Academic literature on the topic 'Class energy performance'

In the members states of the European Union, portion of buildings in the total consumption of energy represents 40%, and their portion in CO2 emissions fluctuates around 35%. The European Union is trying to protect the environment by reducing energy demand and releasing CO2 emissions into the air. Energy performance is the quantity of energy, which is necessary for heating and domestic hot water production, for cooling and ventilation and for lighting. Based on results of energy performance, individual buildings are classified into energy classes A to G. A global indicator (primary energy) is the decisive factor for final evaluation of the building. The new building must meet minimum requirements for energy performance, i.e. it must be classified to energy class A1 since 2016, and to energy class A0 since 2020. The paper analyses effect of the use of different resources of heat in a family house designed according to requirements valid since 2020, and its subsequent classification into an energy class.

Background:Physical activity is positively associated with physical health, cognitive performance, brain functioning and academic performance. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of bike desks in the classroom on adolescents’ energy expenditure, physical health, cognitive performance, brain functioning and academic performance.Methods:Forty-four adolescents were randomly assigned to control group (CG) or intervention group (IG). During 5 months, the IG used a bike desk for 4 class hours/week. Energy expenditure was measured during 6 consecutive days. Anthropometric parameters, aerobic fitness, academic performance, cognitive performance and brain functioning were assessed before (T0) and after (T1) the intervention.Results:Energy expenditure of the IG was significantly higher during the class hours in which they used the bike desks relative to normal class hours. The CG had a significantly higher BMI at T1 relative to T0 while this was not significantly different for the IG. Aerobic fitness was significantly better in the IG at T1 relative to T0. No significant effects on academic performance cognitive performance and brain functioning were observed.Conclusions:As the implementation of bike desks in the classroom did not interfere with adolescents’ academic performance, this can be seen as an effective means of reducing in-class sedentary time and improving adolescents’ physical health.

Utilization of BLOSSOMS Thermodynamics Energy Conversion video to properly incorporate active learning techniques had been shown to increase the students’ performance in learning introductory Thermodynamics topics. In this study, the effectiveness of using BLOSSOMS Thermodynamics Energy Conver-sion video towards students’ learning in a classroom when adopted by lecturers who is not trained in active learning is investigated. Two groups of undergraduate engineering students from a control class and a treatment class were involved in this study. The students from the treatment class were taught by a lecturer using the BLOSSOMS Thermodynamics Energy Conversion video, while the students from control class underwent conventional lecture style. The students were given pre and post inventory tests and their results were analysed using SPSS. It was found that BLOSSOMS Thermodynamics Energy Conversion video without the proper implementation of active learning technique does not have a significant ef-fect on the individual learning gain of the inventory test among students. The uti-lization of the video could be more effective if the instructor is well-trained in ac-tive learning techniques.

This paper addresses the analysis and evaluation of energy measuring devices for the operation in the manufacturing industry. The focus lies on the comparison and scoring of energy meters regarding their performance spectrum against the backdrop of an energy controlling. Based on the fundamentals of electro technical metrology, the main measurement parameters were identified which are necessary for the purpose in the manufacturing industry. Further, capability characteristics for the differentiation of electricity meters were defined. With this, a classification of meters into a basic, a standard, an advanced and a premium class was undertaken. It is shown, that the advanced class is sufficient for the permanent monitoring of electricity consumption in the lights of energy controlling.

