Search results for: healthy building

Authors: Noah G. Akhimien, Eshrar Latif

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The natural environment is in need for an urgent rescue due to dilapidation and recession of resources. Passive design strategies have proven to be one of the effective ways to reduce CO₂ emissions and to improve building performance. On the other hand, there is a huge drop in material availability due to poor recycling culture. Consequently, building waste pose environmental hazard due to unrecycled building materials from construction and deconstruction. Buildings are seen to be material banks for a circular economy, therefore incorporating circular economy into passive housing will not only safe guide the climate but also improve resource efficiency. The study focuses on incorporating a circular economy in passive design strategies for an affordable energy and resource efficient residential building in Nigeria. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration is still on the increase as buildings are responsible for a significant amount of this emission globally. Therefore, prompt measures need to be taken to combat the effect of global warming and associated threats. Nigeria is rapidly growing in human population, resources on the other hand have receded greatly, and there is an abrupt need for recycling even in the built environment. It is necessary that Nigeria responds to these challenges effectively and efficiently considering building resource and energy. Passive design strategies were assessed using simulations to obtain qualitative and quantitative data which were inferred to case studies as it relates to the Nigeria climate. Building materials were analysed using the ReSOLVE model in order to explore possible recycling phase. This provided relevant information and strategies to illustrate the possibility of circular economy in passive buildings. The study offers an alternative approach, as it is the general principle for the reworking of an economy on ecological lines in passive housing and by closing material loops in circular economy.

Keywords: building, circular, efficiency, environment, sustainability

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Authors: Marcelo Jesus Kato Avila, Joao Da Costa Pantoja

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Differential settlement of foundations is a serious pathology in buildings that put at risk lives and property. A common reason for the occurrence of this specific pathology in central Brazil is the presence of collapsible clay, a typical soil in the region. In this study, the foundation of a condemned building erected above this soil is analyzed. The aim is to prevent problems in new constructions, to predict which buildings may be subjected to damages, and to make possible a more precise treatment in less advanced differential settlements observed in the buildings of the vicinity, which includes a hospital, a Military School, an indoor sporting arena, the Police Academy, and the Military Police Headquarters. The methodology consists of visual inspection, photographic report of the main pathologies, analysis of the existing foundations, determination of the soil properties, the study of the cracking level and assessment of structural failure risk of the building. The findings show that the presence of water weaken the soil structure on which the foundation rest, being the main cause of the pathologic settlement, indicating that even in a one store building it was necessary to consider deeper digging, other categories of foundations, and more elaborated and detailed foundation plans when the soil presents this behavior.

Keywords: building cracks, collapsible clay, differential settlement, structural failure risk

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Authors: Monika Lipska

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Drinking water is water with a very high quality, and as such represents only 2.5% of the total quantity of all water in the world. For many years we have observed continuous increase in its consumption as a result of many factors such as: Growing world population (7 billion in 2011r.), increase of human lives comfort and – above all – the economic growth. Due to the rocketing consumption and growing costs of production of water with such high-quality parameters, we experience accelerating interest in alternative sources of obtaining potable water. One of the ways of saving this valuable material is using rainwater in the Urban Building. With an exponentially growing demand, the acquisition of additional sources of water is necessary to maintain the proper balance of all ecosystems. The first part of the paper describes what rainwater is and what are its potential sources and means of use, while the main part of the article focuses on the description of the methods of obtaining water from rain on the example of new urban building in Poland. It describes the method and installations of rainwater in the new urban building (“MBJ2030”). The paper addresses also the issue of monitoring of the whole recycling systems as well as the particular quality indicators important because of identification of the potential risks to human health. The third part describes the legal arrangements concerning the recycling of rainwater existing in different European Union countries with particular reference to Poland on example the new urban building in Warsaw.

Keywords: rainwater, potable water, non-potable water, Poland

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Authors: Eyibo Ebengeobong Eddie

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Taking advantage of the sun's position to design buildings to ensure human comfort has always been an important aspect in an architectural design. Using cheap and less expensive methods and systems for gaining solar energy, heating and cooling has always been a great advantage to users and occupants of a building. As the years run by, daily techniques and methods have been created and more are being discovered to help reduce the energy demands of any building. Architects have made effective use of a buildings orientation, building materials and elements to achieve less energy demand. This paper talks about the various techniques used in solar heating and passive cooling of buildings and through water techniques and concepts to achieve thermal comfort.

Keywords: comfort, passive, solar, water

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Authors: M. Baratieri, M. Beccali, S. Corradino, B. Di Pietra, C. La Grassa, F. Monteleone, G. Morosinotto, G. Puglisi

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The energy renovation of existing buildings represents an important opportunity to increase the decarbonization and the sustainability of urban environments. In this context, the work carried out has the objective of demonstrating the technical and economic feasibility of an energy renovate of a public building destined for offices located on the island of Lampedusa in the Mediterranean Sea. By applying the Italian transpositions of European Directives 2010/31/EU and 2009/28/EC, the building has been renovated from the current energy requirements of 111.7 kWh/m² to 16.4 kWh/m². The result achieved classifies the building as nZEB (nearly Zero Energy Building) according to the Italian national definition. The analysis was carried out using in parallel a quasi-stationary software, normally used in the professional field, and a dynamic simulation model often used in the academic world. The proposed interventions cover the components of the building’s envelope, the heating-cooling system and the supply of energy from renewable sources. In these latter points, the analysis has focused more on assessing two aspects that affect the supply of renewable energy. The first concerns the use of advanced logic control systems for air conditioning units in order to increase photovoltaic self-consumption. With these adjustments, a considerable increase in photovoltaic self-consumption and a decrease in the electricity exported to the Island's electricity grid have been obtained. The second point concerned the evaluation of the building's energy classification considering the real efficiency of the heating-cooling plant. Normally the energy plants have lower operational efficiency than the designed one due to multiple reasons; the decrease in the energy classification of the building for this factor has been quantified. This study represents an important example for the evaluation of the best interventions for the energy renovation of buildings in the Mediterranean Climate and a good description of the correct methodology to evaluate the resulting improvements.

