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Tuesday 10 May 2016

The Best Aerobic Step Workouts

The goal of step aerobics, of course, is weight management and improved fitness. With only a stair or an elevated platform, you can burn about 10 calories a minute and shape and tone muscles throughout your body. With a portable platform that allows you to adjust step height and add-on weights, you can increase the intensity of your workouts over time.

The Best Aerobic Step Workouts
Close up of women's feet on a workout step in a fitness class. Photo Credit Radu Razvan/iStock/Getty Images.

Engage Your Whole Body

Step aerobics is more than stepping up and down. A good step aerobic workout also uses your arms to get your heart pumping and your core to maintain balance. Routines for some workouts use dance-like movements to make the workout exciting. After you’re done swinging your arms, tapping your toes and twisting up and down, you’ll be back for more.

Cardio and Strength Training

Research consistently shows that the best workout programs combine cardiovascular and strength training. You can combine these exercises into your step aerobics workout by using hand weights. Even ankle weights can help you both burn more calories and strengthen muscles. Don’t rush into adding weight if you’re just beginning a fitness program, however, as it is more important to safely build up your body without wearing it -- or your motivation -- out.
www.livestong.com

Why Do Cold Temperatures Slow Down Your Metabolism?

If you find yourself packing on the pounds during the winter months, you might think that the problem is the cold weather. But cold temperatures by themselves don't slow down the metabolism. Instead, feeling cold can be a symptom of a slow metabolism, and this is because of the thyroid's role in regulating metabolism. The metabolism does, however, tend to speed up in higher temperatures.
Why Do Cold Temperatures Slow Down Your Metabolism?
A group of friends are walking at the ski slopes. Photo Credit Thomas Northcut/Digital Vision/Getty Images.

The Temperature-Metabolism Connection

When you are active, your body tends to warm up, making it look like heat is the result of a fast metabolism. When you're continually exposed to freezing temperatures, your metabolism may slow down to conserve energy and heat, but a brief period spent in cold temperatures, such as a walk in the snow, isn't sufficient to slow down your metabolism. If your endocrine system isn't functioning well, however, your core body temperature may drop, and with this drop can come a slow down in metabolism.

Correlations Between Metabolism and Weather

Gaining weight during the cold winter months is usually a simple matter of correlation, not the result of a slow metabolism. Rich, excessive food around the holidays can play a role in cold-weather weight gain. Similarly, if you usually exercise outdoors, you might slack off on your routine if the weather is too cold, or cut your routine short when cold temperatures become unbearable.

Low Body Temperature

A low body temperature can sometimes indicate hypothyroidism, which does affect metabolism. A variety of medical conditions can cause your thyroid to malfunction; symptoms of a thyroid problem include frequently feeling cold, depression, unexplained weight gain, weakness, brittle hair or nails, constant fatigue and paleness. Only your doctor can diagnose you with a slow metabolism caused by hypothyroidism, and he may prescribe medication, dietary changes or surgery to remedy the problem.

Speeding Up Metabolism

If you want to speed up your metabolism, focus on building muscle, which burns more calories than fat. Eating regular small meals -- including breakfast -- instead of one or two large meals can keep your body consistently nourished and help you avoid entering starvation mode, which slows the metabolism. Interval training, which incorporates brief bursts of intense exercise into an otherwise moderate workout, can also help boost your metabolism for several hours after your workout.
www.livestrong.com

The Best Morning Protein

If you often grab a plain bagel on your way out the door only to find yourself starving a few hours later, you know that not all breakfasts have the staying power you need. A study published in a 2009 issue of the "British Journal of Nutrition" found that participants who ate a high-protein breakfast, compared to one high in carbohydrates, reported greater feelings of fullness and better regulated their food intake later in the day. A protein breakfast is also beneficial after a morning workout, as the amino acids assist with muscle repair and recovery. Go for the most nutritious breakfast protein options to experience the greatest benefit from adding this nutrient to your morning routine.
The Best Morning Protein
A poached egg with asparagus and a slice of whole grain toast. Photo Credit Anna Pustynnikova/iStock/Getty Images.

