Building Fe atom–cluster composite sites using a site occupation strategy to boost electrochemical oxygen reduction

The high-temperature pyrolysis process for preparing M–N–C single-atom catalyst usually results in high heterogeneity in product structure concurrently contains multiscale metal phases from single atoms(SAs),atomic clusters to nanoparticles.Therefore,understanding the interactions among these components,especially the synergistic effects between single atomic sites and cluster sites,is crucial for improving the oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)activity of M–N–C catalysts.Accordingly,herein,we constructed a model catalyst composed of both atomically dispersed FeN4 SA sites and adjacent Fe clusters through a site occupation strategy.We found that the Fe clusters can optimize the adsorption strength of oxygen reduction intermediates on FeN4 SA sites by introducing electron-withdrawing–OH ligands and decreasing the d-band center of the Fe center.The as-developed catalyst exhibits encouraging ORR activity with halfwave potentials(E1/2)of 0.831 and 0.905 V in acidic and alkaline media,respectively.Moreover,the catalyst also represents excellent durability exceeding that of Fe–N–C SA catalyst.The practical application of Fe(Cd)–CNx catalyst is further validated by its superior activity and stability in a metalair battery device.Our work exhibits the great potential of synergistic effects between multiphase metal species for improvements of singleatom site catalysts.

Field study of seasonal thermal comfort and adaptive behavior for occupants in residential buildings of Xi’an,China

The study aims to investigate the thermal comfort requirements in residential buildings and to establish an adaptive thermal comfort model in the cold zone of China.A year-long field study was conducted in residential buildings in Xi’an,China.A total of 2069 valid questionnaires,along with indoor environmental parameters were obtained.The results indicated occupants’thermal comfort requirements varied with seasons.The neutral temperatures were 17.9,26.1(highest),25.2,and 17.4℃(lowest),and preferred temperatures were 23.2,25.6(highest),24.8,and 22.4℃(lowest),respectively for spring,summer,autumn,and winter.The neutral temperature and preferred temperature in autumn are close to the neutral temperature in summer,while the neutral temperature and preferred temperature in spring are close to that in winter.Besides,the 80%and 90%acceptable temperature ranges,adaptive thermal comfort models,and thermal comfort zones for each season were established.Human’s adaptability is related to his/her thermal experience of the current season and the previous season.Therefore,compared with the traditional year-round adaptive thermal comfort model,seasonal models can better reflect seasonal variations of human adaptation.This study provides fundamental knowledge of the thermal comfort demand for people in this region.

Comparative Analysis of Building Rating Systems and Occupant Rating Systems

To begin with, rating systems are a beneficial tool in determining the efficiency of a building’s ability to utilise its resources effectively. In this study, the two elements under comparison are the Building Rating Systems (BRSs) and Occupant Rating Systems (ORSs). The main objective of this paper is to be able to examine the most commonly applied international and national BRS and ORS and, based on that, discover the possibility of developing an integration of both the BRS and ORS into one rating system. Quite simply, a BRS is a method by which buildings are assessed and given a score based on numerous features such as the efficiency of each of the services, total energy consumption, and alternate options of consumption. There are various BRSs that are implemented globally, each with its own set of criteria and specifications. Thus, based on the analysis of the benefits and drawbacks of both types of rating systems, it could be deduced that a well-rounded rating system with all technical and non-technical aspects combined would be beneficial to both the efficiency of the building as well as the building occupants’ health and well-being.

Occupant Behavior: A “New” Factor in Energy Performance of Buildings - Methods for Its Detection in Houses and in Offices

The role that occupants have on energy consumption and performance of buildings is known,but still requires a great deal of research.In this paper,the most common techniques to detect occupancy and occupant behavior in buildings are categorized with their advantages and disadvantages.Being the buildings characterized by different energy usage,the presentation of the studies that applied surveys and monitoring campaigns is conducted with differentiation between residential and office buildings.

