Developing a land-cover classification to select indicators of forest ecosystem health in a rapidly urbanizing landscape

As moderate-sized cities become more urbanized, ecosystems are altered by land-use change. Key ecological services, such as clean air and water, drought and flood protection, soil generation and preservation, and detoxification of wastes are disrupted, risking the health and welfare of society. An understanding of ecosystem responses to urbanization is necessary to evaluate and balance short-term needs with long-term sustainability goals. Our main objective was to develop a land management and planning tool using a land-cover classification to select landscape indicators of ecosystem health near Columbus, GA. Spearman's Rho correlations were calculated to compare landscape and field-based indicators. Results suggest there are significant inverse correlations between ‘percent forest land-cover’ and ‘population, housing, and road densities’; ‘tree species richness’ and ‘forest patch density’; ‘percent urban land-cover’ and ‘lichen species richness’; ‘lichen incidence’ and ‘forest perimeter-area fractal dimension’. Overall, there were 152 significant urban/biological correlations obtained from this assessment (Rho ≥ |0.50| and p ≤ 0.10). Such a tool could prove useful to land managers and environmental planners by providing a quick and simple method to assess broad areas of land in a single analysis.     

Quantifying and visualizing jobs-housing balance with big data: A case study of Shanghai

Existing jobs-housing balance studies have relied heavily if not solely on small data. Via a case study of Shanghai, this study shows how cellular network data can be processed to derive useful information, job and housing locations of commuters in particular, for those studies. Based on cellular network data, this article quantifies and visualizes Shanghai's jobs-housing balance with a much larger sample (n = 6.3 million), finer spatial resolution and greater geographic coverage than ever before. It identifies and geocodes the local commuters by Base Transceiver Station (BTS), which has on average a service area of 0.16 km². After detecting jobs and housing by BTS, it aggregates them by subareas of particular interest (e.g., traffic analysis zones, inner city, suburbs and exurbs) to local planners and decision-makers. It also visualizes the traffic flows associated with the actual (T_act), theoretical minimum (T_min) and maximum (T_max) commutes. It shows that Shanghai's commuting pattern is far from the extremes (indicated by T_max and T_min traffic flows) and Shanghai's relative balance of jobs with respect to housing is decent (3.2 km) despite its huge population (24 million) and land area sizes (6800 km²). The cumulative distribution of the T_act and T_min flows vary more significantly when the commuting distance is less than 6 km. In theory, there is high concentration of both jobs and housing within a 6-kilometer radius across different locales of the city. This potentially allows over 95% of all the local workers to find a job within 6 km of his/her residence or vice versa. In reality, a much lower percentage (71%) of workers can enjoy such a benefit. This can imply that there is qualitative mismatch between jobs and housing.     

Semi-natural grassland continuity, long-term land-use change and plant species richness in an agricultural landscape on Öland, Sweden

The study characterizes historical land-use change and the development of semi-natural grassland habitats, over 274 years, within a mosaic agricultural landscape (22 km²) on the island of Öland (Sweden). We also explore the relationship between previous land-use, habitat continuity and present-day vascular plant species richness in grassland patches. Land-cover maps, based on cadastral maps and aerial photographs, were produced for six time-periods between 1723/1733 and 1994/1997. In 1723/1733, the landscape was dominated by grasslands, with arable land surrounding the villages. The grassland area decreased throughout the study period and grassland patches became progressively more fragmented. Present-day grasslands represent 18% of the grassland area in 1723/1733. The land-use structure of the early 18th century is still evident in the modern landscape. The majority of the present-day grasslands are situated on former common grazing land and have had a continuity of at least 274 years: the remaining grasslands are younger and developed during the 20th century on arable or forested land. The proportion of plant species that depend on grazing and are characteristic of semi-natural grasslands significantly reflects the continuity and previous land-use of grassland sites. The study illustrates the way in which information on historical land-use and habitat continuity can help to explain the structuring of plant assemblages in semi-natural grasslands within the modern landscape.     

