Search

Several studies have evaluated PM concentrations in single specific microenvironments as a measure of exposure in the entire house. In this study, PM10 was monitored at the same time in three microenvironments (bedroom, living room, and kitchen) from three dwellings located in a small inland town of the Iberian Peninsula to assess whether exposure varies significantly between them. Real-time optical instruments and low-volume gravimetric samplers were employed. A multi-wavelength absorption instrument was used to determine black carbon (BC) concentrations on the filters. The Multiple-Path Particle Dosimetry Model (MPPD) was applied to evaluate the deposition of PM10 and BC in the airways of adults. For all dwellings, the highest PM10 concentrations were recorded in bedrooms (B1 = 22.7 µg m−3; B2 = 19.5 µg m−3; and B3 = 68.1 µg m−3). Houses 1 and 3 did not show significant differences between microenvironments. This did not happen in house 2, suggesting that ventilation is a determining factor for concentrations. BC originated mainly from fossil fuel emissions (90%), while biomass burning represented a minor contribution (10%). MPPD showed that PM10 is predominantly deposited in the head region (≥85% of the total dose), while BC is mainly deposited in the pulmonary region (14%). Higher doses were estimated for males than for females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Trombe wall is a passive solar technology attached to the building envelope to reduce energy demands. In warm climates, due to overheating problems in the cooling season, its efficiency is limited and proper operation is required. In this study, the thermal behavior of a bedroom of a house equipped with a Trombe wall in Yazd with a hot and arid climate under different design configurations and various masonry materials were investigated using the dynamic simulation software DesignBuilder. Monthly ventilation strategies and a schedule of blinds for external glass cover throughout the year were proposed to optimize its energy efficiency. The blinds are applied for shading solar irradiance during summer. They also increase the system's thermal resistance during winter nights. According to the results, a concrete Trombe wall with 2/3 of the façade area is capable of reducing the heating load by 86%. However, its function for summertime is negative, and even in the insulation mode, it can increase the cooling load by 5%. Natural ventilation with the Trombe wall is applicable during moderate seasons; however, its cooling efficiency is limited compared to cross ventilation. The results also highlight that retrofitting a room with a Trombe wall can reduce the annual energy demand by 63%, which is equal to a reduction of 124 kg CO2 emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summertime overheating in dwellings in temperate climates is widespread. Overheating in bedrooms disrupts sleep, degrading health and wellbeing, and can be life-threatening. Air-conditioning homes is a solution, but is expensive and adds load onto electricity networks. An alternative is to provide safe havens, a cool retreat for sleeping when the main bedroom overheats. This paper estimates the number of English dwellings that might already have such spaces. The 2017 Energy Follow Up Survey (EFUS) to the English Housing Survey (EHS) provides temperatures measured in the main bedroom, up to two other bedrooms and the living room of 750 homes. These data were collected in 2018, a summer typical of those expected in the 2050s. The main bedroom overheated in 19% of the housing stock as judged by an adaptive comfort criterion. Up to 76% of these homes had living rooms that could provide a safe haven, and in up to 46% an alternative bedroom might provide a safe haven. Very few, if any, flats and small-area dwellings had a safe haven. These figures provide an upper-bound estimate; in practice the useable number of safe havens is likely to be less. 'Policy relevance' Safe havens for use during heatwaves have been suggested as a climate-adaptive strategy to ameliorate indoor overheating. In this study, the prevalence of safe havens, which can be slept in when the main bedroom overheats, is estimated. Living rooms offered the best opportunity of a safe haven for sleeping, with 5.8 million of the 7.4 million people experiencing an overheated main bedroom being relieved of exposure. Flats and small dwellings were more prone to overheating, but few, if any, had either a living room or a spare bedroom that offered a safe haven. Overall, this study strengthens the idea that public health advice, especially during heatwaves, should be tailored to different dwelling and household types. For larger dwellings other than flats, advice could emphasise the benefits of sleeping in the living room, where possible, on hot nights. Homes without safe havens should be the focus of heat mitigation retrofit strategies.

