John Littlewood

Assessing retrofitted external wall insulation using infrared thermography

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the methodology and results of using thermography for pre‐retrofit (pre‐R:T) and post‐retrofit (post‐R:T) surveys undertaken to qualitatively assess retrofitted external wall insulation (EWI) on pre‐1919 existing dwellings with solid exterior walls.Design/methodology/approach – This study involved undertaking qualitative thermography surveys before and after installation of EWI at two mid‐terrace dwellings in Swansea (UK). One dwelling was part of a whole‐street approach and the other was an isolated installation.Findings – The two case studies have provided evidence of potential thermal bridges created as a result of an incomplete covering of EWI. Whilst overall heat loss appears to have been reduced, further evidence is required to establish the extent to which these thermal bridges reduce overall thermal performance.Research limitations/implications – Only two schemes undertaken in Swansea (UK) are represented in this study and are therefore not a refle...

Passive Cooling Strategies for Multi-storey Residential Buildings in Tehran, Iran and Swansea, UK

Like the UK, the residential sector in Iran has a significant share of the national energy consumption. Therefore, efforts are needed to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from dwellings. This paper discusses two case studies for residential apartment buildings and explores the cooling strategies which could be adopted to reduce energy usage and the associated GHG emissions. For case study one (in Tehran) results from dynamic thermal modelling and simulation tests are presented that assess the effectiveness of a number of design cooling strategies. These include appropriate orientation, solar shading and thermal mass with night time ventilation. These strategies are seen as effective methods to control heat gain and to dissipate excess heat from the residential apartment building during the summer. For case study two (in Swansea) pilot results from spot tests undertaken during interviews with apartment occupants are presented. These spot results illustrate that dynamic thermal modelling should have been undertaken by the design team to inform the design decisions for this building, which was completed and occupied in November 2011, since internal conditions exceed recommended comfort conditions for level four (of the code for sustainable homes) dwellings. Furthermore, measures such as solar shading may need to be retrofitted and combined with a change to the ventilation strategy to reduce overheating during the year. The basis for the paper is to compare the results of two residential apartment buildings that both experience similar problems of overheating, even though they are located in two different countries and adopt different methodologies for recording the data. Lessons adopted as part of case study one to reduce overheating are being considered as potential solutions for case study two.

In-Construction Testing of the Thermal Performance of Dwellings Using Thermography

If the UK target for all new homes to be zero carbon by 2016 is to be achieved in practice, and not just in theory, considerable attention will need to be paid to closing the gap between designed and built performance. Physical test methods capable of providing evidence that the design thermal performance of the building fabric is achieved in construction will be a key element in seeking to close this gap. This paper presents an argument for developing test methods suitable for in-construction testing, and explores the benefits and limitations of thermal imaging techniques (thermography). The method and findings of a pilot thermography study are reported, which identifies some practical considerations for the use of the technique on a “live” construction site. The paper will be of interest to thermography practitioners, housing developers and researchers interested in methods of investigating the thermal performance of energy efficient dwellings.

An energy mapping methodology to reduce energy consumption in manufacturing operations

The manufacturing industry is increasingly accountable for the environmental impact resulting from its activities. Research indicates that specific production processes within manufacturing plants generate significant environmental impact through energy consumption. To understand the consumption of energy in a production environment, it is necessary to outline the energy flow within the facility, along with the classification of energy usage and its relationship to processes and production outputs. It is also important to identify auxiliary (non-value added) energy within production as the area with the greatest potential for savings through changes in operational behaviour. This article introduces a practical process mapping methodology that combines energy management with value stream mapping. The methodology is based on ‘Lean’ manufacturing principles and on application to a couple of industry use cases has been shown to successfully illustrate the relationship between the energy usage and production activities for a particular value stream. Furthermore, the significant energy users in relation to the actual production process steps have been identified, and energy reduction opportunities of 42% and 50% have been quantified.