Thermal Comfort Characteristics and Its Effects on Health Status of Occupants of Residential Building Typology in a Sub-Humid Tropical Climate

This study examined the indoor thermal comfort characteristics and it implications for the health of the inhabitants in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state, Nigeria. The study used the experimental and survey research designs to gather primary data of temperature (dry and wet bulb), and perception of the inhabitants regarding thermal conditions in the study area. The effective temperature equation was used to determine the thermal comfort characteristics of the residential buildings in the study area, while the analysis of variance (ANOVA) model was used to determine the spatial variation in thermal comfort characteristics across the different land uses in the study area. The findings of the study include: the thermal comfort characteristics for the study area ranged between 27.3 ET & 29.08 ET at the dry period and at wet period 25.6 ET and 27.10 ET. The ANOVA model was significant at P < 0.05 (F-118.23, sig-0.00), indicating that there is a significant difference in the thermal comfort characteristics in the study area. The Duncan statistics however, revealed that, the GRA is the coolest when it comes to effective temperature. Furthermore, the respondents identified that;the period of discomfort is mostly afternoon (37.3%) and Nights (35.1%). Health problems as a result of poor thermal conditions include skin rashes (59.8%), heat cramps (26.4%), prickly heat (42%) and heat exhaustion (51.3%). As a result of the findings the study strongly advocates, building residential buildings with several openings and locating such openings in recognition of the wind direction.

DEVELOPING A FOCUS FOR GREEN BUILDING OCCUPANT TRAINING MATERIALS

With the shift from conventional to green buildings a need emerges to train staff on how to work within them.Build-ing occupants control many of the green building technologies,which makes it necessary to educate occupants on the differences between using a green building versus a conventional building in order to secure the green building’s suc-cess.The breadth of information that is necessary for an occupant to know in order to change their behaviors to be in accord with the high performing building they occupy makes it necessary to use a systematic method to reduce the in-formation provided in trainings.This study employs a decision matrix approach as an objective means to narrow the focus of the training.A case study is used to implement the methods developed in this study.A focus group evaluated the effectiveness of the decision matrix.Results from the focus group showed that staff was active in waste reduction behaviors,but not in energy efficient actions.This supported the outcome of the decision matrix infinding relevant,necessary information for the training.

AN EVALUATION OF INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND OCCUPANT WELL-BEING IN MANITOBA SCHOOL BUILDINGS

This exploratory research aims to evaluate indoor environmental quality in the classrooms of three school buildings in Southern Manitoba,Canada,and to evaluate the well-being of these schools’teachers as it pertains to their perception of their classrooms’indoor environment.The schools include a middle-aged,conventional school;a new,non-green school;and a new,green school certified using the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system.The methodology involved using a mobile instrument cart to conduct snapshot measurements of thermal comfort,indoor air quality,lighting and acoustics in classrooms and an occupant survey to evaluate teachers’long-term satisfaction with their classrooms’indoor environmental quality.The results showed that the new,green and new,non-green schools’classrooms performed better than the conventional,middle-aged school’s classrooms with respect to some aspects of thermal comfort and indoor air quality only.Teachers in the new,green school and in the new,non-green school were more satisfied than teachers in the conventional,middle-aged school with their classrooms’overall indoor environmental quality,lighting quality and indoor air quality.Surprisingly,the new,green and new-non green school classrooms’performance were very comparable with the new,green school’s classrooms performing statistically significantly better with respect to relative humidity.Similarly,none of the differences in teachers’satisfaction ratings between the new,green and new,non-green school were statistically significant.

