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This research work aims to study if it is possible to design a sustainable building residential building that has a life-cycle cost lower than a conventional one. For this purpose, a multifamily cooperative housing building block, that is the Portuguese pilot-project of the EU Project “SHE: Sustainable Housing in Europe”, has been chosen. This work will compare the sustainability of the case study with the conventional design approach in Portugal, i.e. when the conventional technologies and building materials are used. For this outcome, the SBToolPT-H (Portuguese building sustainability assessment and rating methodology) will be used. This paper will highlight the usefulness of a building sustainability assessment tool in supporting and recognising the sustainable building design. It will also show that even with little investment in the capital costs it is possible to achieve high performance residential buildings.

AbstractIn the aquatic tier‐1 effect assessment for plant protection products with an herbicidal mode of action in Europe, it is usually algae and/or vascular plants that determine the environmental risks. This tier includes tests with at least 2 algae and 1 macrophyte (Lemna). Although such tests are considered to be of a chronic nature (based on the duration of the test in relation to the life cycle of the organism), the measurement endpoints derived from the laboratory tests with plants (including algae) and used in the first‐tier effect assessment for herbicides are acute effect concentrations affecting 50% of the test organisms (EC50 values) and not no‐observed‐effect concentrations (NOECs) or effect concentrations affecting 10% of the test organisms (EC10) values. Other European legislative frameworks (e.g., the Water Framework Directive) use EC10 values. The present study contributes to a validation of the tiered herbicide risk assessment approach by comparing the standard first‐tier effect assessment with results of microcosm and mesocosm studies. We evaluated EC50 and EC10 values for standard test algae and macrophytes based on either the growth rate endpoint (ErC50) or the lowest available endpoint for growth rate or biomass/yield (Er/EyC50). These values were compared with the regulatory acceptable concentrations for the threshold option as derived from microcosm and mesocosm studies. For these studies, protection is maintained if growth rate is taken as the regulatory endpoint instead of the lowest value of either growth rate or biomass/yield in conjunction with the standard assessment factor of 10. Based on a limited data set of 14 herbicides, we did not identify a need to change the current practice. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:175–183. © 2017 SETAC

Abstract This paper aims to compare the energy efficiency and CO 2 emissions of four different range extender engine solutions deployed in the same baseline series hybrid vehicle, under a combination of driving scenarios aiming to be representative of typical driving instead of standard cycles. Baseline vehicle is roughly based on Chevy VOLT/Opel Ampera. The baseline internal combustion engine is replaced by an over-expanded cycle engine, Wankel engine and microturbine, with respective generator and exhaust after treatment. Weight savings are compensated by introducing additional battery modules, maintaining the original baseline vehicle curb weight. Vehicle Specific Power (VSP) is used for driving cycle analysis and as explanatory variable for energy consumption and CO 2 emissions variations. Upstream fuel energy and CO 2 emissions of gasoline/diesel and electricity are regarded. Average VSP correlates with variation of the percentage of engine off, potential regenerative braking energy and eco/boost operation. Positive wheel energy correlates with energy consumption and electric autonomy adequately. The vehicle with the lightest engine (Wankel) and largest battery shows to be the most efficient in urban driving (when the engine does not have to work), while the vehicle with the highest efficient engine (over-expanded) and with dual eco/boost setting is the most efficient during the charge sustaining operation and in annual combined use.

Hydromorphological features are crucial in structuring habitats for freshwater organisms. The quantification of these variables is often performed through accurate measuring or detailed estimation, but their assessment is not always feasible for river management purposes. Economic and time constraints often lead to difficulty in creating simple summaries of collected data for practical use. The Lentic-lotic River Descriptor (LRD) was developed to identify the character of a river site in terms of local hydraulic conditions. Information about the presence of flow types, channel substrates, in-stream vegetation, organic debris and artificial features is included in its calculation. The main aim of this paper is to investigate whether the lentic-lotic character of a river site, as summarized with the LRD descriptor, is relevant to aquatic invertebrate communities in nearly natural river sites. Invertebrate data were collected with multi-habitat, proportional sampling and hydromorphological information was gained by applying the CARAVAGGIO method (river habitat survey technique) in the field. The dataset was generated from High or Good ecological status river sites located in Mediterranean areas of Italy. Correspondence Analysis was performed to relate the invertebrate community structure to a set of catchment-scale, reach-scale and chemical environmental variables. The results of the multivariate analysis indicate that LRD provides a persuasive explanation of the most important axis of variation in benthic data. This paper also presents the optimal LRD range for a set of invertebrate taxa, accompanied by a short discussion of their potential use in conservation issues.