Dans un contexte d’économie d’énergie et de réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre, de nombreux efforts ont été réalisés en France pour renforcer l’isolation de l’enveloppe des bâtiments afin de contribuer à réduire les consommations de chauffage. Toutefois, il arrive souvent que la performance thermique calculée avant construction ou rénovation ne soit pas atteinte sur le terrain (erreur de calcul, défauts de mise en œuvre, etc.). Or, pour pouvoir généraliser la construction de bâtiments à basse consommation et la rénovation, il faut pouvoir garantir aux maîtres d'ouvrage une performance réelle de leur bâtiment après travaux. Le fait de mesurer in situ la performance intrinsèque d'isolation thermique de l'enveloppe permet de contribuer à cette garantie. Il existe à l’échelle internationale de nombreuses méthodes basées sur le suivi des consommations et des conditions thermiques intérieures et extérieures. Certaines ont déjà fait leurs preuves sur le terrain, mais sont souvent soit contraignantes, soit peu précises. Et surtout, les calculs d’incertitude associés sont souvent rudimentaires. L’objectif de ce travail financé par le CSTB est de consolider scientifiquement une nouvelle méthode de mesure de la qualité d’isolation globale d’un bâtiment à réception des travaux (méthode ISABELE). Dans le premier chapitre, un état de l'art sur les méthodes existantes a été réalisé afin de dégager des pistes d'amélioration sur la base d'une synthèse comparative. La piste prioritaire identifiée porte sur le calcul d'incertitude (un point central du problème). La propagation des erreurs aléatoires par un approche bayésienne ainsi que des erreurs systématiques par une approche plus classique feront l'objet de la méthodologie globale proposée dans le second chapitre. L'une des importantes sources d'incertitude porte sur l'évaluation du débit d'infiltration. La caractérisation de cette incertitude et de l'impact sur le résultat de mesure fera l'objet du troisième chapitre, avec un comparatif de différentes approches expérimentales (règle du pouce, modèles aérauliques, gaz traceur). Enfin, une amélioration de la prise en compte de la dynamique thermique du bâtiment au cours du test sera proposée dans le dernier chapitre. Son fondement repose sur l'adaptation du modèle thermique inverse en fonction du bâtiment et des conditions du test. Pour cela, une sélection parmi une banque de modèles simplifiés est réalisée sur la base de critères statistiques et du principe de parcimonie. Ces différentes dispositions ont été testés sur une large série de mesures menées sur un même bâtiment à ossature bois (chalet OPTIMOB). La robustesse et la précision du résultat de mesure ont ainsi pu être légèrement améliorées. La méthode de calcul du débit d'infiltration, ni trop simple ni trop complexe, a pu également être validée. Enfin, le temps de mesure minimal nécessaire a pu être déterminé en fonction de la classe d'inertie du bâtiment
The global context of energy savings and greenhouse gases emissions control led to significant efforts in France to boost the thermal insulation in buildings in order to reduce heating consumption. Nevertheless, the stated thermal performance before construction or refurbishment is rarely achieved in practice, for many reasons (calculation errors, defects in materials or workmanship, etc.). Yet, guaranteeing the real thermal performance of buildings on the spot is crucial to enhance the refurbishment market and the construction of energy efficient buildings. To do so, measurement techniques of the intrinsinc thermal insulation performance indicators are needed. Such techniques already exist worldwide, and consist in processing the measurement data from the indoor and outdoor thermal conditions and the heat consumption. Some of them have already proved themselves in the field, but are either binding or very imprecise. And above all, the related uncertainty calculations are often rough. The objective of this thesis funded by CSTB is to consolidate a novel measurement method of the thermal insulation quality of a whole building after reception of work (ISABELE method). In the first chapter, a state of the art of the existing methods allows to identify possible ways to pursue this goal from a comparative synthesis. The primary reflection is about the uncertainty calculation method (which is a central issue). The second chapter presents a global methodology to combine the propagation of random and systematic errors from bayesian and classical approaches. One of the most important uncertainty sources deals with the infiltration air flow evaluation during the test. The third chapter investigates the characterization of this uncertainty, as well as its impact on the final result, depending on the chosen experimental approach (rule of thumb, simplified aeraulic models, tracer gases). Lastly, an improvement of the inclusion of the bluiding thermal dynamics during the test will be proposed in the last chapter. The basis of this improvement is to adapt the inverse model according to the building type and the test conditions. To do so, the proposed algorithm selects a model form a variety of simplified greybox models based on statistical criteria and parcimony. All these contributions have been tested on a large serie of measurements on a same timber-framed building (OPTIMOB shed). The robustness and precision of the results have been slightly improved. The intial infiltration air flow calculation, neither too simple of too complicated, has also been validated. Finaly, a better ordrer of magnitude of the minimal test duration has been determined, depending on the building inertia

This thesis of problem with sell realty. Namely, have energy performance certification of building (EPCB) influence to price of detached house. In the firt part thesis is solved EPCB (when we need it, who can perform it and the calculation for a particular detached house). In the second part is valued the building using the market compared to the development of database house. After comparing the results achieved and the informations we determined, whether EPCB affect the price of the detached house or not.

