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An integrated approach was developed through incorporating a copula-based violation risk analysis into a programming model for optimizing industrial structures of urban clusters in uncertain conditions. Also, this approach can be used to support decision making about promoting advanced manufacturing sectors (AMSs) and mitigating industrial energy intensity. The advantages and the improvements of this approach lie in (a) reflecting the relationships between energy consumption and economic benefits in industrial sectors, and (b) incorporating the violation risk of the targets in energy-intensity mitigation into an optimizing model. A case study was conducted to illustrate the application of this approach in the Pearl River Delta of China, a highly urbanized area that includes the cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Dongguan, Huizhou, Zhaoqing, Foshan, and Jiangmen. The results indicated that under the desired industrial structures, violation risk of energy-intensity mitigation in the urban cluster of the Pearl River Delta would be indistinctive in the single-city perspective. Also, except Dongguan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing, the cities of the urban cluster would achieve the goal for developing AMSs, based on the Industrial Plans for the 13th Five Year.

With the rapid development of urban rail transit networks, the energy consumption problem of urban rail trains becomes more and more prominent. A critical issue is to reduce the energy consumption of trains through advanced control and optimization techniques. The majority of existing studies in this field focus on (1) the optimization of single train operation strategy and (2) the scheduling of multiple trains, separately. In this paper, we propose an integrated energy-efficient operation optimization method for multiple trains in multiple interstations by considering regenerative braking. In particular, this paper integrates the energy-efficient operation strategy with optimized train timetable under the operation scenario of two trains in multiple interstations. First, a genetic algorithm is used to optimize the energy-efficient operation strategy for single train in multiple interstations and obtain the relationship between the operation time and operation energy consumption of trains. Then, a particle swarm optimization method is adopted to obtain the optimal operation time of trains (i.e. train timetable) for the purpose of minimizing the overall energy consumption. Finally, real-world case studies based on the operation data of the Beijing subway line 7 are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Numerical experiments show that the proposed approach by optimizing the train operation strategy and timetable can reduce the total energy consumption by 16.24% compared with the real-world train operation strategy.

Energy-efficient retrofitting of historic housing stock requires methodical approach, in-depth analysis and case-specific regulatory system, yet only limited efforts have been realized. In large scale rehabilitation projects, it is essential to develop a retrofit strategy on how to decide energy-efficient solutions for buildings providing the most energy saving in a short time. This paper presents a pilot study conducted at a neighborhood scale, consisting of 22 pre-, early-republican and contemporary residential buildings in a historic urban fabric in the Mediterranean climate. This study aims to develop an integrated approach to describe case-specific solutions for larger scale historic urban fabric. It covers the building performance simulation (BPS) model and numerical analysis to determine the most related design parameters affecting annual energy consumption. All the case buildings were classified into three main groups to propose appropriate retrofit solutions in different impact categories. Retrofit solutions were gathered into two retrofit packages, Package 1 and 2, and separately, three individual operational solutions were determined, considering a five-levelled assessment criteria of EN 16883:2017 Standard. Energy classes of case buildings were calculated based on National Building Energy Regulations. Changes in building classes were evaluated considering pre- and post-retrofit status of the buildings. For the integrated approach, the most related design parameters on annual energy consumption were specified through Pearson correlation analysis. The approach indicated that three buildings, representing each building group, can initially be retrofitted. For all buildings, while maximum energy saving was provided by Package 2 with 48.57%, minimum energy saving was obtained from Package 1 with 19.8%.

