Occupant related household energy consumption in Canada: Estimation using a bottom-up neural-network technique

A national model of residential energy consumption requires consideration of the following end-uses: space heating, space cooling, appliances and lighting (AL), and domestic hot water (DHW). The space heating and space cooling end-use energy consumption is strongly affected by the climatic conditions and the house thermal envelope. In contrast, both AL and DHW energy consumption are primarily a function of occupant behaviour, appliance ownership, demographic conditions, and occupancy rate. Because of these characteristics, a bottom-up statistical model is a candidate for estimating AL and DHW energy consumption. This article presents the detailed methodology and results of the application of a previously developed set of neural network models, as the statistical method of the Canadian Hybrid Residential End-Use Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Model (CHREM). The CHREM estimates the national AL and DHW secondary energy consumption of Canadian single-detached and double/row houses to be 248 PJ and 201 PJ, respectively. The energy consumption values translate to per household values of 27.8 GJ and 22.5 GJ, and per capita values of 9.0 GJ and 7.3 GJ, respectively.     

Energy consumption and ventilation performance of a naturally ventilated ecological house in a cold climate

In this paper, the thermal and ventilation performance of an ecological house in Helsinki, Finland are presented. The single-family dwelling has a well-insulated, wooden frame construction with no plastic vapour retarder. The measured and simulated results show that the energy consumption of the house is low and that the outdoor ventilation rate is generally satisfactory based on the measured CO₂ concentrations. Extrapolating the measured ventilation data shows that, when the operable windows are closed, the ventilation rate is expected to be about 0.45 air-changes-per-hour (ach) in the winter and about 0.25 ach in the summer. The consumption of total primary energy and space heating energy were measured to be 30% less (162 kWh/(m² a)) and 36% less (76 kWh/(m² a)) than in typical Finnish houses, respectively. The paper also uses a numerical model to investigate the sensitivity of energy consumption to the insulation level, household electricity and domestic hot water consumption, window area, ventilation rate and heat recovery effectiveness.     

Energy-efficient terrace houses in Sweden: Simulations and measurements

Reducing energy use in buildings is essential to decrease the environmental impact. Outside Gothenburg in Sweden, 20 terrace houses were built according to the passive house standard and completed in 2001. The goal was to show that it is possible to build passive houses in a Scandinavian climate with very low energy use and to normal costs. The houses are the result of a project including research, design, construction, monitoring and evaluation. The passive house standard means that the space heating peak load should not exceed 10 W/m² living area in order to use supply air heating. This requires low transmission and ventilation losses and the building envelope is therefore highly insulated and very airtight. A mechanical ventilation system with approximately 80% heat recovery is used. The electric resistance heating in the supply air is 900 W per living unit. Solar collectors on the roof provide 40% of the energy needed for the domestic hot water. The monitored delivered energy demand is 68 kWh/m² a. Energy simulations show that main differences between predicted and monitored energy performance concern the household electricity and the space heating demand. Total delivered energy is approximately 40% compared with normal standard in Sweden.     

Analysis of feasibility on heating single family houses in rural areas by using sun and wind energy

Households in Lithuania consume about 1/3 of total final consumption of fuel energy. In order to reduce imports of fossil fuel and emissions of dangerous pollutants, solar energy could be used for the above-mentioned needs. That would require large collector areas and volumes for seasonal heat storage. In wintertime the wind speed velocity is much higher than in summertime in Lithuania. Therefore, it is advisable to study meeting the thermal needs of single family houses by combining use of wind and solar energy. To this end analytical research has been made by using deterministic method. The analysis has been carried out for the case when 1 m² of heated room area requires 0.25 m² of solar collector area and 0.5 m² working area of wind turbine rotor. Heat storage is planned for 24 h. By using such a hybrid system during the heating season 42.6–56.2% of heating needs for space and domestic hot water are satisfied. However, for individual days (especially from May to October) a surplus of generated heat is formed and it reaches about 53.6% of space heating needs per year. This relative surplus of energy could be used for transmitting wind power-plant energy to the electric network or in a household and thermal energy can be used for drying agricultural produce, heating greenhouses, open swimming pools and satisfying other needs.     

