Abstract: This thesis studied the ideas and situations of living room decorations of Taiwanese families and their choices of the furniture for them. Specicially, the present study analyzed in detail Taiwanese families¡¦ aesthetic prefereence of color and material for their furniture combination for living room decorations, based on the theroy of consumption schema. The valid sample included 333 Taiwaness families from three metropolitant cities of the island. The data were examined thoroughly by statistical methods such as Factor Analysis, Cluster Analysis, ANOVA and Cross-Table Analysis. The main findings are summarized in the following: 1. Eight systems of decorating living room are identified and depicted, namely ¡V separation, space, light, furniture, decoration, electric appliances, entertainment and education, and religion and feng-shui systems. 2. The three top preference of color for living furniture for Taiwanese families are wood, brown, and black, whereas leather sofas are most popular. Materials for the end-tables, bookcases and cabinets best liken are wood. 3. Four factors has been recoginzied in the lifestyle of Taiwanese families: social status, social relation, leisure time, and indivisual taste of living. Based on theses factors, three types of family lifestyle of Taiwanese were found, namely: Happy Nests, Status-Caring, and Gentry. 4. Regarding the consumption schema hypothesis testing, some the color harmony interrelationship between furniture items are supported. However, for dthe material aspect, no harmonious interrelationship between the items, excpet for one for the group of Gentry.

Due to the economic booms, power demand has been increasing significantly in Taiwan, and become the main cause for power shortages. Therefore, building energy conservation has become the major strategy in cope with the national energy policy. However, the building energy code has provided only a flat threshold value for specific building type, and lacking of diversity among building sizes and various weather conditions. It is the goal of this study to further classify this threshold value, by conducting full-scale experiment on energy consumption in hotel buildings across the country. Among the 29 hotel buildings selected ,the EUI and DUI values were measured and recorded annually, and compared with the DOE 2.2 simulation results. The comparative study further analyzed the primary factors in affecting the EUI and DUI values, including weather conditions, building sizes, such as floor area, and hotel rankings. The detailed classification of the hotel building energy consumption threshold values can be adapted as effective design criteria or building energy codes and standards which can contribute significantly.

Today, more and more Websites provide digital music with MP3 formats on the Internet. MP3 is a format that can compress the digital files. Without this format the music program would be overlarge, and the small transmission capacity of the World Wide Web would be insufficient to support such a device. With this technological improvement, the consumers will be benefited from the conveniency of MP3, while the records companies would be threatened by the challenge confronted with the music industry. On the one hand, MP3 may reduce the sales of CDs in the market. On the other hand, it may help bring about various advantages for the record companies in terms of decreasing the marketing cost. This thesis aims to discuss the effect of the use of MP3 on CD consumption behavior by surveying the users of the MP3 Websites. The research is based on a well-designed questionnaire on the Internet. Through the promotion in thirteen days, it is received 1532 reply of the questionnaire, and there are 1293 entities considered to be valid samples for the study. The result shows that the correlation between the MP3 use and the CD consumption behavior is positive. That is to say, the users who spend longer time in MP3 Websites will buy more CDs. The more the use frequency of MP3 Websites is, the more the frequency of CD consumption. By comparing those who bought CDs with those who did not during the past twelve months, we find that the former spend longer time in MP3 Websites. To analyze the consumer's recognition about the influence of MP3 use on CD consumption behavior, our study shows that the consumers think the MP3 Websites use will not effect the CD consumption behavior. It further demonstrates an increasing tendency that the more CDs the consumers purchase, the less influence they think of the MP3 use. Therefore, according to the research, the conclusion of this thesis stands to argue that the use of MP3 Websites will not reduce the CD sales, but rather the records companies may take great advantages of it by promoting the CD market through the performance of MP3 in the Internet.

This thesis presents an analysis of energy efficient residential windows in hot and humid climates. To accomplish this analysis, the use of accurate simulation tools such as DOE-2.1e is required, which incorporates the results from the WINDOW-5.2 simulation program to assess accurate fenestration performance. The thesis also investigates the use of optimal glazing types, which, for future applications, could be specified in the code to reduce annual net energy consumption to zero. Results show that combinations of low-E and double pane, clear-glazed windows, which are optimally shaded according to orientation are the best solution for lowering both annual energy consumption and peak electricity loads. The study also concludes that the method used to model fenestration in the simulation program plays an important role in accurately determining the effectiveness of the glazing option used. In this particular study, the use of the WINDOW-5.2 program is highly recommended especially for high performance windows (i.e., low-E glazing). Finally, a discussion on the incorporation of super high performance windows (i.e., super low-E, ultra low-E and dynamic / switchable glazing) into the IECC code concludes that these types of glazing strategies can reduce annual net energy use of the window to zero. Future work identified by this thesis includes a more extensive examination of the passive solar potential of high performance fenestration, and an examination of the appropriate methods for specifying these properties in future versions of the IECC code. This implies that future specifications for fenestration in the IECC code could aim for zero net annual energy consumption levels from residential fenestration.

The Energy Policy Act of 1992 mandated that bathroom plumbing fixtures manufactured in the United States after January 1, 1994 meet standards for maximum water consumption. Manufacturers have developed low-consumption valves to meet these standards. The performance of low-consumption fixtures has become an important issue for facilities managers because the water saving by retrofitting low-consumption fixtures is significant. The fixtures in the Langford Architecture Building A, Texas A&M University were used to conduct this study. An acoustic information retrieval system was utilized to collect the sound signals of each fixture and a speech recognition system was utilized to identify which fixture was in use. The data from this study were analyzed to determine whether location of fixture and type of fixture—manual or automatic—caused a significant difference in frequency of use.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Open University. BLDSC no. DX185083.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Open University. BLDSC no. DXN088257.

Thesis (M.S.)--East Carolina University, 2009. / Presented to the faculty of the Department of Exercise and Sport Science. Advisor: Timothy P. Gavin. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed June 4, 2010). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (M.S. in Mechanical Engineering and M.S. in Information Technology Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, September 2003. / Thesis advisor(s): Joshua H. Gordis, Dan Boger. Includes bibliographical references (p. 157-158). Also available online.