scholarly journals Examining Trade-Offs between Social, Psychological, and Energy Potential of Urban Form

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Bielik ◽  
Sven Schneider ◽  
Saskia Kuliga ◽  
Danielle Griego ◽  
Varun Ojha ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Form ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Subjective Response ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Street Network ◽  
Energy Potential ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Impact

Urban planners are often challenged with the task of developing design solutions which must meet multiple, and often contradictory, criteria. In this paper, we investigated the trade-offs between social, psychological, and energy potential of the fundamental elements of urban form: the street network and the building massing. Since formal methods to evaluate urban form from the psychological and social point of view are not readily available, we developed a methodological framework to quantify these criteria as the first contribution in this paper. To evaluate the psychological potential, we conducted a three-tiered empirical study starting from real world environments and then abstracting them to virtual environments. In each context, the implicit (physiological) response and explicit (subjective) response of pedestrians were measured. To quantify the social potential, we developed a street network centrality-based measure of social accessibility. For the energy potential, we created an energy model to analyze the impact of pure geometric form on the energy demand of the building stock. The second contribution of this work is a method to identify distinct clusters of urban form and, for each, explore the trade-offs between the select design criteria. We applied this method to two case studies identifying nine types of urban form and their respective potential trade-offs, which are directly applicable for the assessment of strategic decisions regarding urban form during the early planning stages.

The 1922 Peninsula Malaysia Earthquakes: Rare Intraplate Seismicity within the Sundaland Block in Southeast Asia

2020 ◽  
Vol 91 (5) ◽  
pp. 2531-2545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacey Servito Martin ◽  
Yu Wang ◽  
Muzli Muzli ◽  
Shengji Wei
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Hazard ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Historical Earthquakes ◽  
Historical Seismicity ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Malay Peninsula ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Period Effects ◽  
Need To Evaluate ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Seismic hazard in the southern Malay Peninsula located within the Sundaland block in Southeast Asia is poorly understood. The paucity of historical earthquakes and low-magnitude instrumented seismicity has led to the assumption that this region is largely aseismic. We question this point of view by reassessing historical seismicity in this region and, in particular, a pair of moderate earthquakes in the 1920s. The first of these struck on 31 January 1922 at ≈9:10  a.m. local time (LT) for which we estimate an intensity magnitude (MI) ≈5.4, and for the second earthquake on 7 February 1922 at ≈12:15  p.m. LT, we estimate MI≈5.0. We also identify at least 34 felt earthquakes between 1803 and 1950 that were potentially local within the Sundaland block. These include a very widely felt shock (or set of shocks) on 26 June 1874 that was felt in parts of Borneo, Java, and Sumatra. The discovery of these earthquakes challenges the tectonic stability of the Malay Peninsula and the stable interior of the Sundaland block. The record of historical seismicity in this region relies heavily on European sources, and we recommend locating and consulting indigenous sources to improve the current understanding of regional seismic hazard. We also underscore the need to evaluate the impact of ground motions from rare local earthquakes on the extant building stock and on transportation infrastructure that are otherwise relatively immune to the long-period effects of distant earthquakes commonly felt in the Malay Peninsula.

Urban Form and Energy Demand

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 346-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mafalda Silva ◽  
Vítor Oliveira ◽  
Vítor Leal
Keyword(s):  
Urban Environment ◽  
Urban Form ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Analysis ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Travel Patterns ◽  
International Debate ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Energy Trade ◽  
Urban Energy

The implications of urban form on energy have long been present in international debate, whether considering travel patterns or thermal comfort in buildings. The urban environment is a result of a set of intertwined attributes, the understanding of which is often unclear. The energy trade-offs between urban form attributes haven’t received proper attention. Research remains sectorial, considering buildings and transport in isolation. In order to allow for a comprehensive analysis of this relationship, this article reviews urban attributes with energy relevance. A collection of attributes and metrics is gathered from the literature for incorporating urban form in urban energy analysis.

scholarly journals The role of Kazakhstan’s oil policy in foreign policy

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 55-63
Author(s):  
Vladyslav Khvostenko ◽  
Marziye Memmedli ◽  
Stanislav Milevskyi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
World Market ◽  
Energy Resources ◽  
Energy Potential ◽  
Oil Reserves ◽  
Natural Energy ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Impact

