Socioecology Research Today

Buildings can be effectively cooled by a bioinspired sweating-like action based on thermoresponsive hydrogels (PNIPAM), which press out their stored water when exceeding the lower critical solution temperature. The surface temperature is reduced by 15 °C compared to that of a conventional hydrogel (pHEMA) and by 25 °C compared to the bare ground. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adma.201202574

Working from home is generally perceived as an effective means of reducing energy use and associated pollution from commuter transport. In order to consider the merits of mechanisms and policies to support a change in behaviour that results in greater take-up of home working, this paper applies energy consumption per commute calculations and a logit [...]

We examine the economic feasibility of using dedicated DC circuits to operate lighting in commercial buildings. We compare light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and fluorescents that are powered by either a central DC power supply or traditional AC grid electricity, with and without solar photovoltaics (PV) and battery back-up. Using DOE performance targets for LEDs and solar [...]

A number of commercial products are available for solar cooling components in residential and vehicular uses from Climate Well: http://www.climatewell.com/index.html#/applications

SITUMBRA LLC is focused on cutting edge research and development and is forming its business around manufacturing a high performance window facade system.Buildings are large consumers of energy, using 48% of all our energy needs and windows typically account for about 30% of overall building heating and cooling loads.Unlike existing window systems that are based [...]

Back in May of 2009 we published a post suggesting that the DOE’s backing of Solyndra would be an uphill battle towards commercial viability.  Since then a number of economic factors have conspired to turn that battle into loss in the first round when Solyndra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month. The first thing [...]

This paper investigates the effect of eco-labeling on rental rates, sale prices and occupancy rates. The consensus emerging from previous studies appears to be that investors in and occupiers of eco-labeled buildings obtain a bundle of benefits related to lower operating costs, reputation benefits and productivity higher. In this study, a hedonic model is used [...]

Schneider’s goals for its headquarters were straightforward. The average electricity consumption of an office building in Paris is 400 kilowatt-hours per square meter per year. The European Union has directed that all buildings reduce consumption to 50 kilowatt-hours per square meter per year by 2030. Le Hive was meant to demonstrate that the path toward [...]

Design and operation of complex systems for combined cooling, heating and power generation (CCHP) are always a matter of matching performance and demand characteristics of a thermal system set to supply electrical, cooling and heating loads, according to specific usage demands. Equipment selection and operation require the characterization of power, heating and cooling load demands, [...]

In this paper, five types of solar cooling systems were involved in a comparative study for subtropical city, which is commonly featured with long hot and humid summer. The solar cooling systems included the solar electric compression refrigeration, solar mechanical compression refrigeration, solar absorption refrigeration, solar adsorption refrigeration and solar solid desiccant cooling. Component-based simulation [...]