Adjacent Offices Research Articles

Case study: Computer modeling the noise produced by a future food court radiated to nearby existing offices

Lately, there’s an increase in the co-existence of spaces of different usage with acoustical challenge. Throughout 2016 to 2018, the 2nd floor of the Complexe Les Ailes, in Montreal, underwent a fit-out to become a food court. At its center, there is an elliptical atrium where all levels are can be viewed. There are existing offices above the food court separated by a glass pane. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the noise generated by human activities in the future food court to the adjacent offices and recommend noise control elements if needed. Multiple sound samples were taken at existing food courts to quantify the sound level. Simulations were done with ODEON, a room acoustic software, to evaluate the sound level produced by different activities. On-site measurements were conducted to calibrate the existing conditions with the 3D ODEON model. Finally, noise reduction tests were undertaken to determine the sound levels that would be radiated in the offices by the activities in the food court. To reduce noise disturbance in the offices, acoustical treatment under the ceiling of the food court was recommended and the 3rd and 4th floor glass panes composition would have to be improved.

Case study- modeling restaurant noise in a 4-story atrium with adjacent offices

This paper presents a case study on the modeling techniques and unique challenges of predicting the noise impact of a new ground level restaurant in an existing office building with a 4-story central atrium. The study included computer modeling to predict the baseline sound transmission to the offices and to assess the benefit of enhancing the existing office windows. After the glazing was enhanced and before the restaurant construction was complete, a mock-up of restaurant noise was created using an array of loudspeakers with calibrated playback of audio recordings gathered from other restaurants. From this mock-up, it was determined that additional transmission loss was preferred, and a glass cover was constructed over the restaurant. Additional construction details were coordinated. After the glass cover was added, another mock-up was conducted, and the result was satisfactory. The sound system in the completed restaurant was limited to the levels used in the mock-ups.

In-Service Thermal and Luminous Performance Monitoring of a Refurbished Building with Solar Control Films on the Glazing System

The global increase in energy needs and environmental awareness for a more efficient energy use have boosted building rehabilitation to decrease energy consumption. The installation of solar control films (SCFs) in buildings with large glazing façades makes it possible to reduce excessive solar gains through the glazing. The main purpose of the work is to assess, with field experimental data, the thermal and luminous performances of double-glazing units with SCFs installed in office rooms, in Lisbon. An experimental campaign was carried out simultaneously in three adjacent offices: one with a highly reflective SCF (external installation), one with a reflective SCF (internal installation) and one without an SCF. The exterior SCF showed the best thermal performance with reductions in the peak indoor air temperature of up to 6.9 and 2.3 °C during the representative days of the heating and cooling periods, respectively, increasing thermal comfort mainly during the cooling period. The interior SCF had a poorer thermal performance since it contributed to solar radiation absorption that is then emitted as heat into the indoor environment, increasing the greenhouse effect of the office. The presence of SCFs reduced the indoor illuminance levels, having a positive impact on thermal comfort and glare reduction in the cooling period.

An office building outbreak: the changing epidemiology of tuberculosis in Shenzhen, China.

Tuberculosis (TB) is generally considered a disease that principally afflicts the low-income segments of a population. In the Nanshan District of Shenzhen, China, with the economic transformation and a new Headquarters Economy (HE) emerging, there are now more cases in office workers than in manufacturing workers. To illustrate this trend, we describe a small TB outbreak in an office building located in the centre of the rapidly growing HE district. Two active pulmonary tuberculosis cases were found in workers who shared an office, and whole genome sequencing showed that the genetic distance between the strains of the two cases was just one single nucleotide polymorphism, consistent with intra-office transmission. Investigation of 30 other workers in the same or adjacent offices with interviews, interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) and chest X-rays, identified one new TB case and latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in 40.0% (12/30) of the contacts. The offices were under-ventilated. None of the IGRA positive, asymptomatic contacts agreed to receive treatment for LTBI, presumably due to TB stigma, and over the next 2 years 69.0% (20/29) of the contacts were lost to follow-up. Treatment for LTBI and stigma of TB remain challenges here. Office workers in the HE of rapidly economic developing areas should be targeted with increased vigilance by TB control programmes.

