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Adding occupants to an enclosed space often leads to perceptible changes in the sound field and, therefore, speech intelligibility; however, this issue has not yet been examined in automotive cabins. This study investigated the effect of occupants in an automotive cabin on SI. Binaural room impulse responses (BRIRs) were measured in an automotive cabin with an artificial mouth and dummy head under different speaker–listener position configurations and occupancy modes. Based on the measured BRIRs, the speech transmission index (STI) was determined, and subjective speech–reception thresholds (SRTs) in Mandarin Chinese were assessed. The results indicate that speech intelligibility mostly decreased slightly after adding additional occupants. In most cases, the occupants did not significantly affect speech intelligibility, with STI variations of no more than the just-noticeable difference and SRT variation within 1 dB. When the listener was in the back-right seat, the effect of the occupants on speech intelligibility could not be ignored, with STI variations of up to 0.07 and an SRT variation of 2 dB under different occupancy modes. In addition, the influence of front-row passengers on the speech intelligibility of rear-row listeners was extremely small, and vice versa. Furthermore, altering the distribution of occupants had an effect comparable to changing the number of occupants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tactical vehicles operating in conflict regions have a risk of threats both within and outside combat zones. Enhancing protection against external threats is important, necessitating compliance with standards of ballistic resistance. These standards classify and test the bullet-resistant capabilities of military vehicles, construction materials, and personal protective gear. Occupant protection seats have been fabricated with impact and vibration absorption systems of pantograph with spring structure to reduce the impact on occupants. The experimental results demonstrate that the designed occupant protection seats effectively absorb the impact caused by an underbody explosion. Data obtained from accelerometers installed throughout the test facility indicate a significant reduction in impact velocity as it is absorbed by the pantograph with spring structure. This reduction assumes an 80 % decrease in impact transferred to anthropomorphic test devices occupants. These results imply that the designed occupant protection seats safely protect occupants within tactical vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces an emulator developed to assess the operational characteristics of variable refrigerant flow (VRF) for the second World Championship in Cybernetic Building Optimization (WCCBO). The emulator utilizes BACnet communication and provides a realistic simulation for evaluating energy conservation and comfort in buildings with VRF systems. Herein, we discuss the building specifications for calculation, operation of the emulator, calculation method for the vertical temperature distribution, dissatisfactory rate calculation, and consideration of championship rules. Notably, a thermal preference model was developed for predicting the thermal sensation of occupants and adjusting the dissatisfaction rate based on their ability to control the indoor environment. In addition, we developed a method for calculating the total scores during the WCCBO and devised a suitable network structure for score registration. The results of this study highlight the importance of personal control and impact of drafts on thermal comfort. This paper presents a meta-level methodology to determine the best operation for each specific VRF system for a future world championship, whose planning is underway and will be conducted to accumulate information on optimal operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• HR analysis and non-intrusive instrumentation has potential for monitoring driver's status and detecting sleepiness. • Validation and fatigue estimation methods still lacking, contributing to methods insufficiency in providing alarm systems. • Great promise is shown, but still far from being reliably implemented. Fatigue is a complex state resulting in decreased alertness, often accompanied by drowsiness. Driving fatigue has significantly contributed to traffic accidents globally, highlighting the need for effective monitoring techniques. Various technologies exist to enhance driver safety and minimize accident risks, such as fatigue detection systems that alert drivers as drowsiness sets in. In particular, measuring heart rate (HR) patterns may offer valuable insights into the occupant's physiological condition and level of alertness and may allow them to understand their fatigue levels. This review aims to establish the current state of the art of monitoring strategies for vehicle occupants, specifically focusing on fatigue assessed by HR and heart rate variability (HRV). We performed a systematic literature search in the databases of Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed, using the terms vehicle, driver, physiologic monitoring, fatigue, sleep, electrocardiogram, heart rate, and heart rate variability. We examined articles published between the 1st of January 2018 and the 31st of January 2023. A total of 294 papers were identified from which 71 articles were included in this study. Among the included papers, 57 utilized electrocardiogram (ECG) as the acquired signal for HR measures, with most ECG readings obtained through contact sensors (n = 41), followed by non-intrusive wearable sensors (n = 11). The majority of the works rely on subjective self-reported fatigue ratings (n = 27) and video-based observer ratings (n = 11). Regarding validation, 16 papers do not report validation of any kind. From the included papers, only 13 comprise a fatigue and drowsiness estimation system, 9 with reported validation. Some report acceptable performances, but reduced sample size limits conclusions. This review highlights the potential of HR analysis and non-intrusive instrumentation for continuously monitoring driver's status and detecting sleepiness. One major issue is the lack of sufficient validation and estimation methods for fatigue, contributing to insufficient methods in providing proactive alarm systems. This area shows great promise but is still far from being reliably implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adding occupants to an enclosed space often leads to perceptible changes in the sound field and, therefore, speech intelligibility; however, this issue has not yet been examined in automotive cabins. This study investigated the effect of occupants in an automotive cabin on SI. Binaural room impulse responses (BRIRs) were measured in an automotive cabin with an artificial mouth and dummy head under different speaker–listener position configurations and occupancy modes. Based on the measured BRIRs, the speech transmission index (STI) was determined, and subjective speech–reception thresholds (SRTs) in Mandarin Chinese were assessed. The results indicate that speech intelligibility mostly decreased slightly after adding additional occupants. In most cases, the occupants did not significantly affect speech intelligibility, with STI variations of no more than the just-noticeable difference and SRT variation within 1 dB. When the listener was in the back-right seat, the effect of the occupants on speech intelligibility could not be ignored, with STI variations of up to 0.07 and an SRT variation of 2 dB under different occupancy modes. In addition, the influence of front-row passengers on the speech intelligibility of rear-row listeners was extremely small, and vice versa. Furthermore, altering the distribution of occupants had an effect comparable to changing the number of occupants.