DETERMINING ADEQUATE INFORMATION FOR GREEN BUILDING OCCUPANT TRAINING MATERIALS

As knowledge of the built environment’s impact on resource and energy use increases,industry leaders are moving toward a healthier,more sustainable solution by building green.Though green buildings have the ability to improve occupant health and productivity,it is not clear what impact the behaviors of building occupants have on the building.New systems and technologies in green buildings require building occupants to think and operate differently in their new green environment,otherwise risking not fully gaining the benefits of the new facility.The new behaviors necessary to the success of the green building are not necessarily obvious or trivial.They cannot simply be learned“on-the-job;”rather the transformation will require formal education.It likely requires changing attitudes and beliefs in addition to building a robust understanding of new procedures.This study sought to determine the amount of information neces-sary to change occupants’willingness to use new energy-efficient behaviors not followed in the conventional building.An empirical test comparing four versions of the same training,each with varying amounts and types of information was presented to three different populations:nursing staff of a green building,clinical staff of a green building,and nursing staff of a conventional building.Results show that knowledge of green building standards and the impact of energy saving behaviors are the information necessary to increase willingness to change behaviors.Also,staff members of the new,green building are more willing to change behaviors than staff of the conventional building.

DO OCCUPANTS IN GREEN BUILDINGS PRACTICE BETTER ENERGY SAVING BEHAVIOUR IN COMPUTER USAGE THAN OCCUPANTS IN CONVENTIONAL BUILDINGS?

Green buildings are not entirely successful in achieving energy saving targets.One way of improving energy targets is to encourage occupants to adopt energy saving behaviour.To date,energy saving behaviour has been given less focus in improving green building performance than other energy saving initiatives,such as retrofitting buildings for green features.This study uses comparison case studies between green buildings and conventional buildings in New Zealand to better understand the energy saving behaviour of occupants.Questionnaires were distributed to occupants in green and conventional buildings to evaluate the extent of energy saving behaviour practiced and to identify potential strategies to encourage energy saving behaviour.The objective of this paper is to investigate the level of energy saving behaviour between green and conventional office buildings to see if people in green buildings perform better energy saving behaviour than people in conventional buildings in computer usage.The findings do show better energy saving behaviour from occupants in green buildings than occupants in conventional buildings.The paper shows why this is the case.The recommended strategies to encourage energy saving behaviour used by different buildings are also discussed.Strategies include raising education awareness on energy efficiency among the building occupants,energy saving commitments,and to have an active building manager assigned for energy related matters.

THE EFFECT OF SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL FACTORS ON OCCUPANTS’BLIND USE BEHAVIORS IN MULTIFAMILY RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS

Existing studies show that occupants’behavior contribute to fluctuations in energy consumption of residential units within the same building configuration.Window blinds are one of the interior design elements that the occupants use to control indoor environmental conditions.The way that occupants adjust their blinds could affect the energy performance of buildings.Thus,the purpose of this research was to identify spatial and temporal explanatory variables that correlate with occupants’use of the blinds and determine whether those variables relate to building design and surround-ing sites.Data were collected by observing how occupants in apartment buildings located in a multifamily residential complex adjust their blinds.Descriptive statistics were used to define the effect of floor level,window orientation,day of observation,the hour of observation,and weather conditions on the blind status.In addition,a generalized linear mixed model was used to predict the effect of floor level and window orientation on the occupants’adjustment of blinds.The results revealed that occupants’use of the blinds correlated significantly with spatial factors,such as the apartment buildings’floor level and windows’orientation.Interesting blind use patterns were related to temporal factors,such as the day and hour of observation.

IDENTIFYING OCCUPANTS’APPROPRIATE SEATING POSITION AND VIEW DIRECTION IN OFFICE BUILDINGS:A STOCHASTIC SHADE CONTROL BASED MULTI-OBJECTIVE VISUAL COMFORT OPTIMIZATION

Manually operated solar shades have a significant impact on indoor visual comfort.This research investigates occupants’appropriate seating position and view direction in a west-facing office cell using a previously developed shade behavior model.The non-dominant sorting genetic algorithm(NSGA-II)based Multi-objective optimization was adopted to identify the optimal and near optimal solutions.Daylight and glare index were used as two visual comfort objectives for optimization and robustness of optimization results against shade behavior uncertainty that was analyzed using statistical analysis.Results show that near optimal solutions can be used instead of the optimal one since they provide more flexibility in seating positions while maintaining almost the same visual comfort performance.And thus,the appropriate seating position considering occupants’preference is 1.5m away from the external window with two view directions near parallel to the window for west-facing office rooms.