Although the two concepts of lean and sustainable construction have been developed due to different incentives, and they do not pursue the same exact goals, there exists considerable commonality between them. This paper discusses the potentials for integrating the two approaches and their practices and how the resulting synergy from combining the two methods can potentially lead to higher levels of fulfilling the individual goals of each of them. Some limitations and challenges to implementing the integrated approach are also discussed. Based on a comprehensive review of existing papers related to sustainable and lean construction topics, the commonality between the two approaches is discussed and grouped in five categories of (1) cost savings, (2) waste minimization, (3) Jobsite safety improvement, (4) reduced energy consumption, and (5) customers&rsquo, satisfaction improvement. The challenges of this integration are similarly identified and discussed in the four main categories of (1) additional initial costs to the project, (2) difficulty of providing specialized expertise, (3) contractors&rsquo, unwillingness to adopt the additional requirements, and (4) challenges to establish a high level of teamwork. Industry professionals were then interviewed to rank the elements in each of the two categories of opportunities and challenges. The results of the study highlight how future research can pursue the development of a new Green-Lean approach by investing in the communalities and meeting the challenges of this integration.

Indoor Environmental Quality is an important issue in educational buildings since it is directly related to students’ well-being and learning activities. Indoor Environmental Quality parameters have been assessed in three representative campus building typologies (old, new, and retrofitted), in Tehran, Iran, by measurements and questionnaire (n = 842) from July 2016 to April 2017. Results have been compared to the students’ overall satisfaction level and recommended standards. According to results, minimum attention to local standards with regard to Indoor Air Quality, acoustic, and lighting, especially in the old and retrofitted buildings, seems the main reason of low environmental quality in the studied cases. Fitting a multiple regression model to the questionnaire data, a mathematical model is developed to predict the overall comfort (Indoor Environmental Quality index). Studied buildings have been ranked based on the Indoor Environmental Quality index from high quality: I (building C) to out of the comfort range: IV (building A). Moreover, results reveal that the acceptable range of each Indoor Environmental Quality parameters, especially with regard to thermal and acoustic comfort, is broader in real condition in comparison with the standards. Finally, the buildings’ annual energy consumption is used to propose a Retrofit Potential Index in order to assess the impact of comfort parameters on energy consumption by integrated analyses.

Former integrated urban energy assessments and optimisation have modelled domestic hot water (DHW) demand as a single stream, as space heating, currently, is the main energy demand in buildings and a detailed DHW modelling was therefore not required. However, the characterisation of energy saving measures (e.g. grey water heat recovery) and the selection of optimal heating utility in buildings with low temperature space heating would benefit from a differentiation of the various DHW end-uses at urban scale (building blocks, streets, districts, city). To this end, a new method characterising the main DHW appliances in households, hotels and nursing homes at urban level, is proposed. A review of European publications characterising water uses is conducted and utility load and energy consumption equations are developed. A specific model for district heating heat exchangers without thermal storage for integrated urban energy optimisation is proposed. The DHW-related energy consumption results are confirmed by literature values in a real urban case-study. Showering represents more than 80% of the DHW energy demand, and more than 97% of the total DHW heat use is required up to 40 °C. The proposed method contributes to urban energy assessments and optimisation by improving the level of detail of the outcomes and by strengthening their integrated approach.

To predict both end-use energy and water consumption of households, an integrated approach was developed by adding water module into the AusZEH design tool, which was a physically-based model to simulate energy consumption of residential buildings considering building envelop, appliance characteristics, local climate and occupant behaviour. Water and its associated energy consumption includes indoor and outdoor water systems considering actual operation of the water systems. Monte Carlo approach was applied to simulate both energy and water use patterns of appliances considering uncertainties. The comparisons between simulation and actual data show the model can track both energy and water consumption and usage patterns.

Maximizing the return on gas plant assets becomes increasingly difficult because of the rising cost of energy in some cases and the increased demand for operations agility in most cases. On top of these demands, there is the constant need to increase the availability and utilization of these plants. It is worthwhile to consider techniques and the profit improvement of some of the world's best gas plants. This analysis identifies some key manufacturing and business strategies that appear to be necessary and are feasible for many facilities to achieve and sustain satisfactory performance. A stabilization strategy is necessary but insufficient for most gas plants; it is necessary to sustain a degree of flexibility. A useful objective can be tracking desired changes and withstanding undesired changes in a manner that is safe, environmentally sound, and profitable. Poorer performance compounds the cost challenges in most gas plants. To ensure these problems are avoided, we need to develop a fundamental understanding of all the technical factors impacting the performance of the plant, how they interact, and how they manifest themselves in business performance. This can only be achieved through the application of an integrated approach utilizing the diverse skills of a multidisciplined team of engineers combined with the application of a robust performance-modeling tool. Another area of opportunity is optimization of the process to maximize capacity or yields and minimize energy consumption while maintaining product qualities. This chapter describes a vision of the integrated gas plant of the future and methods to identify solutions for attaining operational goals to maximize asset values.

