We are now facing the challenge of sustainable development. This thesis focuses on the building illumination of one downtown hospitality building, the Renaissance Vancouver Hotel (RVH), to demonstrate three options for sustainable development of architectural lighting. The thesis employs architectural exterior lighting based on the technology of light emitting diodes (LEDs) as a vehicle to demonstrate how to reduce the energy consumption and maintenance costs of decorative lighting on building façades via three transformative lighting strategies. These three transformative lighting strategies demonstrate three possibilities of applying LEDs to develop architectural creativity and energy sustainability for an outdoor decorative lighting system. The first transformation utilizes LEDs for the retrofit of existing compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) on the RVH’s façades and rooftop, in order to improve and diversify the building’s illumination in a sustainable manner. The second transformation optimizes the yearly programming of the new outdoor decorative LED lighting in accordance with differing seasonal and temporal themes in order to save energy, demonstrate architectural creativity via versatile lighting patterns, and systematically manage the unstable generation of renewable energy. The third transformation explores the potential of on-site electricity generation in an urban context instead of its purchase from BC Hydro. Photovoltaic (PV) panels will generate the electrical requirements of the RVH’s decorative exterior LED lighting. This transformation will transfer daytime solar energy to electricity for night outdoor building illumination; consequently, it can encourage outdoor activities in the nighttime for Vancouverites, and is a means of compensating for the limited daytime hours in Vancouver’s winter months.

Wind energy systems are being closely studied because of its benefits as an environmentally friendly and renewable source of energy. Because of its unpredictable availability, power management concepts are essential to extract as much power as possible from the wind when it becomes available. The purpose of this thesis is to presents a new adaptive control algorithm for maximum power point tracking (MPPT) in wind energy systems. The proposed control algorithm allows the generator to track the optimal operation points of the wind turbine system under fluctuating wind conditions and the tracking process speeds up over time. This algorithm does not require the knowledge of intangible turbine mechanical characteristics such as its power coefficient curve, power characteristic or torque characteristic. The algorithm uses its memory feature to adapt to any given wind turbine and to infer the optimum rotor speeds for wind speeds that have not occurred before. The proposed algorithm uses a modified version of Hill Climb Search (HCS) and intelligent memory to implement its power management scheme. This algorithm is most suitable for smaller grid or battery connected wind energy systems. PSIM simulation studies have been done to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. / Thesis (Master, Electrical & Computer Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2008-12-15 20:47:44.884

No description available.

Wind is now established in Europe as a major 'renewable energy' resource, but its large scale exploitation is increasingly limited by environmental issues. Hence, on the way to a more sustainable development, it is desirable to seek ways to incorporate it into small scale embedded generation. As a first step, a prototype of a small scale Ducted Wind Turbine has been developed and tested, which seems to be feasible for integration into a conventional building. The wind flow around the building generates differential pressures which may cause an enhanced massflow through the turbine. This thesis is concerned with the investigation of the flow through building integrated duct configurations. Hence, pressure and wind speed measurements have been carried out on a wind tunnel model at different angles of incident wind. Different duct geometries with attached spoilers have been tested, and it was confirmed that wind speeds up to 30 % higher than in the approaching free stream are induced in the duct, in some cases tolerating an angle of incident wind up to 60°. The experimental work proceeded in parallel with Computational Fluid Dynamics modelling. Adaptive gridding of the complex full model geometry required a two dimensional approach, which was used to compare the predicted flow behaviour qualitatively. Three dimensional simulation of the flow field in the building integrated duct could be compared with experimental results. A new flow field mapping approach was initialised to form a two stage process in which conditions in the large-scale flow domain, modelled in a coarse three dimensional simulation, are used as boundary conditions for a localised simulation of the duct flow. Based on performance measurements of a free standing prototype in field trials and the experimentally determined wind speed in the duct, a power prediction model was developed. For the Scottish climate, the proposed device compares favorably with conventional small wind turbines and photovoltaics. The presented work evaluates the concept of harvesting wind energy in the built environment and provides outlines for the future design of a building integrated Ducted Wind Turbine module.

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No description available.

Thesis (M.A.Sc.)--Dalhousie University (Canada), 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Pennsylvania State University, 2008. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. Thesis advisor: Leland L. Glenna.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006.

We are now facing the challenge of sustainable development. This thesis focuses on the building illumination of one downtown hospitality building, the Renaissance Vancouver Hotel (RVH), to demonstrate three options for sustainable development of architectural lighting. The thesis employs architectural exterior lighting based on the technology of light emitting diodes (LEDs) as a vehicle to demonstrate how to reduce the energy consumption and maintenance costs of decorative lighting on building façades via three transformative lighting strategies. These three transformative lighting strategies demonstrate three possibilities of applying LEDs to develop architectural creativity and energy sustainability for an outdoor decorative lighting system. The first transformation utilizes LEDs for the retrofit of existing compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) on the RVH’s façades and rooftop, in order to improve and diversify the building’s illumination in a sustainable manner. The second transformation optimizes the yearly programming of the new outdoor decorative LED lighting in accordance with differing seasonal and temporal themes in order to save energy, demonstrate architectural creativity via versatile lighting patterns, and systematically manage the unstable generation of renewable energy. The third transformation explores the potential of on-site electricity generation in an urban context instead of its purchase from BC Hydro. Photovoltaic (PV) panels will generate the electrical requirements of the RVH’s decorative exterior LED lighting. This transformation will transfer daytime solar energy to electricity for night outdoor building illumination; consequently, it can encourage outdoor activities in the nighttime for Vancouverites, and is a means of compensating for the limited daytime hours in Vancouver’s winter months. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School of / Graduate