Residential District Research Articles

COMPLEX EVALUATION OF THE EFFICIENCY OF URBAN CONSOLIDATION CENTERS AT THE MICRO LEVEL

A methodical approach for the determination of economic and socio-environmental costs in the application of the city consolidation center at the micro level was proposed and tested on real data. Two options of urban delivery of small shipments are considered, in particular, for e-commerce - direct delivery and delivery through the micro-consolidation center. The system of indicators proposed in this work allows a detailed assessment of the economic component of direct and consolidated delivery, including transportation costs, the functioning of the consolidation center costs and costs for pedestrian delivery to the residential district customers. Socio-economic indicators allow considering the interests of other residents of the city, suffering from a dense traffic flow and harmful emissions from freight vehicles. The proposed method of integrated assessment was tested on real data of a micro district of the city. The results made it possible to estimate the proportion of each component of expenditures in the economic, socio-environmental and total costs for both delivery options. The analysis of the sensitivity of costs to changes in the input parameters showed the difference in the strength of influence, and the rating of influencing factors. The proposed method allows us to estimate the economic costs of all participants in the urban delivery process for small shipments, as well as to prove the rationality of using micro-consolidation to serve a micro district of a large city.

Optimal design of a 5th generation district heating and cooling network based on seawater heat pumps

This work presents the design and the thermo-economic optimization of a novel layout of a 5th generation district heating and cooling network, for a residential district located in the Pantelleria island (South of Italy). The research focuses on a novel arrangement based on two bidirectional low-temperature neutral rings. For both rings, the fluid temperature is controlled by means of two groups of heat pumps cooled by seawater. The investigated layout also includes wind turbines and photovoltaic panels for power production. This layout will be used as a driver to promote the transition from the present centralized energy paradigm to a novel one, based on small-scale distributed generation integrated with renewables. The paper aims at evaluating the energy, economic and environmental savings achieved by this novel layout. A thermo-economic optimization is also implemented in order to determine the set of design/operating variables, maximizing system economic profitability. To this scope, a detailed approach is implemented, developing a dynamic simulation model of the system in TRNSYS 17. The developed simulation tool is able to mimic the real time operation of the system, for whatever weather condition, boundary and/or design variable. The results of the simulations show that the proposed layout achieves significantly positive results, with a primary energy saving and avoided greenhouse gases emissions equal to 133% and 134%, respectively. The economic profitability of the system is limited with the payback period close to 15 years, due to the high capital cost of the plant. The renewable electric production of the plant meets 57% of the district demand, although only 37% of this amount is self-consumed by the district. The study also includes a sensitivity analysis suggesting to limit the capacities of solar and wind fields to reduce the electricity in excess sold to the grid.

System modelling and optimization of a low temperature local hybrid energy system based on solar energy for a residential district

Utilizing solar energy for heat supply can reduce CO2 emissions and mitigate global climate change. In the Nordic region (e.g., Iceland and Finland), a tremendous seasonal mismatch exists between the availability of solar radiation and building heating demand. This paper proposes a local hybrid energy system based on solar energy for a residential district. It applies a borehole thermal energy storage to store solar energy in non-heating seasons, and uses stored energy for part of total heating demand in a residential neighbourhood in heating seasons. Photovoltaic panels are used to generate electricity for heat pump operation. To find out cost-optimal and eco-friendly solutions, the local energy system was first modelled and simulated in TRNSYS. Then, genetic algorithms were applied to optimize the system performance and costs. In optimal solutions, 38%-58% of total heating demand could be covered by on-site heat energy with the levelized cost of energy of 110–184 €/MWh. On this basis, importing additional electricity from grid to increase the utilization rate of air-to-water heat pumps can further increase the on-site heat energy fraction to 41%-88% with the levelized cost of energy of 108–201 €/MWh. Compared with the situation of fully district heating input, the proposed system can annually reduce CO2 emissions by 102–217 tons with the rate of 31–66%. Although the initial cost of the studied system is higher than that of district heating, the local hybrid energy system is worth further developing considering decentralizing heat energy production and reducing CO2 emissions.