NUDGING OCCUPANT BEHAVIOR-CULTIVATING POSITIVE ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN COMFORT,HEALTH,AND BUILDING EFFICIENCY ACTIONS WITH THE DENVER HOUSING AUTHORITY

1.INTROD CTION Established in 1938,the Housing Authority of the City and County of Denver(DHA)is one of the nation’s most successful housing authorities,providing a variety of livable affordable housing options throughout Denver Colorado.DHA’s mission is to serve the residents of Denver by developing,owning,and operating safe,decent,and affordable housing in a manner that promotes thriving communities.DHA manages,owns,and operates a large portfolio of residential,warehouse,office and commercial properties through the City and County of Denver,CO.One of DHA’s strategic goals is to develop and operate sustainable energy efficiency properties through the Denver community.DHA continues to develop and rehab buildings that meet the USGBC rating system and Green Enterprise Communities Standards,include the development of LEED Platinum buildings.In addition to developing and maintaining energy efficient properties,DHA is also focused on engaging with residents to encourage responsible choices around energy use.DHA believes there is significant opportunity for energy and water savings through focusing on the human dimension of energy efficiency.YR&G has been working with DHA since 2010 supporting sustainable design initiatives for their new construction projects.In 2014,YR&G began working with DHA to design,implement,and perform measurement and verification for a resident education and engagement program focused on energy and water conservation behaviors.The intent is to produce a replicable program that can be implemented across DHA properties.

A REVIEW OF PROTOCOLS AND GUIDELINES ADDRESSING THE EXPOSURE OF OCCUPANTS TO ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD RADIATION(EMFR)IN BUILDINGS

A significant share of the technology that has emerged over the past several decades produces electromagnetic field(EMFR)radiation.Communications devices,household appliances,industrial equipment,and medical equipment and devices all produce EMFR with a variety of frequencies,strengths,and ranges.Some EMFR,such as Extremely Low Frequency(ELF),Radio Frequency(RF),and Ionizing Range(IR)radiation have been shown to have harmful effects on human health.Depending on the frequency and strength of the radiation,EMFR can have health effects at the cellular level as well as at brain,nervous,and cardiovascular levels.Health authorities have enacted regulations locally and globally to set critical values to limit the adverse effects of EMFR.By introducing a more comprehensive field of EMFR study and practice,architects and designers can design for a safer electromagnetic(EM)indoor environment,and,as building and construction specialists,will be able to monitor and reduce EM radiation.This paper identifies the nature of EMFR in the built environment,the various EMFR sources,and its human health effects.It addresses European and US regulations for EMFR in buildings and provides a preliminary action plan.The challenges of developing measurement protocols for the various EMFR frequency ranges and determining the effects of EMFR on building occu-pants are discussed.This paper argues that a mature method for measuring EMFR in building environments and linking these measurements to human health impacts will foster occupant health and lead to the adequate development of safeguards for occupants of buildings in future research.

Deterioration Reason and Improvement Measure of the Retarding Effect of Protein Retarder on Phosphorus Building Gypsum

The retarding effect of protein retarder on phosphorus building gypsum(PBG)and desulfurization building gypsum(DBG)was investigated,and the results show that protein retarder for DBG can effectively prolong the setting time and displays a better retarding effect,but for PBG shows a poor retarding effect.Furthermore,the deterioration reason of the retarding effect of protein retarder on PBG was investigated by measuring the pH value and the retarder concentration of the liquid phase from vacuum filtration of PBG slurry at different hydration time,and the measure to improve the retarding effect of protein retarding on PBG was suggested.The pH value of PBG slurry(<5.0)is lower than that of DBG slurry(7.8-8.5).After hydration for 5 min,the concentration of retarder in liquid phase of DBG slurry gradually decreases,but in liquid phase of PBG slurry continually increases,which results in the worse retarding effect of protein retarder on PBG.The liquid phase pH value of PBG slurry can be adjusted higher by sodium silicate,which is beneficial to improvement in the retarding effect of the retarder.By adding 1.0%of sodium silicate,the initial setting time of PBG was efficiently prolonged from 17 to 210 min,but little effect on the absolute dry flexural strength was observed.