Ventilated skycourts to enhance energy savings in high-rise office buildings

ABSTRACTHeating and cooling in high-rise buildings devour about one-third of overall energy consumption. Skycourts is increasingly integrated in high-rise buildings, in particular offices. Skycourts are perceived as transitional and social nodes. This paper aims to investigate potentials of a skycourt when perform as a ventilated buffer zone in offices in a temperate climate. Using a hypothetical office building in London, a coupled approach of energy simulation and CFD was carried out for two ventilation modes; air-conditioned skycourt, and alternative models that incorporate combined ventilation strategies with the adjacent offices’ zones of the skycourt. Furthermore, to determine the most critical ventilation conditions, different parameters were investigated. Overall, the results highlight that the incorporation of a ventilated skycourt potentially has a significant impact on the annual energy consumption. The optimized parameters enhance comfort temperature ranges of skycourts. Finally, the study developed guidelines to define the most effective configurations of ventilated skycourts.

Continuous streamflow monitoring in shared watersheds using advanced underwater acoustic tomography system: a case study on Zayanderud River.

Iran has experienced a severe drought during the past two decades. Increasing water demand and decreasing available water resources have led the country to critical conflicts, particularly in shared watersheds. In these basins, the precise measurement of releasing water from upstream to downstream can be a key data for resolving water conflicts. The Iranian Ministry of Energy (MOE) makes the streamflow measurements through regional water administrative offices, mainly using the classical rating curve (RC) method. The documented measurements of runoff by adjacent offices usually present different estimations of the water resources, due to high uncertainties of the RC approach. Fluvial acoustic tomography (FAT) is a reliable technology for continuously monitoring streamflow, which can be implemented to solve this problem of shared basins. In this study, FAT is applied to the Zayanderud basin, an Iranian shared watershed and its results are compared with the RC methods. The main terms of FAT streamflow measurement uncertainty are velocity resolution component, and the selected flow angle between the stream direction and acoustic transmission path. Therefore, a new equation is proposed to carefully choose accurate angles for different river widths to decrease FAT measurement error in this paper. The obtained results show that the measured streamflow by FAT and RC are 9.89 m3/s and 10.3 m3/s, respectively, and the largest possible error of FAT is less than 15%.

Outbreak of invasive group A streptococcus: investigations using agar settle plates detect perineal shedding from a healthcare worker

Outbreaks of group A streptococcus (GAS) infections may occur in healthcare settings. Transmission to patients is sometimes linked to colonized healthcare workers (HCWs) and/or a contaminated environment. To describe the investigation and control of an outbreak of healthcare-associated GAS on an elderly care medical ward, over six months. Four patients developed septicaemia due to GAS infection without a clinically obvious site of infection. The outbreak team undertook an investigation involving a retrospective review of GAS cases, prospective case finding, HCW screening and environmental sampling using both swabs and settle plates. Immediate control measures included source isolation and additional cleaning of the ward environment with a chlorine disinfectant and hydrogen peroxide. Prospective patient screening identified one additional patient with throat GAS carriage. Settle plate positivity for GAS was strongly associated with the presence of one individual HCW on the ward, who was subsequently found to have GAS perineal carriage. Contamination of a fabric-upholstered chair in an office adjacent to the ward, used by the HCW, was also detected. In total, three asymptomatic HCWs had throat GAS carriage and one HCW had both perineal and throat carriage. All isolates were typed as emm 28. This is the first outbreak report demonstrating the use of settle plates in a GAS outbreak investigation on a medical ward, to identify the likely source of the outbreak. Based on this report we recommend that both throat and perineal sites should be sampled if HCW screening is undertaken during an outbreak of GAS. Fabric, soft furnishings should be excluded from clinical areas as well as any adjacent offices because pathogenic bacteria such as GAS may contaminate this environment.

