Personal protective equipment (PPE) restricts the dilution of skin-emitted bio-effluents, which may lead to pollutant accumulation in the breathing zone and thus intensify inhalation exposure of the wearer. This study quantifies the inhalation exposure risk caused by skin-emitted bio-effluents under PPE using ethyl acetate as a tracer combined with a mannequin method. The distributions of thermal-fluid parameters were predicted using computational fluid dynamics. The dispersion of skin bio-effluents was visualized, and the influence of breathing organ, pulmonary ventilation rate, bio-effluent emission rate, and emission location on inhalation exposure was examined. Wearing protective clothing increased the average air temperature and air velocity in the breathing zone by 0.9 °C and 0.09 m/s, respectively, compared with conditions without PPE. The neck and cuffs served as the dominant pathways for leakage of skin-emitted bio-effluents. Protective clothing led to higher inhalation exposure to skin bio-effluents than no PPE, with nasal breathing receiving slightly higher inhalation concentrations than oral breathing. When pulmonary ventilation rate increased from 6 to 9 L/minute under a standing posture and oral breathing, the relative inhalation concentration and the relative exposure index increased by 30.6% and 17.8%, respectively. Inhalation exposure also rose sharply when emission rates exceeded 700 μg h⁻¹p⁻¹. Emission location strongly affected inhalation exposure. Bio-effluents emitted from the groin resulted in substantially higher inhalation exposure than those emitted from the armpit. These findings would enhance the scientific understanding of human-related bio-effluents and further support the rational improvement of PPE design and the effective control of human-related pollutants.

Creating an efficient ward environment is crucial for the sustainable development of healthcare buildings. This study proposes a methodological framework integrating a phase change material-based thermal energy storage outdoor air system (PCM-TES-OAS) to enable personalized ward environments, aiming to enhance patient comfort and respiratory health with low energy consumption. Four representative cities from different building climate zones in China, namely Beijing, Shenyang, Chengdu, and Shenzhen, were selected for a conceptual case study. The proposed system was theoretically evaluated against a conventional fan coil unit (FCU) plus dedicated OAS (FCU + DOAS) for its summer operational performance, indoor air quality impact, and energy-saving potential. The results indicate that the PCM-TES system remains operational for over 60 % of the time across all four cities. Moreover, the new system achieves an air change rate (ACH) of 8 h⁻¹ to 10 h⁻¹ while maintaining ward CO₂ concentrations consistently at a low level (below 500 ppm). In terms of energy performance, the total summer electricity savings are estimated to be no less than 60 kWh/m² in all evaluated cities. These theoretical findings demonstrate the system’s conceptual potential to simultaneously improve patient comfort, enhance inhaled air quality, and reduce energy consumption in ward environmental control. Additionally, it is recommended that the maximum cooling capacity of the OAS and FCU in the new system be approximately 3 times and 0.3 times that of the conventional system, respectively. This study is anticipated to offer a conceptual framework and a promising new approach to designing comfortable, healthy, and sustainable ward environments.

This study addresses the challenge of designing cost-effective and energy-efficient solar energy systems for large-scale, multi-functional building complexes, which typically exhibit high and diverse energy demands. Although integrating solar power with energy storage has shown promise, existing research rarely considers the full complexity of such building types or the trade-offs between cost and renewable energy use. To fill this gap, this study develops a novel assessment framework that quantitatively evaluates system performance across both energy and economic dimensions. The framework is applied to a real-world airport cargo terminal comprising ten functional zones, evaluating six system configurations with different photovoltaic areas and battery capacities. Two optimization objectives are considered: maximizing the share of energy supplied by solar generation and minimizing the levelized cost of electricity. The results show that two of the six configurations stand out as most representative: Case 3 adopts full rooftop and façade photovoltaics with an 87.94 MWh battery, enabling 60 % renewable energy penetration and the highest overall performance score of 4.6 (out of 6), though it requires 14.5 % higher investment; Case 5 uses only façade photovoltaics without storage, delivering the maximum cost saving of 10.4 % and the lowest energy cost of 0.49 CNY/kWh. The findings reveal a clear trade-off between maximizing renewable energy use and minimizing cost. This work contributes a novel, scalable framework for evaluating and optimizing solar energy systems in complex building environments, offering practical decision support for designers, policymakers, and investors seeking to promote sustainable urban energy transitions.

The thermal performance of cylindrical latent heat storage units (C-LHSUs) in hot water tanks can be improved by using a hollow geometry structure, which effectively reduces the average distance between the heated/cooled wall and the solid-liquid interface during the charging and discharging process. To comprehensively evaluate this improvement, an unconstrained melting model for phase change materials (PCMs) was developed, enabling detailed investigation of the thermal behavior of hollow geometry LHSUs (H-LHSUs). Moreover, the impact of the ratio between the inner hollow tube radius (r) and outer tube radius (R) on the charging/discharging performance of H-LHSUs was analyzed. The results demonstrated substantial enhancements in heat transfer performance for H-LHSUs compared to conventional C-LHSUs. Specifically, the average heat transfer coefficient increased by 82.9 % during charging and 176.47 % during discharging. This improvement translated to a charging rate that was 2.46 times and a discharging rate that was 3.9 times higher than those of the C-LHSU. Furthermore, the study revealed that as the r/R ratio increased, both charging and discharging rates improved significantly, with the rate of heat transfer enhancement becoming more pronounced at higher r/R values. This research provides actionable insights for optimizing the design of LHSUs in practical applications. It underscores the importance of balancing thermal performance gains with the associated capital costs when selecting the optimal r/R ratio. The findings contribute to the advancement of energy storage technologies, offering a robust framework for improving the efficiency of thermal energy systems in hot water tanks.