Influence of ventilation systems and related energy consumption on inhalable and respirable dust concentrations in fattening pigs confinement buildings

In this paper are presented the results of experimental analysis of the influence of ventilation systems and related energy consumption on inhalable and respirable dust concentrations in fattening pigs confinement buildings. The application of different under pressure ventilation systems in reducing and controlling dust concentrations was analyzed. Optimal ventilation systems designs and the ranges of airflow velocities were defined and discussed.Airflow velocities in the finishing room, under floor, roof and both ventilations, ranged from: 0.01 to 0.10, 0.01 to 0.10 and 0.02 to 0.10 m/s, respectively.The average inhalable dust concentrations during the reference regime (no ventilation), as well as second (floor-), third (roof-) and fourth (both ventilations) regime were: 20, 20, 25 and 17 particles/cm³, respectively. The average respirable dust concentrations during the reference regime, as well as second, third and fourth regime were: 18, 19, 23 and 16 particles/cm³, respectively.Significant decrements of inhalable (F = 44.35, P ≪ 0.01) and respirable (F = 43.82, P ≪ 0.01) dust concentration, in the finishing fattening pig house, were achieved only with the fourth regime (both ventilations).     

Skin temperatures of a pre-cooled wet person exposed to engulfing flames

In a television show, a wetted bare-skinned person slid through engulfing kerosene pool fire flames. The 0.74 s flame exposure resulted in pain and light sun burns. The heat and mass transfer involved in this dangerous stunt have been analyzed in order to evaluate whether or not the thin water layer represented an important heat protection measure. It is estimated that the wetted person was exposed to heat fluxes in the range of 80–90 kW/m². Analytical solutions of the heat equation were used to evaluate water-spray pre-cooling, heating during flame exposure and post-flame relaxation of skin temperature gradients. It is shown that the water layer carried on the skin into the flames represented limited heat protection. The 30 s cold water-spray pre-cooling prior to the flame exposure was the most important heat protection mechanism. Larger flames of higher emissivity, longer period of flame exposure, warmer pre-cooling water or shorter pre-cooling period would most likely have resulted in severe skin burns.     

Effect of air-flow rate and turning frequency on bio-drying of dewatered sludge

Sludge bio-drying is an approach for biomass energy utilization, in which sludge is dried by means of the heat generated by aerobic degradation of its organic substances. The study aimed at investigating the interactive influence of air-flow rate and turning frequency on water removal and biomass energy utilization. Results showed that a higher air-flow rate (0.0909 m³ h^?1 kg^?1) led to lower temperature than did the lower one (0.0455 m³ h^?1 kg^?1) by 17.0% and 13.7% under turning per two days and four days. With the higher air-flow rate and lower turning frequency, temperature cumulation was almost similar to that with the lower air-flow rate and higher turning frequency. The doubled air-flow rate improved the total water removal ratio by 2.86% (19.5 g kg^?1 initial water) and 11.5% (75.0 g kg^?1 initial water) with turning per two days and four days respectively, indicating that there was no remarkable advantage for water removal with high air-flow rate, especially with high turning frequency. The heat used for evaporation was 60.6–72.6% of the total heat consumption (34,400–45,400 kJ). The higher air-flow rate enhanced volatile solids (VS) degradation thus improving heat generation by 1.95% (800 kJ) and 8.96% (3200 kJ) with turning per two days and four days. With the higher air-flow rate, heat consumed by sensible heat of inlet air and heat utilization efficiency for evaporation was higher than the lower one. With the higher turning frequency, sensible heat of materials and heat consumed by turning was higher than lower one.     

Breaking the “heating barrier”: Learning from the first houses without conventional heating

When a house can be designed to require less than 10 W/m² of heating capacity to maintain 20 °C by −10 °C ambient conditions, a conventional heating system (i.e. a gas fired furnace, circulation pipes and radiators) can be omitted and total energy consumption drops to a small fraction of normal levels. The result is a drastic reduction in both operating costs and environmental impact. This performance has been achieved in numerous demonstration projects in Europe, including whole developments of detached and row houses as well as apartment buildings. The goal now is to penetrate the broad housing market. This is hindered by often higher construction costs. The challenge is, therefore, to better understand which design features and components contribute the most to achieving such high performance housing, and which measures can be omitted or substituted. Experience has led to a specific set of requirements which the building envelope and technical systems of a house must satisfy. However, these requirements must be fulfilled under different boundary conditions than those for conventional houses, making decisions less than obvious. Five building projects are presented here as examples of successful solutions and these are cross compared. Finally, an outlook is offered regarding what approaches and features will survive in this emerging, next generation of housing.     