The significance of landscape relic zones in relation to soil conditions,settlement pattern and territories in Flanders

Since the 18th century and increasingly since the second half of the 20th century, the transformation of the ancient landscape structures has been devastating. In densely populated and highly industrialized areas, such as Flanders (Belgium), only fragments remain from the traditional landscapes of the end of the 18th century. The recently finalized Landscape Atlas of Flanders (2001) gives an inventory of these areas, which are called relic zones and still cover 39% of the country. Their spatial distribution shows a striking way the old communal borders in the periphery of the ancient territories of the villages. Land qualities related to different phases of land occupancy were defined based upon soil and landform. Ten soil associations were overlaid with the relic zone map using ArcView GIS. Distinct soil associations characterize the different historical landscape regions. The spatial correspondence between landscape regions, soil associations and relic zones showed that half of all designated relic zones correspond to at least three major phases and regions of landscape development. The proportion of relic zone areas is extremely low in the urban regions (2.1%), less than average in the sandy area’s and higher than average in the polders, loamy regions and alluvial regions. The average patch size of the relic zones is 2.90 km² for Flanders but varies from 0.13 to 24.35 km². Overall fragmentation is 0.13 patches/km² in Flanders, and this varies from 0.04 (loamy plateaus) to 0.19 (coastal zones). Sizes of communal territories in Flanders vary a lot and so do the eccentricity of the settlement site and the proportion of relic zone area in the territory. Larger territories are found in the sandy regions in the north and the west of Flanders and correspond to recent settlements in former forest areas and heath lands. The average CPA shape index (1.523) indicates that square to rectangular shapes are dominant. Most eccentric sites are situated in the larger territories in northern Flanders. Although, the average coverage of relic zone is about 39%, 45 of the 1086 settlement territories used, have no relic zone. The largest proportion (up to 99% of the communal area) is found in territories along the southern periphery of Flanders region. The landscape relics mapped in the Landscape Atlas of Flanders correspond mainly to more stable landscapes in the periphery of communal territories and to settlements located in the periphery of the Flanders region.     

Safe velocity of on-fire train running in the tunnel

The safety of a running train on fire in a tunnel is a key issue for rescue operations, and the train velocity is mainly related to its safety. In this study, the relationship between the wind velocity and heat release rate (HRR), temperature field around the train, and flame/smoke pervasion rule were investigated under the conditions of variable train velocity, fire location, and fire source location. Beijing Metro was considered as a typical example, in which the safe velocity was estimated to be ∼41.83 km h⁻¹. Assuming the occurrence of fire at the center of the train, the numerical simulations of the flow field using the sliding grid of CFD were performed for a full-scale tunnel under different HRRs. When the fire source reached to the target section, the velocities of all the monitoring points rapidly increased. The velocities increased as the train tail arrived at the target section. The velocities at the measuring points increased with the increase in height, excluding the value of the position with a distance of 0.025 m from the tunnel ceiling. The average temperature and concentration of smoke in the annular space between the train and tunnel ceiling had the minimum values when the running train on fire moved with a speed of 45 km h⁻¹. Thus, the safe velocity of a subway train on fire should be managed between 41.83 km h⁻¹ and 45 km h⁻¹.     

Coherence and fragmentation of landscape patterns as characterized by correlograms: A case study of Estonia

The homogenization and fragmentation of landscapes caused by intensive management is an increasing problem worldwide. Therefore, there is need for development of methods that help to improve sustainable management and maintain the identity of landscapes. We proposed that landscape coherence is the similarity between soil pattern (potential landscape) and land use intensity (actual landscape), which may be investigated by means of correlograms. We studied the spatial autocorrelation (Moran's I) of raster format soil maps and land use maps (1:10,000; 10 m pixel size) in 35 study areas representing all landscape regions in Estonia. Various soil characteristics were taken into consideration in compiling the scale of contrast of 17 soil groups, whereas 19 land use types were ordered according to the intensity of human influence. We use a simple characteristic based on correlograms: a half-value distance lag, h_I = 0.5, a distance where Moran's I equals 0.5. According to the value of h_I = 0.5, in till-covered areas, the landscape structure is more fragmented in uplands than in lowlands. We found two study areas where the soil pattern was coherent with land use intensity, and detected a tendency that human influence makes the landscape pattern in uplands more homogeneous and in lowlands more heterogeneous, whereas the similarity between landscape patterns in lowlands and uplands is increasing due to human influence. This concept of coherence helps planners and decision makers to determine the optimal land use in landscapes by either reducing or increasing the fragmentation of the landscape pattern.     

Improved parameterization of dust emission (PM10) fluxes by the gradient method using the Naiman tower data at the Horqin desert in China

Dust emission/deposition flux has been estimated using the gradient method with the two-level (3 and 15 m high) measured PM₁₀ concentrations and the sonic anemometer measured momentum and kinematic heat fluxes at 8 m high from a 20-m monitoring tower located at Naiman (Horqin desert) in the Asian dust source region in China for the winter of November 2007 to March 2008. The time series of measured PM₁₀ concentration at 3 m high is used to identify the dust event and the non-dust event periods. It is found that the dust emission/deposition flux (F_C) shows a significant diurnal variation with the maximum emission flux of 5.8 kg km^? 2 h^? 1 at noon and the minimum of ? 1.6 kg km^? 2 h^? 1 in the afternoon for the non-dust event cases. Whereas for the dust event cases, the dust emission flux is found to occur when the prevailing winds are westerlies to northerlies with the maximum flux of 1275 kg km^? 2 d^? 1, while the maximum dust deposition flux of 148 kg km^? 2 d^? 1 occurs with the prevailing winds of southerlies to easterlies without any diurnal variation. The optimal regression equation between F_C and the friction velocity (u_*) for the dust emission cases is found to be F_C = 9.55 u_*^3.13 with the R² value of 0.73. However, this regression equation can be improved by taking into account the convective velocity (w_*). The resulting optimal regression equation is found to be F_C = 9.3(u_* ? 0.1w_*)^3.19 for the stable stratification (w_* < 0) with the R² value of 0.77 and F_C = 10.5(u_* + 0.34w_*)^4.11 for the unstable stratification (w_* > 0) with the R² value of 0.78, suggesting the importance of the convective velocity on the dust emission flux.     

Drivers of land abandonment in Southern Chile and implications for landscape planning

In recent decades, land abandonment has become one of the most important trends in land use and cover change. This study identifies drivers of land abandonment in Southern Chile through a spatially explicit statistical model, based on an economic theoretical framework. A logistic regression was used to model the probability of land abandonment, observed as the land cover change from agricultural land to arboreous shrubland or native forest between 1985 and 2007. We relied on census information and land cover data from 2472 farms, which represented 86.6% of the farm population in the study area. Land cover data came from two Landsat scenes taken in 1985 (TM) and 2007 (ETM+). The results from the spatial analysis show that agricultural land covered 30 061 ha in 1985. By 2007, only 16 518 ha had persisted in agriculture, while the rest had been covered by natural vegetation. Soil quality was a significant benefit-related geophysical driver of land abandonment. Important cost related socioeconomic drivers were the distances to secondary roads, aquaculture production centers, and national parks, and the existence of farm subsidies. Significant farm structural variables were the amount of bovine heads and farm's livestock carrying capacity. Variables such as age, education, and place of residence of the farmer were not statistically significant. These results may serve as an important planning tool for land managers, by helping identify areas and farming systems with high probability of land abandonment, and furthermore explore the outcomes of some potential scenarios on the future probability of the process.     

Optimisation of location and number of lidar apparatuses for early forest fire detection in hilly terrain

It has recently been shown that lidar (LIght Detection and Ranging) can effectively detect smoke plumes from small bonfires up to distances of 6.5 km, so that the technique can be used for wildfire surveillance. The aim of the present work is to describe a method for calculating the optimal location and minimum number of lidar stations required for the surveillance of a given forest area, taking the hilly terrain of Sintra-Cascais Nature Park (Portugal) as an example. The placement and horizontal scanning of the lidar sensors must be such that the laser beam passes over the ground, while keeping sufficiently low to enable early smoke plume detection, before the smoke is dispersed by the wind. Simultaneously, the laser beam should not hit the ground at distances shorter than the instrument range. To solve the problem, a terrain rendering was created and the best laser-beam zenith angle for each azimuth and the effective range covered by each lidar were calculated. The computations showed that 95% of the 146 km² of the Nature Park area can be covered by seven detectors with the laser beams scanning at a height of 50 m or less above ground.     

Automatic fire detection in road traffic tunnels

Fire detection experiments in a road traffic tunnel were performed in the Runehamar test tunnel 5th–8th March 2007. The Runehamar test tunnel is a full profile road traffic tunnel, 1.65 km long, located outside Åndalsnes, Norway. The goal was to examinate smoke and heat detection systems to determinate what kind of principle best suited for detecting a fire in an early stage. The systems were tested during small Heptane pool fires, varying between 0.16 m² and 1 m², giving heat release rates from 0.2 MW to 2.4 MW accordingly, and one car fire of about 3–5 MW, and with wind conditions varying from 1.1 m s^?1 to 1.6 m s^?1. The size of the fires, were designed to be in the range from impossible to difficult to detect. The results were conclusive. Earliest detection of a car fire, fire starts inside, was by smoke detection given fixed limits (3000 μg m^?3). With open pool fires, or immediate flames, continues fibre optical heat detection systems was faster given the limits 3 °C/4 min.     

Effects of steel fiber addition on mechanical properties of concrete and RC beams

C20 and C30 classes of concrete are produced each with addition of Dramix RC-80/0.60-BN type of steel fibers (SFs) at dosages of 0, 30, 60 kg/m³, and their compressive strengths, split tensile strength, moduli of elasticity and toughnesses are measured. Nine reinforced concrete (RC) beams of 300 × 300 × 2000 mm outer dimensions, designed as tension failure and all having the same steel reinforcement, having SFs at dosages of 0, 30, 60 kg/m³ with C20 class concrete, and nine other RC beams of the same peculiarities with C30 class concrete again designed as tension failure and all having the same reinforcement are produced and tested under simple bending. The load versus mid-span deflection relationships of all these RC and steel-fiber-added RC (SFARC) beams under simple bending are recorded. First, the mechanical properties of C20 and C30 classes of concrete with no SFs and with SFs at dosages of 30 and 60 kg/m³ are determined in a comparative way. The flexural behaviours and toughnesses of RC and SFARC beams for C20 and C30 classes of concrete are also determined in a comparative way. The experimentally determined (mid-section load)–(SFs dosage) and (toughness)–(SFs dosage) relationships are given to reveal the quantitative effects of concrete class and SFs dosage on these crucial properties.     

Mix proportion of high-strength,roller-compacted,latex-modified rapid-set concrete for rapid road repair

In this study, we optimized a blend of high-strength, roller-compacted, latex-modified rapid-set concrete (RCLMC) that can be re-opened to traffic after 4 h. To this end, we tested several variables in laboratory experiments, including hardening acceleration agents, cement type, latex addition, and CSA admixture ratios. The target compressive strength was 21 MPa after 4 h. A mixture of Type III cement to CSA admixture at 235:165 kg/m³ (400 kg/m³ total binder) and 23.5 kg/m³ latex (10% of the cement weight) achieved the target compressive strength and was the most economically efficient.     

Land-use and land-cover change and its environmental implications in a tropical highland watershed,Ethiopia

This study analysed long-term land-use and land-cover change (LUCC) in a highland watershed covering an area of about 154?km² in the Blue Nile basin of Ethiopia. Two sets of panchromatic aerial photographs (1957 and 1982) and a Landsat TM image (2001) were the main input data from which three land-use and land-cover maps were produced by employing geographical information systems/remote sensing techniques. These data were complemented by some socio-economic data that were generated by using household survey, key-informant interview and group discussion methods. The results show that in regard to land-use and land-cover, the major change has been the reduction of areas under natural vegetation cover and expansion of open grassland, cultivated areas and settlements. Over the four and a half decades considered, areas of forest and dense tree cover and shrub grassland decreased by 64 and 6%, respectively. Forest and dense tree cover experienced the greatest change; from accounting for ～9% of the total area of the watershed in 1957 to only ～3% in 2001. In general, much of the de-vegetation occurred between 1982 and 2001. Cropland and rural settlement showed a small but consistent increase between 1957 and 2001. Riparian vegetation decreased during the first period, but increased almost to the same level during the second period by gaining land from the other land-use and land-cover types. The observed LUCCs were driven by a combination of proximate and underlying causes. These include increasing demographic pressure and associated demands on environmental resources, widespread rural poverty and inadequate management of common property resources owing to poorly defined ownership arrangements. There is a need for short-term and long-term strategies to ensure sustainable land management and agricultural development in the watershed.     

Spatio-temporal flood trends & settlement choice in flood-prone areas. A case study of Lubiji micro-catchment,Kampala City

ABSTRACT

This study was conducted to establish the spatio-temporal distribution of flash floods and to learn why people prefer to settle in flood-prone areas of Lubiji micro-catchment in Kampala City. Rainfall data were analysed to ascertain Peak Runoff expected for the given flood event based on Soil Conservation Service Curve Numbers. The micro-catchment was delineated in the Arc GIS 10.0 programme, from the Digital Elevation Model. Feature classes were created to obtain the reach extents and river banks. HEC-RAS model was then used to create flood inundation maps in Arc GIS 10.0 between 1983 and 2014. High magnitude flash floods occurred almost after every three years and the spatial extent varied from 4.4 to 6.8 km². The choice of settlement location in flood-prone areas was influenced by socio-economic ties. The flood hazard maps produced will aid land-use planning, resettlement of the people and setting up a flood forecasting system.     

