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© 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd PM2.5 exposure is associated with significant health risk. Exposures in homes derive from both outdoor and indoor sources, with emissions occurring primarily in discrete events. Data on emission event magnitudes and schedules are needed to support simulation-based studies of exposures and mitigations. This study applied an identification and characterization algorithm to quantify time-resolved PM2.5 emission events from data collected during 224 days of monitoring in 18 California apartments with low-income residents. We identified and characterized 836 distinct events with median and mean values of 12 and 30 mg emitted mass, 16 and 23 minutes emission duration, 37 and 103 mg/h emission rates, and pseudo-first–order decay rates of 1.3 and 2.0/h. Mean event-averaged concentrations calculated using the determined event characteristics agreed to within 6% of measured values for 14 of the apartments. There were variations in event schedules and emitted mass across homes, with few events overnight and most emissions occurring during late afternoons and evenings. Event characteristics were similar during weekdays and weekends. Emitted mass was positively correlated with number of residents (Spearman coefficient, ρ=.10), bedrooms (ρ=.08), house volume (ρ=.29), and indoor-outdoor CO2 difference (ρ=.27). The event schedules can be used in probabilistic modeling of PM2.5 in low-income apartments.

In the framework of increasingly demanding legislation related to energy performance in buildings, the integration of photovoltaic systems in the building skin offers many possibilities. However, a continuous development of the building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) market in the next years necessarily demands the compliance with strict requirements in terms of design flexibility, aesthetics, durability, cost reduction, grid integration, testing standards and operation & maintenance. Within this context, a European consortium of 15 partners is developing the H2020 PVSITES project, “BIPV technologies and systems for large-scale market deployment”. The project will demonstrate an ambitious set of BIPV solutions, specially tailored to provide a comprehensive and robust answer to market demands. This paper focuses on some of the major results achieved at the time of writing. These include a detailed BIPV market and regulatory framework analysis and recommendations for the standardization of BIPV products. Novel developments of glazed crystalline silicon modules for BIPV integration are presented, with both opaque and see-thru variations. Also included are the selection of a battery technology best suited for inclusion in a custom-made building energy management system (BEMS), as well as a BIM-compatible software tool to assist the design of BIPV projects.

33rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 2882-2887, In the framework of increasingly demanding legislation related to energy performance in buildings, the integration of photovoltaic systems in the building skin offers many possibilities. However, a continuous development of the building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) market in the next years necessarily demands the compliance with strict requirements in terms of design flexibility, aesthetics, durability, cost reduction, grid integration, testing standards and operation & maintenance. Within this context, a European consortium of 15 partners is developing the H2020 PVSITES project, “BIPV technologies and systems for large-scale market deployment”. The project will demonstrate an ambitious set of BIPV solutions, specially tailored to provide a comprehensive and robust answer to market demands. This paper focuses on some of the major results achieved at the time of writing. These include a detailed BIPV market and regulatory framework analysis and recommendations for the standardization of BIPV products. Novel developments of glazed crystalline silicon modules for BIPV integration are presented, with both opaque and see-thru variations. Also included are the selection of a battery technology best suited for inclusion in a custom-made building energy management system (BEMS), as well as a BIM-compatible software tool to assist the design of BIPV projects.