No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (M.G.S.)--Miami University, Dept. of Sociology and Gerontology, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 39-40).

Thesis: M.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 1976 / Includes bibliographical references. / by Wee T. Yee. / M.S. / M.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering

"Passage" presents a negotiation between the natural and the human-made realms and comments on the duality of perceptions and emotional responses associated with each. On the one hand, I aim to create a calm, quiet and peaceful environment offering a pleasant and meditative experience.  On the other hand, I offer the challenge of contemplation in a city-like space that evokes dense urban architecture in the process of decay. Both experiences draw on my personal histories of fact and fiction, reality and dream, hopefully resulting in evocative parallel experiences for those who encounter my exhibition space.

Forms in pocket. / Digitized by Kansas State University Libraries

No description available.

The energy demand is a complex issue for householders in New Zealand, since a large number of dwellings were built before energy efficiency regulation came into force in 1979. To heat the average New Zealand home takes a lot of energy, and therefore many householders choose to limit their heating space.   Powerco, New Zealand’s second-largest distribution company is conducting a two-year study, called Powering tomorrow’s homes. The project aims to uncover opportunities to shift peak loads on Powerco’s electricity network, by using a range of networks surveys. The dwellings that have been chosen to contribute to this study have gone through a large retrofit in 2014.   This study has been limited to verifying the effectiveness of three different heating systems, within three houses in New Zealand. It has been based on global data such as climate, temperature, humidity, design of the house and the family’s different behavioural patterns.   Three case models have been established in the program IDA ICE, to simulate and calculate the amount of used and delivered energy for space heating. Thereafter four main energy simulations were conducted to study the heating system before the intervention, after the intervention and a trial to see which heating system that is best suitable for each house. The new settings together with the original heating systems were also calculated. The simulations are also limited to summer respective winter because the heating systems are used differently depending on season. Data of location and climate files have been limited to Auckland and Wellington.   The results show that the most energy efficient heating system for dwelling A is the heat pump and infrared panel it uses today and for dwelling C its dwelling A’s heating system. Data demonstrate that the most effective heating system for dwelling B varies depending on climate, showing that dwelling C’s gas heating is more efficient for a warmer humid climate in Auckland and that dwelling A’s heat pump is better for a colder climate in Wellington. Comparison between the new settings and the old heating system (two radiators) shows that dwelling A’s new heating system (infrared panel & a heat pump), requires less delivered energy than the old heating system. Dwellings B’s new heating system (gas fire, an infrared panel & a radiator) is the most effective in Auckland however the old heating system (an air source heat pump, oiled-filled radiators & a gas wall heater) is the most energy efficient in Wellington. Dwelling C’s new heating system (gas central heating & a gas fire) has a lower delivered energy than the old heating system (gas fire, two heat pumps, radiators and heating panels) for summer in Auckland, while it has a higher delivered energy for winter in both Wellington and Auckland, and also summer in Wellington.       In conclusion, the new heating systems deliver warmer, more comfortable dwellings for less delivered energy than the previous. This presents an opportunity for Powerco to use newer gas heating to curb electricity load, and also shows the opportunity to use heat pumps to reduce peak demand through increased energy efficiency.

Current aircraft noise guidelines are based primarily on outdoor sound levels. However, human perception is highly related to indoor response, particularly for residences. A research project has been conducted that provides insight into how typical residential dwelling envelopes affect sound transmitted indoors. A focus has been placed on the effect of residential dwelling envelopes on subsonic civil aircraft noise. Typical construction types across the United States have been identified and used to develop model predictions of outdoor-to-indoor transmission loss. While it was initially hypothesized that these construction types could be grouped by climate region, it was found that these constructions are better grouped according to their outermost construction layer. Further, the impact of systematically altering construction variables (such as the construction materials used and the ratio of window area to wall area) has been investigated. Results will be used to better understand trends for expected noise reduction for typical construction types around the United States. Additionally, comparisons have been made between the effect of older and more modern wall construction techniques on whole-house performance.

Reducing the carbon footprint of domestic properties is, due to global warming and social impact of increased energy costs, an ever increasing priority. Although the compulsive building standards are set by the building regulation part L1, The Code for Sustainable Homes have set more stringent requirements above the requirements of Building Regulations to achieve zero carbon emissions during occupation. This Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH) requires all new homes to be zero carbon by 2016. Land scarcity and lower number of people per household forces developers to develop compact apartment-based dwellings on brown field sites, constraining the design. The aim of this research is to understand the effect of practical constraints on real building design and technology on achieving zero carbon performance in compact urban dwellings in a maritime northern European climate. In this work, currently commercially implementable renewable generation technologies are evaluated for their suitability in a compact urban setting. A model-based approach is developed to evaluate the energy consumption (both regulated and unregulated) and energy balance under the specific constraints of compact urban buildings. Graphical representation enables the introduction of a demand envelope, which shows the boundaries of the minimum and maximum expected thermal and electrical energy consumption over one year period. The research has three key findings: 1. Due to variations in energy consumption by the occupants, mainly by the unregulated energy consumption, multiple renewable energy technologies would have to be implemented to achieve the lowest possible carbon emission. 2. Although the combination of PV, CHP and HP is the generation option with the lowest carbon emissions, it is not completely carbon free when producing the required electrical and thermal energy. This suggests that there is a high likelihood that zero-carbon energy generation can not be achieved in this case study of a compact urban dwelling with the currently available technology. 3. The simulations show that with highly insulated dwellings the amount of space heating required is less than 10% of the overall energy consumption, as opposed to the 60% generally achieved in the building industry. Subsequent on-site measurements showed an estimation of just under 30% of the total energy consumption was used in space heating, which is higher than the simulated value, but still less than half that of a conventional dwelling. The main academic recommendation resulting from this research is a requirement for further ongoing research into new generation technologies as they become mature. Recommendations for the sponsoring company include continuation of measurements at the case study building to enable confirmation of energy consumption/generation findings so far.