Green construction transforms traditional construction practices by prioritizing energy efficiency, environmental protection, and long-term sustainability. With the construction sector accounting for 36 % of global energy consumption and 37 % of energy-related CO₂ emissions, the critical and systematic analyses of policy-based initiatives driving green construction and implementation barriers in China remain critically needed. This study addresses these gaps through a comprehensive mixed-method approach, incorporating extensive analysis of 189 publications, complemented by 9 in-depth interviews with experienced professionals (each with over 10 years of expertise). Key contributions include: (1) development of a multi-dimensional policy classification framework analyzing administrative, economic, and technological perspectives; (2) Systematic identification of five major implementation barriers through expert validation using Delphi methodology; (3) Successful international case studies are examined to offer comparative insights and targeted policy recommendations for China. This study also identifies key barriers and formulates practical solutions through a multi-stakeholder lens, integrating interview findings to enhance the relevance and applicability of the recommendations. The innovations encompass the integrated literature-expert triangulation framework for China's green construction policy assessment, combining policy document analysis with stakeholder validation to ensure robust findings. The study reveals critical policy gaps in interdepartmental coordination, financial mechanisms, and public engagement, while proposing actionable strategies including enhanced assessment systems, improved policy coherence, and expanded financial access. These findings provide evidence-based guidance for policymakers to accelerate China's construction industry transition toward carbon neutrality goals.

To explore factors that influence the likelihood of committing fraud in the construction industry, this study concentrated on senior executives and tested whether some characteristics at the individual and firm levels have impacts on the likelihood of fraud committed by top management. Based on social network theory, this study first proposes that intrafirm alumni networks may increase the probability of senior executives engaging in corrupt behavior. Then the study explored whether the effect of executives' alumni networks on their wrongdoings is influenced by external and internal corporate governance measures. To verify the hypotheses, this study collected data on 2,017 senior executives from 118 construction companies in China from 2013 to 2021. Because of the multilevel structure of the data, hierarchical linear modeling was used. The results show that alumni networks have a significant positive effect on top management fraud. The effect is weakened by external auditing, altered by board independence, and strengthened by the size of the board of directors and the size of the supervisory board. This multilevel research contributes to advancing the understanding of managers' fraudulent behavior within an organization and extends the literature on social networks and corporate governance in the construction industry.

The increasing greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions constitute one of the most significant global environmental issues. CO2 emissions from buildings and transportation are responsible for the largest proportion of total global carbon emissions from various sectors. Therefore it is necessary to utilize clean energy sources (e.g., renewable energy, energy storage systems, and electric vehicles) to decarbonize the building and transportation sectors. The integrated building transportation energy system (IBTES) is a system that combines the energy demands of buildings and transportation in an integrated manner. However, this integrated system has many issues in its practical applications, especially considering the social and economic aspects. A social and economic analysis of IBTES will consider the impacts on various stakeholders, including building owners and users, transportation users, energy suppliers, etc. This study will systematically summarize the current application and development status of IBTES from both social and economic perspectives. In terms of the social perspective, IBTES can improve energy efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions, which will have a positive impact on the environment and public health. From an economic perspective, IBTES has the potential to decrease the energy costs of buildings and transportation users. In addition, it has the potential to create new jobs in the energy and transportation sectors, and potentially attract new businesses and investments to a region. This study also summarizes several issues and challenges of IBTES, including the cost of implementing and maintaining the system, social acceptance, and inadequate related regulations. Based on this, the study proposes recommendations to effectively promote the implementation of IBTES. This study can provide some theoretical guidelines and suggestions for policymakers.

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells offer promising clean energy solutions for various applications. However, their performance relies heavily on the properties of the microporous layer, which plays a crucial role in transporting and distributing the components in the fuel cell. To date, the potential for optimising the microporous layer material structural parameters to enhance the fuel cell performance remains largely unexplored. This study aims to fill this research gap by conducting a comprehensive investigation of the effects of different microporous layer material structural parameters on the heat and mass transfer in the membrane electrode assembly. MATLAB was used for optimising the performance of the fuel cell components. The results show that increasing the microporous layer thickness from 5 to 50 μm significantly affects the species transport, leading to a substantial reduction in the molar fraction of H₂ and O₂ at the electrochemical reaction sites. Furthermore, the distribution of the liquid water saturation inside the fuel cell is influenced by the porosity and permeability of the microporous layer. By increasing the porosity from 0.3 to 0.6, the liquid water saturation at the interface of the catalyst layer and microporous layer decreases by 0.52 % and 1.12 % at output voltages of 0.5 V and 0.7 V, respectively. This reduction enhances the efficiency of internal water transport. Moreover, reducing the permeability of the microporous layer from 2 × 10^-12 to 1 × 10^-13 at 0.5 V and 0.7 V leads to an increase in liquid water saturation at the interface of the proton exchange membrane and the catalyst layer by 1.49 % and 0.74 %, respectively, causing hindrance to the transport of internal liquid water. This study provides valuable insights into the interplay between the properties of the microporous layer material properties and heat and mass transfer characteristics in proton exchange membrane fuel cell.