Keywords: heat pumps, HVAC systems, nZEB renovation, renewable energy sources

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Authors: Wesam Rababa, Jamal Al-Qawasmi

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The global climate is negatively impacted by CO2 emissions, which are mostly produced by buildings. Several green building rating systems (GBRS) have been proposed to impose low-carbon criteria in order to address this problem. The Green Globes certification is one such system that evaluates a building's sustainability level by assessing different categories of environmental impact and emerging concepts aimed at reducing environmental harm. Therefore, assessment tools at the national level are crucial in the developing world, where specific local conditions require a more precise evaluation. This study analyzed eight sustainable building assessment systems from different regions of the world, comparing a comprehensive list of CO2-related indicators with a various assessment system for conducting coverage analysis. The results show that GBRS includes both direct and indirect indicators in this regard. It reveals deep variation between examined practices, and a lack of consensus not only on the type and the optimal number of indicators used in a system, but also on the depth and breadth of coverage of various sustainable building SB attributes. Generally, the results show that most of the examined systems reflect a low comprehensive coverage, the highest of which is found in materials category. On the other hand, the most of the examined systems reveal a very low representative coverage.

Keywords: Assessment tools, CO2-related indicators, Comparative study, Green Building Rating Systems

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Authors: D. Hammad, D. P. Tonge

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Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a disabling and common autoimmune disease during which the body's immune system attacks healthy tissues. This results in complicated and long-lasting actions being carried out by the immune system, which typically only occurs when the immune system encounters a foreign object. In the case of RA, the disease affects millions of people and causes joint inflammation, ultimately leading to the destruction of cartilage and bone. Interestingly, the disease mechanism still remains unclear. It is likely that RA occurs as a result of a complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors including an imbalance in the microorganism population inside our body. The human microbiome or microbiota is an extensive community of microorganisms in and on the bodies of animals, which comprises bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protozoa. Recently, the development of molecular techniques to characterize entire bacterial communities has renewed interest in the involvement of the microbiome in the development and progression of RA. We believe that an imbalance in some of the specific bacterial species in the gut, mouth and other sites may lead to atopobiosis; the translocation of these organisms into the blood, and that this may lead to changes in immune system status. The aim of this study was, therefore, to characterize the microbiome of RA serum samples in comparison to healthy control subjects using 16S rRNA gene amplification and sequencing. Serum samples were obtained from healthy control volunteers and from patients with RA both prior to, and following treatment. The bacterial community present in each sample was identified utilizing V4 region 16S rRNA amplification and sequencing. Bacterial identification, to the lowest taxonomic rank, was performed using a range of bioinformatics tools. Significantly, the proportions of the Lachnospiraceae, Ruminococcaceae, and Halmonadaceae families were significantly increased in the serum of RA patients compared with healthy control serum. Furthermore, the abundance of Bacteroides and Lachnospiraceae nk4a136_group, Lachnospiraceae_UGC-001, RuminococcaceaeUCG-014, Rumnococcus-1, and Shewanella was also raised in the serum of RA patients relative to healthy control serum. These data support the notion of a blood microbiome and reveal RA-associated changes that may have significant implications for biomarker development and may present much-needed opportunities for novel therapeutic development.

Keywords: blood microbiome, gut and oral bacteria, Rheumatoid arthritis, 16S rRNA gene sequencing

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Authors: Mohamed Elassaly

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The damage status of RC buildings is greatly influenced by the characteristics of the imposed ground motion. Peak Ground Acceleration and frequency contents are considered the main two factors that affect ground motion characteristics; hence, affecting the seismic response of RC structures and consequently their damage state. A detailed investigation on the combined effects of these two factors on damage assessment of RC buildings, is carried out. Twenty one earthquake records are analyzed and arranged into three groups, according to their frequency contents. These records are used in an investigation to define the expected damage state that would be attained by RC buildings, if subjected to varying ground motion characteristics. The damage assessment is conducted through examining drift ratios and damage indices of the overall structure and the significant structural components of RC building. Base and story shear of RC building model, are also investigated, for cases when the model is subjected to the chosen twenty one earthquake records. Nonlinear dynamic analyses are performed on a 2-dimensional model of a 12-story R.C. building.

Keywords: damage, frequency content, ground motion, PGA, RC building, seismic

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Authors: Lucie Jirotková, Daniel Macek, Andrea Palazzo, Veronika Malinová

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Currently, the implementation of 3D models in the construction industry is gaining popularity. Countries around the world are developing their own modelling standards and implement the use of 3D models into their individual permitting processes. Another theme that needs to be addressed are public building spaces and their subsequent maintenance, where the usage of BIM methodology is directly offered. The significant benefit of the implementation of Building Information Management is the information transfer. The 3D model contains not only the spatial representation of the item shapes but also various parameters that are assigned to the individual elements, which are easily traceable, mainly because they are all stored in one place in the BIM model. However, it is important to keep the data in the models up to date to achieve useability of the model throughout the life cycle of the building. It is now becoming standard practice to use BIM models in the construction of buildings, however, the building environment is very often neglected. Especially in large-scale development projects, the public space of buildings is often forwarded to municipalities, which obtains the ownership and are in charge of its maintenance. A 3D model of the building surroundings would include both the above-ground visible elements of the development as well as the underground parts, such as the technological facilities of water features, electricity lines for public lighting, etc. The paper shows the possibilities of a model in the field of information for the handover of premises, the following maintenance and decision making. The attributes and spatial representation of the individual elements make the model a reliable foundation for the creation of "Smart Cities". The paper analyses the current use of the BIM methodology and presents the state-of-the-art possibilities of development.

