The Johan Cruijff ArenA (JC ArenA) is a big events location in Amsterdam, where national and international football matches, concerts and music festivals take place for up to 68,000 visitors. The JC ArenA is already one of the most sustainable, multi-functional stadia in the world and is realizing even more inspiring smart energy solutions for the venue, it’s visitors and neighbourhood. The JC ArenA presents a complex testbed for innovative energy services, with a consumption of electricity comparable to a district of 2700 households. Thanks to the 1 MWp solar installation on the roof of the venue, the JC ArenA already produces around 8% of the electricity it needs, the rest is by certified regional wind energy.Within the Seev4-City project the JC ArenA has invested in a 3 MW/2.8 MWh battery energy storage system, 14 EV charging stations and one V2G charging unit. The plan was to construct the 2.8 MWh battery with 148 2nd life electric car batteries, but at the moment of realisation there were not enough 2nd life EV batteries available, so 40% is 2nd life. The JC ArenA experienced compatibility issues installing a mix of new and second-life batteries. Balancing the second-life batteries with the new batteries proved far more difficult than expected because an older battery is acting different compared to new batteries.The EV-based battery energy storage system is unique in that it combines for the first time several applications and services in parallel. Main use is for grid services like Frequency Containment Reserve, along with peak shaving, back-up services, V2G support and optimization of PV integration. By integrating the solar panels, the energy storage system and the (bi-directional) EV chargers electric vehicles can power events and be charged with clean energy through the JC ArenA’s Energy Services. These and other experiences and results can serve as a development model for other stadiums worldwide and for use of 2nd life EV batteries.The results of the Seev4-City project are also given in three Key Performance Indicators (KPI): reduction of CO2-emission, increase of energy autonomy and reduction in peak demand. The results for the JC ArenA are summarised in the table below. The year 2017 is taken as reference, as most data is available for this year. The CO2 reductions are far above target thanks to the use of the battery energy storage system for FCR services, as this saves on the use of fossil energy by fossil power plants. Some smaller savings are by replacement of ICEby EV. Energy autonomy is increased by better spreading of the PV generated, over 6 instead of 4 of the 10 transformers of the JC ArenA, so less PV is going to the public grid. A peak reduction of 0.3 MW (10%) is possible by optimal use of the battery energy storage system during the main events with the highest electricity demand.
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The application of DC grids is gaining more attention in office applications. Especially since powering an office desk would not require a high power connection to the main AC grid but could be made sustainable using solar power and battery storage. This would result in fewer converters and further advanced grid utilization. In this paper, a sustainable desk power application is described that can be used for powering typical office appliances such as computers, lighting, and telephones. The desk will be powered by a solar panel and has a battery for energy storage. The applied DC grid includes droop control for power management and can either operate stand-alone or connected to other DC-desks to create a meshed-grid system. A dynamic DC nano-grid is made using multiple self-developed half-bridge circuit boards controlled by microcontrollers. This grid is monitored and controlled using a lightweight network protocol, allowing for online integration. Droop control is used to create dynamic power management, allowing automated control for power consumption and production. Digital control is used to regulate the power flow, and drive other applications, including batteries and solar panels. The practical demonstrative setup is a small-sized desktop with applications built into it, such as a lamp, wireless charging pad, and laptop charge point for devices up to 45W. User control is added in the form of an interactive remote wireless touch panel and power consumption is monitored and stored in the cloud. The paper includes a description of technical implementation as well as power consumption measurements.
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Background: The built environment is increasingly recognized as a determinant for health and health behaviors. Existing evidence regarding the relationship between environment and health (behaviors) is varying in significance and magnitude, and more high-quality longitudinal studies are needed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a major urban redesign project on physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB), active transport (AT), health-related quality of life (HRQOL), social activities (SA) and meaningfulness, at 29–39 months after opening of the reconstructed area. Methods: PA and AT were measured using accelerometers and GPS loggers. HRQOL and sociodemographic characteristics were assessed using questionnaires. In total, 241 participants provided valid data at baseline and follow-up. We distinguished three groups, based on proximity to the intervention area: maximal exposure group, minimal exposure group and no exposure group. Results: Both the maximal and minimal exposure groups showed significantly different trends regarding transportbased PA levels compared to the no exposure group. In the exposure groups SB decreased, while it increased in the no exposure group. Also, transport-based light intensity PA remained stable in the exposure groups, while it significantly decreased in the no exposure group. No intervention effects were found for total daily PA levels. Scores on SA and meaningfulness increased in the maximal exposure group and decreased in the minimal and no exposure group, but changes were not statistically significant. Conclusion: The results of this study emphasize the potential of the built environment in changing SB and highlights the relevance of longer-term follow-up measurements to explore the full potential of urban redesign projects.