The Low-Carbon Retrofit of a UK Conservation Area Terrace: Introducing a Pattern Book of Energy-Saving Details

This paper reports on a live UK retrofit project to a large terraced dwelling in Liverpool, built circa 1875. The retrofit project introduces a range of measures to improve the energy efficiency of, and therefore reduce carbon dioxide emissions from a larger terraced house. The architectural detailing that has been developed by the first author is discussed and illustrated, taking account of Conservation Area requirements and the paper sets out how the detailing has been developed to carefully respond to both the internal and external aesthetics of the property. An overall strategy for improvement is outlined and the proposed detailing is compared to existing conditions. ‘Before’ and ‘after’ heat loss and energy usage is compared and strategies for monitoring, wider implementation and future directions are also outlined. This paper will be of interest to designers, environmental engineers, landlords and contractors considering the upgrade of existing dwellings to minimize energy and carbon use and how best to assess the effectiveness of these measures when working on dwellings that have challenging planning requirements.

Smart Energy Control Systems for Sustainable Buildings

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An (un)attainable Map of Sustainable Urban Regeneration

Reuben et al. (2010) suggests that ‘before we can effectively change a system, we must first improve our understanding of the system’. In this spirit, the paper attempts to evaluate the knowledge obtained from interviews with key stakeholders engaged on an urban regeneration project in Swansea, UK known as ‘Urban Village’. Urban regeneration is an activity that is largely characterised by complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity. The tacit knowledge acquired from the interviews with the stakeholders of the Urban Village project have been mapped out with IDEFO language in order to record data and processes that have characterised the project. The intermediate goal of this effort is to recover the connections missed by a first fragmentary subdivision of the collected interviews. In order to achieve this goal, we have re-mapped out the previously collected responses, by so creating a decision-making process tool aimed to orient professionals. In the process we have managed to create a device for the guidance and assessment of the decision making process in urban regeneration. The ultimate goal will be hence reflected in the provision of a tool that provides more scope for auditing the decision process in urban regeneration rather that leaving it up to expert individuals.

Design Philosophy of the Traditional Kuwaiti House

Architecture represents the art of planning, designing, building and decorating. Also it reflects the identity, culture and social realities of whole civilizations, captures and converses with the environment of its inception be it the natural climatic environment or the values, norms and belief systems. The study of a given architecture, therefore, implies extensive knowledge about the society, its system of reference and its climate to properly identify and interpret the manifestations of all these factors in the art of building. The study of the traditional Kuwaiti architecture, which is the focus of this paper, requires an understanding of both the natural and social environment of Kuwait. The traditional Kuwaiti house was conceived in a time when traditions and rules drawn from Islamic precepts had the upper hand. It was also built in a natural environment characterized by extreme temperatures, the people who built them were simple people, with very little wealth, but very resourceful. All these factors produced a vernacular architecture that is highly compatible with various aspects of its environment. However, after the discovery of oil in the Gulf region in 1930, and the financial enrichment of the country, people started to opt for more modern styles of building for their houses. Such new houses proved very unbefitting to neither the Kuwaiti climatic environment nor the Islam-informed social climate. This paper introduces research which is part of a doctorate research project conducted by the lead author at Cardiff Metropolitan University. The paper discusses the traditional Kuwaiti architecture and highlights the positive attributes it enjoys and which should be preserved and optimized rather than supplanted by the introduction of new 21 st Century

Development of a framework of key performance indicators to identify reductions in energy consumption in a medical devices production facility

ABSTRACT The consumption of energy in manufacturing operations is growing in significance and approaches to reduce the resulting environmental impacts are necessary. Whilst companies have focused on reducing energy at a facilities level, research indicates that specific production processes generate significant environmental impact through energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Potential energy savings have been identified in production processes; however the necessary tools are missing. The development of energy performance indicators have been described in theory but there is little evidence of their successful application in practice. This research proposes the application of a normalised co-efficient to view production and energy data and the development of a rolling energy performance co-efficient to provide alerts to ‘out-of-control’ production operations. Implementation of the approach in a large medical devices manufacturing facility has identified significant savings. Key consideration in the development of energy key performance indicators for production operations are described.

Development of a Holistic Method to Analyse the Consumption of Energy and Technical Services in Manufacturing Facilities

This paper was published in Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies on 28 May 2017 (online) available at https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52076-6_9