Part V deals with the simultaneous operational planning and maintenance of the utility and production systems of a process industry. In this chapter, a general optimization framework is presented with the main purpose of reducing the energy needs and material resources utilization of the overall system. The proposed mathematical model focuses mainly on the utility system and considers for the utility units: (i) unit commitment constraints, (ii) performance degradation and recovery, (iii) different types of cleaning tasks (online or offline, and fixed or flexible time window), (iv) alternative options for cleaning tasks in terms of associated durations, cleaning resources requirements and costs, and (v) constrained availability of resources for cleaning operations. The optimization function includes the operating costs for utility and production systems, cleaning costs for utility systems, and energy consumption costs. Several industrial-inspired case studies are presented in order to highlight the applicability and the significant benefits of the proposed approach. In particular, in comparison with the traditional sequential planning approach for production and utility systems, the proposed integrated approach can achieve considerable reductions in startup/shutdown and cleaning costs, and most importantly in utilities purchases, as it is shown in one of the case studies.

The goal of the European Union is to reduce CO2 emissions by 20% till 2020. This objective is transferred to municipalities through the Covenant of Mayors initiative which was established by the European Commission in 2008. In line with this, this paper presents an integration of Sustainable Energy Action Plans on the Croatian island of Korcula. This was developed through a methodology that uses factors, derived from the statistic, that have an influence on the energy consumption. Energy consumption and the Baseline CO2 emissions inventory for municipalities on Korcula in the public sector, households, tertiary sector and road transport are calculated. Total CO2 emissions for listed sectors in baseline 2012 are 42,923 tCO2, and with recommended actions and measures this can be reduced by approx. 22% till 2020. There are planned joint actions, so all municipalities on the island can cooperate together to maximise their limited financial and human capacities. There has been suggested the establishment of action group for actions implementation which will include representatives from municipalities and other stakeholders. Investments for measures in household sector in joint and individual approach was compared and it was concluded that achieving economy of scale with an integrated approach would accelerate their implementation. The integrated approach enables small neighbouring municipalities to develop one strategy and act together towards achieving goals taken by submitting to the Covenant of Mayors.

Currently, a significant part of the residential building stock has been built without modern provisions for earthquake resistance and energy efficiency, resulting in high seismic vulnerability and very expensive management and environmental cost due to low energy performance buildings. An integrated approach to seismic and energy retrofitting is need to reduce the effects seismic events and energy consumption. In this work, the economic effects of the seismic events are evaluated for existing Reinforced Concrete buildings are considered. The energy performances of buildings are also evaluated. Then based on an integrated approach, the seismic and energetic Expected Annual Loss is evaluated. It is obtained combining both the cost of the seismic risk consequence and energy cost. Finally, the economic feasibility is based on the global Economic Feasibility Index.

Non-traction railway load consumes a significant amount of electricity. Russian Railways supplies electricity not only to its structural units but also to other consumers. Private houses, individual entrepreneurs and small production facilities located near the railway are powered by the RZD. It is very important for the company to plan consumption for non- traction needs. The subject of the study in the paper is a systematic approach to the planning of power consumption using the mathematical apparatus of artificial neural networks, correlation analysis and the method of expert assessments. The method of expert assessments allows identifying the most significant factors that affect the consumption of electricity. It is necessary to attract experienced professionals in the field of electricity, working at a particular enterprise. They are able to determine with a high degree of accuracy those factors that have a significant impact on the consumption of the organization. Correlation analysis allows you to mathematically check the degree of influence of a single factor on the resulting value. The apparatus of artificial neural networks allows building a forecast of power consumption, taking into account the influence of external factors. The authors propose to use a systematic approach to the planning of power consumption. It is necessary to combine three tools: the method of expert assessments, correlation analysis and artificial neural networks. The combination of these tools will improve the accuracy of power consumption planning and, as a result, will lead to increased economic efficiency due to the rational consumption of electricity.

