Search results for "Building"
showing 10 items of 1985 documents
Environmental performance of building materials: life cycle assessment of a typical Sicilian marble
2009
Background, aim, and scope: The building sector is strategically important for achieving sustainability. Therefore, the improvement of energy and environmental performances are relevant targets because precious building materials such as marble have a significant impact on the environment. The aim of this paper is an analysis of a typical Sicilian marble (Perlato di Sicilia) to evaluate its energy and environmental performance. Marble plays an important role in the economy of Italy and has a global market share of 58% in terms of exports. For the main production areas of marble, relevant environmental performance data are missing except for one region (Tuscany-Massa e Carrara province). Per…
Investigation of buckling characteristics of cracked variable stiffness composite plates by an eXtended Ritz approach
2021
Abstract Variable Angle Tow (VAT) composite plates are characterized by in-plane variable stiffness properties, which opens to new concepts of stiffness tailoring and optimization to achieve higher structural performance for advanced lightweight structures where damage tolerance consideration are often mandatory. In this paper, a single-domain eXtended Ritz formulation is proposed to study the buckling behaviour of variable stiffness laminated cracked plates. The plate behaviour is described by the first order shear deformation theory whose generalized displacements, namely reference plane translations and rotations, are expressed via suitable admissible trial functions. These consist of a …
Trace compounds of biogas from different biogas production plants
2007
Biogas composition and variation in three different biogas production plants were studied to provide information pertaining to its potential use as biofuel. Methane, carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and sulphur compounds were measured in samples of biogases from a landfill, sewage treatment plant sludge digester and farm biogas plant. Methane content ranged from 48% to 65%, carbon dioxide from 36% to 41% and nitrogen from <1% to 17%. Oxygen content in all three gases was <1%. The highest methane content occurred in the gas from the sewage digester while the lowest methane and highest nitrogen contents were found in the landfill gas during winter. The amoun…
The effectiveness of interregional security cooperation: evaluating the joint engagement of the EU and the AU in response to the 2013 crisis in the C…
2017
African Union (AU)–European Union (EU) interregional security cooperation has not so far been analysed systematically with regard to its effectiveness despite the substantial support of African cap...
The benefits of inclusive education: new challenges for university teachers
2017
Inclusive education is a child’s right, not a privilege. The amount of current attention given to children and to childhood is unprecedented. In a world affected by financial crises, attitudes about children’s needs are very important. Recent years have seen innovations in the focus of research, as political moves that challenge the ways different children have been excluded and silenced. Inclusive education is a real and urgent need for all educational systems around the world. Inside our university, the Teachers Training Department needs to take serious measures to create a professional environment for all the students involved in the initial training for becoming teachers at all levels. …
Extending the Transactional View on Public–Private Partnership Projects: Role of Relational and Motivational Aspects in Goal Alignment
2019
AbstractIn public–private partnerships (PPPs), aligning the goals of the public sector with those of the private contractor is usually achieved using incentives informed by agency theory. However, ...
INNOVATIVE MASS-DAMPING-BASED APPROACHES FOR SEISMIC DESIGN OF TALL BUILDINGS
2021
Mass damping is a well known principle for the reduction of structural vibrations and applied in tall building design in a variety of configurations. With mass usually small (around 1% of building mass), the properly “tuned” mass damper (TMD) shows great effectiveness in reduc-ing wind vibrations, but minor advantages under earthquake excitations. The above limitation can be surpassed by utilizing relatively large mass TMD. For this pur-pose, two different solutions are here proposed. In both cases, the idea is to separate the building into two or more parts, thus allowing for a relative motion between them, and acti-vating the mass damping mechanism. In the first solution, the building is …
Swine flu in Buenos Aires: beyond the principle of resilience
2011
PurposeThroughout April/May of 2009 a new type of virus surfaced in Mexico and the USA, denominated H1N1 or swine flu, that has been immediately disseminated worldwide. Even though the mortality of this virus has been slow, comparing with other antecedents, the mass‐media articulated a troublesome discourse that put the world in tenterhooks waiting for the evolution of the symptoms. Emulating the mythical archetype of what we knew as Spanish flu, which affected more than 50 million people during 1918 and 1920, journalism triggered panic in the four corners of the world. Under such a context, the purpose of this paper is to explore the connection between the coverage of mass‐media and press …
A combined single range and single image device for low-cost measurement of building facade features
2008
The dimensions of building facades and window apertures are usually determined by making direct measurements using tapes and plummets. This approach, however, has a number of drawbacks including the physical risk to which the persons making the measurements are exposed. This paper proposes an indirect approach based on close range photogrammetry that is inexpensive, simple, fast and safe, and which does not require specialist staff or direct ground control measurements. The method is based on taking a picture using a digital camera and measuring the distance to the object using a handheld laser distance meter. Both items of equipment are mounted on a specially designed support that allows t…
Reuse of electric vehicle batteries in buildings: An integrated load match analysis and life cycle assessment approach
2019
Abstract The increasing use of renewable energy technologies for electricity generation in buildings will require a growing number of battery energy storage systems (BESS) to enhance the reliability of electricity supply. The increasing number of retired electric vehicle (EV) batteries, expected from the automotive sector, can match this demand as EV batteries can be used as BESS, considering that they have about 80% of their original energy capacity. In this context, the study aims at examining the system, consisting of a BESS made by retired Li-ion EV batteries, a photovoltaic plant (20 kW) and the electricity grid, that provides the electricity required by an existing nearly net zero res…