This thesis addressed the need for improved analysis and interpretation of primary meter half-hourly energy consumption data. The current work offers a novel benchmarking technique that was tested for 6 types of municipal buildings. This approach is different from conventional annual benchmarking mainly because it uses electricity and gas data in half-hourly periods, together with outside temperature data. A survey to European local authorities’ metering and monitoring practices was conducted in order to assess municipal energy managers' current procedures and needs in terms of data analysis to assess building energy performance and to identify potential energy saving opportunities. The benchmarking approach was developed considering the energy managers’ needs, but also the state-of the art in terms of building energy monitoring techniques, particularly building energy signatures, and the analysis techniques used on electricity grid demand forecasting. The benchmarking approach is based on the use of a metric composed of several indicators that are related to the load demand shape profile and the building energy signature. The comparison of indicators for buildings of the same type using standard scores identifies uncommon load demand profile characteristics and/or gas dependency on outside temperature in specific buildings. The metric is able to support the identification of potential energy wastage, which is linked to the detection of opportunities to save energy. The benchmarking technique was tested in 81 municipal building owned by Leicester City Council. This methodology can be applied to any non-domestic building equipped with primary meters for registering half-hourly electricity and gas consumption. In theory, this approach can also be applied to residential buildings, and to other short time series data types, for example quarter-hourly or 10 minutes interval data. The main contribution of this thesis is to improve the objectivity of building primary meter half-hourly electricity and gas consumption data analysis and interpretation by using quantitative parameters, instead of subjective visualisation techniques. The interpretation of building consumption data in short time series periods can now be streamlined, automated and perhaps incorporated in existing energy analysis software. This thesis raises questions that can lead to future research projects aiming to improve the metric and also to enlarge the scope of its application to national and European scale, to other building types and to other utilities.

