A Systematic Methodology for Design of Sustainable Urban Neighborhood Energy Infrastructure

The growing share of global energy consumption by cities (currently over 65%) raises the requirements for a systematic holistic approach for designing urban energy infrastructure in order to ensure its sustainability. A literature review of state-of-the-art modeling of urban energy infrastructure design emphasized the incomprehensive sustainability of the performed evaluations, as they accounted for several aspects of sustainability but missed others. Omitting important aspects can have significant implications which can put the sustainability of the energy infrastructure at risk. In this study, we attempted to develop a comprehensive model for designing sustainable energy infrastructure for urban districts, which accounts for the four aspects of sustainability: social, technical, environmental, and economic. The model is based on a four-step methodology: district characterization, a technological survey for distributed generation and energy storage, selecting suitable technologies according to social and technical criteria, and simulations of different energy infrastructure configurations to find the most suitable configurations basing on economic and environmental criteria. The research includes a case study in which the model was implemented for the Technion campus in Haifa. The developed model proved to be a comprehensive, efficient, and versatile tool for designing urban energy infrastructure.

Energy Performance Simulation in Buildings Composed of Natural and Organic Materials Within the Moroccan Rural Areas of the Atlas Mountains

The construction field uses up over one-third of the global energy consumption and contribute to 40% of CO2 emissions according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the 2020 annual reporter of United Nation, Goal 11 (Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable) which discusses sustainable, safe and efficient buildings. Therefore, Morocco has a commitment to this program by publishing the law 47-09 of energy efficiency. This work aims to study the energy efficiency of two types of building, a conventional and a natural building. Conventional building is constructed using concrete, while the natural one uses sand clay and straws. As for the technique of making the natural building, it perpetually follows the same approach accustomed in rural zones of Atlas Mountains in Morocco. In this research we also simulate, temperature and humidity variation inside these buildings using TRNSYS software. Sketch Up software was employed to design these houses. The weather database is used for a typical meteorological year (TMY). In the case of natural building, many building configurations were simulated: roof insulation, floor insulation, different types of glazing and sun protection. What's more, the thermal comfort is revealed to be more conspicuous in the case of natural building.

The Sustainable City: Advances in Renewable Energy and Energy Saving Systems

According to United Nations data, half of the world’s population lives in cities and forecasts indicate that by the middle of the 21st century, this percentage will have increased to 65%. The increase in the urban population favors the creation of a network of interactions that entails a series of material and energy flows. These cause environmental impacts that affect the quality of life of citizens and the environment as a whole. According to data from the International Energy Agency, cities occupy 3% of the planet’s surface and are responsible for 67% of global energy consumption. The effects caused by this consumption, as well as its impact on the depletion of resources, make it necessary to carry out an exhaustive study of renewable energies and new energy saving systems. This Special Issue aims to present new advances and developments in renewable energy and energy saving systems that allow cities to evolve in a sustainable way.

Daylight Harvesting Optimization for Commercial Buildings using AI Technique

As Energy consumption in buildings increases considerably from year to year due to the increase in human comfort needs and services . In addition to weather conditions, several factors influence the energy consumption for cooling buildings, such as the structure of the walls, the window-to-wall ratio and the orientation of the building. The energy consumption of buildings has been reported to represent a relatively large proportion of global energy consumption.

Eine erste Abschätzung des globalen Energieverbrauchs von Kugellagern

Rolling element bearings are found in every piece of machinery and are, therefore, a source of energy losses that can’t be ignored. During the last years a series of energy efficient bearings have been developed using specific designs or new materials aiming to reduce the losses of a bearing without sacrificing its load carrying capacity. The effect that these designs have on the global energy consumption hasn’t been quantified until now. A methodology to estimate the energy losses of the usage of a specific bearing type on a global scale is presented in this paper. The method, that is based on current standards, provides a first approximation for the determination of the energy losses of bearings and it is tested for its plausibility. The pros and cons of the proposed method are discussed, and a proposal is made on how to calculate the potential energy efficiency of newer designs.

REVIEW PAPER ON HARVESTING ENERGY USING PIEZOELECTRIC TRANSDUCERS

A life of human beings is dependent on the energy which they consume for their everyday purpose, it can be for illumination, running a gadget and many other purposes which contribute towards the development of mankind and also for economic growth. If global energy consumption is taken into consideration, every resource has its own quantity. As the years pass by, one can observe the depletion of naturally available conventional resources of energy. Hence, the world has been shifting to renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, tidal power. Even though, there isn’t any greater transformation in the energy consumption from the conventional sources due to their higher efficiency deliveries. If an alternative energy resource has to be discovered, one has to look for the sources available in the surrounding. When the road traffic is considered for an instance, the number of vehicles travelling are enormous and due to the movement, every vehicle induces a certain number of vibrations into the pavement below which collectively turns out to be plenty if the vibrations from all the vehicles are to be taken in account. The researchers have come up with a technology to harness this energy and make it usable to the consumers. To convert one form of energy to another, a transducer can be used which is capable of transforming the entire input energy into an output voltage. This form of output is said to be called ‘piezoelectricity’ where the incident pressure is potentially converted into electricity that can be utilized for numerous purposes.

A Review on Zero Energy Building Using LED DC Luminaries and Daylight Harvesting Systems

The construction sector currently accounts for about a third of global energy consumption and a large part of this consumption is directly attributed to the design and construction of buildings. A wide range of measures has been adopted and implemented to actively promote better energy efficiency in buildings, including the ZEB (Zero Energy Building) concept, which is a realistic solution for reducing CO2 emissions.The zero-energy construction is discussed in this article. Energy resources have been described. NZEB's goal is not only to minimize the building's energy consumption by using passive design methods but also to design a building that reconciles energy needs with active techniques and renewable technologies.