In the recent years, the environmental issues in terms of pollution and energy consumption foment an increasing interest to focus on green technology. Pertaining this, this chapter is intended to recapitulate a review on renewable and sustainable materials produced either from single unit process or integrated approach through chemical or biological methods or combination of these methods for various green technology applications. This includes the recent development and potential of these materials for energy, building and environmental applications.

Ocean currents impose a negative effect on Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) underwater target searches, which lengthens the search paths and consumes more energy and team effort. To solve this problem, an integrated algorithm is proposed to realise multi-AUV cooperative search in dynamic underwater environments with ocean currents. The proposed integrated algorithm combines the Biological Inspired Neurodynamics Model (BINM) and Velocity Synthesis (VS) method. Firstly, the BINM guides a team of AUVs to achieve target search in underwater environments; BINM search requires no specimen learning information and is thus easier to apply to practice, but the search path is longer because of the influence of ocean current. Next the VS algorithm offsets the effect of ocean current, and it is applied to optimise the search path for each AUV. Lastly, to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed integrated approach, simulation results are given in this paper. It is proved that this integrated algorithm can plan shorter search paths and thus the energy consumption is lower compared with BINM.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reduction in industry should be a portfolio option; for example, the carbon capture and utilization by mineralization (CCUM) process is a feasible and proven technology where both CO2 capture and alkaline waste treatment occur simultaneously through an integrated approach. In this study, the challengeable barriers and significant breakthroughs of CCUM via ex-situ carbonation were reviewed from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Recent progress on the performance of various carbonation processes for different types of alkaline solid wastes was also evaluated based on CO2 capture capacity and carbonation efficiency. Moreover, several process intensification concepts such as reactor integration and co-utilization with wastewater or brine solution were reviewed and summarized. In addition, the utilization of carbonated products from CCUM as green materials including cement, aggregate and precipitate calcium carbonate were investigated. Furthermore, the current status of worldwide CCUM demonstration projects within the iron- and steelmaking industries was illustrated. The energy consumption and cost analyses of CCUM were also evaluated.

Since the Nineties of the previous century winery design has been undergoing deep changes. Some factors are affecting the main design criteria, focusing on a new conception where the winery becomes more and more open to customers, energy demand reduction is a crucial goal driven by economic and environmental reasons, and the whole systems is aimed at the research of a renovate quality of the product. The state of the art in this specific sector highlights how a reduction of the energy consumed by a winery can almost reduce to zero the carbon emissions of the whole wine-making process, as well as the existing lack of specific design criteria addressing the most recent above-mentioned trends and challenges, in particular for small and medium-sized farms, that on the whole account for a huge production in the Mediterranean area. The main aim of this work is to provide information about yearly thermal demand in the wine-making sector, by means of an integrated approach that considers the thermal loads required by room heating and air conditioning, must/juice pre-cooling, and fermentation cooling. Different models have been created and tested on a case study, in order to analyze the contribution of various farm design choices to the total energy demand. The most representative models are described and analyzed in this work: they differ for harvesting modality, and materials and vertical distribution of the building envelope (aboveground vs underground). The results highlight the relevance of the three contributions in terms of total annual energy consumption, power peaks, and time distribution of energy demand over the year. The analysis of the data obtained by the different models have allowed to identify the strengths and potential critical issues, and to provide professionals, oenologists and farmers with useful elements to lend support in their decision making processes, as well as to define the next steps of the research, aimed at defining specific design criteria for small and medium-sized wineries.