La quinta generación de redes móviles (5G) se encuentra a la vuelta de la esquina. Se espera provea de beneficios extraordinarios a la población y que resuelva la mayoría de los problemas de las redes 4G actuales. El éxito de 5G, cuya primera fase de estandarización ha sido completada, depende de tres pilares: comunicaciones tipo-máquina masivas, banda ancha móvil mejorada y comunicaciones ultra fiables y de baja latencia (mMTC, eMBB y URLLC, respectivamente). En esta tesis nos enfocamos en el primer pilar de 5G, mMTC, pero también proveemos una solución para lograr eMBB en escenarios de distribución masiva de contenidos. Específicamente, las principales contribuciones son en las áreas de: 1) soporte eficiente de mMTC en redes celulares; 2) acceso aleatorio para el reporte de eventos en redes inalámbricas de sensores (WSNs); y 3) cooperación para la distribución masiva de contenidos en redes celulares. En el apartado de mMTC en redes celulares, esta tesis provee un análisis profundo del desempeño del procedimiento de acceso aleatorio, que es la forma mediante la cual los dispositivos móviles acceden a la red. Estos análisis fueron inicialmente llevados a cabo por simulaciones y, posteriormente, por medio de un modelo analítico. Ambos modelos fueron desarrollados específicamente para este propósito e incluyen uno de los esquemas de control de acceso más prometedores: access class barring (ACB). Nuestro modelo es uno de los más precisos que se pueden encontrar en la literatura y el único que incorpora el esquema de ACB. Los resultados obtenidos por medio de este modelo y por simulación son claros: los accesos altamente sincronizados que ocurren en aplicaciones de mMTC pueden causar congestión severa en el canal de acceso. Por otro lado, también son claros en que esta congestión se puede prevenir con una adecuada configuración del ACB. Sin embargo, los parámetros de configuración del ACB deben ser continuamente adaptados a la intensidad de accesos para poder obtener un desempeño óptimo. En la tesis se propone una solución práctica a este problema en la forma de un esquema de configuración automática para el ACB; lo llamamos ACBC. Los resultados muestran que nuestro esquema puede lograr un desempeño muy cercano al óptimo sin importar la intensidad de los accesos. Asimismo, puede ser directamente implementado en redes celulares para soportar el tráfico mMTC, ya que ha sido diseñado teniendo en cuenta los estándares del 3GPP. Además de los análisis descritos anteriormente para redes celulares, se realiza un análisis general para aplicaciones de contadores inteligentes. Es decir, estudiamos un escenario de mMTC desde la perspectiva de las WSNs. Específicamente, desarrollamos un modelo híbrido para el análisis de desempeño y la optimización de protocolos de WSNs de acceso aleatorio y basados en cluster. Los resultados muestran la utilidad de escuchar el medio inalámbrico para minimizar el número de transmisiones y también de modificar las probabilidades de transmisión después de una colisión. En lo que respecta a eMBB, nos enfocamos en un escenario de distribución masiva de contenidos, en el que un mismo contenido es enviado de forma simultánea a un gran número de usuarios móviles. Este escenario es problemático, ya que las estaciones base de la red celular no cuentan con mecanismos eficientes de multicast o broadcast. Por lo tanto, la solución que se adopta comúnmente es la de replicar e contenido para cada uno de los usuarios que lo soliciten; está claro que esto es altamente ineficiente. Para resolver este problema, proponemos el uso de esquemas de network coding y de arquitecturas cooperativas llamadas nubes móviles. En concreto, desarrollamos un protocolo para la distribución masiva de contenidos, junto con un modelo analítico para su optimización. Los resultados demuestran que el modelo propuesto es simple y preciso, y que el protocolo puede reducir el con
La cinquena generació de xarxes mòbils (5G) es troba molt a la vora. S'espera que proveïsca de beneficis extraordinaris a la població i que resolga la majoria dels problemes de les xarxes 4G actuals. L'èxit de 5G, per a la qual ja ha sigut completada la primera fase del qual d'estandardització, depén de tres pilars: comunicacions tipus-màquina massives, banda ampla mòbil millorada, i comunicacions ultra fiables i de baixa latència (mMTC, eMBB i URLLC, respectivament, per les seues sigles en anglés). En aquesta tesi ens enfoquem en el primer pilar de 5G, mMTC, però també proveïm una solució per a aconseguir eMBB en escenaris de distribució massiva de continguts. Específicament, les principals contribucions són en les àrees de: 1) suport eficient de mMTC en xarxes cel·lulars; 2) accés aleatori per al report d'esdeveniments en xarxes sense fils de sensors (WSNs); i 3) cooperació per a la distribució massiva de continguts en xarxes cel·lulars. En l'apartat de mMTC en xarxes cel·lulars, aquesta tesi realitza una anàlisi profunda de l'acompliment del procediment d'accés aleatori, que és la forma mitjançant la qual els dispositius mòbils accedeixen a la xarxa. Aquestes anàlisis van ser inicialment dutes per mitjà de simulacions i, posteriorment, per mitjà d'un model analític. Els models van ser desenvolupats específicament per a aquest propòsit i inclouen un dels esquemes de control d'accés més prometedors: el access class barring (ACB). El nostre model és un dels més precisos que es poden trobar i l'únic que incorpora l'esquema d'ACB. Els resultats obtinguts per mitjà d'aquest model i per simulació són clars: els accessos altament sincronitzats que ocorren en aplicacions de mMTC poden causar congestió severa en el canal d'accés. D'altra banda, també són clars en què aquesta congestió es pot previndre amb una adequada configuració de l'ACB. No obstant això, els paràmetres de configuració de l'ACB han de ser contínuament adaptats a la intensitat d'accessos per a poder obtindre unes prestacions òptimes. En la tesi es proposa una solució pràctica a aquest problema