Summertime overheating in dwellings in temperate climates is widespread. Overheating in bedrooms disrupts sleep, degrading health and wellbeing, and can be life-threatening. Air-conditioning homes is a solution, but is expensive and adds load onto electricity networks. An alternative is to provide safe havens, a cool retreat for sleeping when the main bedroom overheats. This paper estimates the number of English dwellings that might already have such spaces. The 2017 Energy Follow Up Survey (EFUS) to the English Housing Survey (EHS) provides temperatures measured in the main bedroom, up to two other bedrooms and the living room of 750 homes. These data were collected in 2018, a summer typical of those expected in the 2050s. The main bedroom overheated in 19% of the housing stock as judged by an adaptive comfort criterion. Up to 76% of these homes had living rooms that could provide a safe haven, and in up to 46% an alternative bedroom might provide a safe haven. Very few, if any, flats and small-area dwellings had a safe haven. These figures provide an upper-bound estimate; in practice the useable number of safe havens is likely to be less. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Part of a long-term ethnographic case study of Carmen West, a middle-class, heterosexual, American single mother by choice (SMC) and her three children, this essay focuses on the dynamic way the Wests occupy their domestic space. The fact that SMCs start and raise their families without a male partner opens creative opportunities for imagining and doing domestic life differently. Drawing on the philosopher John Schumacher's work on human posture, and my own ethnographic work with purportedly 'settled' Bedouin in Jordan, I show how the Wests make their home through positioning and repositioning themselves and their furniture, vis a vis each other and the material constraints and affordances of their house and their stuff. The unconventional, aleatory moving and mixing of the West family may produce subjects who thrive in an environment that calls for "flexibility...the ability to adjust continuously to change." Beyond subject-formation, this case illuminates the co-making of collectives whether in a tent or suburban, single-family home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have been carried in 126 dwellings for indoor radon levels and 43 soil samples for radium and radon exhalation rate of Abirem communities in Eastern region of Ghana. The measurements were done using CR-39 and HPGe techniques. Indoor radon and mean concentration ranged from 23.8 to 125.7 Bq/m3, 54.7 ± 23.7 Bq/m3. Bedroom, kitchen, and sitting varied from 30.8 to 125.7 Bq/m3, 23.8–63.9 Bq/m3 and 23.8 to 58.4 Bq/m3. Strong and weak Pearson correlation were found between radium and radon in soil, radium and indoor radon concentration. Radium concentration and mean were found to be varied from 19.5 to 38.9 Bq/kg, 29.0 ± 16.0 Bq/kg. The radon exhalation rate and mean in soil were also found to be varied from 21.3 to 112.1 μBq/m2h, 65.1 ± 27.6 μBq/m2h. Indoor radon values and radium concentration in dwellings and soil recorded 8% and 38%, respectively, more than action proposed by WHO and UNSCEAR 2000. The estimated annual effective doses and cancer risk were less than the average values recommended by UNSCEAR and ICRP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantification of natural background gamma radiation levels in indoors has attracted mounting interest for the past few decades due to the detrimental effects of radiation. The indoor radiation levels depend on many parameters like geology, building materials, temperature, ventilation, etc. The natural background gamma radiation levels were estimated using a μR-Survey Meter in indoors and outdoors of dwellings constructed under the Double Bedroom Housing Scheme of Telangana state government at Erravalli and Narasannapet model villages. The average gamma radiation levels in the Erravalli village was found to be 2873 ± 413 μGyy−1, while in Narasannapet village it was 2621 ± 355 μGyy−1, which are relatively high as compared to the national average 775 ± 370 μGyy−1. The indoor to outdoor ratio of natural background radiation levels varied from 0.74 to 1.52 with an average of 1.08 which is in the global range. The variation of these levels with different types of dwellings has also been discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One specimen of the scorpion Tarsoporosus flavus González-Sponga, 1983 (Scorpiones: Scorpionidae: Diplocentrinae) was captured into a bedroom in dwelling of the city of Coro, semiarid north-western region, Falcon state, Venezuela. Potential sanitary importance of this finding is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the results of a meta-analysis of hourly indoor summertime temperature datasets gathered during the summer of 2013 (May to September) from 63 dwellings located across the UK. The sample consisted of unmodified dwellings (existing), dwellings with varying levels of fabric improvements (retrofitted), and dwellings constructed to higher levels of the Code for Sustainable Homes (new). Indoor and outdoor temperature data from bedrooms and living rooms from these homes were collected at 5-min intervals using temperature sensors. These data were processed and analyzed for summertime overheating, using both static criteria (CIBSE Guide A) and the criteria associated with the EN 15251 adaptive thermal comfort model (CIBSE TM52). The results show that despite a relatively cool summer, sufficiently high temperatures were found in a high proportion of dwellings, which were overheated according to the static criteria, although the prevalence of overheating was found to be much lower when assessed by the adaptive method. Considerably higher temperatures were found in bedrooms, much higher than those in living rooms. Interestingly, dwellings with higher levels of insulation experienced overheating twice as frequently as uninsulated dwellings. It is necessary to consider the overheating risk during the design and retrofit of homes to avoid air-conditioning in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• South Asian women had lower 25(OH)D concentration than age-matched Caucasian women. • South Asian women had lower light exposure and poorer sleep than Caucasian women. • There was no association between 25(OH)D status and sleep quality in either group. There is a lack of research into 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) status, light exposure and sleep patterns in South Asian populations. In addition, results of research