The control that have the greatest influence on comfortable in the office occupants are the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system operation and the thermal environment. However, comfortable HVAC operation is difficult in the office space characterized by a recommended standard thermal environment or a centralized HVAC system. To consider the occupant's thermal comfort to the greatest possible extent, must establish a method to quantify the variables related to the occupant’s thermal comfort. This study aims to group occupants in Thermal sensation vote (TSV) clusters and perform sensitivity analysis (SA) on the relationship between thermal environmental factors in an office building and each cluster’s TSV to establish the typology of the control indicators for each cluster. A total of 10 field experiments were conducted in the same office. This field study was carried out 2022. The indoor thermal environmental parameters, the subjective evaluation of the thermal comfort of the resident and the operation pattern of the heating system were monitored at the same time. A total of 4,200 datasets related to indoor thermal environmental parameters and a total of 1,680 datasets related to occupants’ thermal comfort were collected and analyzed. The results of this study show that people have different levels of adaptability and sensitivity to a given thermal environment. This study founded distinguishable similarities in their thermal sensation traits and grouped similar TSV values into five clusters that responded differently to the same thermal environment. Each cluster showed different TSV and Thermal comfort vote (TCV) patterns, which allowed us to classify the groups that had sensitive responses to the thermal environment and those that did not. This study was determined different control indicators and guidelines for the divided groups according to thermal sensitivity.

To achieve the desirable energy conservation targets, it is important to use forecasting tools to predict the energy consumption based on several expected parameters. This study aims at developing an Ensemble Learning (ENL)-framework for predicting residential electricity consumption. Fifty parameters classified into categories of environmental, context and building, and occupant related factors in addition to time related and some extra inputs were considered for model development. A Random Forest (RF) algorithm was trained and tested for each one of the main input groups. Then, based on feature importance analysis, a combination of the most important parameters from these separated models was used to build a general model with 34 inputs. The results show that RF models based on building (RFC&B)or occupant parameters (RFOcc) are superior to the model based on environmental ones (RFEnv). Furthermore, RF model with a combination of environmental, building, and occupant-related inputs (RFCombined) has the best prediction performance with 0.99, 0.91, 101.80, 282.53, 159.53, and 456.31 values for RTrain2, RTest2, MAETrain, MAETest, RMSETrain, and RMSETest, respectively. Even with reducing inputs of the combined model to nine parameters, the model still shows an acceptable performance with R2values of 0.98 and 0.89 for train and test sets. Moreover, comparison of feature selection results for RFCombinedwith the performance of separated models reveals that although RFC&Band RFOccare superior to RFEnv, the importance of environmental parameters cannot be denied which indicates the strong role of providing thermal comfort in building energy consumption.

The influence of succession on organisational sustainability has been widely acknowledged globally, but studies focusing specifically on farms remain relatively limited. This article examines the factors influencing succession in the newly occupied farms under the fast track land reform programme in Zimbabwe and their implications for the sustainability of the land reform programme. The study followed a qualitative multi-case research design. Data were collected using a combination of unstructured interviews, informal discussions, lived experience narrations and direct observations. Notwithstanding other structural and institutional constraints, the absence of succession arrangements and the politics of survival have been found to be the major threats to sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commercial objects present objects with lot of people inside in almost any time moment. The crowds and jams in these objects are very often. Although these objects have a lot of evacuation routes and exits, much of people and stuff in limited space can cause serious problem in evacuation sense, with presence of fear and panic. These and similar objects have clearly noted evacuation routes in the case of emergency, but experience proved that with the surprise effect almost no one pay attention on noted messages and warnings on object's walls, but try to leave the object as soon as possible, very often not paying attention on injured, wounded or unconscious occupants. So, the best way for evacuation is prediction. Optimal prediction can be realized by analyse of as much as possible potential evacuation scenarios. For precise, fast, safe and cheap analyse of evacuation scenarios, routes and calculation of evacuation times, evacuation software is used. One of the best evacuation software is Pathfinder. This paper was written to show the potential evacuation scenarios and calculation of evacuation times in Pathfinder for DIS commercial object in Niš.