en la forma d'un esquema de configuració automàtica per a l'ACB; l'anomenem ACBC. Els resultats mostren que el nostre esquema pot aconseguir un acompliment molt proper a l'òptim sense importar la intensitat dels accessos. Així mateix, pot ser directament implementat en xarxes cel·lulars per a suportar el trànsit mMTC, ja que ha sigut dissenyat tenint en compte els estàndards del 3GPP. A més de les anàlisis descrites anteriorment per a xarxes cel·lulars, es realitza una anàlisi general per a aplicacions de comptadors intel·ligents. És a dir, estudiem un escenari de mMTC des de la perspectiva de les WSNs. Específicament, desenvolupem un model híbrid per a l'anàlisi de prestacions i l'optimització de protocols de WSNs d'accés aleatori i basats en clúster. Els resultats mostren la utilitat d'escoltar el mitjà sense fil per a minimitzar el nombre de transmissions i també de modificar les probabilitats de transmissió després d'una col·lisió. Pel que fa a eMBB, ens enfoquem en un escenari de distribució massiva de continguts, en el qual un mateix contingut és enviat de forma simultània a un gran nombre d'usuaris mòbils. Aquest escenari és problemàtic, ja que les estacions base de la xarxa cel·lular no compten amb mecanismes eficients de multicast o broadcast. Per tant, la solució que s'adopta comunament és la de replicar el contingut per a cadascun dels usuaris que ho sol·liciten; és clar que això és altament ineficient. Per a resoldre aquest problema, proposem l'ús d'esquemes de network coding i d'arquitectures cooperatives anomenades núvols mòbils. En concret, desenvolupem un protocol per a realitzar la distribució massiva de continguts de forma eficient, juntament amb un model analític per a la seua optimització. Els resultats demostren que el model proposat és simple i precís
The 5th generation (5G) of mobile networks is just around the corner. It is expected to bring extraordinary benefits to the population and to solve the majority of the problems of current 4th generation (4G) systems. The success of 5G, whose first phase of standardization has concluded, relies in three pillars that correspond to its main use cases: massive machine-type communication (mMTC), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), and ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC). This thesis mainly focuses on the first pillar of 5G: mMTC, but also provides a solution for the eMBB in massive content delivery scenarios. Specifically, its main contributions are in the areas of: 1) efficient support of mMTC in cellular networks; 2) random access (RA) event-reporting in wireless sensor networks (WSNs); and 3) cooperative massive content delivery in cellular networks. Regarding mMTC in cellular networks, this thesis provides a thorough performance analysis of the RA procedure (RAP), used by the mobile devices to switch from idle to connected mode. These analyses were first conducted by simulation and then by an analytical model; both of these were developed with this specific purpose and include one of the most promising access control schemes: the access class barring (ACB). To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the most accurate analytical models reported in the literature and the only one that incorporates the ACB scheme. Our results clearly show that the highly-synchronized accesses that occur in mMTC applications can lead to severe congestion. On the other hand, it is also clear that congestion can be prevented with an adequate configuration of the ACB scheme. However, the configuration parameters of the ACB scheme must be continuously adapted to the intensity of access attempts if an optimal performance is to be obtained. We developed a practical solution to this problem in the form of a scheme to automatically configure the ACB; we call it access class barring configuration (ACBC) scheme. The results show that our ACBC scheme leads to a near-optimal performance regardless of the intensity of access attempts. Furthermore, it can be directly implemented in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) cellular systems to efficiently handle mMTC because it has been designed to comply with the 3GPP standards. In addition to the analyses described above for cellular networks, a general analysis for smart metering applications is performed. That is, we study an mMTC scenario from the perspective of event detection and reporting WSNs. Specifically, we provide a hybrid model for the performance analysis and optimization of cluster-based RA WSN protocols. Results showcase the utility of overhearing to minimize the number of packet transmissions, but also of the adaptation of transmission parameters after a collision occurs. Building on this, we are able to provide some guidelines that can drastically increase the performance of a wide range of RA protocols and systems in event reporting applications. Regarding eMBB, we focus on a massive content delivery scenario in which the exact same content is transmitted to a large number of mobile users simultaneously. Such a scenario may arise, for example, with video streaming services that offer a particularly popular content. This is a problematic scenario because cellular base stations have no efficient multicast or broadcast mechanisms. Hence, the traditional solution is to replicate the content for each requesting user, which is highly inefficient. To solve this problem, we propose the use of network coding (NC) schemes in combination with cooperative architectures named mobile clouds (MCs). Specifically, we develop a protocol for efficient massive content delivery, along with the analytical model for its optimization. Results show the proposed model is simple and accurate, and the protocol can lead to energy savings of up to 37 percent when compared to the traditional approach.
Leyva Mayorga, I. (2018). On reliable and energy efficient massive wireless communications: the road to 5G [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/115484
TESIS

