Search results for "Building"
showing 10 items of 1985 documents
Building collective capabilities through ICT in a mountain region of Nepal: where social capital leads to collective action
2012
In this paper, we explore how ICT can lead to development specifically human development in Sen's capability approach. In answering to the critique that Sen views capabilities as the individual, we incorporate the societal level by adding collective capabilities. We propose that ICT helps to create or enhance SC of communities which in turn can lead to development by building collective capabilities through collective action. To illustrate, we conducted a qualitative case study of an ICT initiative in a remote mountain region of Nepal. We found support for our proposition and further that developing collective capabilities also simultaneously enhanced individual capabilities. We contribute …
Forces influencing the speed of internationalisation
2016
Purpose – This study applies Oviatt and McDougall’s (2005) model of forces influencing the speed of internationalisation to small, export oriented enterprises. The purpose of this paper is to explore the significance of the forces enabling, motivating, mediating and moderating internationalisation in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and the manner in which these forces manifest themselves in the market. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative research approach utilising eight case studies within Norway and Ireland was adopted in order to facilitate theory building required for this study. Findings – The findings demonstrate that four forces in particular are found to be stron…
Grounded Analytic Research: Building Theory from a Body of Research
2012
Track II: Recent Developments in Inductive Research Methods; International audience; In this paper, we present Grounded Analytic Research (GAR) as a method to build theory by synthesizing empirical findings from multiple studies that has been conducted by a single researcher. GAR incorporates concepts from grounded theory, analytic research and systematic literature review. The method was applied in a doctoral dissertation work to build the theoretical concept of Demand Sustainability of public Internet access in the context of bridging the digital divide. We describe GAR and compare it with existing theory building methods that are similar to it in epistemology and ontology.
Sustainable Social Housing in Temperate Areas. Italy and Brazil: the use of vegetation as a retrofit strategy
2014
La tesi si pone come obiettivo l’individuazione di strategie sostenibili per il retrofit del Social Housing in aree a clima temperato, con particolare riferimento all'utilizzo della vegetazione per la riqualificazione degli spazi esterni e per l'incremento delle prestazioni dell'involucro edilizio. La ricerca parte dall’assunto che le regioni del sud Italia e le aree subtropicali del Brasile, accomunati da caratteristiche climatiche affini, si trovano attualmente impegnati nell'identificazione di politiche e soluzioni per la riqualificazione di interi quartieri destinati all'housing sociale, responsabili di elevati consumi energetici e di inadeguate condizioni di comfort abitativo. In quest…
On the classification of large residential buildings stocks by sample typologies for energy planning purposes
2014
Local and central administrations are often called to properly allocate economic resources intended for the territorial energy planning, on the basis of the performances achieved by implementing energy conservation measures. Particularly in the residential sector, that represents one of the most relevant sector for the energy demand, effective and reliable evaluation tools are required for this aim. Unfortunately, building stocks are characterized by a very large number of buildings that are referred to different construction periods and are equipped with a variety of appliances and tools, other than with different heating and cooling systems. This means that the whole energy consumption of…
Experimental Evidence on the Thermal Performance of Opaque Surfaces in Mediterranean Climate
2013
The thermal insulation of buildings, intended as wrap feature which determines the dispersion of heat, the reference parameter is necessary to contain the thermal losses during the winter season. The transmittance of the opaque components, used as an indicator of the energy quality of a casing, together with the overall coefficient of dispersion, represents a proper descriptor of the behavior during the heating season. However, if a strong insulation in winter conditions brings only positive effects, the same cannot be said for the summer conditions. A high value of the insulation in the casing is convenient only when the gains free, either in the form of solar contribution that of endogeno…
Experimental Evidence on the Thermal Performance of Opaque Surfaces in Mediterranean Climate
2013
The thermal insulation of buildings, intended as wrap feature which determines the dispersion of heat, the reference parameter is necessary to contain the thermal losses during the winter season. The transmittance of the opaque components, used as an indicator of the energy quality of a casing, together with the overall coefficient of dispersion, represents a proper descriptor of the behavior during the heating season. However, if a strong insulation in winter conditions brings only positive effects, the same cannot be said for the summer conditions. A high value of the insulation in the casing is convenient only when the gains free, either in the form of solar contribution that of endogeno…
Architectural technologies for life environment: Spent coffee ground reuse in lime-based mortars. A preliminary assessment for innovative green therm…
2022
Spent coffee ground, the residue obtained from the brewing process, is the primary unavoidable (inedible) waste from the coffee consumption. As coffee production and beverage consumption are increasing worldwide, a more sustainable waste management is required since the usual disposal in landfill is a liability to both humans and the environment. This paper is aimed at showing a possible alternative reuse of coffee ground wastes in novel green building materials intended for thermo-plastering applications in construction, in a circular economy context. Coffee waste was used in various percentages (up to 17.5%) to assess the engineering performance of the produced bio-composite mortars. The …
Optimisation of Thermochromic Thin Films on Glass; Design of Intelligent Windows
2010
Theoretically thermochromic glazing has the potential to reduce energy consumption in buildings by allowing visible light for day lighting, reducing unwanted solar gain during the cooling season, while allowing useful solar gain in the heating season. In this study building simulation is used to predict the savings made by novel thermochromic glazing coatings compared to standard products, for locations with different climates. The results suggest that thermochromic glazing can have a significant energy saving effect compared to current approaches.
Criteria for validity of thermodynamic equations from non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations
2008
Abstract The assumption of local equilibrium is validated in four different systems where heat and mass are transported. Mass fluxes up to 13 kmol / m 2 s and temperature gradients up to 10 12 K / m were used. A two-component mixture, two vapor–liquid interfaces, a chemical reaction in a temperature gradient and gas adsorbed in zeolite were studied using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. In all cases, we verified that thermodynamic variables obeyed normal thermodynamic relations, with an accuracy better than 5%. The heat and mass fluxes, and the reaction rate were linearly related to the driving forces. Onsager's reciprocal relations were validated for two systems. Equipartiti…