Lessons Learnt From the Residential Zero Carbon District Demonstration Project, Governance Practice, Customer Response, and Zero-energy House Operation in Japan

The building sector is undergoing a low-carbon transition featuring applications of energy-efficient technologies and management innovations. Herein, we contribute to the study of the residential zero-carbon district demonstration project in Japan, introducing smart practices and examining occupants’ awareness. We proposed a questionnaire survey covering more than 400 smart zero-energy house owners that looks beyond the technologies for smart energy management and recognizes how the residential consumers engaged and perceive delivered energy saving and cost reduction issues, and their usage frequency of home energy management system information-based services is also examined considering the impact of the variables of household income and occupants’ age. Overall, the respondents’ energy and cost-saving awareness vary widely, and the results provide the effectiveness of the visual-based service in engaging end-users in the responsive energy management system. In the context of the detailed operational performances of real zero-energy houses, we find evidence that automatic control has reshaped the characteristics of intraday energy balance and gives consumers greater control over their own energy bills. The findings clearly show the detailed role of integrated energy-efficient technologies over typical periods; the grid-connected photovoltaic system plays a significant role in the realization of net annual zero electricity balance, and micro-cogeneration’s contribution to zero-energy houses’ energy self-sufficiency largely depends on the building heating load.

A solar-assisted low-temperature district heating and cooling network coupled with a ground-source heat pump

Towards the development of highly integrated and energy efficient heating and cooling systems, with an energy community perspective, the present paper proposes a novel technical solution for the provision of air-conditioning, domestic hot water and electricity to a small residential district in heating-dominant regions. Three reference climates have been considered: Helsinki, Berlin and Strasbourg. Detailed dynamic models have been created using TRNSYS and NeMo, and long term operations of the energy system, including a new-generation ultra-low temperature district heating and cooling network have been performed. The core of the energy system is the network supplied by a high-efficiency ground source heat pump and used as the source and sink by booster heat pumps installed in the substations. Rooftop photovoltaic thermal panels partially meet the electrical demand of the district, as well as the thermal load for domestic hot water production. Moreover, the panels are cooled by the network, obtaining a reduction in the thermal unbalance to the ground and enhancing their electrical efficiency. This solution allows obtaining high coefficient of performance for the heat pumps in the substations and supply stations, reaching values of 5.4 and 4.0, respectively, for heating provision in the coldest locality. The proposed multi-energy district reaches an electrical self-consumption of 71% in the coldest locality and efficiently combines different renewable energy sources at district level in cold climates.

Health Risk of Infants Exposed to Lead and Mercury Through Breastfeeding

Donor milk from the human milk bank is important for vulnerable infants without their mothers’ own milk. Longitudinal changes in toxic metals in donor milk has not been reported. This study aimed to assess the effect of donors’ demographic characteristics, life habits and dietary habits on the concentration of metals in breastmilk donated to a human milk bank and to assess the health risk of lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg) exposure of donor mothers’ offspring through breastfeeding and the vulnerable recipients. A total of 228 samples, which were longitudinally donated to the human milk bank by 39 donors, were selected specifically to assess the levels of Pb, Hg, and MeHg. Donors’ offspring were also enrolled as mother-infant-dyads to monthly obtain the milk consumption and body weight. The results showed significant differences in the infant risk in exclusive breastfeeding months. The average Pb level of breast milk was 6.49 ± 5.23 µg/L (mean ± standard deviation), and the Hg level was 0.76 ± 0.98 µg/L. The sources of these toxins—residential districts, cleaning products, cosmetics, drinking water, viscera, eggs, seafood, and canned food—have a significant influence on the concentration of toxic metals in human milk. This study showed an unacceptable non-cancerous health risk (95th percentile hazard index, HI = 1.37 > 1) for Pb and Hg. In the future, the breast milk offered by the bank should be strictly monitored, especial for Pb, to ensure high-quality donor milk for vulnerable recipients but also donor mothers’ offspring who depend on it.Graphical

Urban Elevated Highways in Residential Districts: New Developed Elevated Highways from Residents’ Perspectives

Urban Elevated Highways in Residential Districts: New Developed Elevated Highways from Residents’ Perspectives

Multiple air pollutants exposure and leukaemia incidence in Tehran, Iran from 2010 to 2016: a retrospective cohort study

ObjectiveLeukaemia is one of the most common cancers and may be associated with exposure to environmental carcinogens, especially outdoor air pollutants. The objective of this study was to investigate the...