The study of the thermal inertia of buildings is a subject of major interest. The thermal insulation and the nature of the wall sensitively modify the inertia of the building and are the solutions to improve the energy efficiency of the envelope. The roof is well exposed to solar radiation in summer and contributes to significant losses in winter due to convective exchanges. To lead to a thermal comfort, a thermal insulation is necessary. In this context, we carry out a numerical study of the thermal behavior of a building with two zones in variable meteorological conditions for a Tunisian climate (region of Sousse) based on the thermoelectric analogy and using the nodal method as a numerical method. The object of this work is to study the effect of the thermal inertia of the roof equipped with a multi-alveolar structure on the thermal behavior of the air inside the room and on its energy consumption. Taking into account the energy input of occupant, a complete model was established to increase the accuracy of the calculations. The results show that the multi-alveolar structure placed on the outside of the roof reduces energy consumption during the winter period when the alveolar structure is placed in the conductive direction and during the summer period when the alveolar structure is placed in the insulate direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building performance indicators are widely used to guide building design and track and benchmark operational performance. Traditional building performance indicators mostly focus on the energy efficiency perspective. As occupants are the primary building service recipients in residential and most commercial buildings, their comfort and wellbeing are crucial. This study first identified significant attributes of occupant-centric key performance indicators (KPIs) and analyzed the diverse factors that should be considered in formulating an occupant-centric KPI. Then a suite of occupant-centric KPIs were synthesized from the review and enhancement of existing occupantrelated performance metrics. The proposed occupant KPIs represent the occupant lens on three integrative aspects of building performance: resource use (including energy and water), indoor environmental quality, and human--building interactions. A simulation-based case study was conducted to demonstrate how occupant-centric KPIs can be used to quantify the impacts of building operation changes from the occupants' point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper was to develop a mathematical model for the study of the kinematic parameters of an occupant and vehicle during a side impact crash. The proposed model has three bodies (the vehicle, the occupant torso and head) that are interconnected to each other by joints, springs and dampers. Also, the head-to-window contact force is taken into account in order to obtain accurate results for the occupant kinematic injury assessment. The model was designed using a CAD-CAE software, with a flexibility determined by a total of 63 input parameters and 10 selected output parameters. The model has shown positive results with a high degree of similarity to a crash test, overlapping with a margin of error within under 5 % for an impact simulation time of 300 ms. After validation, a number of parameters could be obtained from the model such as the linear and angular displacement of the torso, head and vehicle that can be used to study the side collision kinematics and dynamics. During the simulation, a displacement of 2 m for the vehicle was registered while a force of 3500 N was reached for the head-to-window contact, for a vehicle-to-vehicle initial collision velocity of 11.6 m/s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational facilities serve as community hubs and consequently hotspots for exposure to pathogenic microorganisms. Therefore, it is of critical importance to understand processes shaping the indoor microbiomes in educational facilities to protect public health by reducing potential exposure risks of students and the broader community. In this study, the indoor surface bacterial microbiomes were characterized in two multifunctional university buildings with contrasting levels of human occupancy, of which one was recently constructed with minimal human occupancy while the other had been in full operation for six years. Higher levels of human occupancy in the older building were shown to result in greater microbial abundance in the indoor environment and greater proportion of the indoor surface bacterial microbiomes contributed from human-associated microbiota, particularly the skin microbiota. It was further revealed that human-associated microbiota had greater influence on the indoor surface bacterial microbiomes in areas of high occupancy than areas of low occupancy. Consistent with minimal impact from human occupancy in a new construction, the indoor microbiomes in the new building exhibited significantly lower influence from human-associated microbiota than in the older building, with microbial taxa originating from soil and plants representing the dominant constituents of the indoor surface bacterial microbiomes. In contrast, microbial taxa in the older building with extensive human occupancy were represented by constituents of the human microbiota, likely from occupants. These findings provide insights into processes shaping the indoor microbiomes which will aid the development of effective strategies to control microbial exposure risks of occupants in educational facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Built environments, occupants, and microbiomes constitute a system of ecosystems with extensive interactions that impact one another. Understanding the interactions between these systems is essential to develop strategies for effective management of the built environment and its inhabitants to enhance public health and well-being. Numerous studies have been conducted to characterize the microbiomes of the built environment. This review summarizes current progress in understanding the interactions between attributes of built environments and occupant behaviors that shape the structure and dynamics of indoor microbial communities. In addition, this review also discusses the challenges and future research needs in the field of microbiomes of the built environment that necessitate research beyond the basic characterization of microbiomes in order to gain an understanding of the causal mechanisms between the built environment, occupants, and microbiomes, which will provide a knowledge base for the development of transformative intervention strategies toward healthy built environments. The pressing need to control the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in indoor environments highlights the urgency and significance of understanding the complex interactions between the built environment, occupants, and microbiomes, which is the focus of this review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Approximately 1/3 of people's time is spent in bedrooms. Regulating the health implications arising from the bedroom bacterial community demands an in-depth understanding of both the bacterial composition and the influential factors. This study employed high-throughput 16 S rRNA amplicon sequencing to characterize the bacterial community in 23 residential bedrooms across five climate zones in China. Our findings reveal that the bacterial richness and diversity were highest in the Hot-Summer-Cold-Winter (HSCW) zone, possibly due to its lowest indoor temperature during the heating season. Employing an advanced source tracing algorithm, we identified ventilation rate as the dominant factor affecting outdoor bacterial presence, with each additional air change per hour (ACH) increasing the outdoor bacterial abundance by 13.7 %. The integumentary system was the largest contributor to the occupant-associated bacteria, particularly in the residences located in the Severe Cold and Cold zones. Our study provides valuable insights into the diverse bacterial communities in residential bedrooms across various climate zones in China, elucidating the key factors and sources that contribute to shaping these complex microbial ecosystems. [Display omitted] • Bacterial richness and diversity are highest in the Hot Summer and Cold Winter zone. • Contributions from outdoor bacteria were larger in the warmer zones in heating season. • Ventilation was the leading factor enhancing outdoor presence. • Integumentary system was the largest contributor to the occupant-associated bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined trends in occupant dynamics during side impact testing in vehicle models over the past decade. "Moderate-to-high" speed side impacts (delta-V ≥15 km/h) were analyzed. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) side impact crash data was examined (N = 126). The test procedure involved a moving deformable barrier (MDB) impacting the sides of stationary vehicles at 50.0 km/h. Instrumented 5th-percentile female SID IIs dummies were positioned in the driver and left rear passenger seats. Occupant head, neck, shoulder, torso, spine, and pelvis/femur responses (times histories, peaks, and time-to-peak values) were evaluated and compared to injury assessment reference values (IARVs). The effects of delta-V, vehicle model year, vehicle body type, and occupant seating position on dynamic responses were examined. The vehicle lateral delta-Vs ranged from 15.9 to 34.5 km/h. The MY2018-2020 demonstrated lower peak dynamics than MY2010-2013, for the driver head acceleration (53.7 ± 11.3g vs 46.4 ± 11.6g), shoulder lateral forces (1.7 ± 0.7 kN vs 1.5 ± 0.2 kN), average rib deflection (29.8 ± 8.3 mm vs 28.4 ± 6.2 mm), spine accelerations at T4 (51.4 ± 23.4g vs 39.6 ± 5.9g) and T12 (56.3 ± 18.5g vs 45.2 ± 9.6g), iliac forces (1.9 ± 1.0 kN vs 1.2 ± 0.9 kN), and acetabular forces (1.9 ± 0.8 kN vs 1.3 ± 0.5 kN). The driver indicated statistically higher dynamic responses than the left rear passenger. Higher wheelbase vehicles generally showed lower occupant loading than the smaller vehicles. In conclusion, a reduction in occupant loading and risks for injury was observed in vehicle models over the past decade. This provides further insight into injury mechanisms, occupant dynamics simulations, and seat/restraint design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Housing is rated as one of the most commonly consuming energy field in terms of energy end-use with 41%. Regarding the transformations dealt by dwellers for functional and social uses. The aim of this paper is: Firstly, to highlight the non-controlled transformation process made by the occupant in Algeria; Secondly, to explore the impact of the energy load of such spatial transformations. The question is approached in two tracks, (i) Through Ecotect software’s simulations (ii) and measurements through a collection of energy end-use data. Basically, the energy demand is bound to dwelling’s spatial and socioeconomic criteria. Three cases studied showed consequently 2 positive and 1 negative energy load, in which two explanations may be given: Insulation quality that occupant is lacking facilities to improve may be stated as a physical explanation, as well as for the socio economic one, the density per dwelling plays a major role, but it is the income which explains within the two approaches more than 87% of the energy end use.

This paper presents a review on thermal comfort research that is informed by changes in occupant behavior, lifestyle, and income leading to rebound or pre‐bound effect. It explores the current state of research in thermal comfort domain through a systematic review to identify the gaps and opportunities specifically focusing on energy‐intensive developing countries. This review argues that adaptive thermal comfort is a continuously evolving domain owing to dynamic modifications in occupant behavior occurring from changes in the cost of energy services and preference of comfort (rebound/pre‐bound effect). A conceptual framework linking thermal comfort, rebound/pre‐bound effect, and occupant behavior is forwarded through the introduction of an exogenous factor related to occupant well‐being. The results ascertain that there is a need of localized thermal comfort model with an occupant‐centric approach that can help in enhancing comfort and reducing energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) responses from occupants living in very small residential units that are unique to Hong Kong. Through the changes in environmental parameters, including thermal, indoor air quality, visual and aural, the study demonstrates that the overall IEQ acceptance in these units is different from the one in general residential building environments. Results show that occupants of these units are more sensitive to warmth and operative temperature change as compared to occupants of general residential buildings. A small variation of thermal acceptance suggests that the small unit occupants have already developed certain degree of tolerance to hot conditions. The adaptation to the reality of a hot environment is also reflected in the overall IEQ acceptance. It is believed that very small space residents have developed tolerance and adaptation to an unchangeable reality, changing environmental conditions does not necessarily alter their acceptance of individual IEQ aspects and overall IEQ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The RF regressor and classifier are developed using occupant-related inputs. • The time of year is the most significant parameter, with an importance of 49.44%. • After feature importance analysis, the ten least effective factors are removed. • The RF regressor shows remarkable performance even with 16 inputs. Occupant-related variables constitute one of the most significant groups of factors influencing residential building energy consumption. However, prediction methods often oversimplify these parameters, leading to substantial discrepancies between predicted and actual consumption. To address this issue, the present study aims to develop a machine learning framework for predicting electricity consumption in residential buildings based on occupant-related factors. The study incorporates twenty-six inputs, including occupant characteristics such as demographics, occupancy, behavior, and behavioral efficiency, two time-related factors, and three extra parameters related to equipment (refrigerator age, hot water source, and type of electricity meter) for training and testing the Random Forest (RF) algorithm in both regression and classification forms. The results indicate that the trained RF regressor exhibits well performance (R2 Train = 0.989, R2 Test = 0.916, MAE Train = 0.81, MAE Test = 2.21, RMSE Train = 1.27, and RMSE Test = 3.45). Furthermore, feature importance analysis reveals that the most significant parameter is the time of year, representing weather conditions, followed by the number of occupants, neighborhood, indoor set-point range, mean age of occupants, window opening, and cooling system mode. Even after removing the least impactful factors, the model maintains strong performance with the 16 most important variables (R2 Train = 0.986, R2 Test = 0.910, MAE Train = 0.83, MAE Test = 2.25, RMSE Train = 1.31, and RMSE Test = 3.49). Additionally, the RF classifier is designed for problems with 2, 4, 6, and 8 classes based on energy consumption ranges. The results of this model demonstrate that the 2-class model achieves the highest performance (Accuracy Test = 0.963, MAE Test = 0.04, and RMSE Test = 0.19). However, it lacks detailed categorization of homes based on electricity consumption. On the other hand, the 4-class and 6-class models strike a good balance between prediction performance and the level of detail. In conclusion, the proposed method can accurately predict residential electricity consumption and can serve as a valuable reference for researchers and utility managers when formulating energy reduction policies and comparing the effectiveness of different strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an antropological review on Dayak tradition of Huma Betang, a traditional house for Dayak community in Central Kalimantan. Huma betang or betang has a length of 30-150 meters, 10-30 meters wide and 3-5 meter high. The building uses high quality iron wood, can stand up to hundreds of years as well as anti-termite. It used to be inhabited by 100-150 people, inhabited by one big family and headed by a Pambakas Lewu. Studies on people's living in Betang Damang Tumbang Anoi Gunung Mas found several cultural values of Betang Dayak community: (1) hapsari, (2) handep, (3) belom bahadat, and (4) hapakat kula. Hapahari is defined as a brotherhood and togetherness in life betang. Handep is mutual help, pandohop (aid), mutual mandohop (help). Belom bahadat (live civilized and ethical) is a rule or etiquette that govern life together, that appreciate the prevailing custom in the territories of indigenous communities concerned. Hapakat kula (mutually agree) is a hallmark of life of the inhabitants betang. Occupants of betang held deliberations in any activities of common interest of tradition betang inhabitants since centuries ago.