Techno-economic analysis of a hybrid solar PV-grid powered air-conditioner for daytime office use in hot humid climates – A case study in Kumasi city, Ghana

Air-conditioners are the highest energy consuming appliances in the offices of businesses, public and commercial buildings in hot humid climates. In Ghana, survey conducted indicates that 60–80% of electricity used in offices of public and commercial buildings is for air-conditioning. Many hot climates, and Ghana in particular, are endowed with high solar irradiations. The need for daytime office space cooling is actually as a result of high solar radiation levels.In the present work, studies have been conducted on the performance of a hybrid solar PV-grid powered air-conditioner for daytime office cooling in hot humid climates with a case study in Kumasi city, Ghana. A standard office of 30 m2 floor area (105 m3 office space) in a building with three of the sides sharing walls with adjacent offices, and the front side facing north was used for the study, with the air-conditioner set at a temperature of 20 °C. In the experiment, the pure sine wave hybrid inverter with integrated PWM charge control system was set to solar energy priority and supported by utility grid electricity when solar energy is not sufficient.It has been determined that for daytime office cooling, a 1040 Wp solar PV system with 200 Ah, 24 V battery configuration has a monthly mean solar fraction of 51% ± 9% for an air-conditioner with nominal cooling capacity of 2.5 kW and maximum power consumption of around 1.19 kW. The energy generation of the 1040 Wp solar PV system has been determined to be around 1211 kWh per year. Financial analysis has revealed that for the hybrid solar PV-grid powered air-conditioner, there is potential savings of US$ 1600 compared to 100% utility grid electricity in 10 years. It has also been estimated using available data that there is a potential of about US$ 3300 savings when the air-conditioner is powered with 100% solar energy compared to 100% utility grid electricity in 10 years, for daytime office use.

The Influence of Solar Control Films on Energy and Daylighting Performance by Means of Experimental Data and Preliminary Unsteady Simulations

Solar control films were investigated as a strategy to improve thermal comfort, lighting conditions, and energy performance in non-residential buildings. The case study follows two adjacent similar offices with large window in the south-west façade of a building in Perugia, investigated by numerical and experimental approaches. The solar control films could strongly reduce the window heat gain (40-60%) and the indoor air temperature (1-1.5°C), whereas the daily average illuminance level was lowered by about 50-60%. Finally the yearly cooling energy demand decreases of about 25% (only South- West façade) and 39% (all the façades), whereas the heating energy demand increases of about 10-15% thanks to solar control films.

Professor William Bynum: Academic Pioneer, Role Model and Dear Friend

Professor William Bynum: Academic Pioneer, Role Model and Dear Friend

A simulation appraisal of a switch of district to electric heating due to increased heat efficiency in an office building

This research addresses the existing phenomenon in Eastern Europe related to office buildings heated by district heating. For enhanced heating efficiency, an office building is thermally insulated and/or run at a decreased space temperature. After that, in an office inside the building, the tenants may switch from district to less costly electricity heating due to the customary tariffs for district and electrical heating. The effects of this switch are analyzed by using software EnergyPlus. For the investigated office, it is found that a characteristic value of its heat consumption exists below which the heating switch decreases heating costs. In addition, the value of the heat consumption is recognized below which the heating switch also yields the decreased fossil fuel consumption and CO2 emission. For all cases, the consumed heat consumption, the consumed fossil energy, CO2 emission, and economic effects are recorded for heating devices in the excluded office. Furthermore, it is analyzed how these variables are influenced by heat transfer between the investigated office, and the adjacent offices.

An experience reducing toilet flushing noise reaching adjacent offices.

An office building was experiencing loud toilet flushing noise in offices adjacent to the toilets. The toilets were a 1.2 gallon per flush model. A study by others documented some maximum A-weighted slow sound levels greater than 60 dB with most greater than 50 dB and recommended a limit of 40 dB. The building owner made changes including an improved wall on one of the seven affected floors and asked the author to repeat the measurements. Results were mostly in the range of 40 to 50. Sound levels within the rest rooms were greater than 80 dB, and within the toilet stall of the loudest toilet—96 dB. The sound peaked in the 2000 Hz octave. A wall on one floor was modified by adding a layer of damped gypsum with successful results. The remaining walls were then modified similarly. The resulting average level of four flushes was less than 40 dB in all offices though some individual flushes were slightly greater than 40 dB. It was evident that structural flanking was controlling the remaining sound reaching the offices.