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Citizens regularly search the Web to make informed decisions on daily life questions, like online purchases, but how they reason with the results is unknown. This reasoning involves engaging with data in ways that require statistical literacy, which is crucial for navigating contemporary data. However, many adults struggle to critically evaluate and interpret such data and make data-informed decisions. Existing literature provides limited insight into how citizens engage with web-sourced information. We investigated: How do adults reason statistically with web-search results to answer daily life questions? In this case study, we observed and interviewed three vocationally educated adults searching for products or mortgages. Unlike data producers, consumers handle pre-existing, often ambiguous data with unclear populations and no single dataset. Participants encountered unstructured (web links) and structured data (prices). We analysed their reasoning and the process of preparing data, which is part of data-ing. Key data-ing actions included judging relevance and trustworthiness of the data and using proxy variables when relevant data were missing (e.g., price for product quality). Participants’ statistical reasoning was mainly informal. For example, they reasoned about association but did not calculate a measure of it, nor assess underlying distributions. This study theoretically contributes to understanding data-ing and why contemporary data may necessitate updating the investigative cycle. As current education focuses mainly on producers’ tasks, we advocate including consumers’ tasks by using authentic contexts (e.g., music, environment, deferred payment) to promote data exploration, informal statistical reasoning, and critical web-search skills—including selecting and filtering information, identifying bias, and evaluating sources.
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Purpose: The purposes of this study were, first, to (re)design the user-interface of the activity tracker known as the MOX with the help of input from elderly individuals living independently and, second, to assess the use of and experiences with the adapted Measure It Super Simple (MISS) activity tracker in daily life. Methods: The double diamond method, which was used to (re)design the user-interface, consists of four phases: discover, define, develop, and deliver. As a departure point, this study used a list of general design requirements that facilitate the development of technology for the elderly. Usage and experiences were assessed through interviews after elderly individuals had used the activity tracker for 2 weeks. Results: In co-creation with thirty-five elderly individuals (65 to 89-years-old) the design, feedback system, and application were further developed into a user-friendly interface: the Measure It Super Simple (MISS) activity. Twenty-eight elderly individuals (65 to 78-years-old) reported that they found the MISS activity easy to use, needed limited help when setting the tracker up, and required limited assistance when using it during their daily lives. Conclusions: This study offers a generic structured methodology and a list of design requirements to adapt the interface of an existing activity tracker consistent with the skills and needs of the elderly. The MISS activity seemed to be successfully (re)designed, like the elderly who participated in this pilot study reported that anyone should be able to use it.
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Sustainability is without doubt one of the most important challenges of our time. How can we develop prosperity, without compromising the life of future generations? Information systems (IS) provide organizations with the ability to change and improve business processes to better support sustainable practices. Therefore, IS can make a contribution to the sustainable development of organizations. However, the organizational change aspects of Green IS are covered only marginally in the emerging literature. This paper aims to contribute the debate on Green IS, by highlighting the role of sustainability in the projects developing or implementing IS.
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Population ageing has been a focus of research since the 1960s (Michael et al. 2006), and it has become a domain of international discussions, debates and research throughout a myriad of disciplines including housing, urban planning and real estate (Buffel and Phillipson 2016, van Bronswijk 2015, Kort 2017). Kazak et al. (2017) described how the ageing population has a profound impact on the real estate market, which is transforming in terms of availability of retirement accommodation for older people including accessibility, adaptability, and the availability of single-floor dwellings. Older people usually have a strong connection with the environment they understand and know well (van Hoof et al. 2016), enabling them to spend the latter years of their life in a familiar setting, which, in turn, influences their self-confidence, independence and the potential to successfully age in place. Older people are encouraged to continue living in their homes a familiar environment to them, instead of moving to an institutional care facility, and this is referred to as “ageing-in-place” (van Hoof 2010). This can be supported by creating a functional and spatial structure of cities that are friendly to older people (van Hoof et al. 2018, van Hoof and Kazak 2018). In the domain of environmental design, a series of home modifications can be identified. The most frequently encountered measures in and around the home are adaptations to improve the accessibility of the home (i.e., removal of barriers such as thresholds, installation of stair lifts in multi-storey homes, and the replacement of bath tubs by walk-in showers,). Separately from these expensive measures and adaptations, simple handgrips can improve the accessibility, safety and mobility of older people (van Hoof et al. 2010, van Hoof et al. 2013). A further concern that should be considered within the living environment is the lack of storage space for wheeled walkers and mobility scooters (including a place to charge batteries) whilst living in an apartment block with limited space to manoeuvre on corridors (Kazak et al. 2017). However, with increasing demands for care, it is not always possible to remain living in one’s own home and moving into a residential or nursing facility is the only remaining option; whereby, specialist and/or nursing care can be accessed and provided in these living environments (van Hoof et al. 2009). Policy principles within long-term care aim to provide a home from home environment for their residents (Moise et al. 2004). Several specialised housing models have been developed in order to facilitate this person-centred care approach, as more traditional institutional settings often do not match with the new holistic and therapeutic goals (Verbeek 2017). Radical alterations have been made in comparison with traditional nursing homes, implementing changes in the organisational, physical and social environment of settings (Verbeek et al. 2009, van Hoof et al. 2009). For example, smaller groups of older people (six to seven persons) form a household, with nursing staff having integrated tasks, including assistance with activities of daily living, preparing meals, organising activities and doing household chores together with residents. Daily life is mainly determined by residents and nursing staff, and the physical environment resembles an archetypal house. With this distinct increase and popular notion of the role real estate plays in ageing-in-place and living well in old age, there is also a shifting focus regarding participation, activation, and helping each other. Home modifications and the home environment itself have a profound influence on the care provided and received at home. In short, the fewer barriers there are at home, the easier and less onerous responsibilities placed on the family carer(s) (Duijnstee 1992). Family carers themselves need such environmental interventions that support care, and a sense of community and belonging. Enabling one to age-in-place and to successfully age requires more than a simple occupational therapeutic approach of environmental interventions. It requires innovative new housing encompassing suitable technology arrangements that can facilitate and enable older adults to live comfortably into old age, preferably with others and offer family members (i.e., children, grandchildren and spouse). Furthermore, interconnecting technology into such environments can offer family members the option and opportunity to monitor their loved one remotely whilst all actors know there are additional safety barriers in place. This chapter discusses and provides innovative examples from a Dutch social housing association and their practices, which illustrates a new approach to environmental design that focuses more on building new communities in conjunction with the building itself, as opposed to the occupational therapeutic approaches and environmental support. First, we take a closer look at why we care for each other, which is the basis of the participation society, in which we must look after people who are near to us. This should ideally be at the basis of new housing arrangements -in which people are stimulated to meet, engage, survey and care- that social housing associations are developing, retrofitting and developing.
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Background. Adequate and user-friendly instruments for assessing physical function and disability in older adults are vital for estimating and predicting health care needs in clinical practice. The Late-Life Function and Disability Instrument Computer Adaptive Test (LLFDICAT) is a promising instrument for assessing physical function and disability in gerontology research and clinical practice. Objective. The aims of this study were: (1) to translate the LLFDI-CAT to the Dutch language and (2) to investigate its validity and reliability in a sample of older adults who spoke Dutch and dwelled in the community. Design. For the assessment of validity of the LLFDI-CAT, a cross-sectional design was used. To assess reliability, measurement of the LLFDI-CAT was repeated in the same sample. Methods. The item bank of the LLFDI-CAT was translated with a forward-backward procedure. A sample of 54 older adults completed the LLFDI-CAT, World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0, RAND 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey physical functioning scale (10 items), and 10-Meter Walk Test. The LLFDI-CAT was repeated in 2 to 8 days (mean4.5 days). Pearson’s r and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) (2,1) were calculated to assess validity, group-level reliability, and participant-level reliability. Results. A correlation of .74 for the LLFDI-CAT function scale and the RAND 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey physical functioning scale (10 items) was found. The correlations of the LLFDI-CAT disability scale with the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 and the 10-Meter Walk Test were .57 and .53, respectively. The ICC (2,1) of the LLFDI-CAT function scale was .84, with a group-level reliability score of .85. The ICC (2,1) of the LLFDI-CAT disability scale was .76, with a group-level reliability score of .81. Limitations. The high percentage of women in the study and the exclusion of older adults with recent joint replacement or hospitalization limit the generalizability of the results. Conclusions. The Dutch LLFDI-CAT showed strong validity and high reliability when used to assess physical function and disability in older adults dwelling in the community.
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ABSTRACT Purpose: To gain insight into determinants of physical activity in wheelchair users with spinal cord injury or lower limb amputation, from the perspective of both wheelchair users and rehabilitation professionals. Methods: Seven focus groups were conducted: five with wheelchair users (n=25) and two with rehabilitation professionals (n¼11). The transcripts were analysed using a sequential coding strategy, in which the reported determinants of physical activity were categorized using the Physical Activity for people with a Disability (PAD) model. Results: Reported personal determinants of physical activity were age, general health status, stage of life, demotivation due to difficulty burning calories, available time and energy, balance in daily life, attitude, and history of a physically active lifestyle. Reported environmental determinants were professional guidance, inconvenient exercise times, accessibility of facilities, costs, transportation difficulties, equipment difficulties, and social support. Conclusions: Important, changeable determinants of physical activity that might be influenced in future lifestyle interventions for wheelchair users are: balance in daily life leading to more time and energy to exercise, attitude towards physical activity, professional guidance, accessibility of facilities (providing information on how and where to find accessible facilities), and social support (learning how to get this)
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This study offers an overview of the natural development of the use of an activity tracker, as well as the relative importance of a range of determinants from literature. Decay is exponential but slower than may be expected from existing literature. Many factors have a small contribution to sustained use. The most important determinants are technical condition, age, user experience, and goal-related factors. This finding suggests that activity tracking is potentially beneficial for a broad range of target groups, but more attention should be paid to technical and user experience–related aspects of activity trackers.
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