Upgrade or replace?: The effect of the EPBD on the choice between improvement or replacement

What is better: improvement or replacement by new construction? The choice between life cycle extension and replacement of existing buildings is at itself a vital but very difficult decision, involving a wide range of different aspects and affecting several contrary and often conflicting interests. The emerging ecological awareness of the...

Minimum impact house prototype for sustainable building

The Minihouse is a prototupe for a sustainable townhouse. On a site of only 29 sqm it offers 154 sqm of urban life. The project 'Minimum Impact House' adresses two important questions: How do we provide living space in the cities without distroying the landscape? How to improve sustainably the ecological, economical and socio-cultural...

Energy efficient walking with central pattern generators: From passive dynamic walking to biologically inspired control

Like human walking, passive dynamic walking—i.e. walking down a slope with no actuation except gravity—is energy efficient by exploiting the natural dynamics. In the animal world, neural oscillators termed central pattern generators (CPGs) provide the basic rhythm for muscular activity in locomotion. We present a CPG model, which automatically...

17 GHz RF Front-Ends for Low-Power Wireless Sensor Networks

Economic advantages of applying model predictive control to distributed energy resources: The case of micro-CHP systems

The increasing presence of distributed energy resources, information and intelligence in the electricity infrastructure increases the possibilities for larger economic efficiency of power systems. This work shows the possible cost advantages of applying a model predictive control (MPC) strategy to residential energy systems. MPC can take future...

Development and evaluation of ultra high pressure waterjet cutting

Abrasive waterjet (AWJ) cutting is a machining process to cut wide range of materials from soft materials such as rubber, leather to hard materials such as metals by means of a high-velocity slurry jet, formed as a result of injecting abrasive particles into a waterjet. The machining action is the result of these particles impacting against a...

Policies for improving energy efficiency in the European housing stock

According to EC forecasts, if energy efficiency could be increased 1% annually until 2010, two-thirds of the potential energy saving in the EU could be achieved. This would comply with 40% of the EU's Kyoto obligation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 8% on the 1990 level by 2010-12, by cutting 200 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year....

Energy efficiency and low-carbon technologies in urban renewal

Discussion on the potential impact of the energy certificate on existing housing: The UK as a case study

In 2003 the European Commission introduced the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) in recognition of the importance of energy savings in the urban housing stock. One of the key elements described in the Directive is the introduction of energy certificates in a property transaction. This article discusses the anticipated efficiency...

Energy certificate in the energy performance of buildings directive: Effectiveness of the application on the existing housing stock in the UK

Power Management for Portable Devices

The use of fiscal instruments in sustainable building policies

Although progressive government guidelines and knowledge about sustainable building exist, sustainability measures are not adopted in large scale. Several barriers have been identified, especially the perceived costs of implementing environmental management and the lack of market demand. The choice of fiscal instruments is an important issue in...

Energy-free systems: Theory, conception, and design of statically balanced spring mechanisms