Development and experimental validation of a novel indirect-expansion solar-assisted multifunctional heat pump

This paper proposes a novel indirect-expansion solar-assisted multifunctional heat pump (IX-SAMHP) which integrates a domestic heat pump with a solar water heater. The IX-SAMHP can not only work in operation modes included in the two household appliances, but also operate in four new energy-saving operation modes for the space cooling, space heating and water heating. All operation modes have functioned successfully and can be switched to each other smoothly on a purpose-built experimental setup. Experiments of the heat pump water heating mode at outdoor air temperatures of 8 °C and 15 °C and the solar-assisted space heating mode at indoor air temperatures of 20 °C have been investigated in detail. Electric heaters were used to simulate solar radiation intensity in different weather conditions. The experimental results show that the IX-SAMHP can produce hot water with much less electric consumption in cloudy days compared with a solar water heater and can operate in much higher coefficient of performance than a domestic heat pump in cold winter. The IX-SAMHP is especially suitable for the regions abundant in solar radiation where the space heating, space cooling and water heating are required all the year round.     

Performance analysis of a solar-assisted ground-source heat pump system for greenhouse heating: an experimental study

This study investigates the performance characteristics of a solar-assisted ground-source (geothermal) heat pump system (SAGSHPS) for greenhouse heating with a 50 m vertical 32 mm nominal diameter U-bend ground heat-exchanger. This system was designed and installed in the Solar Energy Institute, Ege University, Izmir (568 degree days cooling, base: 22 °C, 1226 degree days heating, base: 18 °C), Turkey. Based upon the measurements made in the heating mode from the 20th of January till 31st of March 2004, the heat extraction rate from the soil is found to be, on average, 57.78 W/m of bore depth, while the required borehole length in metre per kW of capacity is obtained as 11.92. Design practices in Turkey normally call for U-bend depths between 11 and 13 m/kW of heating. The entering water temperature to the unit ranges from 8.2 to 16.2 °C, with an average value of 14 °C. The greenhouse air has a maximum day temperature of 31.05 °C and night temperature of 14.54 °C with a relative humidity of 40.35%. The heating coefficient of performance of the heat pump (COP_HP) is about 2.00 at the end of a cloudy day, while it is about 3.13 at the end of sunny day and fluctuates between these values in other times. The COP values for the whole system are also obtained to be 5–20% lower than COP_HP. The clearness index during experimental period is computed as average 0.56. At the same period, Cucumus sativus cv. pandora F₁ was raised, and product quality was improved with the climatic conditions in the designed SAGSHPS. However, experimental results show that monovalent central heating operation (independent of any other heating system) cannot meet the overall heat loss of the greenhouse if the ambient temperature is very low. The bivalent operation (combined with other heating system) can be suggested as the best solution in Mediterranean and Aegean regions of Turkey.     

Environmental driving forces of urban growth and development: An emergy-based assessment of the city of Rome,Italy

Large urban systems can be considered as the final point of convergence of resources, environmental services and human activities from rural settlements to villages to towns to small and big cities. The emergy synthesis method is applied in order to capture the complexity of urban systems from the point of view of the larger scale, the geobiosphere, where resources come from. Emergy is the total available energy of one kind (usually solar) directly or indirectly used up to drive a system or a process. It can be considered as a measure of a system's demand for environmental support. The population of Rome is 4.43% of total Italian population, with an emergy use of about 4% of total emergy supporting the Italian economy. Emergy use per capita is 5.50E+16 seJ/year, compared to an average value for Italy of 3.60E+16 seJ/year. An empower density of 1.09E+14 seJ/m²/year was calculated for Rome, much higher than for average Italy, 6.86E+12 seJ/m²/year. Finally, the emergy/GDP, an indirect measure of economic performance of the system, is 2.43E+12 seJ/€ for Rome compared to 1.64E+12 seJ/€ for Italy, suggesting that in an urban system (generally characterized by a larger fraction of tertiary activities) the required environmental support for the generation of economic results is much higher than for the whole economic system. Finally, comparison of above performance indicators with similar studies published by other authors (Taipei, San Juan and Macao) points out that Rome has the highest annual emergy per capita (suggesting higher potential standard of living).     