The master’s thesis on the topic Kindergarten is processed in the form of project documentation for the implementation of the new building. The building is designed on a plot of 1840/1 in the cadastral Brno - Husovice. It is the kindergarten with a basement and two floors. The building is brick, partial basement and roofing flat roof with single shell. The building contains two classes for a total of 40 children. Food and washing bedding is provided by imports.

Dissertação de Mestrado, Engenharia Civil, Especialização em Construção, Instituto Superior de Engenharia, Universidade do Algarve, 2016
Em agosto de 2013, com a publicação do Decreto-Lei 118/2013, foi revogada a legislação relativa ao Sistema Nacional de Certificação Energética (SCE – Decreto Lei 78/2006), o Regulamento dos Sistemas Energéticos de Climatização de Edifícios (RSECE – Decreto Lei 79/2006) e o Regulamento das Características de Comportamento Térmico (RCCTE – Decreto Lei 80/2006 de 4 de abril). No Decreto-Lei 118/2013 é definido o Sistema de Certificação Energética (SCE), o Regulamento de Desempenho Energético dos Edifícios de Habitação (REH) e o Regulamento de Desempenho Energético dos Edifícios de Comércio e Serviços (RECS). A nova regulamentação introduziu alterações ao nível da sua aplicabilidade, organização, sistematização e metodologia. Esta dissertação tem como principal objetivo analisar as principais diferenças entre a regulamentação atual prevista para as frações habitacionais (REH) e a regulamentação anterior (RCCTE), de forma a avaliar qual o impacte das alterações na metodologia de cálculo e na classificação de desempenho energético. A motivação para a realização deste trabalho deve-se ao facto de há vários anos na minha vida profissional proceder à realização de estudos de desempenho térmico de edifícios, emissão de certificados e pré-certificados.
In August 2013, with the publication of Decree-Law 118/2013, the National Energy Performance Certification System and Indoor Air Quality in Buildings (SCE – Decree-Law 78/2006); the Regulation of Temperature Control Systems in Buildings (RSECE – Decree-Law 79/2006) and the Regulation of Thermal Behaviour Characteristics in Buildings (RCCTE – Decree-Law 80/2006) were revised. Decree-Law 118/2013 of 20th August, approved the System for Energy Certification of Buildings (SCE), which integrates the Regulation on the Energy Performance of Residential Buildings (REH) and the Regulation on the Energy Performance of Services Buildings (RECS). The new regulations introduced changes in the applicability, organization, systematization and methodology. This document aims to analyse the differences between the current regulations provided for houses (REH) and the previous regulations (RCCTE) in order to study what are the main changes in the calculation methodology and energy performance rating. The motivation for this work is based on energy certificates to existing and new buildings that I have made in the last years of my professional life.

Yielding from an overall quantitative study of the residential sector of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), this chapter concentrates on the ratio between single-family and collective housing, as well as on the urban-rural ratio of the single-family housing. Based on the data from the existing building stock (buildings built by 2014) and the statistical estimates, 23% of the buildings belong to the urban areas and 77% belong to the rural areas. The main goal was to study the correlation between the characteristics of the building envelope, the shape factor (A/V ratio) and the energy savings potential for the application of conventional measures of refurbishment of the building envelope of the single-family houses (type of buildings, which dominate in rural and urban areas). The chapter wraps up with recommendations for the adequate level of the energy performance indicator (energy need for heating) for the approved energy class for single-family houses located in the climate zone of the northern B&H.

Underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) have gained importance as well as diverted attention of many researchers, domain experts to a great extent in recent past. The devices used for UWSN deployment are resource-constrained like storage issue, low processing speed, as well are vulnerable to a wide class of security threats and malicious attacks, which affect reliable communication. For reliable data delivery, a system should include packet delivery ratio, battery life, delays incurred, and energy consumption, etc. Numerous reliability models for underwater networks have been designed to incorporate the parameters and performance metrics in optimized manner. The chapter deals with focusing on such models and their efficiency in terms of battery life, packet loss, error handling mechanism, and network delays. Further, it is also explained how and why the error-controlled schemes should be designed and implemented in order to incorporate reliable data delivery in limited resources-constraints of UWSN along with the consideration of efficiency and performance concerns.

Understanding how occupants manage their energy use in homes and how their behaviour influence household energy consumption in domestic environments has been challenging. There seems to be several major factors contributing towards achieving optimal performance in designing, constructing and maintaining a sustainable home using Building Information Modelling (BIM) based approaches. This study focuses on investigating the relationship between user behaviour and energy consumption through the in-depth analysis of energy usage patterns collected from a selected affordable terraced house in Prestwick, Scotland, as an initial attempt towards the future integration with BIM systems. For the purpose of this feasibility study, indoor temperature, relative humidity and CO2 sensors, as well as a gas-electricity-water utility monitor were installed in the selected home occupied by a working class nuclear household. The study encompasses the analyses of energy usage patterns in their daily life. It is confirmed that domestic energy consumption is affected by the occupants' presence and behaviour. Moreover, this paper discusses a possibility that the energy prediction approach taken in this study could work alongside BIM systems applied for housing suppliers' design decision-making on the delivery of energy efficient homes of the future.

The tasks of resource classification and retrieval from knowledge bases in the Semantic Web are the basis for a lot of important applications. In order to overcome the limitations of purely deductive approaches to deal with these tasks, inductive (instance-based) methods have been introduced as efficient and noise-tolerant alternatives. In this paper we propose an original method based on a non-parametric learning scheme: the Reduced Coulomb Energy (RCE) Network. The method requires a limited training effort but it turns out to be very effective during the classification phase. Casting retrieval as the problem of assessing the class-membership of individuals w.r.t. the query concepts, we propose an extension of a classification algorithm using RCE networks based on an entropic similarity measure for OWL. Experimentally we show that the performance of the resulting inductive classifier is comparable with the one of a standard reasoner and often more efficient than with other inductive approaches. Moreover, we show that new knowledge (not logically derivable) is induced and the likelihood of the answers may be provided.

Texture analysis research attempts to solve two important kinds of problems: texture segmentation and texture classification. In some applications, textured image segmentation can be solved by classification of small regions obtained from image partition. Two classes of features are proposed in the decision theoretic recognition problem for textured image classification. The first class derives from the mean co-occurrence matrices: contrast, energy, entropy, homogeneity, and variance. The second class is based on fractal dimension and is derived from a box-counting algorithm. For the purpose of increasing texture classification performance, the notions “mean co-occurrence matrix” and “effective fractal dimension” are introduced and utilized. Some applications of the texture and fractal analyses are presented: road analysis for moving objective, defect detection in textured surfaces, malignant tumour detection, remote land classification, and content based image retrieval. The results confirm the efficiency of the proposed methods and algorithms.