The purpose of this paper is to design a mechanism mounted on the occupant’s seat to control the recline of the backseat in the case of rear-end collisions to reduce the effects of whiplash upon the occupant’s neck and head using a virtual model of an occupant and seat. The design of the system is modeled in SolidWorks and simulated in this software by using the Adams physics model included in SolidWorks. The system will function similarly to a real sled; it is composed of a car’s seat, a multibody occupant and a surface along which the seat may slide. This system will be validated by comparing two real sled tests and a seat normally functioning. Once validated, the mechanism is enabled to make simulations which are conducted to analyze the differences in kinematics of the occupant’s neck and the various key parameters such as head accelerations, contact forces and T1 vertebrae acceleration. The multibody occupant is composed of multiple bodies inter-connected with joints and it will simulate a real occupant. As for the evaluation of injury potential for the neck, the neck injury criteria (NIC) are calculated for the comparisons of the two situations: when the backseat has normal rigidity and when the recline mechanism is activated. It was observed that, by using this recline mechanism, the key parameters were reduced. This paper presents the new developed mechanism with the obtained parameter reductions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employees’ satisfaction based on their physical environment is an important factor that can improve employees’ performance, job satisfaction, and organizational productivity in office buildings. Occupants’ environmental satisfaction are related to 10 different characteristics, including thermal comfort, air quality, lighting, acoustic quality, office layout, workspace furnishing, cleanliness and maintenance, safety and security, connection with the outdoors, and location and planning of workflow. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the environmental characteristics that influence the occupants’ satisfaction. The aforementioned characteristics were comprehensively evaluated in 10 different municipal office buildings in Shiraz City, Iran, in 2013. Evaluating the results of questionnaire in this field, the study showed the occupants’ levels of satisfaction with physical environmental characteristics, while highlighting the relationship between physical environmental components and occupants' satisfaction. In addition, connection with the outdoors, acoustic quality, location, planning of workflow, safety, and thermal comfort are the factors that impose over half of the influence on occupants’ satisfaction.

Global effects caused by the detonation of an IED near a military vehicle induce subsequent severe acceleration effects on the vehicle occupants. Two concepts to minimize these global effects were developed, with the help of a combined method based on a scaled experimental technology and numerical simulations. The first concept consists in the optimization of the vehicle shape to reduce the momentum transfer and thus the occupant loading. Three scaled V-shaped vehicles with different ground clearances were built and compared to a reference vehicle equipped with a flat floor. The second concept, called dynamic impulse compensation (DIC), is based on a momentum compensation technique. The principal possibility of this concept was demonstrated on a scaled vehicle. In addition, the numerical simulations have been performed with generic full size vehicles including dummy models, proving the capability of the DIC technology to reduce the occupant loading.

Adoption of green design and technology in buildings, which can mitigate negative impacts on the environment, has been recognized as a key step towards global sustainable development. In addition to technology development, economic viability plays a pivotal role in stimulating the design, construction and use of green buildings. This paper provides a comprehensive review of recent studies on the economic viability of “going green”, including cost-benefit analyses from the perspective of building life cycle and from the perspective of major market participants. While “going green” is more likely to be seen as profitable from the building life cycle perspective, economic viability, from the perspective of developers and occupants, remains unclear due to information, behavior and policy factors. Such discrepancy in the results regarding economic viability is one major reason for the “paradox” of the very gradual diffusion of apparently cost-effective green buildings in most economies. We also propose several key topics that merit future research, including more comprehensive evidence about life-cycle costs and benefits of green buildings, the incorporation of ancillary long-term or intangible benefits in the analysis of economic viability for developers and occupants, an investigation on the dynamics of the adoption of green buildings, and institutional arrangements for stimulating green practices in the building sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper was to determine the kinematic parameters that influence the occupant injury risk through a mathematical model. The developed model is a 2D model composed of 4 bodies (2 vehicles, thorax and head). The head and thorax are interconnected with a rotation joint and a torsion spring meant to stiffen the relative movement between the bodies. The thorax is connected with the vehicle body by a linear spring meant to simulate the seatbelt stiffness. The model was solved using Lagrange principle and the validation of the model was made through a crash test performed using the same initial conditions and comparing the obtained values of the displacement, velocity and acceleration parameters with the ones obtained with the mathematical model. The head and torso were chosen due to the fact that they are the common parts of the body that get injured, especially the head with the change of 80 % to cause fatal injury in car's frontal collision. Once the model was validated, the stiffness of the seatbelt was modified in order to determine the behavior of the occupant in case of car frontal collisions. When the seatbelt stiffness was reduced, the occupant displacement and velocity increased, while by increasing the stiffness, these parameters decreased. The values of the developed model presented a high degree of similarity with the results obtained from the crash test with an error of 10 %. This model can be used by engineers to easily asses the occupant injury risk in case of vehicle frontal collisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this work is to study the unsteady thermal behavior of a bi-zone building exposed to sunshine under clear sky conditions. The walls in South and West frontages are equipped with a multi-alveolar structure with a variable insulation depending on