Egg It On

An egg offers B vitamins, iron, choline and antioxidants such as lutein and zeaxanthin. The cholesterol in egg yolks has very little effect on your blood cholesterol, and moderate consumption has no impact on your risk of developing heart disease, unless you have high cholesterol or diabetes, reports the Harvard School of Public Health. An egg breakfast also helps with weight loss. A study published in the "International Journal of Obesity" in 2008 found that an egg breakfast enhanced weight-loss efforts in participants who were cutting calories to lose weight more than a bagel breakfast of equal calories. One large poached egg contains 6 grams of high-quality protein.

Delight in Dairy

Low-fat dairy is a quality source of complete protein that's easy to grab on the go. It also provides you with a dose of calcium, potassium and vitamin D. Plain Greek yogurt offers 17 grams per 6-ounce serving; 2 percent cottage cheese has 12 grams of protein per half 1/2cup; and part-skim ricotta cheese provides 14 grams of protein per 1/2 cup. Eat these with fruit or toast, use them to top whole-grain waffles or to stir into hot cereal. Whey protein, a derivative of milk, offers 15 to 25 grams of complete and highly digestible protein per scoop -- depending on the brand -- and mixes easily into a fresh fruit smoothie.

Get Nutty

A 1-ounce portion of nuts sprinkled over cereal or eaten out of hand adds 4 to 6 grams of protein to breakfast, depending on the type you choose. Almonds, cashews and pistachios are among the higher protein choices. Nut butter trumps other bagel and toast toppers, such as butter, jelly and cream cheese, when it comes to protein content -- offering 7 grams per 2 tablespoons of peanut butter or almond butter. Nuts contain heart-healthy fats and B vitamins as well. A breakfast that includes peanut butter stimulates the body to release an appetite-suppressing hormone, with the effects lasting eight to 12 hours, a study published in a 2013 edition of the "British Journal of Nutrition" found. Eating peanut butter at breakfast also kept blood sugar levels moderated, even after some participants indulged in a high-carbohydrate lunch.

Go Lean With Meat

Regularly eating processed meats any time of the day, including at breakfast, is associated with an increased risk of heart disease and cancer, reported a major study of almost 1/2 million people published in "BMC Med" in 2013. This includes typical breakfast proteins such as ham, sausage and bacon. You can still get a morning meat fix, though, by making "sausage" patties with fresh, ground turkey or chicken, minced onion, fennel seeds, oregano, salt and black pepper. A 4-ounce patty will provide about 22 grams of protein. Other unprocessed meats also offer a dose of protein at breakfast time. Try baked flounder -- with 13 grams of protein per 3 ounces -- as a complement to eggs; wrap 3 ounces of flank steak and salsa in flour tortillas for breakfast tacos with about 24 grams of protein; or make a hash with 3 ounces cooked salmon, potatoes and onions to add about 22 grams of protein to your meal. These high-protein options are lower in fat -- with the exception of salmon which is rich in heart-healthy fats -- and chemical preservatives than processed meats.
www.livestrong.com

Marking & Measuring: 11 Articles to Help You Zero in On Perfect Work (Digital Download)

THE WOODWORKING DESIGN COLLECTION - ORDER NOW !