Heat of combustion in spreading wood crib fires with application to ceiling jets

Responding to a challenge raised with respect to a 1989 revision of a 1979 paper on the ceiling jet of t-squared fires, we have measured the heat of combustion in the growth phase of wood cribs made of sugar pine, the test fuel in the original work, needed to generalize the ceiling jet measurements to any combustible. The present determination of the chemical heat of combustion in the growth phase, 14.1 kJ/g, is a little higher than adopted in 1989 (12.5 kJ/g, from wood sample burning with diffusion flame) but still considerably lower than employed in 1979 (20.9 kJ/g, from oxygen bomb calorimetry). More importantly, the convective heat of combustion was measured as 11.5 kJ/g, which has been employed to update the ceiling jet equations for temperature and velocity in t-squared fires. An explanation is offered for the varying, and often higher than expected ceiling-level temperatures measured with thermocouples directly over the fire in the original experiments, suggesting that both plume lean and thermocouple insertion depth may have affected the indicated temperature.     

Experimental study of a ground-coupled heat pump combined with thermal solar collectors

This paper presents the experimental study of a ground-coupled heat pump used in a 180 m² private residence and combined with thermal solar collectors. This process, called GEOSOL, meets domestic hot water and heating–cooling building energy needs. Solar heat is used as a priority for domestic hot water heating and when the preset water temperature is reached, excess solar energy is injected into the ground via boreholes. This system has the advantage to contribute to the balance of the ground loads, increasing the operating time of the solar collectors and preventing overheating problems. After 11 months in operation, the power extracted and injected into the ground had average values of 40.3 and 39.5 W/m, respectively. Energy injected into the ground represents 34% of the heat extracted, and the heat pump's coefficient of performance (COP) in heating mode had an average value of 3.75. In addition, the domestic hot water solar fraction had an average value higher than 60% for the first 11 months in operation.     

Modelling sheltering effects of trees on reducing space heating in office buildings in a windy city

Using statistical weather analysis, computational fluid dynamics and thermal dynamic simulation, a systematic method was developed to assess quantitatively the effects of a shelterbelt on space heating, particularly with regard to the energy consumption and CO₂ emission. It was then applied to estimate the heating loads of two typical office buildings in a windy city located at 57.2North, with and without a shelterbelt. Firstly, the statistical analysis of weather data was carried out to identify the prevailing wind direction during a typical winter heating season in the location. It was to ensure the windbreak planted rightly to maximise its sheltering benefits for the buildings in its leeward. This analysis, which revealed the main weather features in the location, would help to better comprehend the results of the thermal modelling and gain insight of how the load responses to the climate. In the second part, CFD modelling predicted wind reduction due to the shelterbelt under various wind directions. The predicted data were then used to prepare two sets of weather data, the original weather file and the revised one, in which the wind data had taken into account the reduction effect of the windbreak. The third part was a dynamic thermal modelling study where two types of office buildings were selected as the representative offices in Edinburgh for the assessment of sheltering effect on energy saving and CO₂ reduction. The predicted savings over a heating season due to the shelterbelt were in a range of 16–42% and the actual values in space heating were about 2.2 kWh m⁻² for new office buildings and 14.5 kWh m⁻² for offices converted from conventional houses without insulation improvement. These significant savings were due to the local weather that is typically known as long windy winter with many cloudy days.     

Heating energy consumption and resulting environmental impact of European apartment buildings

Buildings have direct environmental impacts, ranging from the use of raw materials for their construction and renovation to the consumption of natural resources, like water and fossil fuels, and the emission of harmful substances. Data on heating energy consumption were collected during the audits of 193 European residential buildings in five countries. The available data were analysed in order to assess the influence of envelope thermal insulation, age and condition of heating system, on the heating energy consumption and the resulting environmental impact. About 38% of the audited buildings have an annual heating energy consumption more than the European average (174.3 kWh/m²), about 30% of the buildings have higher airborne emissions than the European averages and 23% of the buildings have higher solid waste emissions than the European averages. Polish buildings have the highest average heating energy consumption (63% of the buildings above the European average). French and Polish buildings have the highest production of airborne emissions, while Polish buildings have the highest emissions of solid wastes.     

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.     

Thermal analysis of wood–cement panels: Heat flux and indoor temperature measurements in test cells

The aim of the present paper is to characterize the physical and mechanical properties and to evaluate the thermal performance of wood–cement panels using wood flour originated from lumber industries rejects. The research comprised of several steps: (1) physical and mechanical analysis; (2) heat flux measurements using small-scale test cells of 1 m³ of internal volume and (3) indoor temperature measurements under summer and winter climatic conditions in Curitiba, Brazil (latitude 25.5°S, elevation 917 m above sea level). Reference material for indoor temperature comparisons was a prototype made with ordinary ceramic bricks, plastered on both sides. Air temperature measurements were carried out with data loggers, heat flux plates were attached to an exposed north facade of each test cell, while incoming solar radiation was measured with an experimental solarimeter.     

Predicting the structural response of a compartment fire using full-field heat transfer measurements

Inverse heat transfer analysis (IHT) was used to measure the full-field heat fluxes on a small scale (0.9 m×0.9 m×0.9 m) stainless steel SS304 compartment exposed to a 100 kW diffusion flame. The measured heat fluxes were then used in a thermo-mechanical finite element model in Abaqus to predict the response of an aluminum 6061-T6 compartment to the same exposure. Coupled measurements of deflection and temperature using Thermographic Digital Image Correlation (TDIC) were obtained of an aluminum compartment tested until collapse. Two convective heat transfer coefficients, h =35 W/m²-K and h =10 W/m²-K were examined for the thermal model using the experimentally measured heat fluxes. Predictions of the thermal and structural response of the same compartment were generated by coupling Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) and Abaqus using the two values for h, h =35 W/m²-K and h from convection correlations. Predictions of deflection and temperature using heat fluxes from IHT and FDS with h=35 W/m²-K agreed with experimental measurements along the back wall. The temperature predictions from the IHT-Abaqus model were independent of h, whereas the temperature predictions from the FDS-Abaqus model were dependent on h.     

Mechanical properties of concrete produced with a composite of water treatment sludge and sawdust

In developing countries such as Brazil, the wastes generated in the decanters and filters of water treatment plants are discharged directly into the same rivers and streams that supply water for treatment. Another environmental problem is the unregulated discard of wood wastes. The lumber and wood products industry generates large quantities of this waste, from logging to the manufacture of the end product. Brazil has few biomass plants and therefore only a minor part of these wastes are reused. This paper presents the results of the first study involving a novel scientific and technological approach to evaluate the possibility of combining these two types of wastes in the production of a light-weight composite for concrete. The concrete produced with cement:sand:composite:water mass ratios of 1:2.5:0.67:0.6 displayed an axial compressive strength of 11.1 MPa, a compressive and diametral tensile strength of 1.2 MPa, water absorption of 8.8%, and a specific mass of 1.847 kg/m³. The mechanical properties obtained with this concrete render it suitable for application in non-structural elements.     

Heat release during thermally-induced failure of a lithium ion battery: Impact of cathode composition

A novel experimental technique, Copper Slug Battery Calorimetry (CSBC), was employed for the measurement of the energetics and dynamics of the thermally-induced failure of 18650 form factor lithium ion batteries (LIBs) containing three different cathodes: lithium cobalt oxide (LCO), lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) and lithium iron phosphate (LFP). The heat capacity of these LIBs was evaluated to be 1.1±0.1 J g⁻¹ K⁻¹ for all three types. It was shown that the total heat generated inside the batteries increases with increasing amount of electrical energy stored. The maximum total internal heat generated by fully-charged LIBs was found to be 37.3±3.3, 34.0±1.8 and 13.7±0.4 kJ/cell for LCO, NMC and LFP LIBs, respectively. Detailed modeling of heat transfer in the CSBC experiments was carried out to evaluate thermal conductivities of the LIBs and demonstrate that the assumptions associated with the CSBC experiment analysis are valid. Additionally, experiments were carried out in which the CSBC technique was combined with cone calorimetry to measure the heat produced in flaming non-premixed combustion of vented battery materials. The released combustion heat varied between 35 and 63 kJ/cell for LCO LIBs, 27 and 81 kJ/cell for NMC LIBs, and 36 and 50 kJ/cell for LFP LIBs.