Since gained its independence in 1991, energy management has become the most important factor in the development of Kazakhstan’s economic and foreign policy. This is due to the presence of widespread deposits of natural energy resources in the bowels of Kazakhstan. This forms the energy security and essential basis for the economic independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The study, first of all, looks at Kazakhstan’s foreign policy and the links between foreign policy and energy sources. In particular, attention is paid to the role of oil in shaping Kazakhstan’s foreign policy as an active participant in the highly competitive energy resources market. The energy potential of Kazakhstan, the entry of Kazakh oil into the world market and the obstacles created by Russia for Kazakhstan in this process are investigated next. Other problems in the region are analyzed, including border issues with neighboring countries, as well as the impact of energy demand in China on Kazakhstan’s foreign policy. In this regard, the main focus of the study is the analysis of Kazakhstan’s energy resources rich in oil reserves, and the analysis of the multilateral energy policy of the Astana Government since independence and has been gained since.

scholarly journals Analysis of the Impact of Different Variables on the Energy Demand in Office Buildings

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (13) ◽  
pp. 5347
Author(s):  
José Luis Fuentes-Bargues ◽  
José-Luis Vivancos ◽  
Pablo Ferrer-Gisbert ◽  
Miguel Ángel Gimeno-Guillem
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Computer Software ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Regulatory Systems ◽  
Energy Behaviour ◽  
Balance Energy ◽  
The Impact

The design of near zero energy offices is a priority, which involves looking to achieve designs which minimise energy consumption and balance energy requirements with an increase in the installation and consumption of renewable energy. In light of this, some authors have used computer software to achieve simulations of the energy behaviour of buildings. Other studies based on regulatory systems which classify and label energy use also generally make their assessments through the use of software. In Spain, there is an authorised procedure for certifying the energy performance of buildings, and software (LIDER-CALENER unified tool) which is used to demonstrate compliance of the performance of buildings both from the point of view of energy demand and energy consumption. The aim of this study is to analyse the energy behaviour of an office building and the variability of the same using the software in terms of the following variables: climate zone, building orientation and certain surrounding wall types and encasements typical of this type of construction.

scholarly journals Exploring the Potential of a Gamified Approach to Reduce Energy Use and Carbon Emissions in the Household Sector

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3380
Author(s):  
Marta Gangolells ◽  
Miquel Casals ◽  
Marcel Macarulla ◽  
Núria Forcada
Keyword(s):  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Social Housing ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Cumulative Energy ◽  
Cumulative Energy Demand ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Funded Project ◽  
The Impact

This paper analyzes the impact of an innovative approach based on gamification to promote reduced energy consumption in social housing. The game was developed and validated under the auspices of the EU-funded project EnerGAware-Energy Game for Awareness of energy efficiency in social housing communities in an affordable housing pilot located in Plymouth (United Kingdom). The results showed that the future exploitation of the game holds important energy- and emissions-saving potential. Assuming that the game is distributed freely by European energy providers to their domestic end-users, the game was found to be able to save more than 48.9 secondary terawatt-hours per year (TWhs) and 18.8 million tons of CO2e annually, contributing up to around 8% to the target set for the European buildings sector to keep global warming under 2 °C. The results also showed that the game is highly feasible from the energy point of view, even when we consider the energy consumed upstream, due to its low cumulative energy demand and its potential for household energy reduction. The results of this research provide helpful information for private and public stakeholders, as they contribute to determining the sustainability of promoting energy saving through gaming.

scholarly journals The Impact of the Climate Action Programme 2030 and Federal State Measures on the Uptake of Renewable Heating Systems in Lower Saxony’s Building Stock

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 2533
Author(s):  
Isabel Haase ◽  
Herena Torio
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
National Level ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Lower Saxony ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Federal States ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
Action Programme ◽  
The Impact

A heating transition is urgently needed to fulfil the national CO2 reduction targets in Germany. Thus, in 2019, there has been a strong policy push towards increasing the share of renewables in heating through the introduction of the Climate Action Programme 2030 and the reform of existing policies. In addition to the policy landscape on the national level, federal states have further leeway to implement policies; these options are currently largely unresearched. In order to fill this gap, we developed a System Dynamics Model for Lower Saxony to determine the effect of recent policy changes as well as additional regional subsidy schemes on the heating market. The results show that even though changes in subsidies can increase the renewable uptake considerably, the CO2e and energy demand reduction targets are not met in any of the examined scenarios. Furthermore, the model shows that policy formulation must take the inertia of the sector into account and completely turn away from fossil fuels to reach the stipulated emission reductions.

scholarly journals Dynamics of Changes in Climate Zones and Building Energy Demand. A Case Study in Spain