Daily urinary excretion of uranium in members of the public of Southwest Nigeria

The main aim of this study was to determine and evaluate urinary excretion values of uranium in members of the public of Southwest Nigeria living in areas of low environmental uranium. As several uranium mines are running in Nigeria and the operations could be a risk of contamination for the workers as well as for the members of the public, biomonitoring of urine could provide information about the exposure to uranium for the subjects. Therefore, baseline values of uranium in urine are needed from subjects living in areas without mining activities. Volunteers of both genders (age range 3 to 78 years) were asked to collect 24 h-urine samples. The concentration measurements of uranium in urine were performed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). In addition, urinary creatinine values were determined for normalization of the renal uranium relative to the creatinine concentrations.The urinary uranium concentrations and their creatinine normalized values ranged from < 10.4 to 150 ng L^? 1 (median 13.8 ng L^? 1) and from 2.52 to 252.7 ng g^? 1 creatinine (median 33.4 ng g^? 1 creatinine), respectively, for adult subjects above 15 years of both genders. An increased uranium excretion value of 61.6 ng L^? 1 (median), and of 76.0 ng g^? 1 creatinine, respectively, were found in young subjects below 15 years. The median of daily excreted uranium was estimated to be 14.2 ng d^? 1 for adults and of 45.1 ng d^? 1 for children, respectively. The uranium excretion from males and females living in Nigeria in a non-mining area was comparable to reference values reported from other countries with low level of environmental uranium. The data can be considered as baseline values of urinary uranium in unexposed subjects in Nigeria.     

The New York Times Headquarters daylighting mockup: Monitored performance of the daylighting control system

A 9-month monitored field study of the performance of automated roller shades and daylighting controls was conducted in a 401 m² unoccupied, furnished daylighting mockup. The mockup mimicked the southwest corner of a new 110 km² commercial building in New York, New York, where The New York Times will be the major tenant. This paper focuses on evaluating the performance of two daylighting control systems installed in separate areas of an open plan office with 1.2-m high workstation partitions: (1) Area A had 0–10 V dimmable ballasts with an open-loop proportional control system and an automated shade controlled to reduce window glare and increase daylight, and (2) Area B had digital addressable lighting interface (DALI) ballasts with a closed-loop integral reset control system and an automated shade controlled to block direct sun. Daylighting control system performance and lighting energy use were monitored. The daylighting control systems demonstrated very reliable performance after they were commissioned properly. Work plane illuminance levels were maintained above 90% of the maximum fluorescent illuminance level for 99.9 ± 0.5% and 97.9 ± 6.1% of the day on average over the monitored period, respectively, in Areas A and B. Daily lighting energy use savings were significant in both Areas over the equinox-to-equinox period compared to a non-daylit reference case. At 3.35 m from the window, 30% average savings were achieved with a sidelit west-facing condition in Area A while 50–60% were achieved with a bilateral daylit south-facing condition in Area B. At 4.57–9.14 m from the window, 5–10% and 25–40% savings were achieved in Areas A and B, respectively. Average savings for the 7-m deep dimming zone were 20–23% and 52–59% for Areas A and B, respectively, depending on the lighting schedule. The large savings and good reliability can be attributed to the automatic management of the interior shades. The DALI-based system exhibited faulty behavior that remains unexplained, but operational errors are expected to be resolved as DALI products reach full maturity. The building owner received very competitive bids ($30–75 US/DALI ballast) and was able to justify use of the daylighting control system based on operational cost savings and increased amenity. Additional energy savings due to reduced solar and lighting heat gains were not quantified but will add to the total operational cost savings.     

