Energy efficiency has gained a lot of prominence in recent debates on urban sustainability and housing policy due to its potential consequences for climate change. At the local, national and also international level, there are numerous initiatives to promote energy savings and the use of renewable energy to reduce the environmental burden. There is a lot of literature on energy saving and other forms of energy efficiency in housing. However, how to bring this forward in the management of individual housing organisations is not often internationally explored. An international research project has been carried out to find the answers on management questions of housing organisations regarding energy efficiency. Eleven countries have been included in this study: Germany, the United Kingdom (more specifically: England), France, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Austria and Canada. The state of the art of energy efficiency in the housing management of non-profit housing organisations and the embedding of energy efficiency to improve the quality and performance of housing in management practices have been investigated, with a focus on how policy ambitions about energy efficiency are brought forward in investment decisions at the estate level. This paper presents the conclusions of the research
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Een verbetering van de effectiviteit heeft de grootste invloed op een verhoging van de productiviteit. Effectiviteit is veel belangrijker en bepaalt mede de efficiency. Eerst denken dan doen, eerst wat dan hoe
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from the article: "Abstract The way in which construction logistics is organised has considerable impact on production flow, transportation efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions and congestion, particularly in urban areas such as city centres. In cities such as London and Amsterdam municipalities have issued new legislation and stricter conditions for vehicles to be able to access cities and city centres in particular. Considerate clients, public as well private, have started developing tender policies to encourage contractors to reduce the environmental impact of construction projects. This paper reports on an ongoing research project applying and assessing developments in the field of construction logistics in the Netherlands. The cases include contractors and third party logistics providers applying consolidation centres and dedicated software solutions to increase transportation efficiency. The case show various results of JIT logistics management applied to urban construction projects leading to higher transportation efficiencies, and reduced environmental impact and increased production efficiency on site. The data collections included to-site en on-site observations, measurement and interviews. The research has shown considerable reductions of vehicles to deliver goods and to transport workers to site. In addition the research has shown increased production flow and less waste such as inventory, waiting and unnecessary motion on site."
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The primary aims of this study were (1) to evaluate whole-body mechanical efficiency (ME) in a large group of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with a wide range of degrees of illness and (2) to examine how ME in COPD is related to absolute work rate and indices of disease severity during exercise testing. A total of 569 patients (301 male patients; GOLD stage I: 28, GOLD stage II: 166, GOLD stage III: 265, and GOLD stage IV: 110) with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were included in the data analysis. Individual maximal workload (watt), peak minute ventilation ((Equation is included in full-text article.)E, L/min body temperature and pressure, saturated), and peak oxygen uptake ((Equation is included in full-text article.)O2, mL/min standard temperature and pressure, dry) were determined from a maximal incremental cycle ergometer test. Ventilatory and metabolic response parameters were collected during a constant work rate test at 75% of the individual maximal workload. From the exercise responses of the constant work rate test, the gross ME was calculated. The mean whole-body gross ME was 11.0 ± 3.5% at 75% peak power. The ME declined significantly (P < .001) with increasing severity of the disease when measured at the same relative power. Log-transformed absolute work rate (r = .87, P < .001) was the strongest independent predictor of gross ME. Body mass was the single other variable that contributed significantly to the linear regression model. Gross ME in COPD was largely predicted by the absolute work rate (r = .87; P < .001) while indices of the severity of the disease did not predict ME in COPD.
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Although governments are investing heavily in big data analytics, reports show mixed results in terms of performance. Whilst big data analytics capability provided a valuable lens in business and seems useful for the public sector, there is little knowledge of its relationship with governmental performance. This study aims to explain how big data analytics capability led to governmental performance. Using a survey research methodology, an integrated conceptual model is proposed highlighting a comprehensive set of big data analytics resources influencing governmental performance. The conceptual model was developed based on prior literature. Using a PLS-SEM approach, the results strongly support the posited hypotheses. Big data analytics capability has a strong impact on governmental efficiency, effectiveness, and fairness. The findings of this paper confirmed the imperative role of big data analytics capability in governmental performance in the public sector, which earlier studies found in the private sector. This study also validated measures of governmental performance.
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Abstract: Last few years the hindrance, accidents, pollution and other negative side effects of construction projects and namely construction transport have become an issue particularly in urban areas across Europe such as in London, and in the Netherlands as well, including the cities of Utrecht, Rotterdam and Amsterdam. Municipalities have issued new legislation and stricter conditions for vehicles to be able to access cities and city centres in particular and accessibility of older and polluting vehicles. Considerate clients, public as well private, have started developing tender policies to encourage contractors to reduce the environmental impact of construction projects. Contractors and third party logistics providers have started applying consolidation centres. These developments have shown considerable reductions of number of vehicles needed to deliver goods and to transport workers to site. In addition these developments have led to increased transport efficiency, labour productivity and cost reductions on site as well as down the supply chain. Besides these developments have led to increased innovations in the field of logistics planning software, use of ICT , and handling hardware and equipment. This paper gives an overview of current developments and applications in the field of construction logistics in the Netherlands, and in a few project cases in particular. Those cases are underway as part of an ongoing applied research project and studied by using an ethnographic participative action research approach. The case findings and project results show initial advantages how the projects, the firms involved and the environment can profit from the advancement of logistics management leading to reduced environmental impact and increased efficiencies of construction transport.
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Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) are increasingly developed for hospital nursing practice, yet their impact on decision-making, workflow efficiency, and patient outcomes remains complex. This rapid review synthesizes findings from 21 studies, highlighting both the benefits and challenges of CDSS implementation focused on three key areas. CDSS can enhance nursing decision-making by reducing variability and improving standardization, but there are concerns about system usability and the tendency to override recommendations. While CDSS improve workflow efficiency by prioritizing tasks, issues such as alert fatigue and poor interoperability with hospital systems hinder their potential. Patient outcomes benefit from CDSS-driven medication safety and risk prevention, yet adherence to recommendations varies among nurses. These findings underscore the need for user-centered CDSS that align with nursing values. Future research should explore long-term effectiveness, implementation strategies and best practices for integrating CDSS into nursing workflows.
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Sedimentation devices have been widely implemented to remove suspended solids and attached pollutants from stormwater before entering surface waters. The treatment performance of these best management practices (BMPs) on fine particles is rarely investigated in a standardized way. To overcome this information gap a reliable and standardized testing procedure is formulated.Four devices have been tested on their suspended sediments removal efficiency at different discharges and particle sizes, using the newly developed standardized full scale test method. The observed removal rates of the facilities with a storage volume in the order of 1.5 m3 and settling surface around 1 m2 drop to low removal efficiencies at flow rates of 10 l/s or more. For small sized sediments (up to 63 μm) the removal efficiency is below 50%. The results of the experiments can be used to improve both the design and the dimensions of stormwater treatment devices.
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In this paper we present a methodology to measure the energy consumption of software. The methodology is based on detailed monitoring of power usage of hardware components. We explain our lab setup after which we apply the methodology to different pieces of DNS resolver software. Through this case study we demonstrate some of the uses of our methodology, as it can be used to determine which software performs the tasks at hand in the most energy efficient way, what the influence of software configuration can be, etcetera.
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Electrification of transportation, communication, working and living continues worldwide. Televisions, telephones, servers are an important part of everyday life. These loads and most sustainable sources as well, have one thing in common: Direct Current. The Dutch research and educational programme ‘DC – road to its full potential’ studies the impact of feeding these appliances from a DC grid. An improvement in energy efficiency is expected, other benefits are unknown and practical considerations are needed to come to a proper comparison with an AC grid. This paper starts with a brief introduction of the programme and its first stages. These stages encompass firstly the commissioning, selection and implementation of a safe and user friendly testing facility, to compare performance of domestic appliances when powered with AC and DC. Secondly, the relationship between the DC-testing facility and existing modeling and simulation assignments is explained. Thirdly, first results are discussed in a broad sense. An improved energy efficiency of 3% to 5% is already demonstrated for domestic appliances. That opens up questions for the performance of a domestic DC system as a whole. The paper then ends with proposed minor changes in the programme and guidelines for future projects. These changes encompass further studying of domestic appliances for product-development purposes, leaving less means for new and costly high-power testing facilities. Possible gains are 1) material and component savings 2) simpler and cheaper exteriors 3) stable and safe in-house infrastructure 4) whilst combined with local sustainable generation. That is the road ahead. 10.1109/DUE.2014.6827758
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