Appropriate energy efficient building envelope technologies for social housing in the Irish climate
Extensive dynamic thermal simulation parametric analyses have been undertaken of energy efficient fabric alterations to social housing in Northern Ireland culminating in priorities for deployment. Five ȁ8basecaseȁ9 simulation models were used to represent the predominant characteristics of the existing social housing stock. The majority of technologies studied provided annual space-heating energy savings of more than 10%. The variation of energy savings and economic performance across the basecases highlights the value of a dwelling specific approach to selecting energy efficient building envelope technology solutions for energy rehabilitation programmes. The paper further outlines a framework for prioritising appropriate energy efficient building envelope technological solutions for a large regional building stock, i.e. existing social housing stock in Northern Ireland, highlighting influential parameters. An energy efficient building envelope inter-technology ranking approach provides a method of comparison across the various different dwellings in the regional housing stock. Airtightness ranked consistently highest across the dwellings studied with some solar technologies performing better than more technologically mature solutions such as insulation.
Towards exporting renewable energy from MENA region to Europe: An investigation into domestic energy use and householders’ energy behaviour in Libya
Renewable energy in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, particular solar energy, can be connected to Europe to provide the Northern neighbouring countries with electricity. To achieve this long term objective, it is necessary to understand the local domestic consumption of electricity in the MENA region as the main consumer of energy. The understanding of current and future trends could help to provide a complete picture of the energy situation in MENA region and the feasibility of exporting energy to Europe. For this reason, this paper investigates the domestic energy use and occupants’ energy behaviour in Libya. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of domestic energy consumption and householders’ awareness, attitudes and behaviour on the overall energy consumption in Libya and how this could affect the peak demand, capacity, future trends and government energy budget. The paper also investigates the sustainability aspect of consumer products and the awareness and attitude of consumers towards consumption and demand. A comprehensive survey has been conducted to evaluate several aspects of domestic energy demand and characteristics in Libya. The findings have indicated that there is a significant increase in energy demands in the household sector in Libya and it is significant to have a clear strategy to reduce carbon emission and energy use by improving occupants’ behaviour as well as utilising other sustainable measures. Minor adjustment in householders’ energy consumption behaviour and the technology used to generate energy could provide significant financial savings and contribute significantly to the reduction in carbon emission and energy consumption. This will allow significant benefit to the local economy and the energy sector in Libya but at the same time could provide sustainable energy resources for Europe on the long term.
Evaluation of buckling load and dynamic performance of steel shear wall retrofitted with strips made of shape memory alloy
One of the most imperfections of the steel shear wall is out of plane displacements that cause severe damage in both structural and non-structural elements. In this paper, the effects of shape-memory alloys on steel shear walls are investigated. First, a numerical analysis using the finite element method in ABAQUS software has been carried out according to an experimental test. The results of the numerical analysis have been verified with experimental results. Next, shape-memory alloy fibers have been added vertically and horizontally to various parts of the steel shear wall. The results show that retrofitting with the shape-memory alloy reduces the out-of-plane displacement of the steel shear wall under both cyclic and seismic loadings. Besides, the buckling load in the steel shear wall increases when it is retrofitted with the shape-memory alloy. Also, the total out-of-plane movement (accumulated absolute displacements) of the steel shear wall and non-structural damage are controlled by the characteristic of a shape-memory alloy material called “super-elastic”.