Land-use versus natural controls on soil fertility in the Subandean Amazon, Peru

Deforestation to amplify the agricultural frontier is a serious threat to the Amazon forest. Strategies to attain and maintain satisfactory soil fertility, which requires knowledge of spatial and temporal changes caused by land-use, are important for reaching sustainable development. This study highlights these issues by evaluating the relative effects of agricultural land-use and natural factors on chemical fertility of Inceptisols on redbed lithologies in the Subandean Amazon. Macro and micronutrients were determined in topsoil and subsoil in the vicinity of two villages at a total of 80 sites including pastures, coffee plantations, swidden fields, secondary forest and, as a reference, adjacent primary forest. Differences in soil fertility between the land cover classes were investigated by principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares regression (PLSR). Primary forest soil was found to be chemically similar to that of coffee plantations, pastures and secondary forests. There were no significant differences between soils of these land cover types in terms of plant nutrients (e.g. N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Mo, Mn, Zn, Cu and Co) or other fertility indicators (OM, pH, BS, EC, CECe and exchangeable acidity). The parent material (as indicated by texture and sample geographical origin) and the slope of the sampled sites were stronger controls on soil fertility than land cover type. Elevated concentrations of a few nutrients (NO₃ and K) were, however detected in soils of swidden fields. Despite being fertile (higher CECe, Ca and P) compared to Oxisols and Ultisols in the Amazon lowland, the Subandean soils frequently showed deficiencies in several nutrients (e.g. P, K, NO₃, Cu and Zn), and high levels of free Al at acidic sites. This paper concludes that deforestation and agricultural land-use has not introduced lasting chemical changes in the studied Subandean soils that are significant in comparison to the natural variability.     

The effect of fuel area size on behavior of fires in a reduced-scale single-track railway tunnel

A set of experiments was carried out in a 1/9 reduced-scale single-track railway tunnel to investigate the effect of fuel area size on the temperature distribution and behavior of fires in a tunnel with natural ventilation. Methanol pool fires with four different fuel areas 0.6 × 0.3 m² (1 pan), 1.2 × 0.3 m² (2 pans), 2.4 × 0.3 m² (4 pans) and 3.6 × 0.3 m² (6 pans), were used in these experiments. Data were collected on temperatures, radiative heat flux and mass loss rates. The temperature distribution and smoke layer in the tunnel, along with overflow dimensions and radiant heat at the tunnel entrance were analyzed. The results show that as the fuel area enlarges, the fire gradually becomes ventilation-controlled and the ceiling temperature over the center of fire source declines. Burning at the central region of fire source is depressed due to lack of oxygen. This makes the temperature distribution along the tunnel ceiling change from a typical inverted V-shape to an M-shape. As observed in the experiments, a jet flame appeared at tunnel entrances and both the size and temperature of the flame increased with the enlargement of fuel area leading to a great threat to firefighters and evacuees in actual tunnel fires.     

Effects of land and building usage on population,land price and passengers in station areas: A case study in Fukuoka,Japan

This study uses multiple regression to investigate the effects of land and building use on population, land price, and passengers. Initially, we abstract annual data on land and buildings usage within a radius of 0 m–400 m for railway stations and 400 m–800 m for subway stations in Fukuoka, Japan by using the GIS. We then analyze the relationships between 13 factors of land use and 8 factors of building usage, as well as the related population, land price, and passengers using the quantitative expression method. Using several categories of land use and building usage as explanatory variables, we analyze the degree to which the selected categories affect population, land price, and passengers by using the multiple regression method. This research can aid the further development of land and building usage in the future.     

Development of electrochromic evacuated advanced glazing

Electrochromic evacuated advanced glazing has been developed, combining optimum dynamic control of the solar radiation penetrating into buildings with a high degree of thermal insulation. This was achieved by the optimisation of the electrochromic device materials (electrochromic, ion storage, protective layers, transparent conductors and polymer electrolytes) and by the refinement of a sealing method for evacuated glazing. Electrochromic evacuated glazing prototypes with dimensions up to 40 cm × 40 cm have been fabricated using vacuum techniques and chemical methods. The prototypes exhibit excellent optical and thermal performance, with a contrast ratio up to 1:32 (visible dynamic transmittance range T_lum,bleached = 63% and T_lum,colored = 2%), coloration efficiency up to 92 cm²/C and mid-pane U-values as low as 0.86 W m⁻² K⁻¹. Their durability in relation to real working environmental conditions has been assessed through indoor and outdoor testing. Such a glazing can be used in building applications to improve occupant thermal comfort, contribute to a reduction in space heating and cooling loads and allow for increased areas of fenestration thereby reducing artificial lighting loads. These factors reduce the energy demand for the building and therefore contribute to the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.