the heat flow direction. The structure has blades which are inclined relative to the horizontal direction. The results show the effects of the optical properties of the inner surfaces of the alveolar structure, the position of the alveolar structure with regard to the stone layer and the occupant on the unsteady thermal behavior of the bi-zone building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Occupants of apartment blocks tend to wear less clothing and exhibit lower metabolic rates than occupants of other building types. Further, the use of air conditioning systems to maintain certain comfort levels within living spaces automatically generates financial cost. Therefore, in this study, an acceptable comfort range that differs from the conventional normative comfort range was established. A thermal comfort control method was designed to satisfy both the economic and comfort requirements, and experiments were conducted accordingly. Subsequently, empirical data on cooling were obtained via surveys and measurements and employed to derive regression equations for the thermal sensation vote, comfort sensation vote, and percentage dissatisfaction, which indicate occupant comfort. The derived regression equations were used to graph the comfort range, and the overlap region was plotted on a psychrometric chart to enable identification of an acceptable comfort zone. The suggested acceptable comfort zone, which applies to apartment blocks in Korea, is outside the conventionally recommended comfort zone and can satisfy various occupant preferences, contribute to reducing energy consumption, and facilitate maintenance of comfortable living environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Seatbelt use is the single most effective way to save lives in motor vehicle crashes (MVC). However, although safety belt laws have been enacted in many countries, seatbelt usage throughout the world remains below optimal levels, and educational interventions may be needed to further increase seatbelt use. In addition to reducing crash-related injuries and deaths, reduced medical expenditures resulting from seatbelt use are an additional benefit that could make such interventions cost-effective. Accordingly, the objective of this study was to estimate the correlation between seatbelt use and hospital costs of injuries involved in MVC. Methods The data used in this study were from the Nebraska CODES database for motor vehicle crashes that occurred between 2004 and 2013. The hospital cost information and information about other factors were obtained by linking crash reports with hospital discharge data. A multivariable regression model was performed for the association between seatbelt use and hospital costs. Results Mean hospital costs were significantly lower among motor vehicle occupants using a lap–shoulder seatbelt ($2909), lap-only seatbelt ($2289), children’s seatbelt ($1132), or booster ($1473) when compared with those not using any type of seatbelt ($7099). After adjusting for relevant factors, there were still significantly decreased hospital costs for motor vehicle occupants using a lap–shoulder seatbelt (84.7%), lap-only seatbelt (74.1%), shoulder-only seatbelt (40.6%), children’s seatbelt (95.9%), or booster (82.8%) compared to those not using a seatbelt. Conclusion Seatbelt use is significantly associated with reduced hospital costs among injured MVC occupants. The findings in this study will provide important educational information for emergency department nurses who can encourage safety belt use for vehicle occupants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The residential sector represents 27% of primary energy consumption in Ireland. This paper examines the case study of the Irish government’s national grant scheme to encourage energy efficiency retrofit in private housing. That is the Home Energy Saving (HES) Scheme, later rebranded the Better Energy: Homes (BEH) Scheme. The methodology involved monitoring several homes immediately before and after retrofit alongside discussions with occupants. The examination focused on specific measures commonly introduced through the HES/BEH programme − cavity and external wall insulation. It has been found that a significant decrease in heat loss through the walls was measured in all cases. Regardless, the occupant played a considerable role in the change in energy use in the buildings, and the main motivation for retrofit was found to be comfort and not energy savings or environmental concerns. As a result, the actual energy savings are notably less than the potential savings had the pre and post comfort levels remained the same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employees' satisfaction based on their physical environment is an important factor which can improve employees' performance, job satisfaction, and organizational productivity in office buildings. According to the research contributions in the literature, occupants' environmental satisfaction are related to 10 different characteristics, including thermal comfort, air quality, lighting, acoustic quality, office layout, workspace furnishing, cleanliness and maintenance, safety and security, connection with the outdoors, and location and planning of workflow. Therefore, this article aims to identify the environmental characteristics that influence the occupants' satisfaction. To this end, the aforementioned characteristics are comprehensively evaluated in 10 different office buildings. Evaluating the results of questionnaire in this field, the study shows the occupants' levels of satisfaction with physical environmental characteristics, while highlighting the relationship between physical environmental components and occupants' satisfaction. In addition, multiple regression analysis have revealed that connection with the outdoors, acoustic quality, location and planning of workflow, safety, and thermal comfort are the factors that impose over half of the influence on occupants' satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traffic accidents depend on many factors and circumstances. Important data are registered by taking photos of the accident place, measuring the deformations of vehicles and skidding and sliding traces. Weather conditions, drivers’ and pedestrian’s actions are also taken into account. However the existing data are far from sufficient to conduct a research into traffic accidents. In such cases mathematical modelling and the application of computer programs are very helpful. This article deals with the processes during the collision of vehicles as well as the occupant’s dynamics inside the vehicle. The research studies on what the occupant motion depends and what is the power balance between the occupant and safety means. The article offers a way of evaluating injuries, measuring the occupants’ acceleration and velocity, taking into account different distances inside the vehicle during an accident.