11 Articles to Help You Zero in On Perfect Work 

Format: Magazine Download 


It’s the biggest cliche in woodworking: “Measure twice, cut once.” But you can’t deny the basic truth that measuring (and marking what you measure) is absolutely fundamental to successful projects. In “Marking & Measuring,” you’ll find 11 articles to help you do better work, from how to use tools from simple squares to sophisticated dial calipers, to avoiding problems by marking your boards before you join them.
Robert W. Lang sets you straight by starting things off with “Measure, Mark & Lay Out,” an overview of measuring and layout. You’ll discover tips on getting the most from your tools, and how errors might be a matter of perspective. Robert shows you that one of the most important things to check are your assumptions.
A swoopy triangle or curly swirl can save you hours of work - in “Make Your Mark,” Christopher Schwarz teaches you how traditional cabinetmakers' marks can help you keep the right face forward.
One of the rites of passage for woodworkers of the past was making their own squares and straightedges. Robert W. Lang shares some good reasons why you should make “Shop-built Layout Tools," as well. You’ll discover some valuable skills, end up with a couple of new tools and learn the tricks of testing a straightedge and square. 
That loose hook on the end of your tape measure? It’s not sloppy workmanship - it’s supposed to move a bit. Christopher Schwarz is the author of “Measuring 101,” an article that will teach you how to buy a square that is actually square, what to look for when buying a tape measure and why 16’ is long enough, thank you very much.
Discover how to sharpen and correctly use “Marking Knives,” with Christopher Schwarz showing you how this essential tool directly leads to cleaner, more accurate cuts. You’ll also read how Christopher turns old spade bits into marking knives for a fraction of the cost of buying.
Build a useful tool that’s easy to make, easy on the eyes and fantastic to use. Christopher Schwarz shows you how to build an “English Layout Square” that will give you practice cutting a bridle joint and adding decorative details to your work.
“The Mighty Compass” is no exaggeration. Robert W. Lang reveals how a swing of an arc can solve many of your layout and construction problems. Learn how to use this versatile tool to make perfect 45°
 angles, exact squares and even polygons. 
Dive deep into the anatomy and use of “Combination Squares” with Robert W. Lang - he teaches you how to select and maintain this core woodworking tool. (And find out why Robert thinks you should have more than one.)
In “Dial Calipers,” David Thiel shows you a host of uses for this precision measuring instrument, from checking the depth of a mortise to helping tune a handplane.
“Try Squares” is a handy cheat sheet - everything you need to know about try squares; common sizes, how to diagnose and repair problems and more.
Quick – what’s 17 15/16 divided by 5? Step away from the calculator - in “Secrets of the Sector,” Jim Tolpin shows you how to make and use a traditional tool that can simplify your layout chores and help you avoid mathematical errors. 
You get all these articles for only $4.99. And mark my words, that’s a deal!
SKUT8524
File TypePDF
FormatMagazine Download

For further information log on website :

http://www.shopwoodworking.com/marking-and-measuring-t8524?source=igodigital


EUCALYPTUS MARGINATA

Eucalyptus marginata is one of the most common species of Eucalyptus tree and is native to the southwest of Western Australia. The tree and the wood are usually referred to by the Aboriginal name jarrah. Because of the similar appearance of worked jarrah timber to the Honduras mahogany, jarrah was once called Swan River mahogany after the river system that runs through Perth.
Jarrah
Jarrah tree burls 01 gnangarra.JPG
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Plantae
(unranked):Angiosperms
(unranked):Eudicots
(unranked):Rosids
Order:Myrtales
Family:Myrtaceae
Genus:Eucalyptus
Species:E. marginata
Binomial name
Eucalyptus marginata
Donn ex Sm.
Subspecies
E. marginata subsp. marginata
E. marginata subsp. thalassica

Description

The tree grows up to 40 metres (130 ft) high with a trunk up to 3 metres (9.8 ft) in diameter, and has rough, greyish-brown, vertically grooved, fibrous bark which sheds in long flat strips. The leaves are often curved, 8–13 centimetres (3.1–5.1 in) long and 1.5–3 centimetres (0.59–1.18 in) broad, shiny dark green above and paler below. The species' scientific name marginata refers to the light-coloured vein on the border around its leaves. The stalked flower buds appear in clusters of between 7 and 11; each bud has a narrow, conical bud cap 5–9 millimetres (0.20–0.35 in) long. The flowers are white, 1–2 centimetres (0.39–0.79 in) in diameter, and bloom in spring and early summer. The fruits are spherical to barrel-shaped, and 9–16 millimetres (0.35–0.63 in) long and broad.