studies are conflicting as to whether there is an association between 25(OH)D status and sleep quality. We investigated 25(OH)D status, self-reported and actigraphic sleep quality in n = 35 UK dwelling postmenopausal women (n = 13 South Asians, n = 22 Caucasians), who kept daily sleep diaries and wore wrist-worn actiwatch (AWL-L) devices for 14 days. A subset of n = 27 women (n = 11 South Asian and n = 16 Caucasian) also wore a neck-worn AWL-L device to measure their light exposure. For 25(OH)D concentration, South Asians had a median ± IQR of 43.8 ± 28.2 nmol/L, which was significantly lower than Caucasians (68.7 ± 37.4 nmol/L)(P = 0.001). Similarly, there was a higher sleep fragmentation in the South Asians (mean ± SD 36.9 ± 8.9) compared with the Caucasians (24.7 ± 7.1)(P = 0.002). Non-parametric circadian rhythm analysis of rest/activity patterns showed a higher night-time activity (L5) (22.6 ± 14.0 vs. 10.5 ± 4.4; P = 0.0008) and lower relative amplitude (0.85 ± 0.07 vs. 0.94 ± 0.02; P < 0.0001) in the South Asian compared with the Caucasian women. More South Asians (50%) met the criteria for sleep disorders (PSQI score >5) than did Caucasians (27%) (P = 0.001, Fishers Exact Test). However, there was no association between 25(OH)D concentration and any sleep parameter measured (P > 0.05) in either ethnic group. South Asians spent significantly less time in illuminance levels over 200 lx (P = 0.009) than did Caucasians. Overall, our results show that postmenopausal South Asian women have lower 25(OH)D concentration than Caucasian women. They also have higher sleep fragmentation, as well as a lower light exposure across the day. This may have detrimental implications for their general health and further research into sleep quality and light exposure in the South Asian ethnic group is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of communication technology and artificial intelligence, the application of IoT (Internet of Things) has driven the development of smart cities. Real-time and non-intrusive IoT air-conditioning data as a supporting source provides new possibilities for studying dynamic heat demand in residential buildings. However, the data structure of IoT is very different from that of traditional sources. Therefore, this study conducts a dynamic thermal demand analysis of residential buildings at a regional scale based on IoT air conditioners. Firstly, the data preprocessing paradigm for the IoT air conditioner was constructed. Next, the change of dynamic thermal demand was comparatively analyzed through the coupling regulation of the air conditioner set temperature and wind velocity, as well as the frequency adjustment of active functions in two functional rooms and three demand groups. There were two further findings, by evaluating the PMV fluctuation performance under different operating conditions, the retaliatory and economic thermal demand in different groups were found to exist. Meanwhile, another finding was that there were seasonal adaptive adjustments and delayed compensatory adjustments for air conditioners. Moreover, the energy-saving potential of air conditioner operation under energy-saving awareness was quantified. From lower to upper class, 0.90%, 0.94%, and 0.38% of the accumulative time spent by bedroom users have thermal demand energy-saving potential of 75%, and 0.31%, 0.44%, and 0.33% have thermal demand energy-saving potential of 6%. • The data preprocessing paradigm for IoT air conditioners was constructed. • Coupling regulation of set temperature and air speed, as well as the frequency adjustment of functions were comparatively analyzed. • Retaliatory and economic thermal demand in different groups were found through the PMV fluctuation. • Seasonal adaptive adjustment and delayed compensatory adjustment of air conditioner were obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the development of stochastic models of occupants' main bedroom window operation based on measurements collected in ten UK dwellings over a period of a year. The study uses multivariate logistic regression to understand the probability of opening and closing windows based on indoor and outdoor environment factors (physical environmental drivers) and according to the time of the day and season (contextual drivers). To the authors' knowledge, these are the first models of window opening and closing behaviour developed for UK residential buildings. The work reported in this paper suggests that occupants' main bedroom window operation is influenced by a range of physical environmental (i.e. indoor and outdoor air temperature and relative humidity, wind speed, solar radiation and rainfall) and contextual variables (i.e. time of day and season). In addition, the effects of the physical environmental variables were observed to vary in relation to the contextual factors. The models provided in this work can be used to calculate the probability that the main bedroom window will be opened or closed in the next 10 min. These models could be used in building performance simulation applications to improve the inputs for occupants' window opening and closing behaviour and thus the predictions of energy use and indoor environmental conditions of residential buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of current climate change projections in recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the assessment of indoor overheating in domestic environments in previously heating-dominated climates. This paper presents a monitoring study of overheating in 122 London dwellings during the summers of 2009 and 2010. Dry Bulb Temperature and Relative Humidity in the main living and sleeping area were monitored at 10 min intervals. The ASHRAE Standard 55 adaptive thermal comfort method was applied, which uses outdoor temperature to derive the optimum indoor comfort temperature. It was found that 29% of all living rooms and 31% of all bedrooms monitored during 2009 had more than 1% of summertime occupied hours outside the comfort zone recommended by the standard to achieve 90% acceptability. In 2010, 37% of monitored living rooms and 49% of monitored bedrooms had more than 1% of summertime occupied hours outside this comfort zone. The findings of this study indicate that London dwellings face a significant risk of overheating under the current climate. Occupant exposure to excess indoor temperatures is likely to be exacerbated in the future if climate change adaptation strategies are not incorporated in Building Regulations, building design and retrofit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]