The aim of this work was to seek an environmentally friendly process for recycling metals from biomass-sludges generated in the treatment of industrial wastewaters. This work proposes a hybrid process for selective recovery of copper, nickel and zinc from contaminated biomass of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, used in the bioremediation of electroplating effluents. The developed separation scheme comprised five consecutive steps: (1) incineration of the contaminated biomass; (2) microwave acid (HCl) digestion of the ashes; (3) recovery of copper from the acid solution by electrolysis at controlled potential; (4) recycle of nickel, as nickel hydroxide, by alcalinization of the previous solution at pH 14; (5) recovery of zinc, as zinc hydroxide, by adjusting the pH of the previous solution at 10. This integrated approach allowed recovering each metal with high yielder (>99% for all metals) and purity (99.9%, 92% and 99.4% for copper, nickel and zinc, respectively). The purity of the metals recovered allows selling them in the market or being recycled in the electroplating process without waste generation.

Biodegradation rates of benzoate and related aromatic compounds, 3-nitrobenzoate, 4-chlorobenzoate, 4-chlorophenol, and 2,4-dichlorophenol by unexposed (unacclimated) and long-term exposed (acclimated) biomass were quantified using a modified fed-batch technique. The acclimated biomass was taken after approximately 1-year of operation from three lab-scale sequencing batch reactors (SBR). These reactors were operated under various cycling electron acceptor conditions with a continuous feed of a synthetic wastewater containing biogenic and nonbiogenic chemicals including benzoate, 3-nitrobenzoate, and 4-chlorophenol, but not 4-chlorobenzoate or 2,4-dichlorophenol. The unexposed biomass was taken from a full-scale wastewater treatment plant, which constituted one of the original sources of inoculum for the lab-scale SBRs. The acclimated biomass manifested high removal rates of benzoate and related aromatic compounds with additional removal of structurally similar chemicals (4-chlorobenzoate and 2,4-dichlorophenol). The unacclimated biomass showed no removal of 3-nitrobenzoate, 4-chlorobenzoate or 2,4-dichlorophenol. Addition of biogenic substrates reduced the degradation of most aromatic compounds tested, but it enhanced 2,4-dichlorophenol removal. Biodegradation rates of each aromatic compound with the biomass from the anoxic/aerobic SBR were further determined under anaerobic (absence of aeration and NO3-), anoxic (no aeration, but with surplus NO3-), standard oxygen (DO > 0.2 mg/L), and elevated oxygen (DO > 25 mg/L) conditions. The removal rate of both benzoate and 3-nitrobenzoate decreased under anaerobic condition but not under the anoxic condition; 4-chlorophenol biodegradation, on the other hand, was reduced significantly under both anoxic and anaerobic conditions. The removal rates of aromatic compounds, particularly those of 3-nitrobenzoate and 2,4-dichlorophenol, increased significantly under elevated dissolved oxygen conditions. Our results demonstrated that when the biochemical conditions shifted from oxygen-respiration to nitrate respiration, to anaerobiosis, the biodegradation rates of test aromatic compounds decreased or ceased.

In the recent years, some experimental forms of housing (cohousing and social housing) have developed in Italy, which also take on the features of real energy communities. These initiatives have been planned and implemented thanks to the active participation and investments of the people involved in the project. Their primary aim is to implement new form of shared housing, but by adopting renewable generation systems and sharing both energy production and consumption, they are contributing to foster the energy transition process. In this research, we studied the management of the energy resource and the social interactions among the cohousers. Moreover, we analysed the social impacts on the surrounding territory in order to know as they can widespread the clean energy technologies and social innovation processes. To do this, we compared two experiences of collaborative housing: the first one, active since some years in Northern Italy, is a bottom-up initiative set up by the voluntary action of some families and individuals. Its goal is to share common spaces and activities, but also to produce and use renewable energy with a view to economic and environmental sustainability. The second one is a social cohousing, established in Messina (Southern Italy) and implemented by the Fondazione di Comunità di Messina. The project involves people who live in socio-economic difficulties. Through the ESCO Solidarity & Energy, the Fondazione has designed and applied energy systems to allow the tenants to become prosumers and prosumagers.

Artículos en revistas Hybrid microgrids are expected to play an important role in the expansion of access to electricity in developing countries. While most of these systems are operated with dispatch strategies which do not make use of predictions about the load or about the availability of renewable energy resources, forecast-based strategies have recently gained attention as an alternative to bring down operation costs. In this work, we develop a framework to assess this potential under a range of assumptions about the quality of load and photovoltaic generation forecasts. The application of the methodology to a village of 600 households reveals cost savings ranging between 2% and 7% depending on the forecast quality and the composition of the microgrid. We also show that sizing microgrid components under the assumption of a predictive operation strategy results in a design with a higher share of intermittent generation. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion