ABSTRACT
The European fabric fairs for the autumn/winter 2023/24 season were held in a hesitant spirit, reflecting economic uncertainties affecting the whole of the textile and clothing industry. The industry has faced persistent disruptions to supply chains caused by lockdowns, which have continued to be imposed in major textile and clothing producing countries in an attempt to stem the spread of COVID-19. Furthermore, the war in Ukraine has introduced additional challenges—including difficulties in procuring raw materials and sharp increases in fuel and energy costs. At the same time, calls for the European textile and clothing industry to take action to reduce the damaging impact of its operations on the environment have intensified. It was evident at the fairs that many exhibitors had acknowledged these calls in the development of their product ranges for the autumn/winter 2023/24 season. Many had turned to eliminating dyes which contain harmful synthetic chemicals from their ranges and some had collaborated with leading innovators in the development of dyes which contain natural pigments, plant-based materials and, in some cases, fermented foodstuffs. For several exhibitors, it was important to replace finishing treatments which contain toxic chemicals with finishing treatments containing natural substances while for others the key considerations were traceability and transparency in the design and development of their ranges. The key colours for the autumn/winter 2023/24 season are rich and earthy, although there are some exceptions to this trend. Notably, grey is prominent—and silver is the principal metallic colour of the season. Print and pattern are prominent in collections for the season and, importantly, eccentric and fantastical graphic designs dominate. Designs which feature and surrealist imagery are prevalent while designs which are influenced by folklore and classical antiquity are popular. Also popular are designs which feature photographic imagery of landscapes and urban scenery, and designs which feature hand drawn illustrations, references to pop art, and collage. © Textiles Intelligence Limited 2022.
ABSTRACT
The European yarn fairs for the autumn/winter 2023/24 season were held in a hesitant spirit, reflecting economic uncertainties affecting the whole of the textile and clothing industry. The industry has faced persistent disruptions to supply chains caused by lockdowns, which have continued to be imposed in major textile and clothing producing countries in an attempt to stem the spread of COVID-19. Furthermore, the war in Ukraine has introduced additional challenges—including difficulties in procuring raw materials and sharp increases in fuel and energy costs. At the same time, calls for the European textile and clothing industry to take action to reduce the damaging impact of its operations on the environment have intensified. It was evident at the fairs that many exhibitors had acknowledged these calls in the development of their product ranges for the autumn/winter 2023/24 season. Many had turned to using recycled waste materials in a bid to improve their sustainability credentials while some had implemented strategies aimed at reducing energy and water consumption and others had replaced materials derived from petroleum with natural materials. Several exhibitors had developed yarns made using materials derived from post-consumer waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles. However, claims made about the environmental sustainability of such materials faced some challenges, given that synthetic fibres are known to be a cause of microplastics pollution. Yarns made from natural fibres, especially merino wool, were prevalent at the yarn fairs. However, there was a consensus among exhibitors that the industry is facing pressures to guarantee the welfare of the animals used in its supply chains. There was also a consensus that consumers are expecting manufacturers to be more responsible and transparent about the animal fibres they use. One of the ways in which manufacturers aim to meet these expectations in their product ranges for the autumn/winter 2023/24 season is to achieve compliance with international certification schemes, such as the Responsible Wool Standard (RWS). © Textiles Intelligence Limited 2022.
ABSTRACT
The study concerns the preparation of post-consumer food packaging for selective collection that takes place in households. The previously reported results suggested that the economic cost of washing the packaging exceeded the value of recyclable materials. A shortage of up-to-date papers on the economic balance of packaging washing, taking into account current trends in the increase of prices of materials and energy carriers, has been identified. The main objective of this study was to determine the effect of the application of particular heat sources on the total cost of preparing the glass and plastic packaging for selective collection, as well as to compare the cost with the economic value of recyclables. Over the last ten years, a drop in the purchase price of glass cullet and post-consumer plastic, as well as an increase in the cost of cold and hot water, have been reported. Accordingly, the profit of packaging cleaning, defined as the difference between the value of recyclable materials and the cost of washing them, has decreased. The energy consumed for water heating was identified as the most relevant factor affecting the entire economic balance. Even assuming the most efficient water heating solutions, the pre-treatment of the post-consumer food packaging turned out to be unprofitable. The conclusion reached in the previously published study has been confirmed.
ABSTRACT
In this paper, a novel method to effectively mitigate the spread of COVID-19 at the local level due to contact with any surfaces has been introduced. Our innovation - a device called 'Touch-less Doorbell' can well prove to be an essential safety shield for the common public in their fight against this pandemic. This idea of the contactless doorbell will stand out from conventional ones installed in our houses in terms of being durable, energy-efficient and cost-effective. Once an infected person uses the doorbell, the virus holds onto that and spreads accordingly when an uninfected person touches the same. The existing doorbell itself can be reused by integrating some power electronics components without entirely replacing the existing one. Thus, the doorbell can be made to operate in the touchless as well as touch enabled mode. The touch-less doorbell circuitry comprises of an operational amplifier as a voltage comparator, a potentiometer and photodiode along with the relay setting and switching circuit. Hence, the comparator circuit and switching circuit forms the two essential parts;with the comparator circuit comparing the sensor's threshold with reference value and switching circuit (consisting of a transistor) for turning the bell ON. A detailed cost analysis of the proposed model has also been performed concluding it to be a budget friendly option without compromising on the product's quality. © 2021 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
The energy usage intensity of healthcare institutions is extensive. The recorded relative typical energy consumption of hospitals has been noted to be in the range of 43 to 93 kWh/bed/day. Currently, with the global COVID 19 pandemic, the overall energy consumption of these hospitals has proportionally increased with these higher patient occupancy rates. The demand for hot water is directly proportional to occupancy rates and contributes to a large proportion of the energy consumed. Reducing the energy and associated costs of water heating processes may prove highly beneficial to the currently severely overstrained healthcare sector. In this paper the operation of a multifarious water heating system with energy recovery was optimized in order to minimize the grid energy costs based on the ToU tariff and maximum demand charges from the utility, while the required hot water temperature was maintained. A life cycle cost analysis between two baseline systems, consisting of the multifarious water heating system with and without energy recovery was compared to the optimal control approach. The results indicate that the energy recovery system with optimal control in 5.3 years. Retrospectively, the proposed initiatives may result in a potential saving of 68.23%, over a 20 year project lifetime.
ABSTRACT
Covid-19 is transforming corporate real estate. A new calculus drives locations, space required, workdays, operating hours, services, etc. Budgets must absorb the costs of increased ventilation, filtration, sanitization, workspace sizes and distancing. Utilities managers for large portfolios face new conditions, raising new concerns for energy usage, costs and planning. Data from previous years is a partial resource, but thorough analysis examines detailed energy usage and costs per square foot, not simply costs per kWh, per therm, per gallon, etc. Guerin Associates has conducted benchmarking studies comparing energy usage and costs among office facilities with heavy energy demand at major corporations, such as at pharmaceuticals and life sciences firms. Costs for all fuels are included, and all energy converted into BTUs, allowing for a broad range of rigorous comparisons. We employ factors from DOE data, EIA costs and climate statistics, etc. and update to approximate current conditions. We have also compared data annually since 2007, providing high-level information from dozens of major firms. The program has expanded and improved, now including best practices: Successful metrics, programs, processes, etc. described by actual process owners. We also examine connections between best practices and energy usage and costs. © 2021 AEE World Energy Conference and Expo 2021. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has renewed interest in assessing how the operation of HVAC systems influences the risk of airborne disease transmission in buildings. Various processes, such as ventilation and filtration, have been shown to reduce the probability of disease spread by removing or deactivating exhaled aerosols that potentially contain infectious material. However, such qualitative recommendations fail to specify how much of these or other disinfection techniques are needed to achieve acceptable risk levels in a particular space. An additional complication is that application of these techniques inevitably increases energy costs, the magnitude of which can vary significantly based on local weather. Moreover, the operational flexibility available to the HVAC system may be inherently limited by equipment capacities and occupant comfort requirements. Given this knowledge gap, we propose a set of dynamical models that can be used to estimate airborne transmission risk and energy consumption for building HVAC systems based on controller setpoints and a forecast of weather conditions. By combining physics-based material balances with phenomenological models of the HVAC control system, it is possible to predict time-varying airflows and other HVAC variables, which are then used to calculate key metrics. Through a variety of examples involving real and simulated commercial buildings, we show that our models can be used for monitoring purposes by applying them directly to transient building data as operated, or they may be embedded within a multi-objective optimization framework to evaluate the tradeoff between infection risk and energy consumption. By combining these applications, building managers can determine which spaces are in need of infection risk reduction and how to provide that reduction at the lowest energy cost. The key finding is that both the baseline infection risk and the most energy-efficient disinfection strategy can vary significantly from space to space and depend sensitively on the weather, thus underscoring the importance of the quantitative predictions provided by the models.
ABSTRACT
Radiant cooling-assisted natural ventilation is an innovative technical approach that combines new radiant cooling technology with natural ventilation to increase fresh air delivery into buildings year-round with minimal energy cost and improvment of air quality. Currently, the standard paradigm for HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) is based on central air systems that tie the delivery of heating and cooling to the delivery of fresh air. To prevent heat loss, the delivery of fresh air must be tightly controlled and is often limited through recirculation of already heated or cooled air. Buildings are designed with airtight envelopes, which do not allow for natural ventilation, and depend on energy-intensive central-air systems. As closed environments, buildings have become sites of rapid COVID-19 transmission. In this research, we demonstrate the energy cost of increasing outdoor air supply with standard systems per COVID-19 recommendations and introduce an alternative HVAC paradigm that maximizes the decoupling of ventilation and thermal control. We first consider a novel analysis of the energy costs of increasing the amount of conditioned fresh air using standard HVAC systems to address COVID-19 concerns. We then present an alternative that includes a novel membrane-assisted radiant system we have studied for cooling in humid climates, in place of an air conditioning system. The proposed system can work in conjunction with natural ventilation and thus decreases the risk of indoor spread of infectious diseases and significantly lowers energy consumption in buildings. Our results for modeling HVAC energy in different climates show that increasing outdoor air in standard systems can double cooling costs, while increasing natural ventilation with radiant systems can halve costs. More specifically, it is possible to add up to 100 days' worth of natural ventilation while saving energy when coupling natural ventilation and radiant systems. This combination decreases energy costs by 10-45% in 60 major cities globally, while increasing fresh air intake.