Bark
The bark of this Eucalyptus is not shed in patches as it is with many others, but splits into fibrous strips. Jarrah trees are also unusual in that they have a lignotuber, a large underground swelling which stores carbohydrates and allows young trees to regenerate after a fire. Because they are deep-rooted, as much as 40 metres (130 ft), jarrah are drought resistant and able to draw water from great depths during dry periods.

Ecology
Jarrah is an important element in its ecology, providing numerous habitats for animal life - especially birds and bees - while it is alive, and in the hollows that form as the heartwood decays. When it falls, it provides shelter to ground-dwellers such as the chuditch (Dasyurus geoffroii), a carnivorous marsupial.
Jarrah has shown considerable adaptation to different ecologic zones - as in the Swan Coastal Plain and further north, and also to a different habitat of the lateritic Darling Scarp.
Jarrah is very vulnerable to dieback, the oomycete Phytophthora cinnamomi, which causes root-rot. In large sections of the Darling Scarp there have been various measures to reduce the spread of dieback by washing down vehicles, and restricting access to areas of forest not yet infected.
Uses
Jarrah produces a dark, thick, tasty honey, but its wood is its main use. It is a heavy wood, with a specific gravity of 1.1 when green. Its long, straight trunks of richly coloured and beautifully grained termite-resistant timber make it valuable for cabinet making, flooring, panelling and outdoor furniture. The finished lumber has a deep rich reddish-brown colour and an attractive grain. When fresh, jarrah is quite workable but when seasoned it becomes so hard that conventional wood-working tools are near useless on it. It is very durable and water resistant, making it a choice structural material for bridges, wharves, railway sleepers, ship building and telegraph poles.
Jarrah was commonly used for fencing in Western Australia.
Jarrah wood is very similar to that of Karri, Eucalyptus diversicolor. Both trees are found in the southwest of Australia, and the two woods are frequently confused. They can be distinguished by cutting an unweathered splinter and burning it: karri burns completely to a white ash, whereas jarrah forms charcoal. Most of the best jarrah has been logged in southwestern Australia.
A large amount was exported to the United Kingdom, where it was cut into blocks and covered with asphalt for roads. One of the large exporters in the late nineteenth century was M. C. Davies who had mills from the Margaret River to the Augusta region of the southwest, and ports at Hamelin Bay and Flinders Bay.
The local poet Dryblower Murphy wrote a poem in the early twentieth century about the potential to extract alcohol from jarrah timber "Comeanavajarrah", suggesting that the resource was an endless one for exploitation.
Second-hand jarrah flooring after 80 grit sanding in New Zealand.
Jarrah has become more highly prized, and supports an industry that recycles it from demolished houses. Even so, in 2004, old 4-by-2-inch (10 by 5 cm) recycled jarrah was routinely advertised in Perth papers for under $1.50 per metre. Larger pieces of the timber were produced in the early history of the industry, from trees of great age, and these are also recovered from the demolition of older buildings.
Offcuts and millends, dead and fire-affected jarrah also sell as firewood for those using wood for heating in Perth, and 1-tonne (2,200 lb) loads can (as of winter 2005) exceed $160 per load. Jarrah tends to work well in slow combustion stoves and closed fires and generates a greater heat than most other available woods.
Jarrah is used in musical instrument making, for percussion instruments and guitar inlays.
Because of its remarkable resistance to rot, jarrah is used to make hot tubs.
References