During the past decade, the installed wind power capacity in the world has been increasing more than 30%. Wind energy conversion system (WECSs) based on the doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) dominated the wind power generations due to the outstanding advantages, including small converters rating around 30% of the generator rating, lower converter cost. Due to the non-linearity of wind system, the DFIG power control presents a big challenge especially under wind-speed variation and parameter’s sensibility. To overcome these major problems; an improved IDPC (Indirect Power Control); based on PID “Proportional-Integral-Derivative” controller, was proposed instead the conventional one (based on PI), in order to enhance the wind-system performances in terms; power error, tracking power and overshoot. Unfortunately using robustness tests (based on severe DFIG’s parameters changement); the wind-system offers non-satisfactory simulation results which were illustrated by the very bad power tracking and very big overshoot (> 50%). In this context; adaptive, robust & intelligent controllers were proposed to control direct & quadrature currents (Ird & Irq) under MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) strategy to main the unity power factor (PF≈1) by keeping the reactive power at zero level. In this case, the new IDPC based on intelligent controllers offered an excellent wind-system performance especially using robustness tests, which offered a big improvement especially using Type-1 Fuzzy Logic Controller (T1-FLC), Type-2 Fuzzy Logic Control (T2-FLC; is the New class of fuzzy logic) & Neuro-Fuzzy Logic (NFC). In this sense, I think that this edited book is an important contribution to help students already in mastery of the basis of power electronic circuits and control systems theory to achieve these pedagogical goals. The proposed book describes with easy manner the modeling & control of Wind-turbine DFIG in order to control the stator powers using different topologies of robust, adaptive and intelligent controllers. The book present numerous intelligent control techniques that help in the control design of the DFIG wind-system (WT). The textbook “Improved Indirect Power Control (IDPC) of Wind Energy Conversion Systems (WECS)” proposes a collection of concepts, organized in a synergic manner such that to ease comprehension of the WT control design. The book’s contribution goes towards completing the already existing literature by offering a useful integration of control techniques, worthy to be read, understood and employed in the various WT applications. Please enjoy reading this book.

Simulation can be a valuable tool for wireless communication system’s (WCS) designers to assess the performance of its radio interface. It is common to use the Monte Carlo simulation method (MCSM), although this is quite time inefficient, especially when it involves forward error correction (FEC) with very low bit error ratio (BER). New techniques were developed to efficiently evaluate the performance of the new class of TCH (Tomlinson, Cercas, Hughes) codes in an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel, due to their potential range of applications. These techniques were previously applied using a satellite channel model developed by Lutz with very good results. In this chapter, we present a simulation method, named accelerated simulation method (ASM), that provides a high degree of efficiency and accuracy, namely for lower BER, where the application of methods like the MCSM is prohibitive, due to high computational and time requirements. The present work generalizes the application of the ASM to a WCS modelled as a stochastic discrete channel model, considering a real channel, where there are several random effects that result in random energy fluctuations of the received symbols. The performance of the coded WCS is assessed efficiently, with soft-decision (SD) and hard-decision (HD) decoding. We show that this new method already achieves a time efficiency of two or three orders of magnitude for SD and HD, considering a BER = 1x10-4 , when compared to MCSM. The presented performance results are compared with the MCSM, to check its accuracy.

A class of solar-driven heat engines is modeled as a combined system consisting of a solar collector and a unified heat engine, in which muti-irreversibilities including not only the finite rate heat transfer and the internal irreversibility, but also radiation-convection heat loss from the solar collector to the ambience are taken into account. The maximum overall efficiency of the system, the optimal operating temperature of the solar collector, the optimal temperatures of the working fluid and the optimal ratio of heat transfer areas are calculated by using numerical calculation method. The influences of radiation-convection heat loss of the collector and internal irreversibility on the cyclic performances of the solar-driven heat engine system are revealed. The results obtained in the present paper are more general than those in literature and the performance characteristics of several solar-driven heat engines such as Carnot, Brayton, Braysson and so on can be directly derived from them.

On DDG-51 Class US Navy ships, maximum power and propulsion loads do not require all four main gas turbine engines nor all three electric generator engines to be operating simultaneously. U.S. Navy fleet guidance does not mandate a particular plant configuration at any given time. Therefore, the configuration being used on a given ship to support a particular mission is partially at the discretion of the ship’s crew. This paper focuses on an effort to utilize real-time data from the ship’s power and propulsion plants and auxiliary equipment to assess fuel efficiency and configuration options available, and suggest operating profiles conducive to energy savings. Current Phase I project deliverables, preliminary results, and potential way-forward topics are addressed.