The achievable joining of Phase Change Material [PCM] in building materials has pulled in a lot of examination intrigue overall due to the need on a dangerous atmospheric deviation and further more the capacity of PCMs to reduce vitality utilization in structures owing to their warm vitality stockpiling capacities. As a substance with high warmth of combination, PCM is equipped for putting away and discharging enormous measures of vitality inside the assortment of inert warmt in liquefying and hardening forms at the specific change temperature. For as long as 25 years,critical examination has been attempted on potential utilization of PCMs in concrete. Latent Heat Storage [LHS] aimed a PCM is unbelievably alluring because of its high vitality stockpiling thickness and its isothermal conduct all through the stage change process. Expanding the warm stockpiling ability of a building will upgrade the human solace by diminishing the recurrence of inside air temperature swings all together that the inside air temperature is nearer to the pre defined temperature for a broadened measure of time.

Actions by individuals and households to reduce carbon-based energy consumption have the potential to change the picture of U.S. energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions in the near term. To tap this potential, however, energy policies and programs need to replace outmoded assumptions about what drives human behavior; they must integrate insights from the behavioral and social sciences with those from engineering and economics. This integrated approach has thus far only occasionally been implemented. This essay summarizes knowledge from the social sciences and from highly successful energy programs to show what the potential is and how it can be achieved.

Competitiveness of steel construction and, in particular, steel and composite bridges, requires a broader view that encompasses the concepts of sustainability and life-cycle assessment in parallel with the classical structural and geotechnical issues. Also, from the economical viewpoint, the progressive transfer of operational duties from the National Road Authorities to private companies in the context of design, build and operate contracts, reinforces the need for an integrated approach.It is the purpose of the present paper: (i) to present an integrated methodology for a life-cycle and sustainability analysis (LCA and LCCA); and (ii) to apply such an integrated approach to a case study of a composite bridge. The proposed approach, besides structural considerations, contemplates environmental aspects (energy consumption, raw materials, and environmental impacts), economical aspects and a brief discussion of degradation and maintenance aspects. The case study consists of a three-span continuous bridge wi...

Optimising ventilated packaging for fresh horticultural produce will play a key role in making future food cold chains more energy-smart and resource-efficient in a cost-effective way. Package performance analysis currently lacks an integrated approach for simultaneous and quantitative evaluation of product cooling rate, box ventilation, product quality and shelf life, box mechanical strength and energy consumption of the ventilation system. This article provides an overview of recent research on these package functionalities and summarises the performance parameters used to quantify them. Novel developments in experimental and computational tools are highlighted and various trade-offs encountered in package design are illustrated with case studies. Future perspectives point towards a more holistic evaluation of packaging throughout the entire cold chain. publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Towards integrated performance evaluation of future packaging for fresh produce in the cold chain journaltitle: Trends in Food Science & Technology articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2015.04.008 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ispartof: Trends in Food Science & Technology vol:44 issue:2 pages:201-225 status: published

Introducing E-Taxi fleets in urban areas poses a number of economic, organizational and technical challenges related to the nature of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV). This paper discusses these challenges and demonstrates how existing mobility data can aid the underlying decision process to overcome them. We present an integrated approach developed for the introduction of an E-Taxi system in the city of Vienna, where mobility data based on taxi floating car data (FCD) was used as decision support.

This paper introduces a new project supported by the UK Technical Strategy Leadership Group (TSLG) to contribute to its vision of Future Traffic Regulation Optimisation (FuTRO). In this project Newcastle University will closely cooperate with Siemens Rail Automation on developing novel modelling, verification and simulation techniques and tools that support and explore in an integrated approach to efficient dynamic improvement of capacity and energy consumption of railway networks and nodes while ensuring whole systems safety. The SafeCap+ (or SafeCap for FuTRO) project builds on the two previous projects (SafeCap and SafeCap Impact) which have developed a novel modelling environment that helps signalling engineers to design nodes (stations or junctions) in a way that guarantees their safety and allows engineers to explore different design options to select the ones that ensure the improved node capacity.

In a recent article, Baker described a novel technique for estimating the energy consumption of well-mixed fluidized bed dryers based on the use of experimental drying curves. An integrated approach to performing sizing and energy consumption calculations for such dryers using this technique is described in the present paper. A computer program, which includes not only the dryer simulator but also a heat recovery module and an exhaust air recycle option, is used to evaluate the viability of different energy-conservation strategies. The effects of operating parameters such as bed temperature, solids loading and air velocity on energy consumption and bed area are also explored. The observed drying kinetics are shown to have a major effect on the optimal design and operation of the dryer.

A new integrated approach for synthesis, design and operation of separation schemes is presented. This integrated approach is based on driving forces that promote the desired separation for different separation techniques. A set of algorithms needed by the integrated approach for sequencing and design of distillation columns and for generating hybrid separation schemes are presented. The main feature of these algorithms is that they provide a ‘visual’ solution that also appears to be near optimal in terms of energy consumption. Several illustrative examples highlighting the application of the integrated approach are also presented.

Decreasing energy consumption in the production of platform chemicals is necessary to improve the sustainability of the chemical industry, which is the largest consumer of delivered energy. The majority of industrial chemical transformations rely on catalysts, and therefore designing new materials that catalyse the production of important chemicals via more selective and energy-efficient processes is a promising pathway to reducing energy use by the chemical industry. Efficiently designing new catalysts benefits from an integrated approach involving fundamental experimental studies and theoretical modelling in addition to evaluation of materials under working catalytic conditions. In this review, we outline this approach in the context of a particular catalyst—nanoporous gold (npAu)—which is an unsupported, dilute AgAu alloy catalyst that is highly active for the selective oxidative transformation of alcohols. Fundamental surface science studies on Au single crystals and AgAu thin-film alloys in combination with theoretical modelling were used to identify the principles which define the reactivity of npAu and subsequently enabled prediction of new reactive pathways on this material. Specifically, weak van der Waals interactions are key to the selectivity of Au materials, including npAu. We also briefly describe other systems in which this integrated approach was applied.

Memory-related activity is one of the major sources of energy consumption in embedded systems. Many types of memories used in embedded systems allow multiple operating modes (e.g. active, standby, nap, power-down) to facilitate energy saving. Furthermore, it has been known that the potential energy saving increases when the embedded systems use multiple memory banks in which their operating modes are controlled independently. The authors propose a compiler-directed integrated approach to the problem of maximally utilising the operating modes of multiple memory banks by solving the three important tasks simultaneously: (1) assignment of variables to memory banks, (2) scheduling of memory access operations and (3) determination of operating modes of banks. Specifically, for an instance of tasks 1 and 2, the authors formulate task 3 as a shortest path (SP) problem in a network and solved it optimally. Then, an SP-based heuristic that solves tasks 2 and 3 efficiently in an integrated fashion is developed. Then the proposed approach is extended to address the limited register constraint in the processor. From experiments with a set of benchmark programs, it is confirmed that the proposed approach is able to reduce the energy consumption by 15.76% over that by the conventional approach.

In this paper we present an integrated approach for building rehabilitation on a group of buildings of a primary school located in the southern suburbs of Lisbon – Moita, Portugal. The approach includes taking into account collected data concerning the actual energy consumption for: space heating; occupants' behavior, technical and architectural characteristics of the buildings. Detailed energy auditing was done to the buildings including interviews to pupils and teachers to understand occupants' behavior, construction materials used, energy consumption and lighting. Thermal images of the interior zones were generated to provide information about the temperature distribution and a notion about air or heat leak from or into the building. Based on the obtained data, 5 different energy retrofit scenarios were studied with different performance and cost-effectiveness targets, compatible with some European available financial mechanisms to promote energy retrofit of buildings. Life cycle cost analyses (LCC) should be taken into account to minimize environmental impact and some recommendations were suggested. Each scenario service life’ presents an important effect in LCC. It is found that implementing those measures can cost-effectively reduce the annual energy use by 40% compared to the original building design.