising the platform in accordance with known barriers to health disparities including gender, generation, dietary preferences and religion, the app would engage BAME communities and improve type 2 diabetes related health outcomes. METHODS The study used a quasi-experimental research design comprised of an open-label, single-arm, pre-post intervention using a sample of convenience. All 705 adults with type 2 diabetes who had activated their referral to the Low Carb Program as a result of an NHS consultation between September 2018 and March 2019 were followed for a period of 12 months; mean age 54.61 (SD 16.69) years; 58.2% (410/705) women; 45.1% (318/705) white, 28.5% (201/705) Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi/Other Central Asian, 10.8% (76/705) Arab, 6.2% (44/705) Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups, 6% (43/705) black, 1.8% (13/705) other, (7/705) 1% Chinese/Japanese/Other East Asian. Mean starting glycated haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) 7.99% (SD 2.05%); mean body weight 88.96kg (SD 23.25kg). RESULTS Of the 705 study participants, 513 (72.76%) had completed the Low Carb Program at 12 months. There were statistically significant reductions in body weight and HbA1c in white, Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi/Other Central Asian, Arabic and black participants with the most significant differences in the Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi/Other Central Asian population HbA1c -1.18% (SD 1.49%) and weight 8.03kg (SD 10.65kg). 82.9% of all participants (419/705) of all participants lost at least 5% of their body weight. CONCLUSIONS Offering the culturally tailored Low Carb Program that empowers members to make dietary and lifestyle changes to different BAME groups is an effective and engaging tool in the management of type 2 diabetes. Most importantly, BAME populations in particular people from Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi and Arabic groups who achieve better health outcomes than their white counterparts.

Development of Serious Games for Behaviour Change: A Practical Methodology (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Alberto Catalina Ortega ◽  
Svjetlana Kolić-Vehovec ◽  
Barbara Rončević Zubković ◽  
Sanja Smojver-Ažić ◽  
Tamara Martinac Dorčić
Keyword(s):  
Behaviour Change ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Serious Games ◽  
Behavioural Change ◽  
Intervention Mapping ◽  
Psychological Perspective ◽  
Game Development ◽  
Development Methodology ◽  
Intervention Mapping Protocol ◽  
Post Test

UNSTRUCTURED Objectives: The main purpose of the paper is to define a new methodology that allows the design of Serious Games that promote a behavioural change. The methodology is based on the Intervention Mapping Protocol (IMP) to define all the information and interventions and Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) to promote the behaviour change. Materials and methods: The methodology is based on the experience of game designers and psychologies within the eConfidence H2020 research project in which a new methodology was designed and implemented in two serious games. The game development methodology is described in six steps to be followed, with the psychological perspective integrated with the game design. Both games were tested in 10 schools with a pre and post-test for the data analysis. Results: Both games developed within the methodology present relevant findings on the change of behaviour of the users. Additionally, the proposed metric integrated allows a database improvement of the games to get better results. Conclusion: New methodology for design and study effectiveness of Serious Games that promote behavioural changes, was designed and integrated into two serious games that demonstrate changes in the users. The methodology could help other teams in the work of design and assess the effectiveness of a Serious Game for behavioural change.

Design of Energy Saving System for Hybrid Power Loader

2013 ◽  
Vol 288 ◽  
pp. 148-155
Author(s):  
Qi Hui Lv ◽  
Xin Yuan Xiao
Keyword(s):  
Diesel Engine ◽  
Power System ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Gravitational Potential Energy ◽  
Super Capacitor ◽  
Hybrid Power ◽  
Software Model ◽  
Auxiliary Power ◽  
High Efficient ◽  
Save Energy

In order to reduce loader engine installed power and save energy, we designed the driving scheme of power system for parallel hybrid loader by Analysis of different way of connection between diesel engine and electric motor. We chose ISG power electric multifunction and super capacitor as the core component to design the Loader auxiliary power system and movable arm cylinder gravitational potential energy recovery system. We established ADVISOR software model of hybrid power Loader, and the simulation results show that diesel engine installed power of the hybrid power Loader is reduced by 21%; fuel consumption is reduced by 9.2%. Through optimize control strategy, the diesel engine can always working in high efficient area or idle area. Practical application shows that this design scheme has the potential economic and environmental benefits.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document