Planar impacts with objects and other vehicles may increase the risk and severity of injury in rollover crashes. The current study compares the frequency of injury measures (MAIS 2+, 3+, and 4+; fatal; AIS 2+ head and cervical spine; and AIS 3+ head and thorax) as well as vehicle type distribution (passenger car, SUV, van, and light truck), crash kinematics, and occupant demographics between single vehicle single event rollovers (SV Pure) and multiple event rollovers to determine which types of multiple event rollovers can be pooled with SV Pure to study rollover induced occupant injury. Four different types of multiple event rollovers were defined: single and multi-vehicle crashes for which the rollover is the most severe event (SV Prim and MV Prim) and single and multi-vehicle crashes for which the rollover is not the most severe event (SV Non-Prim and MV Non-Prim). Information from real world crashes was obtained from the National Automotive Sampling System – Crashworthiness Data System (NASS-CDS) for the period from 1995 through 2011. Belted, contained or partially ejected, adult occupants in vehicles that completed 1–16 lateral quarter turns were assigned to one of the five rollover categories. The results showed that the frequency of injury in non-primary rollovers (SV Non-Prim and MV Non-Prim) involving no more than one roof inversion is substantially greater than in SV Pure, but that this disparity diminishes for crashes involving multiple inversions. It can further be concluded that for a given number of roof inversions, the distribution of injuries and crash characteristics in SV Pure and SV Prim crashes are sufficiently similar for these categories to be considered collectively for purposes of understanding etiologies and developing strategies for prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the types of crash test that are conducted in the present day by different assessment programs. The types of collision used in different situations and the types of crash dummies used to simulate the human occupant and/or pedestrian, and the barrier type used. All assessment programs basically use the main three types of collision tests, frontal impact, side and rear impact. Also the most widely used dummy in these kind of tests is the Hybrid III dummy, male and female. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about the geographic variation and determinants of bacterial endotoxin and β -(1,3)- d-glucan in Danish house dust. In a population of 317 children, we: (i) described loads and concentrations of floor dust, endotoxin, and β-(1→3)- d-glucan and (ii) their correlations and (iii) assessed their determinants; (iv) Finally, we compared our findings with previous European studies. Bedroom floor dust was analyzed for endotoxin content by the kinetic limulus amoebocyte lysate assay and for β-(1→3)- d-glucan by the inhibition enzyme immunoassay. The parents answered questions regarding potential determinants. We found: geometric means (geometric standard deviations) 186 mg/m2 (4.3) for dust; 5.46 × 103 EU/m2 (8.0) and 31.1 × 103 EU/g (2.6) for endotoxin; and 142 μg/m2 (14.3) and 0.71 × 103 μg/g (7.3) for β-(1→3)- d-glucan. High correlations ( r > 0.75) were found between floor dust and endotoxin and β-(1→3)- d-glucan loads, while endotoxin and β-(1→3)- d-glucan concentrations were moderately correlated ( r = 0.36-0.41) with the dust load. Having a carpet was positively associated with dust load and with endotoxin and β-(1→3)- d-glucan concentrations. Pet keeping, dwelling type, and dwelling location were determinants of endotoxin concentrations. No other determinants were associated with β-(1→3)- d-glucan concentrations. Compared with other European studies, we found lower β-(1→3)- d-glucan loads and concentrations but higher endotoxin loads and concentrations suggesting a geographically determined different composition of Danish floor dust compared with other European regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on computer modeling and simulation, the problem of evacuation strategies that utilize a combination of stairs and elevators for high rise buildings is investigated in this paper. First, by using the Pathfinder software, a 28-storey building model with stairs and elevators is established. Then, based on the obtained model, several evacuation scenarios are designed for researching this issue. The simulation results show that the optimal percentages of the occupants evacuated by the elevators, when achieving the shortest evacuation time, is almost not related to the number of evacuated persons and floors. Furthermore, the evacuation time decrease achieved by increasing the elevator maximum speed is not as much as that obtained by increasing the number of elevators. Moreover, when evacuating different age groups, it is found that selecting the aged (slow-moving) people, who may create congestion in the stairs, to be evacuated by elevators can speed up the evacuation efficiently, and selecting the children to be evacuated by elevators can improve the utilization rate of the elevators. Finally, the evacuation with a priority order from lower floors to upper floors is considered. Results show that the evacuation with a priority order from lower floors to upper floors can effectively decrease the congestion on the stairs caused by the aged people, and achieve a faster evacuation rate during most of the evacuation process, although the total evacuation time increases a little. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Existing building energy analysis ignores the stochastic occupancy information. • Occupant-centric approach for building envelop study using ABM, BIM and BPS tools. • Maximum monthly energy savings are 37.42% and 32.52% for hospital and restaurant. • Calibration and validation approach contributed to more reliable outcomes. • CO2 reduction, carbon credit, life cycle and payback periods were analyzed. A building envelope has a significant influence on the overall energy consumption of a building. Presently, Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Building Performance Simulation (BPS) tools are advanced and cost-efficient options for analyzing and improving the energy-efficient building envelop. However, existing BIM-BPS-based studies incorporate several buildings envelop parameters that account for static occupancy profiles. This contributes to higher discrepancies between the actual and simulated energy consumption. Also there is a dearth of studies about the hospital and restaurant building envelop by considering the local construction materials. Thus,the key aim of this study is to perform a stochastic occupant-centric building energy assessment for hospital and restaurant building envelop using agent based modelling (ABM) and BIM-BPS tools. Initially, stochastic occupancy, HVAC and lighting ON/OFF profiles were generated using a robust ABM-BIM approach followed by the real-time data gathering for verifications and energy model construction. Afterwards, the building energy performance was evaluated using the BPS tools, while initial energy consumption data was calibrated using the pre-installed smart meter data in Chittagong, Bangladesh. The study also empowers the assessments of CO 2 reduction, carbon credits, life cycle, and payback time