Performance improvement of air-source heat pump heating system with variable water temperature difference

Heating electrification is a trend for the current carbon neutrality setting. The air-source heat pump (ASHP) has been widely used in residential or commercial buildings to replace household coal-burning stoves due to its higher operating efficiency. Previous studies mainly focused on the heat pump equipment, ignoring the whole system performance in practical application. Among the auxiliary system of the ASHP heating system, the power consumption of water pump cannot be ignored, especially in residential district heating with a large amount of pipeline. This paper proposes the coefficient of performance (COP) improvement of the ASHP heating system through variable temperature difference and flow rate of circulation water loop, showing the feasibility and benefit of large temperature difference with small flow rate. A high-fidelity dynamical model is first built using Dymola, followed by the experiments verification at the environmental laboratory. On all testing conditions, the system COP of large temperature difference with small water flow rate shows average 6% to 8% improvement compared to small temperature difference with large water flow rate. Further, a demonstration heating project of the ASHP system was tested onsite under a realistic operating condition. The recorded hourly operation data showed an average system COP of 2.15 at the condition of large temperature difference, which is about a 7% improvement compared to the small temperature difference condition for the typical heating day.

Parametric Urban-Scale Analysis of Space Cooling Energy Needs and Potential Photovoltaic Integration in Residential Districts in South-West Europe

The energy needs for space cooling are becoming a significant share of the energy balance of different Member States of the European Union, in particular the Mediterranean countries. This trend has been observed and monitored by the European Union, which has started a number of initiatives to promote the reduction in the energy demand for space cooling and have it satisfied by renewable energy sources, such as photovoltaic electrical energy. Nevertheless, even if the potential of those solutions has been widely investigated at the single-building level, this scale of analysis seems not fully adequate to support the definition of the energy policies addressed towards the renovation of the current cities into smart ones, with a large share of their energy demand satisfied with renewable energy. In this framework, this research aims to investigate the topic of building energy performance for space cooling services by adopting an urban-scale approach. In detail, a parametric simulation plan was run with CitySim in order to assess the impact of different quantities, i.e., climate conditions, districts’ and buildings’ geometry features, and the thermal quality of the building envelope, on the overall cooling energy need for districts and the specific building energy performance. Furthermore, the advantages of the integration of photovoltaic systems to supply power to the cooling system were analyzed, identifying the district configurations with the highest potential. For instance, in Athens, the share of space cooling demand satisfied by PV in high-rise nZEB configurations ranges between 64% (Building Density = 0.25) and 87% (Building Density = 1), while in the low-rise nZEB configurations it ranges between 81% (Building Density = 0.25) and 75% (Building Density = 1).

Risk factors for ASD : Risk Factors for Autism Spectrum Disorder in Shanghai, China: A Population-based Case-control Study.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a pervasive neurodevelopmental disorder that brings heavy burdens to families and the society. This case-control study explored risk factors for ASD based on 74,252 children aged 3-12 years who were recruited from general education kindergartens, primary schools, and special education schools in Shanghai, China. One hundred ninety-two children were identified with ASD according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition. Male sex, the presence of anoxia or asphyxia at birth, artificial feeding, adverse maternal psychological status, complications during pregnancy and higher paternal education were associated with ASD even after controlling for age, residential district, family history of mental disorders, parental personality, and amount of daily TV viewing.

The impacts of armed conflicts on prenatal and delivery care utilization

ABSTRACT This study investigates the extent to which exposure to armed conflicts during pregnancy influences women’s utilization of prenatal and delivery care in 35 developing countries between 1990 and 2018. Exploiting the variation across residential districts and conception months-years in a difference-in-differences framework, we find that women exposed to armed conflicts during pregnancy tend to receive insufficient prenatal and delivery care evident by the declines in the composite indices of Prenatal Care and Delivery Care by 6.76 and 6.83% compared to the sample averages, respectively. Given the importance of prenatal care and delivery care to the health of mothers and newborns, our findings call for effective interventions to support mothers and babies during and after conflicts.