Farm buildings and agri-food transitions in Southern France:Mapping dynamics using a stakeholder-based diagnosis

This study's goal is to present a dynamic portrait of the farm-buildings environment in Occitania,in Southern France,in order to better identify the transitions underway in agri-food chains.To this end,we undertook a ter-ritorial diagnosis based on actor statements,using 28 semi-structured interviews across Occitania.This diagnosis was enriched by graphic modelling,which enabled the spatialization of the dynamics described.We show that the process of standardisation of farm buildings prevails in the majority of the territories studied.This phenomenon has intensified in recent years with the development of vast photovoltaic-roofed sheds,accentuating the farm-land conversion and soil sealing.At the same time,in areas with strong environmental,landscape and heritage contexts,a'new adventure in farm buildings'(2022 survey)is taking shape.It is primarily driven by local short food chains,which rely on self-construction,repurposing and refurbishment,the sharing of tools and equipment,and which favour the use and reuse of local resources.This study shows that farm-buildings dynamics crystallise many challenges confronting the reterritorialisation of agriculture and food production.

A comparison of IBC with 1997 UBC for modal response spectrum analysis in standard-occupancy buildings

This paper presents a comparison of the seismic forces generated from a Modal Response Spectrum Analysis （MRSA） by applying the provisions of two building codes, the 1997 Uniform Building Code （UBC） and the 2000-2009 International Building Code （IBC）, to the most common ordinary residential buildings of standard occupancy. Considering IBC as the state of the art benchmark code, the primary concern is the safety of buildings designed using the UBC as compared to those designed using the IBC. A sample of four buildings with different layouts and heights was used for this comparison. Each of these buildings was assumed to be located at four different geographical sample locations arbitrarily selected to represent various earthquake zones on a seismic map of the USA, and was subjected to code-compliant response spectrum analyses for all sample locations and for five different soil types at each location. Response spectrum analysis was performed using the ETABS software package. For all the cases investigated, the UBC was found to be significantly more conservative than the IBC. The UBC design response spectra have higher spectral accelerations, and as a result, the response spectrum analysis provided a much higher base shear and moment in the structural members as compared to the IBC. The conclusion is that ordinary office and residential buildings designed using UBC 1997 are considered to be overdesigned, and therefore they are quite safe even according to the IBC provisions.

A New Dynamic and Vertical Photovoltaic Integrated Building Envelope for High-Rise Glaze-Facade Buildings

Substantially glazed facades are extensively used in contemporary high-rise buildings to achieve attractive architectural aesthetics.Inherent conflicts exist among architectural aesthetics,building energy consumption,and solar energy harvesting for glazed facades.In this study,we addressed these conflicts by introducing a new dynamic and vertical photovoltaic integrated building envelope(dvPVBE)that offers extraordinary flexibility with weather-responsive slat angles and blind positions,superior architectural aesthetics,and notable energy-saving potential.Three hierarchical control strategies were proposed for different scenarios of the dvPVBE:power generation priority(PGP),natural daylight priority(NDP),and energy-saving priority(ESP).Moreover,the PGP and ESP strategies were further analyzed in the simulation of a dvPVBE.An office room integrated with a dvPVBE was modeled using EnergyPlus.The influence of the dvPVBE in improving the building energy efficiency and corresponding optimal slat angles was investigated under the PGP and ESP control strategies.The results indicate that the application of dvPVBEs in Beijing can provide up to 131%of the annual energy demand of office rooms and significantly increase the annual net energy output by at least 226%compared with static photovoltaic(PV)blinds.The concept of this novel dvPVBE offers a viable approach by which the thermal load,daylight penetration,and energy generation can be effectively regulated.