analysis from the sustainable built environment perspective. The findings show the highest amount of monthly energy-saving for the hospital (Case 3) and restaurant (Case 3) buildings around 37.42 % (July) and 32.52 % (October), respectively, while considering the local envelop materials. Moreover, the maximum amount of CO 2 reduction was 17.71 tons/year and 12.31 tons/year, and the equivalent earned carbon credits were 88,539.5 BDT/year and 61,524.1 BDT/year for hospital and restaurant buildings respectively. Additionally, the study calculates the payback period for both buildings by considering different local envelop materials. The findings of this study have presented a new framework between ABM, BIM and BPS based building envelop simulation, and contribute to proper building envelop material selection in low-income cultural contexts. Lastly, the study has provided areas for further studies such as the need for a comprehensive model construction process, seasonal occupancy patterns, climatic factors, and composite materials study for different envelop systems which serves as limitations of this current study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the property, design and construction industry the main focus of sustainability has been seen to affect the environmental such as climate change and resource depletion. Even though building may meet the recommended standards overall, but yet occupants still complain about several aspects. Indoor environmental quality consequently affects health, productivity and well-being of building occupants as most of them spend their time in indoor space. Therefore they are at risks for air pollutant occurs in the indoor air of dwellings such as volatile organic compounds, paints, ventilation, and others environmental pollutant. This paper reviews the potential health consequences in changes of climates change whereby developed countries contributed in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. From the review search by 57 publications, the literature discussing about how thermal, acoustic and visual comfort as well as indoor air quality affects the satisfaction in indoor environmental quality and impacts to the human health. However, from the undertaken review most of the studies only highlighted on one aspects of indoor environmental quality. A number of critical aspects which give direct impacts to occupants have been identified. Subsequently, among all aspects such as lighting, ventilation, acoustics or humidity and thermal but thermal comfort perceived to influence overall satisfaction of occupants in the building. Thus, from the study revealed the critical aspects of indoor environment and contribute to the improvement for well-being and productivity of building occupants.

Designers often cite uncertain occupant behavior as a potential obstacle to high performing buildings. However, little research has been done to characterize the nature and extent of the potential impact of the occupant on energy consumption. Energy models typically assume deterministic loads and schedules to represent occupancy and provide singular estimates of energy consumption. This paper investigates uncertainties introduced by occupant behavior by exploring the impacts of high and low comparisons on the energy performance of buildings through parametric simulation of commercial and residential buildings in two climates. The results suggest that variant occupant behavior can impact annual energy usage on the order of magnitude of 75% in residential buildings (peak load varying by 65%) and 150% for commercial buildings (peak load varying by 140%), with modest variations across climates. Although further and more sophisticated experiments are necessary, the contributions of this paper include a simple process model for assessing, through simulation, the role of the occupant on energy consumption and demonstration data about the type and magnitude of impacts that occupants can have in residential and commercial buildings across climates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] In China, occupant age is negatively correlated to energy consumption. [•] Occupant age is related to comfort perception, expectation and behavior. [•] Age has a stronger effect on energy consumption than income. [•] Socioeconomic variables explain 26.3% of variation of heating and cooling consumption. [•] Socioeconomic and behavior variables explain 28.8% of variation of heating and cooling consumption. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Traffic accidents depend on many factors and circumstances. Important data are registered by taking photos of the accident place, measuring the deformations of vehicles and skidding and sliding traces. Weather conditions, drivers’ and pedestrian's actions are also taken into account. However the existing data are far from sufficient to conduct a research into traffic accidents. In such cases mathematical modelling and the application of computer programs are very helpful. This article deals with the processes during the collision of vehicles as well as the occupant's dynamics inside the vehicle. The research studies on what the occupant motion depends and what is the power balance between the occupant and safety means. The article offers a way of evaluating injuries, measuring the occupants’ acceleration and velocity, taking into account different distances inside the vehicle during an accident. First Published Online: 27 Oct 2010

Abstract: Advanced Automatic Crash Notification (AACN) systems, capable of predicting post-crash injury severity and subsequent automatic transfer of injury assessment data to emergency medical services, may significantly improve the timeliness, appropriateness, and efficacy of care provided. The estimation of injury severity based on statistical field data, as incorporated in current AACN systems, lack specificity and accuracy to identify the risk of life-threatening conditions. To enhance the existing AACN framework, the goal of the current study was to develop a computational methodology to predict risk of injury in specific body regions based on specific characteristics of the crash, occupant and vehicle. The computational technique involved multibody models of the vehicle and the occupant to simulate the case-specific occupant dynamics and subsequently predict the injury risk using established physical metrics. To demonstrate the computational-based injury prediction methodology, three frontal crash cases involving adult drivers in passenger cars were extracted from the US National Automotive Sampling System Crashworthiness Data System. The representative vehicle model, anthropometrically scaled model of the occupant and kinematic information related to the crash cases, selected at different severities, were used for the blinded verification of injury risk estimations in five different body regions. When compared to existing statistical algorithms, the current computational methodology is a significant improvement toward post-crash injury prediction specifically tailored to individual attributes of the crash. Variations in the initial posture of the driver, analyzed as a pre-crash variable, were shown to have a significant effect on the injury risk. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]