Field study on cooling performance of a heat recovery ground source heat pump system coupled with thermally activated building systems (TABSs)

Both ground source heat pump and radiant system have attracted more and more attention as the examples of Low-exergy utilization to reduce energy consumption in buildings. This study emphasizes on the cooling performance of a real hybrid recovery ground source heat pump system coupled by thermally activated building systems (TABSs) in a residential district in a hot summer and cold winter region. Based on the recorded data in the building energy management system (BEMS) from 2018 to 2020, comprehensive analysis was carried out in the view of exergy. The COP and the exergy efficiency of the entire system can be up to 5.49 and 16%, respectively. The hybrid ground source system with cooling tower improved the operation performance as the condensate water temperature can be limited to below 40 °C. Nevertheless, the cooling tower was sensitive to the surrounding environment, and which caused more exergy destruction in operation. In addition, as the TABS cooling proportion went up the exergy efficiency of the cooling emission system increased as well as the building cooling load. However, the exergy product of the energy source system did not well match the demands in the end. The TABS and fresh air system simultaneously shared with the energy system whose chilled water temperature was 7–10 °C. The benefit of TABSs in low-exergy utilization cannot be taken. Thus, an energy system with multiple temperatures is recommended. The chilled water with higher temperature can be provided to TABS to improve the system exergy efficiency further; while the water with lower temperature can be supplied to the air handle units for dehumidification.

Changes in the adiposity level and prevalence of overweight/obesity among children from Kraków (Poland) within the last decade (from 2010 to 2020).

The aim of this study was to assess the changes in the prevalence of overweight, obesity and high adiposity in children and adolescents from Krakow (Poland), between the years 2010 and 2020. Two cross-sectional series of anthropometric measurements were carried out in 2010 and 2020. Analysed characteristics included: body height and weight, BMI (Body Mass Index), body adiposity (%BF). The subjects were categorised according to their BMI (underweight, normal weight, overweight, obesity), as well as %BF (low, normal, high body fat).The research was conducted in randomly selected primary schools in Krakow (Poland). Studied cohorts (8-15 years of age), which represented four of the traditional residential districts: Śródmieście, Podgórze, Krowodrza and Nowa Huta. Among the girls, there was a negative secular trend regarding the prevalence of underweight and obesity. On the other hand, there also was a positive trend concerning the prevalence of overweight and low and high body fat. In boys, there was a negative secular trend regarding the prevalence of underweight and low adiposity. There was also a generally positive secular trend regarding the prevalence of overweight, obesity as well as high adiposity in boys. The findings of this study are particularly significant because detailed knowledge of the prevalence of overweight/obesity in childhood and adolescence is crucial for the future health of entire populations. Further studies should also take into account the levels of physical fitness and activity of the examined population.

A novel smart energy network paradigm integrating combined heat and power, photovoltaic and electric vehicles

Smart energy networks, based on the integration of thermal and electric technologies, are becoming more attractive to match the increasing energy demand with minimum environmental impact. The design and optimization of a smart energy network based on a combined heat and power system, a photovoltaic solar field, an electric energy storage system and electric vehicles is presented in this work. The investigated system is designed to match the power, heating and cooling demands of a district of 50 residential buildings. The cogeneration system, operating in thermal tracking mode, is based on a reciprocating internal combustion engine, fuelled by natural gas. The engine waste heat is used to match the heating and domestic hot water demands of the residential district. The power produced by both engine and photovoltaic panels is used to match the power demand of the district, including the electric vehicles. The electric energy storage system based on lithium-ion technology is included to shave the peaks of power demand and to decouple demand from supply. The whole system, including all final users, was dynamically simulated in TRNSYS 18. The model was used to develop a case study regarding a district of 50 residential buildings located in Naples (South of Italy). A thermoeconomic optimization of the layout was also performed, using Genopt software. The results of the case study showed that the proposed system exhibits promising performance, reducing CO2 emissions by 62%, with a payback period of 6.39 years. In the optimal scenario, the peak power of the photovoltaic field was found equal to 3.50 MW, with a capacity of the electric energy storage system of 6.70 MWh. The corresponding payback period was equal to 6.31 years.

Heating load prediction of residential district using hybrid model based on CNN

Optimal control of heat network in residential district requires accurate short-term heat load prediction value of each building. However, the current research on residential heat load prediction mainly relies on historical data related to heat load and does not consider the influence of building ontology parameters on different building types, resulting in low prediction accuracy. The objective of this study is to obtain accurate short-term heat load prediction values of different buildings in residential district. Based on this, the building ontology parameters were introduced, and the Lasso method was adopted to comprehensively analyze and select the influencing factors of heat load. A hybrid short-term heat load prediction model using adaptive T-distributed Satin Bowerbird (tSBO) algorithm to optimize convolutional neural network (CNN) was proposed. The actual operation data of established heating system in 10 residential districts were collected to test the performance of the model. The results show that building ontology parameters have a significant impact on the prediction accuracy of future heat load. After introducing the building ontology parameters, the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and root mean square error (RMSE) of the predicted values of the hybrid model were reduced by about 29.61% and 22.00%, respectively. Compared with other prediction models, the proposed hybrid model achieves an average reduction of 18.08% and 16.26% in MAPE and RMSE.

