Positive Energy Balance Calculation in Two Case Studies

The calculation of the energy balance at the district level is complex since it includes a diverse set of loads, technologies, energy carriers, trading interactions between users and external grids (power, district heating/cooling, gas, etc.) and assumptions such as the identification of Primary Energy Factors (PEFs) in different contexts. This research validates the H2020 MAKING-CITY methodology for calculating the energy balance of Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) in two case studies: the cities of Groningen and Torrelago. For each case, the steps defined in the methodology are followed, dealing with assumptions on non-renewable Primary Energy Factors and critical elements regarding the district boundary. This research shows the applicability of the developed calculation methodology for cities in the design phase as well in the implementation phase of PEDs.

Method of Estimating the Carbon Footprint of Wastewater Treatment Plants

Wastewater treatment operations focus on removing pollutants from wastewater to meet water quality standards for public health and environmental protection. However, in recent decades new sustainability targets for wastewater treatment plants have been postulated and implemented, which assume that energy is one of the key elements. Therefore, a transition from a negative energy balance (energy demand covered by external sources) to an energy-neutral or unevenly positive energy balance of wastewater treatment has been postulated. The carbon footprint (CF) is a new measure of sustainability in the wastewater sector for determining the overall impact of wastewater treatment plants on climate change. The following paper presents a method for estimating and assessing the carbon footprint of wastewater treatment plants.

The Search for the Elixir of Life: On the Therapeutic Potential of Alkaline Reduced Water in Metabolic Syndromes

Our body composition is enormously influenced by our lifestyle choices, which affect our health and longevity. Nutrition and physical activities both impact overall metabolic condition, thus, a positive energy balance causes oxidative stress and inflammation, hastening the development of metabolic syndrome. With this knowledge, boosting endogenous and exogenous antioxidants has emerged as a therapeutic strategy for combating metabolic disorders. One of the promising therapeutic inventions is the use of alkaline reduced water (ARW). Aside from its hydrating and non-caloric properties, ARW has demonstrated strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that can help stabilize physiologic turmoil caused by oxidative stress and inflammation. This review article is a synthesis of studies where we elaborate on the intra- and extracellular effects of drinking ARW, and relate these to the pathophysiology of common metabolic disorders, such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and some cancers. Highlighting the health-promoting benefits of ARW, we also emphasize the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle by incorporating exercise and practicing a balanced diet as forms of habit.

Does Modern Lifestyle Favor Neuroimmunometabolic Changes? A Path to Obesity

Factors linked to modern lifestyles, such as physical inactivity, Western diet, and poor sleep quality have been identified as key contributors to the positive energy balance (PEB). PEB rises adipose tissue hypertrophy and dysfunction over the years, affecting cells and tissues that are metabolically critical for energy homeostasis regulation, especially skeletal muscle, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, and gut microbiota. It is known that the interaction among lifestyle factors and tissue metabolic dysfunction increases low-grade chronic systemic inflammation, leading to insulin resistance and other adverse metabolic disorders. Although immunometabolic mechanisms are widely discussed in obesity, neuroimmunoendocrine pathways have gained notoriety, as a link to neuroinflammation and central nervous system disorders. Hypothalamic inflammation has been associated with food intake dysregulation, which comprises homeostatic and non-homeostatic mechanisms, promoting eating behavior changes related to the obesity prevalence. The purpose of this review is to provide an updated and integrated perspective on the effects of Western diet, sleep debt, and physical exercise on the regulation of energy homeostasis and low-grade chronic systemic inflammation. Subsequently, we discuss the intersection between systemic inflammation and neuroinflammation and how it can contribute to energy imbalance, favoring obesity. Finally, we propose a model of interactions between systemic inflammation and neuroinflammation, providing new insights into preventive and therapeutic targets for obesity.

Economic and Energy Efficiency of Farms in Poland

Climate change and negative environmental effects are results of a simplified understanding of management processes, i.e., assuming economic effects as the basis for development, without taking into account external costs. Economically efficient facilities are not always environmentally efficient. Due to the existing conflict of economic and environmental goals, it seems necessary to look for measures that would include both economic and environmental elements in their structure. The above doubts were the main reasons for undertaking this research. One of the important sectors of the economy accepted for research, where energy is an essential factor of production, is agriculture. Agricultural production is very diversified both in terms of inputs and final products. Depending on the production direction, the processes of conversion of energy accumulated in inputs into energy accumulated in commodity products have different natures and relationships. Taking into account the importance of agriculture in the national economy and the current environmental needs of the world, the types of farms generating energy surplus and those in which the surplus is the least cost-consuming were indicated. The research used the economic and energy efficiency index, which makes it possible to jointly assess technical and economic efficiency. Assuming the need to produce food with low energy consumption and a positive energy balance, it is reasonable to develop a support system for those farms showing the highest economic and energy efficiency indicators.