Assessment of Pre-operational radiological conditions at the Linac Centre of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria

The Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria has acquired a 6 - 15 MeV ELEKTA linear accelerator for clinical teletherapy. The 15 MeV is a sufficient energy to activate photonuclear interactions of the type (h(nu), n) and (h(nu), e), in some materials found within the locality, thereby enhancing the background radiation exposure levels in the environments. The objective of this study is to conduct a pre-operational assessment of the radiological conditions of the new LINAC Centre and its environments which is required for future uses in the assessment of the environmental impacts due to the applications of the facility. The results of this study are to provide a baseline data needed for such assessments and the impact of eventual LINAC accidents. Radiation exposure levels due to natural background radioactivity in the controlled and supervised areas and offices in the LINAC localities have been measured. The environmental radiation survey around the Centre was conducted according to the requirements prescribed by the ICRP, IAEA Basic Safety Standards etc. The specific radioactivity contents of 100 building, furna and flora material samples have been determined using a Gamma Well Scintillation Counter. The mean exposure rates all over the LINAC Centre varied from 2.0 muSvh(-1) to 3.3 muSvh(-1). In the controlled areas, the mean value was 2.4 muSvh(-1) and it was 2.7 muSvh in the supervised areas, while in the adjacent offices, it was 2.5 muSvh(-1). The means of the measured specific activities in the cement concrete, soil, plant and grass samples were 42.7299 Bqkg(-1), 39.9592 Bqkg(-1), 23.9010 Bqkg(-1) and 20.8940 Bqkg(-1) respectively. A database for the assessment of the environmental impacts of the clinical LINAC and the impacts of its eventual accidents has been generated for future periodic uses.

An implementation plan for using biological indicators to improve assessment of water quality in Thailand

Most national standards for assessment of water quality include physical and chemical indicators relevant to specific pollutants and stressors. However, biological communities reflect not only current conditions of aquatic resources but also change in conditions over time and impacts from multiple stressors. Assessing the health of the aquatic community (that is, bioassessments) has proven to be critical in protecting and maintaining healthy surface waters under the mandates of regulatory frameworks, such as the Clean Water Act in the USA and the Water Framework Directive of the European Union. Whereas, in Thailand water standards, bioassessment is lacking in favor of chemical criteria, only coliform bacteria measurement can be considered a surrogate biological parameter. Our paper argues that incorporating bioassessment will improve water resource condition evaluations and recommends the use of the benthic macroinvertebrate assemblage as a bioassessment framework in Thailand. We discuss the implementation of a bioassessment program that consists of two major components, (a) a scientifically valid technical approach and (b) consideration of technical resources for a cost-effective program. The technical design comprises (1) classification of streams into similar groupings, (2) design of a biological survey, (3) a well-documented sampling protocol, (4) calibration of biological metrics for data analysis, (5) development of criteria for determination of ecological condition, and (6) communication of the results to citizens and policymakers. A cost-effective way to develop a bioassessment program that will improve Thailand's ability to measure water quality and to make good decisions to attain healthy quality status is to establish partnerships by coordinating efforts and sharing data and technology with adjacent regional environmental offices or provinces. This collaboration would be fostered through a long-term national water resources management strategy and clear definition of goals and desired outcomes that are critical components of the overall National Plan for Ecological Health.

Hybrid ventilation in two interconnected rooms with a buoyancy source

The design of energy efficient buildings and the potential for using solar energy for heating and cooling is contingent upon optimizing the building ventilation systems. In this paper, we study the ventilation of two interconnected spaces, such as adjacent offices or areas in an open plan office. The goal is to locate return vents to increase the efficiency of night ventilation and to reduce energy consumption. The flow in two interconnected rooms of similar sizes is studied experimentally using a tank divided by an interior vertical wall. A forced buoyancy source with a finite volume flux is located in the ceiling of one-room and an unforced vent is opened in the ceiling of the other room. The goal of the study is to understand the transient cooling/heating that occurs in this two-room system when a forced cold-air vent is located in the ceiling of the first room and a return ventilation exit is located in the second. In particular, we investigate the effects of varying the number of openings and their vertical positions in the interconnecting wall. First, a single opening at the bottom, middle or top of the shared wall is examined. Second, the case of two openings in the wall is considered, with the openings located at the top–bottom, top–middle, bottom–middle, and finally at two mid locations in the wall. The results are compared with the one-room case, which represents the reference case. It was found that, irrespective of the number and locations of the openings, the flow evolves into a quasi-stationary stably stratified two-layer system, with the depths of the layers being different in each room. The average temperature inside each room initially decreases linearly with time and approaches the supply-air temperature at large times. This initial linear decrease holds until cold-air leaves the unforced room through the top-vent at time t e. Subsequently, temperature decreases as an exponential function of time with a characteristic filling time τ = V/ Q s, where V is the total volume of both rooms and Q s is the source volume flux. The efficiency of the ventilation depends on the time t e, and this depends, in turn, on an exchange flow that is established between the two-rooms by the differences in density in each room. For a single opening, the exchange flow takes place as a two-way flow in the opening, while for two openings the flow is from the forced room through the lower opening and in the opposite direction through the upper opening. When the upper opening is located below the ceiling, this flow from the unforced room ‘shields’ the return vent from the dense fluid, thereby increasing the efficiency of the ventilation.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA Not Detected by Polymerase Chain Reaction In Air Samples From Hospital Rooms of Tuberculosis Patients.