Improvements in space-time accessibility as outcomes of heavy rail transit development in the sprawled residential district. Empirical evidence from Gdańsk

The sustainable mobility paradigm is essential to cities’ climate mitigation. Transit-oriented development (TOD) supporting the concentration of housing, workplaces, facilities, and services within a walkable distance of transport nodes connected by efficient public transport results in the use of sustainable mobility implementation. Despite the growing scientific interest in TOD, the legal, economic, cultural, and physical obstacles complicate and slow down its implementation process. This article provides new insight into the outcomes of planned heavy rail transit (HRT) development across the sprawled residential district, which emerged due to market-driven housing development, intense individual motorisation, and permissive spatial policy that enables extensive housing without relevant transit investments. Based on quantitative data regarding spatialities of the case study area, space–time accessibility was the primary research method. Despite the unfavourable local context to mass transit, the investigation reveals significant planned HRT line spatial-time accessibility attempts. The most significant is the by-transit travel time reduction and an increase in to-transit accessibility. Due to urban sprawl outcomes, the HRT line requires an extensive feeder system. It increases operational costs and risks the reliability of the whole trunk-and-feeder system due to possible feeder operation disturbance resulting from road congestion. The study outcomes yield significant implications for urban transport policy.

Analysis of Renovation Works in Cappuccinelli Social Housing District in Trapani

The refurbishment of public residential districts represents a current and complex problem. The Cappuccinelli Social Housing (SH) district in Trapani, designed in the late 1950s by Michele Valori and built during the 1960s, is emblematic of the architectural quality and technological innovation of the time it was designed, but at the same time represents the physical and social decay that occurred just after its construction. The neighborhood was examined through a combination of inspections and documentary research. The inspections were conducted for the entire district in order to identify the recurrent external degradation of building components and the related causes, both physical and anthropogenic. This paper investigates the physical–mechanical degradation and problems connected to previous renovation work in this district. Furthermore, technological design solutions are discussed for deep renovation and energy efficiency improvement of one of the terraced buildings of the Cappuccinelli SH district.

Very high-resolution remote sensing-based mapping of urban residential districts to help combat COVID-19

Urban residential districts (URDs) are a major element in the formation of cities that are essential for urban planning. Regarding the COVID-19 virus, which remains variable in aerosols for several hours, airborne transmission tends to occur in areas of poor ventilation and high occupant density. Thus, ventilation capacity is an important factor influencing airborne transmission in URDs, which should be evaluated as part of efforts to fight COVID-19 and guide healthy city planning and implementation. Here, we develop and test systematic methods to map URDs in a typical city in northern China and quantify their ventilation capacity using very high-resolution remote sensing images. Four fundamental spatial forms of URD are identified in the research area: the point-group form, parallel form, enclosed form, and hybrid form. Our analyses indicate that the integrated ventilation capacities for well-designed URDs are nearly twice those of poorly designed URDs. Large variations in ventilation capacity are also observed within URDs, with up to 13.42 times difference between the buildings. Therefore, very high-resolution remote sensing data are fundamental for extracting building height and generating precise spatial forms, which can improve the micro-scale URD ventilation planning for the prevention of COVID-19.

The industrial heritage of the Trieste Shipyard in Monfalcone. Restoring the garden-city model in the residential typologies of the Panzano District

ABSTRACT The residential district in Panzano is an urban area which was built beginning in 1907 for the Monfalcone shipyard’s employees and workers. In the 1930s, the shipyard was one of the most important plants of this kind in the world. The district’s realization is mainly attributed to engineer Dante Fornasir, who headed the building association entrusted to construct the area from 1913 to 1939. The district was inaugurated in 1927: at that time, more than 190 residential buildings of various types, shops, and many community facilities were operative. The Panzano District, based on the garden-city urban model, shows an articulated structure that defines the correspondence between shipyard employees’ tasks and the residential types; the village architecture exemplifies an historicist perspective and contains interesting elements of modern urban planning. After a long period of decay, the district was subjected to a carefully planned and integrated conservation that has led to a compatible reuse of its residential buildings.