Murine neuronatin deficiency is associated with a hypervariable food intake and bimodal obesity

Neuronatin (Nnat) has previously been reported to be part of a network of imprinted genes downstream of the chromatin regulator Trim28. Disruption of Trim28 or of members of this network, including neuronatin, results in an unusual phenotype of a bimodal body weight. To better characterise this variability, we examined the key contributors to energy balance in Nnat+/−p mice that carry a paternal null allele and do not express Nnat. Consistent with our previous studies, Nnat deficient mice on chow diet displayed a bimodal body weight phenotype with more than 30% of Nnat+/−p mice developing obesity. In response to both a 45% high fat diet and exposure to thermoneutrality (30 °C) Nnat deficient mice maintained the hypervariable body weight phenotype. Within a calorimetry system, food intake in Nnat+/−p mice was hypervariable, with some mice consuming more than twice the intake seen in wild type littermates. A hyperphagic response was also seen in Nnat+/−p mice in a second, non-home cage environment. An expected correlation between body weight and energy expenditure was seen, but corrections for the effects of positive energy balance and body weight greatly diminished the effect of neuronatin deficiency on energy expenditure. Male and female Nnat+/−p mice displayed subtle distinctions in the degree of variance body weight phenotype and food intake and further sexual dimorphism was reflected in different patterns of hypothalamic gene expression in Nnat+/−p mice. Loss of the imprinted gene Nnat is associated with a highly variable food intake, with the impact of this phenotype varying between genetically identical individuals.

The Methodology for Designing Residential Buildings with a Positive Energy Balance—Case Study

The article presents the results of the application of an original methodology for designing residential buildings with a positive energy balance in accordance with the principles of sustainable development. The methodology was verified using a computational example involving the selection of a compromise solution for a single-family residential building with a positive energy balance located in Warsaw, Poland. Three different models of decision-makers’ preferences were created, taking into account selected decision sub-criteria. Three technical solutions were identified, permissible according to the principles and guidelines for designing buildings with a positive energy balance. As a result of the performed calculations, the final order of the analyzed variants was obtained, from the most preferred to the least accepted solution. Variant 2 is definitely the most advantageous solution, being the best in a group of 20 to 26 evaluation sub-criteria—depending on the adopted model of the decision-maker’s preferences. Its ranking index Ri ranged from 0.773 to 0.764, while for the other variants it was much lower and varied from 0.258 to 0.268 for variant 1, and from 0.208 to 0.226 for variant 3. The methodology used for the case study proved to be applicable. The developed methodology facilitates the process of designing residential buildings with a positive energy balance, which is an extremely complex process.

The Methodology for Designing Residential Buildings with a Positive Energy Balance—General Approach

This a presents an original methodology for designing residential buildings with a positive energy balance. This process is an extremely complex undertaking. So far, no methodology with an open set of decision criteria has been developed that would include the modeling of the decisionmaker’s preferences using statistical surveys of a group of decisionmakers for this purpose. There is also no methodology relating to the interdependence of decision criteria. The present paper presents an original methodology consisting of five stages. The prepared algorithm indicates the need for changes in the classic design of residential buildings, taking into account the decision criteria that show interdependence. The proposed methodology consists in combining three methods of multi-criteria decision support: the DEMATEL method, used to determine the relations between decision criteria; the AHP/ANP method, used to build a model of the decisionmaker’s preferences, and the TOPSIS method, used to create a ranking of permissible and acceptable variants of solutions. The tool, i.e., the DEMATEL method, fulfills the expected function and enables the identification of the relations between the criteria and sub-criteria of evaluation. The AHP/ANP method fulfills the expected function and enables the ranking of evaluation criteria and sub-criteria.

Combining Sufficiency, Efficiency and Flexibility to Achieve Positive Energy Districts Targets

Energy efficiency, generation from renewable sources and more recently energy flexibility are key elements of present sustainability policies. However, we are beginning to see a recognition of the need to couple technological solutions with lifestyle and behavioral changes, sometimes labeled under the term “sufficiency”. Appropriate policies and design principles are necessary to enable sufficiency options, which in turn reveal that there is a bidirectional influence between the building and the district/city level. In this context, the authors discuss how city and building re-design should be implemented combining energy efficiency, flexibility, production from renewables and sufficiency options for achieving a positive energy balance at the district level even within the constraints of dense cities. Based on a review of recent advances, the paper provides a matrix of interactions between building and district design for use by building designers and city planners. It also compares possible scenarios implementing different strategies at the building and urban level in a case study, in order to evaluate the effect of the proposed integrated approach on the energy balance at yearly and seasonal time scales and on land take.