  1. ^ Lintern, Melvyn; Anand, Ravi; Ryan, Chris; Paterson, David (2013). "Natural gold particles in Eucalyptus leaves and their relevance to exploration for buried gold deposits". Nature Communications 4. doi:10.1038/ncomms 3614 ISSN2041-1723.
  2. ^ Powell, Robert James and Emberson, Jane (1978).An old look at trees : vegetation of south-western Australia in old photographs Perth : Campaign to Save Native Forests (W.A.). ISBN 0-9597449-3-2- has photographs of significant large old Jarrah trees from the Swan Coastal Plain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
  3. ^ http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/4118419?uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=21104728604447.
Further Reading

  • Boland, D. J.; et al. (1984). Forest Trees of Australia (Fourth edition revised and enlarged). CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Victoria, Australia. ISBN 0-643-05423-5.
  • Powell, Robert (1990). Leaf and Branch: Trees and Tall Shrubs of Perth. Department of Conservation and Land Management, Perth, Western Australia. ISBN 0-7309-3916-2.

External Links

  • "Eucalyptus marginata"FloraBase. Department of Environment and Conservation, Government of Western Australia.
  •  Data related to Eucalyptus marginata at Wikispecies

Wikipedia 

SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE

Sustainable architecture is architecture, that seeks to minimize the negative environmental impact of buildings by efficiency and moderation in the use of materials, energy, and development space. Sustainable architecture uses a conscious approach to energy and ecological conservation in the design of the built environment.
Hanging gardens of One Central Park, Sydney.
The idea of sustainability, or ecological design, is to ensure that our actions and decisions today do not inhibit the opportunities of future generations.
Energy-plus-houses at Freiburg-Vauban in Germany.

Sustainable Energy Use


K2 sustainable apartments in Windsor, Victoria, Australia by DesignInc (2006) features passive solar design, recycled and sustainable materials, photovoltaic cells, wastewater treatment, rainwater collection and solar hot water.

Energy efficiency over the entire life cycle of a building is the most important goal of sustainable architecture. Architects use many different passive and active techniques to reduce the energy needs of buildings and increase their ability to capture or generate their own energy. One of the keys to exploit local environmental resources and influence energy-related factors such as daylight, solar heat gains and ventilation is the use of site analysis.



The passivhaus, standard combines a variety of techniques and technologies to achieve ultra-low energy use.
Heating, Ventilation and Cooling System Efficiency 
Numerous passive architectural strategies have been developed over time. Examples of such strategies include the arrangement of rooms or the sizing and orientation of windows in a building, and the orientation of facades and streets or the ratio between building heights and street widths for urban planning.
An important and cost-effective element of an efficient heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system is a well-insulated building. A more efficient building requires less heat generating or dissipating power, but may require more ventilation capacity to expel polluted indoor air.
Following its destruction by a tornado in 2007, the town of Greensburg, Kansas (USA) elected to rebuild to highly stringent LEED Platinum environmental standards. Shown is the town's new art center, which integrates its own solar panels and wind generators for energy self-sufficiency.
Significant amounts of energy are flushed out of buildings in the water, air and compost streams. Off the shelf, on-site energy recycling technologies can effectively recapture energy from waste hot water and stale air and transfer that energy into incoming fresh cold water or fresh air. Recapture of energy for uses other than gardening from compost leaving buildings requires centralized anaerobic digesters.
HVAC systems are powered by motors. Copper, versus other metal conductors, helps to improve the electrical energy efficiencies of motors, thereby enhancing the sustainability of electrical building components. (For main article, see: Copper in energy-efficient motors).
Site and building orientation have some major effects on a building's HVAC efficiency.
Passive solar building design allows buildings to harness the energy of the sun efficiently without the use of any active solar mechanisms such as photovoltaic cells or solar hot water panels. Typically passive solar building designs incorporate materials with high thermal mass that retain heat effectively and strong insulation that works to prevent heat escape. Low energy designs also requires the use of solar shading, by means of awnings, blinds or shutters, to relieve the solar heat gain in summer and to reduce the need for artificial cooling. In addition, low energy buildings typically have a very low surface area to volume ratio to minimize heat loss. This means that sprawling multi-winged building designs (often thought to look more "organic") are often avoided in favor of more centralized structures. Traditional cold climate buildings such as American colonial saltbox designs provide a good historical model for centralized heat efficiency in a small-scale building.
Windows are placed to maximize the input of heat-creating light while minimizing the loss of heat through glass, a poor insulator. In the northern hemisphere this usually involves installing a large number of south-facing windows to collect direct sun and severely restricting the number of north-facing windows. Certain window types, such as double or triple glazed insulated windows with gas filled spaces and low emissivity (low-E) coatings, provide much better insulation than single-pane glass windows. Preventing excess solar gain by means of solar shading devices in the summer months is important to reduce cooling needs. Deciduous trees are often planted in front of windows to block excessive sun in summer with their leaves but allow light through in winter when their leaves fall off. Louvers or light shelves are installed to allow the sunlight in during the winter (when the sun is lower in the sky) and keep it out in the summer (when the sun is high in the sky). Coniferous or evergreen plants are often planted to the north of buildings to shield against cold north winds.
In colder climates, heating systems are a primary focus for sustainable architecture because they are typically one of the largest single energy drains in buildings.
In warmer climates where cooling is a primary concern, passive solar designs can also be very effective. Masonry building materials with high thermal mass are very valuable for retaining the cool temperatures of night throughout the day. In addition builders often opt for sprawling single story structures in order to maximize surface area and heat loss. Buildings are often designed to capture and channel existing winds, particularly the especially cool winds coming from nearby bodies of water. Many of these valuable strategies are employed in some way by the traditional architecture of warm regions, such as south-western mission buildings.
In climates with four seasons, an integrated energy system will increase in efficiency: when the building is well insulated, when it is sited to work with the forces of nature, when heat is recaptured (to be used immediately or stored), when the heat plant relying on fossil fuels or electricity is greater than 100% efficient, and when renewable energy is used.
Renewable Energy Generation