Keywords: BIM model, urban space, BIM methodology, facility management

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Authors: Jamilah Halina Abdul Halim, Norsiah Hassan, Azlina Aziz, Norhayati Mat Wajid, Mohd Saipul Asrafi

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There are various types of vertical greenery system (VGS) in Malaysia, but none is installed at government buildings, although the government is looking into energy efficient building design. This is due to lack of technical information that focus on the maintenance and care, issues, and challenges face by vertical greenery system under tropical climate conditions. This research aim to identify issues in implementation of vertical greenery system on existing government building in Malaysia. The methodology used are literature reviews (desktop study), observation on sites, and case studies. Initial findings indicates that design and maintenance issues of vertical greenery system are the main challenges faced mainly by designer, especially those who involved in decision-making process. It can be concluded that orientation, openings, maintenance, performance, longevity, structural load, access, wind resistance, design failure, system failure, and lack of maintenance foresight are the main factors that need to be considered. These factors should be holistically aligned towards the economic cost, effective time, and quality design in implementation of vertical greenery system on existing government building. A comprehensive implementation of vertical greenery system will lead to greater sustainable investment for government buildings and responsive action to climate change.

Keywords: issues, government building, maintenance, vertical greenery system

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Authors: H. Feza Carlak, N. G. Gencer

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To increase the temperature contrast in thermal images, the characteristics of the electrical conductivity and thermal imaging modalities can be combined. In this experimental study, it is objected to observe whether the temperature contrast created by the tumor tissue can be improved just due to the current application within medical safety limits. Various thermal breast phantoms are developed to simulate the female breast tissue. In vitro experiments are implemented using a thermal infrared camera in a controlled manner. Since experiments are implemented in vitro, there is no metabolic heat generation and blood perfusion. Only the effects and results of the electrical stimulation are investigated. Experimental study is implemented with two-dimensional models. Temperature contrasts due to the tumor tissues are obtained. Cancerous tissue is determined using the difference and ratio of healthy and tumor images. 1 cm diameter single tumor tissue causes almost 40 °mC temperature contrast on the thermal-breast phantom. Electrode artifacts are reduced by taking the difference and ratio of background (healthy) and tumor images. Ratio of healthy and tumor images show that temperature contrast is increased by the current application.

Keywords: medical diagnostic imaging, breast phantom, active thermography, breast cancer detection

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Authors: Fu-Chien Hung, Chi‐Wen Liang

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Background: People who suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) frequently complain about continuous tiredness, weakness or lack of strength, but without apparent organic etiology. The prevalence rate of the CFS is nearly from 3% to 20%, yet more than 80% go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed as depression. The biopsychosocial model has suggested the associations among the CFS, depressive syndrome, and stress. This study aimed to investigate the difference between individuals with the CFS and with the depressive syndrome on psychophysiological responses under stress. Method: There were 23 participants in the CFS group, 14 participants in the depression group, and 23 participants in the healthy control group. All of the participants first completed the measures of demographic data, CFS-related symptoms, daily life functioning, and depressive symptoms. The participants were then asked to perform a stressful cognitive task. The participants’ psychophysiological responses including the HR, BVP and SC were measured during the task. These indexes were used to assess the reactivity and recovery rates of the automatic nervous system. Results: The stress reactivity of the CFS and depression groups was not different from that of the healthy control group. However, the stress recovery rate of the CFS group was worse than that of the healthy control group. Conclusion: The results from this study suggest that the CFS is a syndrome which can be independent from the depressive syndrome, although the depressive syndrome may include fatigue syndrome.

Keywords: chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, stress response, misdiagnosis

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Authors: Jisun Mo, Paola Boarin

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The impact of common buildings on climate and environment has prompted people to get involved in the green building standards aimed at implementing rating tools or certifications. Thus, green building rating systems were introduced to the construction industry, and the demand for certified green buildings has increased gradually and succeeded considerably in enhancing people’s environmental awareness. However, the existing certification process has been unsatisfactory in attracting stakeholders and/or professionals who are actively engaged in adopting a rating system. It is because they have faced recurring barriers regarding limited information in understanding the rating process, time-consuming procedures and higher costs, which have a direct influence on pursuing green building rating systems. To promote the achievement of green building certifications within the building industry more successfully, this paper aims at designing a Pre-Assessment Tool (PAT) framework that can help stakeholders and/or professionals engaged in the construction industry to clarify their basic knowledge, timeframe and extra costs needed to activate a green building certification. First, taking the first steps towards the rating tool seems to be complicated because of upfront commitment to understanding the overall rating procedure is required. This conceptual PAT framework can increase basic knowledge of the rating tool and the certification process, mainly in terms of all resources or information of each credit requirements. Second, the assessment process of rating tools is generally known as a “lengthy and time-consuming system”, contributing to unenthusiastic reactions concerning green building projects. The proposed framework can predict the timeframe needed to identify how long it will take for a green project to process each credit requirement and the documentation required from the beginning of the certification process to final approval. Finally, most people often have the initial perception that pursuing green building certification costs more than constructing a non-green building, which makes it more difficult to execute rating tools. To overcome this issue, this PAT will help users to estimate the extra expenses such as certification fees and third-party contributions based on the track of the amount of time it takes to implement the rating tool throughout all the related stages. Also, it can prevent unexpected or hidden costs occurring in the process of assessment. Therefore, this proposed PAT framework can be recommended as an effective method to support the decision-making of inexperienced users and play an important role in promoting green building certification.

Keywords: green building rating tools, Pre-Occupancy Evaluation (PrOE), client’s decision-making, certification

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Authors: Abeer Mohammed, Nevein Mustafa Elashery, Mona Hassan Abdel Aal, Ereny Wilson Nagib

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The Aim of the current study is to investigate nutrition role in the management of psychiatric disorders. Research Design: A quasi- experimental research design was utilized for this study. Setting The study was conducted at outpatient clinic at Institute of Psychiatry affiliated to Ain Shams University hospitals, using a convenient sample of 50 psychiatric patients with depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, and obsessive compulsive disorders. Tools: data were collected through; first, an interview questionnaire covering socio-demographic characteristics, second, nutrition assessment tools Third, nutrition risk assessment. Fourth, nutrition management program Results showed that there were highly statistically significant improvements in modified nutritional supplements for patients with depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, and obsessive compulsive disorders' patients after conducting the nutrition management program. Regarding psychiatric patients’ knowledge about healthy food, healthy nutritional habits, and patients’ awareness & readiness for change, there were highly statistically significant improvements. Concerning signs and symptoms of psychiatric disorders, there were highly statistically significant improvements for depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, and obsessive-compulsive patients after conducting the management program. In conclusion, the nutrition management program was effective in improving symptoms associated with, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, and obsessive compulsive disorders. The study recommended that nurses should have more contribution in counseling psychiatric patients, and their families about healthy diet and healthy habits. Further research should recommend studying the effectiveness of herbs on enhancing mental health for psychiatric patients.

Keywords: nutrition, role, management, psychiatric disorders

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Authors: Watchawin Ekphinitphithaya, Patompong Satapornpong

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Introduction: Carbamazepine (CBZ) is one of the most prescribed antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) by neurologists and non-neurologist worldwide. CBZ is usually prescribed along with other drugs, leading to the possibility of severe cutaneous adverse drug reactions (SCARs). The HLA-B*15:02 is strongly associated with CBZ-induced Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis (SJS–TEN) in the Han Chinese and other Asian populations but not in European populations, while HLA-A*31:01 allele has been reported to be associated with CBZ-induced SCARs in European population and Japanese. Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the distribution of pharmacogenetics HLA-A*31:01 marker in a healthy Thai population associated with Carbamazepine-induced SCARs. Materials and Methods: Prospective study, 350 unrelated healthy Thais were recruited in this study. Human leukocyte antigen-A alleles were genotyped using PCR-sequence specific oligonucleotides (PCR-SSOs). Results: The frequency of HLA-A alleles were HLA-A*11:01 (190 alleles, 27.14%), HLA-A*24:02 (82 alleles, 11.71%), HLA-A*02:03 (80 alleles, 11.43%), HLA-A*33:03 (76 alleles, 10.86%), HLA-A*02:07 (58 alleles, 8.29%), HLA-A*02:01 (35 alleles, 5.00%), HLA-A*24:07 (29 alleles, 4.14%), HLA-A*02:06 – HLA-A*30:01 (15 alleles, 2.14%), and HLA-A*01:01 (14 alleles, 2.00%). Particularly, the number of HLA-A*31:01 alleles was 6 of 700 (0.86%) in the healthy Thai population. Many research presented varying distributions of HLA-A*31:01 in Asians, including 2% of Han Chinese, 9% of Japanese and 5% of Koreans. In addition, this allele was found approximately 2-5% in the Caucasian population. Conclusions: Thus, the pharmacogenetics database is vital to support in many populations, especially in Thais, for screening HLA-A*31:01 allele to avoid CBZ-induced SCARs before initiating treatments in each population.

Keywords: Carbamazepine, HLA-A*31:01, Thai population, pharmacogenetics

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Authors: Mohamed Youssef

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The proliferation of energy consumption in the built environment has made energy efficiency and savings strategies a priority objective for energy policies in most countries. Qatar is a clear example, where it has initiated several programs and institutions to mitigate the overuse of electricity consumption and control the energy load of the building by following global standards and spreading awareness campaigns. A Case study on the Office of Research and Graduate Studies at Qatar University has been investigated in this paper. The paper studied the rating load of existing buildings before and after retrofitting by using Carrier’s Hourly Analysis Program (HAP). The performance of the building has increased especially after using the LED light system instead of fluorescent light with a low payback period. GINAN paint and green roof have shown a considerable contribution to the reduction of electrical load in the building. In comparison, the double HR window had the least effect on the reduction of electricity consumption.

Keywords: energy conservation in Qatar, HAP, LED light, GINAN paint, green roof, double HR window

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Authors: Oghenerukome Akponovo, Lynda I. Onyebuchukwu

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Construction waste, along with that of many other industries, contributes significantly to the world's annual solid waste totals. Most of these materials, such as ash from rice hulls, slags, cement kiln dust, tire ash, plastic waste (PW), and silica fumes, end up in landfills or waterways. Some of them might even end up polluting the air from high in the atmosphere. It's sustainable, cheap, and environmentally friendly to recycle these items into new building supplies. When constructing a "Green" structure, the materials employed have the potential to either exacerbate environmental imbalance or maintain a stable ecosystem. The purpose of this research is to take stock of what is already known about recycling's potential in the construction industry and to identify its deficiencies. Therefore, this study systematically reviews the wide range of recycled materials that go into building construction. Recognizing that the construction industry's use of recycled materials has an influence on the environment and that investigating these materials may have a substantial economic impact if they were discovered

Keywords: building, construction, recycled materials, waste management

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Authors: Henry O. Chibudike, Olubamike A. Adeyoju, Bolanle O. Oluwole, Kayode O. Adebowale, Bamidele I. Olu-Owolabi, Chinedum E. Chibudike

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Studies on the Mineral Content of Solojo Flour and Protein Isolates from the two varieties (DAS and BS) of Nigeria cultivated solojo cowpeas were conducted to determine their nutritional value. These inorganic elements or minerals were classified into 3 categories: the ultra-trace minerals, which are the third category; the microelements, also known as the trace minerals, in the second category; while the first category is the macro elements, also known as major minerals. Some of the macro-elements are Ca, P, Na and Cl; the second category, micro-elements include iron, copper, cobalt, potassium, magnesium, iodine, zinc, manganese, molybdenum, F, Cr, Se and S. Results show that the proportion of Sodium (Na) which is ingested into the body in the form of NaCl through food intake maintenance of body pH and to retain water ranged from 728.97 to 253.37 ppm (72.90 to 25.34 mg/100 g); 715.24 to 235.45 ppm; 735.28 to 270.37 ppm; 726.59 to 264.35ppm, for FFDAS, FFBS, DAS and BS respectively with all values of the germinated samples all bellow the control. While FFDAS iron content ranged from 4.25 to 13.50 mg/100 g; FFBS ranged from 3.15 to 12.56 mg/100 g; DAS ranged from 3.81 to 12.90 mg/100g; BS ranged from 3.42 to 9.40 mg/100 g. The values of the germinated flours were all greater than the ungerminated flour. Iron helps to transport oxygen round the body and also helps in red blood cells building and to convert food into needed energy by the body. While Manganese an element that is needed in micro quantity but necessary to convert food into energy, is also crucial for healthy bone and cartilage creation. Results also show that zinc quantity increased as germination proceeded, and the values ranged from 38.80 ppm to 230.00 ppm (3.880 mg/100 g to 23.00 mg/100 g; 0.003880% to 0.0230%); 40.84 to 250.01 ppm; 32.85 to 93.41 ppm; 37.07 to 115.00 ppm, for FFDAS, FFBS, DAS and BS respectively. The Ca content improved significantly (p<0.05) with sprouting; the value extended from 250.56 ppm to 760.03 ppm (25.056 to 76.00 mg/100g or 0.0251 to 0.0760 %); 400.40 to 998.22 ppm; 116.87 to 195.69 ppm; 113.48 to 220.75 ppm, for FFDAS, FFBS, DAS and BS respectively. Zinc element although needed at the micro level in the body, is essential for a strong immune system to keep the body in good health. It is also crucial for the maintenance of a healthy sense of taste and odor, while Calcium is critical for strong bones and teeth, blood coagulation, and muscle tightening and relaxation. Magnesium is needed to build enzymes and antioxidants and also for healthy bones, while Potassium is needed to maintain water balance, muscle movement, and nerve impulses. It functions in conjunction with Na to regulate blood pressure.

Keywords: Solojo cowpea, underutilized legumes, protein isolates, BS, DAS, ungerminated

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Authors: Mathieu Bourdeau, Philippe Basset, Julien Waeytens, Elyes Nefzaoui

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As residential buildings account for a third of the overall energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in Europe, building energy modeling is an essential tool to reach energy efficiency goals. In the energy modeling process, calibration is a mandatory step to obtain accurate and reliable energy simulations. Nevertheless, the comparison between simulation results and the actual building energy behavior often highlights a significant performance gap. The literature discusses different origins of energy performance gaps, from building design to building operation. Then, building operation description in energy models, especially energy usages and users’ behavior, plays an important role in the reliability of simulations but is also the most accessible target for post-occupancy energy management and optimization. Therefore, the present study aims to discuss results on the calibration ofresidential building energy models using real operation data. Data are collected through a sensor network of more than 180 sensors and advanced energy meters deployed in three collective residential buildings undergoing major retrofit actions. The sensor network is implemented at building scale and in an eight-apartment sample. Data are collected for over one year and half and coverbuilding energy behavior – thermal and electricity, indoor environment, inhabitants’ comfort, occupancy, occupants behavior and energy uses, and local weather. Building energy simulations are performed using a physics-based building energy modeling software (Pleaides software), where the buildings’features are implemented according to the buildingsthermal regulation code compliance study and the retrofit project technical files. Sensitivity analyses are performed to highlight the most energy-driving building features regarding each end-use. These features are then compared with the collected post-occupancy data. Energy-driving features are progressively replaced with field data for a step-by-step calibration of the energy model. Results of this study provide an analysis of energy performance gap on an existing residential case study under deep retrofit actions. It highlights the impact of the different building features on the energy behavior and the performance gap in this context, such as temperature setpoints, indoor occupancy, the building envelopeproperties but also domestic hot water usage or heat gains from electric appliances. The benefits of inputting field data from an extensive instrumentation campaign instead of standardized scenarios are also described. Finally, the exhaustive instrumentation solution provides useful insights on the needs, advantages, and shortcomings of the implemented sensor network for its replicability on a larger scale and for different use cases.