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 4261
Author(s):  
Carmen Díaz-López ◽  
Joaquín Jódar ◽  
Konstantin Verichev ◽  
Miguel Luis Rodríguez ◽  
Manuel Carpio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Climatic Zones ◽  
Climatic Classification ◽  
Rcp 8.5 ◽  
Current Context ◽  
Climate Crisis ◽  
The Impact

In the current context of the climate crisis, it is essential to design buildings that can cope with climate dynamics throughout their life cycle. It will ensure the development of sustainable and resilient building stock. Thus, this study’s primary objective has been to demonstrate that the current climatic zones for buildings in peninsular Spain do not represent the current climatic reality and are not adapted to climate change and the impact on the energy demand of buildings. For this reason, the climatic zones of 7967 peninsular cities have been updated and adapted to the RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios by using the data measured in 77 meteorological reference stations. The results obtained have shown that in more than 80% of the cities, buildings are designed and constructed according to an obsolete climatic classification that does not take into account the current or future climatic reality, which will significantly affect the thermal performance of a building and highlights the need to review the climatic zoning in the country. The results obtained can be extrapolated to other regions. The methodology defined in this work can be used as a reference, thus making an essential scientific contribution in reflecting on current capacities and the possibilities of improving the building stock.

scholarly journals Comparative Analysis between Dynamic and Quasi-Steady-State Methods at an Urban Scale on a Social-Housing District in Venice

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (16) ◽  
pp. 5164
Author(s):  
Tiziano Dalla Mora ◽  
Lorenzo Teso ◽  
Laura Carnieletto ◽  
Angelo Zarrella ◽  
Piercarlo Romagnoni
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Computational Effort ◽  
Quasi Steady State ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Steady State Method ◽  
State Calculation ◽  
State Method ◽  
The Impact

The residential building stock represents one of the major players in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions; thus, it is fundamental to reduce the energy used. Simulation tools are becoming more and more accurate in compliance with the new requirements both at the single-building and at the district scale, although they are not affordable by non-specialist users such as policymakers. The research concerns the evaluation of the energy demand for space heating for a historical district that is representative of the Italian building stock. The work compares dynamic and specialist-oriented urban scale tools such as Energy Urban Resistance Capacitance Approach (EUReCA) and City Energy Analyst (CEA)) as well as a quasi-steady-state calculation method (Excel spreadsheet), which is more affordable for non-specialist users. The work was carried out to assess the possible deviation of the results between the dynamic and quasi-steady-state calculation methods, as well as to identify any limits and opportunities in the application of the latter procedure, which is currently the official national calculation tool for the implementation of Directive 2010/31/EU. The study shows how the quasi-steady-state method predicts a reliable building energy demand, in line with the results obtained by the two dynamic tools, when considering only geometry and infiltrations as input. However, the limits of the quasi-steady-state method emerge when introducing internal loads, significantly underestimating the energy demand compared to CEA and EUReCA simulations. The results underline the potential application of the quasi-steady-state method to predict energy demand, although dynamics tools are more reliable but far more complex. Major findings through two methods concern the impact of solar heat gains on the overall heating demand at both the single building and the district scale. The different results between the tools provided evidence of a gap in the use of the simplest tool and demonstrated the accuracy and reliability of the proposed approach with a lower computational effort.

scholarly journals Assembly Line Productivity Assessment by Comparing Optimization-Simulation Algorithms of Trajectory Planning for Industrial Robots

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Rubio ◽  
Carlos Llopis-Albert ◽  
Francisco Valero ◽  
Josep Lluís Suñer
Keyword(s):  
Trajectory Planning ◽  
Industrial Robot ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Industrial Robots ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Optimization Simulation ◽  
Optimization Methodology ◽  
Robot Task ◽  
Pareto Fronts ◽  
The Impact

In this paper an analysis of productivity will be carried out from the resolution of the problem of trajectory planning of industrial robots. The analysis entails economic considerations, thus overcoming some limitations of the existing literature. Two methodologies based on optimization-simulation procedures are compared to calculate the time needed to perform an industrial robot task. The simulation methodology relies on the use of robotics and automation software called GRASP. The optimization methodology developed in this work is based on the kinematics and the dynamics of industrial robots. It allows us to pose a multiobjective optimization problem to assess the trade-offs between the economic variables by means of the Pareto fronts. The comparison is carried out for different examples and from a multidisciplinary point of view, thus, to determine the impact of using each method. Results have shown the opportunity costs of non using the methodology with optimized time trajectories. Furthermore, it allows companies to stay competitive because of the quick adaptation to rapidly changing markets.

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