Background: As the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) increased in the United States, the risk of occupational and nosocomial TB also increased. Airborne Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is difficult to measure directly. Quantifying MTB DNA by polymerase chain reaction in air samples obtained from isolation rooms of patients with TB would provide a measure of the number of airborne organisms produced by a patient and the efficacy of ventilation, and might predict when an individual patient is no longer infectious. Methods and Results: The air was sampled through cellulose ester filters from the isolation room of a patient with newly diagnosed pulmonary TB, from a patient on therapy for 14 days, and from adjacent offices, and an attempt was made to detect MTB DNA; however, MTB DNA was detected only on positive control filters. Conclusions: Mycobacterium tuberculosis was not detected by polymerase chain reaction in air samples from the rooms of two patients with pulmonary TB. This may have been due to the large number of room air changes with resultant rapid clearance of airborne droplet nuclei or to the limited air volume sampled. A sensitive molecular assay of airborne MTB could be used to monitor the efficacy of infection control measures by sampling a sufficient volume of isolation room air and could aid in determining when an individual patient was no longer infectious.

Immersive Integration of Physical and Virtual Environments

Abstract We envision future work and play environments in which the user's computing interface is more closely integrated with the physical surroundings than today's conventional computer display screens and keyboards.We are working toward realizable versions of such environments, in which multiple video projectors and digital cameras enable every visible surface to be both measured in 3D and used for display. If the 3D surface positions were transmitted to a distant location, they may also enable distant collaborations to become more like working in adjacent offices connected by large windows. With collaborators at the University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, Advanced Network and Services, and the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, we at Chapel Hill have been working to bring these ideas to reality. In one system, depth maps are calculated from streams of video images and the resulting 3D surface points are displayed to the user in head‐tracked stereo. Among the applications we are pursuing for this tele‐presence technology, is advanced training for trauma surgeons by immersive replay of recorded procedures. Other applications display onto physical objects, to allow more natural interaction with them ``painting'' a dollhouse, for example. More generally, we hope to demonstrate that the principal interface of a future computing environment need not be limited to a screen the size of one or two sheets of paper. Just as a useful physical environment is all around us, so too can the increasingly ubiquitous computing environment be all around us ‐integrated seamlessly with our physical surroundings.

Controlling interoffice sound transmission through a suspended ceiling

A simple, economical technique is discussed to improve the noise reduction between adjacent offices where the dominant sound transmission path is through the suspended ceiling and the common plenum above the ceiling. A series of laboratory measurements has been made to determine the important physical parameters associated with using a stack of absorptive batts as a sound barrier. These are compared with measurements made of an installation in a commercial office building. Further studies are required to evaluate the effect on air quality.

Measuring sound transmission through suspended ceilings

In most modern office buildings, interoffice partitions stop at the suspended ceiling. Sound insulation between such offices is generally inadequate for speech privacy. This paper presents the first stages of a project to develop practical acoustical solutions. A new laboratory has been constructed; this simulates a pair of adjacent offices with a common plenum space above the suspended ceiling. Characteristics of the test environment and pertinent standard test procedures have been studied. A series of suspended ceiling systems has been tested. The results indicate the relative importance of major physical factors controlling sound transmission through typical suspended ceilings.

The Metropolitan Digital Trunk Plant

This paper statistically describes the physical makeup of the T-carrier metropolitan trunking plant. The basic building block of a digital carrier system is the interoffice span. This span is the collection of all the repeatered lines, or span lines, between two adjacent central offices. Span lines are connected in tandem to form systems. Statistics for interoffice span characteristics of length, cross section, percentage fill and growth are given and discussed for seven metropolitan areas.