Keywords: calibration, building energy modeling, performance gap, sensor network

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Authors: Najah Majouri, Mohamed El Mankibi, Jalila Sghaier

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This study examined the geotechnical, mineralogical, thermal and physical characterization of clays in south-west Tunisia. Its aims are to elaborate an insulator material based on the clay used in the field of building materials. The geotechnical study showed that the clay studied is characterized by a high degree of plasticity of 30.83%. High mineralogical findings showed that the sample consisted mainly of kaonolite and other clay minerals. The thermal and physical properties of the different samples are obtained by mixing clays, which indicates a promising future for the use of this type of clays in the production of insulating building materials.

Keywords: clay, energy-saving, insulator material, and South-West Tunisia.

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Authors: Tertia Delia Nova, Masaji Watanabge

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Infection of bird flu within a poultry farm involves hosts, virus, and medium. Intrusion of bird flu into a poultry farm divides the population into two groups; healthy and susceptible chickens and infected chickens. A healthy and susceptible bird is infected to become an infected bird. Bird flu viruses spread among chickens through medium such as air and droppings, and increase in hosts. A model for an infection process of bird flu within a poultry farm is described, numerical techniques are illustrated, and numerical results are introduced.

Keywords: bird flu, poultry farm, model for an infection process, flu viruses

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Authors: Amal A. Abdel-Sattar

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The curriculum of architecture department in Prince Sultan University includes ‘Building Surveying’ course which is usually a part of civil engineering courses. As a fundamental requirement of the course, it requires a strong background in mathematics and physics, which are not usually preferred subjects to the architecture students and many of them are not giving the required and necessary attention to these courses during their preparation year before commencing their architectural study. This paper introduces the concept and the methodology of the student-centered learning approach in the course of building surveying for architects. One of the major outcomes is the improvement in the students’ involvement in the course and how this will cover and strength their analytical weak points and improve their mathematical skills. The study is conducted through three semesters with a total number of 99 students. The effectiveness of the student-centered learning approach is studied using the student survey at the end of each semester and teacher observations. This survey showed great acceptance of the students for these methods. Also, the teachers observed a great improvement in the students’ mathematical abilities and how keener they became in attending the classes which were clearly reflected on the low absence record.

Keywords: architecture, building surveying, student-centered learning, teaching and learning

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Authors: Christiena Van Der Bank, Marjone Van Der Bank, Ronelle Prinsloo

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The constitutional right to a healthy environment and the constitutional duty imposed on the state actively to protect the environment fulfill the specific duties to prevent pollution and ecological degradation and to promote conservation. The aim of this paper is to draw attention to the relationship between child rights and the environment. The focus is to analyse government’s responses as mandated with section 24 of the Bill of Rights for ensuring the right to a clean and healthy environment. The principle of sustainability of the environment encompasses the notion of equity and the harm to the environment affects the present as well as future generations. Section 24 obliges the state to ensure that the legacy of future generations is protected, an obligation that has been said to be part of the common law. The environment is an elusive and wide concept that can mean different things to different people depending on the context in which it is used for example clean drinking water or safe food. An extensive interpretation of the term environment would include almost everything that may positively or negatively influence the quality of human life. The analysis will include assessing policy measures, legislation, budgetary measures and other measures taken by the government in order to progressively meet its constitutional obligation. The opportunity of the child to grow up in a healthy and safe environment is extremely unjustly distributed. Without a realignment of political, legal and economic conditions this situation will not fundamentally change. South Africa as a developing country that needs to meet the demand of social transformation and economic growth whilst at the same time expediting its ability to compete in global markets, the country will inevitably embark on developmental programmes as a measure for sustainable development. The courts would have to inquire into the reasonableness of those measures. Environmental threats to children’s rights must be identified, taking into account children’s specific needs and vulnerabilities, their dependence and marginalisation. Obligations of states and violations of rights must be made more visible to the general public.

Keywords: environment, children rights, pollution, healthy, violation

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Authors: Michelle Eichinger, Upali Nanda

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Behavior choices during college years can establish the pattern of lifelong healthy living. Nearly 1/3rd of American college students are either overweight (25 < BMI < 30) or obese (BMI > 30). In addition, overweight/obesity contributes to depression, which is a rising epidemic among college students, affecting academic performance and college drop-out rates. Overweight and obesity result in an imbalance of energy consumption (diet) and energy expenditure (physical activity). Overweight/obesity is a significant contributor to heart disease, diabetes, stroke, physical disabilities and some cancers, which are the leading causes of death and disease in the US. There has been a significant increase in obesity and obesity-related disorders such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia among people in their teens and 20s. Historically, the evidence-based interventions for obesity prevention focused on changing the health behavior at the individual level and aimed at increasing awareness and educating people about nutrition and physical activity. However, it became evident that the environmental context of where people live, work and learn was interdependent to healthy behavior change. As a result, a comprehensive approach was required to include altering the social and built environment to support healthy living. College campus provides opportunities to support lifestyle behavior and form a health-promoting culture based on some key point of decisions such as stairs/ elevator, walk/ bike/ car, high-caloric and fast foods/balanced and nutrient-rich foods etc. At each point of decision, design, can help/hinder the healthier choice. For example, stair well design and motivational signage support physical activity; grocery store/market proximity influence healthy eating etc. There is a need to collate the vast information that is in planning and public health domains on a range of successful point of decision prompts, and translate it into architectural guidelines that help define the edge condition for critical point of decision prompts. This research study aims to address healthy behaviors through the built environment with the questions, how can we make the healthy choice an easy choice through the design of critical point of decision prompts? Our hypothesis is that well-designed point of decision prompts in the built environment of college campuses can promote healthier choices by students, which can directly impact mental and physical health related to obesity. This presentation will introduce a combined health and architectural framework aimed to influence healthy behaviors through design applied for college campuses. The premise behind developing our concept, point-of-decision design (PODD), is healthy decision-making can be built into, or afforded by our physical environments. Using effective design intervention strategies at these 'points-of-decision' on college campuses to make the healthy decision the default decision can be instrumental in positively impacting health at the population level. With our model, we aim to advance health research by utilizing point-of-decision design to impact student health via core sectors of influences within college settings, such as campus facilities and transportation. We will demonstrate how these domains influence patterns/trends in healthy eating and active living behaviors among students. how these domains influence patterns/trends in healthy eating and active living behaviors among students.

Keywords: architecture and health promotion, college campus, design strategies, health in built environment

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Authors: Eman Nagi Gowid Selim

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Nowadays, the relevance of places to people has been questioned from different perspectives. This is attributed to the fact that many international concrete blocks were used to create multi-use public spaces in neighborhoods based on the techniques of mass-productions concepts that became one of the most effective ways in building construction, replacing the local and traditional built environment. During the last decades, the world has become increasingly globalized and citizen more mobilized, and thus, ignoring the social and environmental dimensions of the local identity. The main enquiries of the research are “How did building technologies affect urban settlement’s identity?” and “What are the impacts of technologies and globalization on local identities in urban spaces? “From this perspective, the research presents firstly, a historical review that shows how old civilizations enhance their local identities using the newly discovered building materials in each era in different urban settlement and fabrics without losing the identity. The second part of the research highlights the different approaches of building technologies and urban design to present a clear understanding of ways of applying and merging between different methodologies to achieve the most efficient urban space design. The third part aims at analyzing some international and national case studies where the form and structure of particular spaces are vital to identifying the morphological elements of urban settlements and the links existing between them. In addition, it determines how the building materials are used to enrich the vocabulary of the local identity. This part ends with the deduction of the guidelines for the integration of the environmental and social dimensions within the building technologies` approaches to enhance the sustainability of local identities and thus, ending up with redefining "Urban Identity" to guide future research in such cultural areas. Finally, the research uses the comparative methodology for applying the deduced guidelines on a national case study namely “Othman`s Towers” in corniche El Maadi, and then ends up by some results in the form of strategies for future researcher, that identifies how to ensure local identity in urban settlements using new building materials and technologies to achieve social and environmental comfort within the cultural areas.

Keywords: building technologies, cultural context, environmental approach, participatory design, social dimension, urban spaces

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Authors: Svetlana Pushkar

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Eco-indicator 99 (EI99) considers fundamental life cycle assessment (LCA) uncertainties via egalitarian/egalitarian (e/e), hierarchist/hierarchist (h/h), individualist/individualist (i/i), individualist/average (i/a), egalitarian/average (e/a), and hierarchist/average (h/a) methodological options. The objective of this study is to provide a reliable two-stage nested mixed balanced Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test as a supplemental test to EI99 to address the problematic combination of similarly and not similarly produced materials usually found in building technologies. The robustness of the test was determined from both the “EI99 (all options)” stage (including e/e, i/i, h/h, e/a, i/a, and h/a - all methodological options) and the “EI99 (perspectives)” stage (including e/e, i/i, and h/h methodological options of EI99 - the methodological options with their particular weighting set or e/a, i/a, and h/a methodological options of EI99 - the methodological options with the average weighting set) of evaluating building technologies.

Keywords: building technologies, LCA uncertainty, Eco-indicator 99, two-stage nested mixed ANOVA test

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Authors: Giuliana Scuderi, Patrick Teuffel

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The proven vulnerability of the existing social housing building heritage to natural or induced earthquakes requires the development of new design concepts and conceptual method to preserve materials and object, at the same time providing new performances. An integrate intervention between civil engineering, building physics and architecture can convert the social housing districts from a critical part of the city to a strategic resource of revitalization. Referring to bio-mimicry principles the present research proposes a taxonomy with the exoskeleton of the insect, an external, light and resistant armour whose role is to protect the internal organs from external potentially dangerous inputs. In the same way, a “building exoskeleton”, acting from the outside of the building as an enclosing cage, can restore, protect and support the existing building, assuming a complex set of roles, from the structural to the thermal, from the aesthetical to the functional. This study evaluates the structural efficiency of shape memory alloys devices (SMADs) connecting the “building exoskeleton” with the existing structure to rehabilitate, in order to prevent the out-of-plane collapse of walls and for the passive dissipation of the seismic energy, with a calibrated operability in relation to the intensity of the horizontal loads. The two case studies of a masonry structure and of a masonry structure with concrete frame are considered, and for each case, a theoretical social housing building is exposed to earthquake forces, to evaluate its structural response with or without SMADs. The two typologies are modelled with the finite element program SAP2000, and they are respectively defined through a “frame model” and a “diagonal strut model”. In the same software two types of SMADs, called the 00-10 SMAD and the 05-10 SMAD are defined, and non-linear static and dynamic analyses, namely push over analysis and time history analysis, are performed to evaluate the seismic response of the building. The effectiveness of the devices in limiting the control joint displacements resulted higher in one direction, leading to the consideration of a possible calibrated use of the devices in the different walls of the building. The results show also a higher efficiency of the 00-10 SMADs in controlling the interstory drift, but at the same time the necessity to improve the hysteretic behaviour, to maximise the passive dissipation of the seismic energy.

Keywords: adaptive structure, biomimetic design, building exoskeleton, social housing, structural envelope, structural retrofitting

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Authors: Rock-Hyun Choi, Won-Seok Kang, Chang-Sik Son

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Physical activity is important for healthy living. Recently wearable devices which motivate physical activity are quickly developing, and become cheaper and more comfortable. In particular, fitness trackers provide a variety of information and need to provide well-analyzed, and user-friendly results. In this study, frequency analysis was performed to classify various data sets of Fitbit into simple activity status. The data from Fitbit cloud server consists of 263 subjects who were healthy factory and office workers in Korea from March 7th to April 30th, 2016. In the results, we found assumptions of activity state classification seem to be sufficient and reasonable.

Keywords: activity status, fitness tracker, heart rate, steps

Procedia PDF Downloads 362

Authors: Svetlana Zhikrivetskaya, Nataliya Shirokova, Roman Bikanov, Elizaveta Musatova, Yana Kovaleva, Nataliya Vetrova, Ekaterina Pomerantseva

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Nowadays there is a growing number of couples with conceiving problems due to male or female infertility. Genetic abnormalities are responsible for about 31% of all cases of male infertility. These abnormalities include both chromosomal aberrations or aneuploidies and mutations in certain genes. Chromosomal abnormalities can be easily identified, thus the development of screening panels able to reveal genetic reasons of male infertility on gene level is of current interest. There are approximately 2,000 genes involved in male fertility that is the reason why it is very important to determine the most clinically relevant in certain population and ethnic conditions. An infertility screening panel containing 48 mutations in genes AMHR2, CFTR, DNAI1, HFE, KAL1, TSSK2 and AZF locus which are the most clinically relevant for the European population according to databases NCBI and ClinVar was designed. The aim of this research was to confirm clinic relevance of these mutations in the Russian population. Genotyping was performed in 220 patients with different types of male infertility and in 57 healthy males with normozoospermia. Mutations were identified by end-point PCR with TaqMan probes in microfluidic plates. The frequency of 5 mutations in healthy males and 13 mutations in patients with infertility was revealed and estimated. The frequency of mutation c.187C>G in HFE gene was significantly lower for healthy males (8.8%) compared with patients (17.7%) and the values for the European population according to ExAc database (13.7%) and dbSNP (17.2%). Analysis of c.3454G>C, and c.1545_1546delTA mutations in the CFTR gene revealed increased frequency (0.9 and 0.2%, respectively) in patients with infertility compared with data for the European population (0.04%, respectively (ExAc, European (Non-Finnish) and for the Aggregated Populations (0.002% (ExAc), because there is no data for European population for c.1545_1546delTA mutation. The frequency of del508 mutation (CFTR) in patients (1.59%) were lower comparing with male infertility Europeans (3.34-6.25% depending on nationality) and at the same level with healthy Europeans (1.06%, ExAc, European (Non-Finnish). Analysis of c.845G>A (HFE) mutation resulted in decreased frequency in patients (1.8%) in contrast with the European population data (5.1%, respectively, ExAc, European (Non-Finnish). Moreover, obtained data revealed no statistically significant frequency difference for c.845G>A mutation (HFE) between healthy males in the Russian and the European populations. Allele frequencies of mutations c.350G>A (CFTR), c.193A>T (HFE), c.774C>T, and c.80A>G (gene TSSK2) showed no significantly difference among patients with infertility, healthy males and Europeans. Analysis of AZF locus revealed increased frequency for AZFc microdeletion in patients with male infertility. Thereby, the new data of the allele frequencies in infertility patients in the Russian population was obtained. As well as the frequency differences of mutations associated with male infertility among patients, healthy males in the Russian population and the European one were estimated. The revealed differences showed that for high effectiveness of screening panel detecting genetically caused male infertility it is very important to consider ethnic and population characteristics of patients which will be screened.

Keywords: allele frequency, azoospermia, male infertility, mutation, population

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Authors: Nadine Yehya, Chantal Maatouk

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Low energy buildings have been developed to achieve global climate commitments in reducing energy consumption. They comprise energy efficient buildings, zero energy buildings, positive buildings and passive house buildings. The reduced energy demands in Low Energy buildings call for advanced building energy modeling that focuses on studying active building systems such as heating, cooling and ventilation, improvement of systems performances, and development of control systems. Modeling and building simulation have expanded to cover different modeling approach i.e.: detailed physical model, dynamic empirical models, and hybrid approaches, which are adopted by various simulation tools. This paper uses DesignBuilder with EnergyPlus simulation engine in order to; First, study the impact of efficiency measures on building energy behavior by comparing Low energy residential model to a conventional one in Beirut-Lebanon. Second, choose the appropriate energy systems for the studied case characterized by an important cooling demand. Third, study dynamic modeling of Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) system in EnergyPlus that is chosen due to its advantages over other systems and its availability in the Lebanese market. Finally, simulation of different energy systems models with different modeling approaches is necessary to confront the different modeling approaches and to investigate the interaction between energy systems and building envelope that affects the total energy consumption of Low Energy buildings.

Keywords: physical model, variable refrigerant flow heat pump, dynamic modeling, EnergyPlus, the modeling approach

Procedia PDF Downloads 200