Reinforcement Learning Model for Energy System Management to Ensure Energy Efficiency and Comfort in Buildings

This article focuses on the challenges ofmodeling energy supply systems for buildings,encompassing both methods and tools for simulating thermal regimes and engineering systems within buildings.Enhancing the comfort of living or working in buildings often necessitates increased consumption of energy and material,such as for thermal upgrades,which consequently incurs additional economic costs.It is crucial to acknowledge that such improvements do not always lead to a decrease in total pollutant emissions,considering emissions across all stages of production and usage of energy and materials aimed at boosting energy efficiency and comfort in buildings.In addition,it explores the methods and mechanisms for modeling the operating modes of electric boilers used to collectively improve energy efficiency and indoor climatic conditions.Using the developed mathematical models,the study examines the dynamic states of building energy supply systems and provides recommendations for improving their efficiency.These dynamic models are executed in software environments such as MATLAB/Simscape and Python,where the component detailing schemes for various types of controllers are demonstrated.Additionally,controllers based on reinforcement learning(RL)displayed more adaptive load level management.These RL-based controllers can lower instantaneous power usage by up to 35%,reduce absolute deviations from a comfortable temperature nearly by half,and cut down energy consumption by approximately 1%while maintaining comfort.When the energy source produces a constant energy amount,the RL-based heat controllermore effectively maintains the temperature within the set range,preventing overheating.In conclusion,the introduced energydynamic building model and its software implementation offer a versatile tool for researchers,enabling the simulation of various energy supply systems to achieve optimal energy efficiency and indoor climate control in buildings.

Head injury mechanisms of the occupant under high-speed train rear-end collision

To improve the passive safety of high-speed trains,it is very important to understand the mechanism of head injury in high-speed train collisions.In this study,the head injury mechanisms of occupants in high-speed train rear-end collisions were investigated based on the occupant-seat coupling model,which included a dummy representing the Chinese 50th percentile adult male.The typical injury responses in terms of skull fractures,brain contusions,and diffuse axonal injury(DAI)were analyzed.Meanwhile,the influences of collision speed and seat parameters on head injury response were examined.The simulation results indicate that the skull fractures primarily occur at the skull base region due to excessive neck extension,while the brain contusions and DAI result from the relative displacement of different brain regions.The increase in collision speed will promote the probability of skull fracture,brain contusion,and DAI.Seat design modifications,such as reduced seat spacing,increased seat backrest angles,and selecting the appropriate cushion angle(76°)and friction coefficient(0.15),can effectively mitigate probably occupant's head injury.

Role of outdoor trees on pedestrian wind and thermal conditions around a pre-education building for sustainable energy management

Finding sustainable energy resources is essential to face the increasing energy demand.Trees are an important part of ancient architecture but are becoming rare in urban areas.Trees can control and tune the pedestrian-level wind velocity and thermal condition.In this study,a numerical investigation is employed to assess the role of trees planted in the windward direction of the building complex on the thermal and pedestrian wind velocity conditions around/inside a pre-education building located in the center of the complex.Compared to the previous studies(which considered only outside buildings),this work considers the effects of trees on microclimate change both inside/outside buildings.Effects of different parameters including the leaf area density and number of trees,number of rows,far-field velocity magnitude,and thermal condition around the main building are assessed.The results show that the flow velocity in the spacing between the first-row buildings is reduced by 30%-40% when the one-row trees with 2 m height are planted 15 m farther than the buildings.Furthermore,two rows of trees are more effective in higher velocities and reduce the maximum velocity by about 50%.The investigation shows that trees also could reduce the temperature by about 1℃around the building.