BedZED (Beddington Zero Energy Development), the UK's largest and first carbon-neutral eco-community: the distinctive roofscape with solar panels and passive ventilation chimneys.
Solar Panels
Active solar devices such as photovoltaic solar panels help to provide sustainable electricity for any use. Electrical output of a solar panel is dependent on orientation, efficiency, latitude, and climate—solar gain varies even at the same latitude. Typical efficiencies for commercially available PV panels range from 4% to 28%. The low efficiency of certain photovoltaic panels can significantly affect the payback period of their installation. This low efficiency does not mean that solar panels are not a viable energy alternative. In Germany for example, Solar Panels are commonly installed in residential home construction.
Roofs are often angled toward the sun to allow photovoltaic panels to collect at maximum efficiency. In the northern hemisphere, a true-south facing orientation maximizes yield for solar panels. If true-south is not possible, solar panels can produce adequate energy if aligned within 30° of south. However, at higher latitudes, winter energy yield will be significantly reduced for non-south orientation.
To maximize efficiency in winter, the collector can be angled above horizontal Latitude +15°. To maximize efficiency in summer, the angle should be Latitude -15°. However, for an annual maximum production, the angle of the panel above horizontal should be equal to its latitude.
Wind Turbines

The use of undersized wind turbines in energy production in sustainable structures requires the consideration of many factors. In considering costs, small wind systems are generally more expensive than larger wind turbines relative to the amount of energy they produce. For small wind turbines, maintenance costs can be a deciding factor at sites with marginal wind-harnessing capabilities. At low-wind sites, maintenance can consume much of a small wind turbine's revenue. Wind turbines begin operating when winds reach 8 mph, achieve energy production capacity at speeds of 32-37 mph, and shut off to avoid damage at speeds exceeding 55 mph. The energy potential of a wind turbine is proportional to the square of the length of its blades and to the cube of the speed at which its blades spin. Though wind turbines are available that can supplement power for a single building, because of these factors, the efficiency of the wind turbine depends much upon the wind conditions at the building site. For these reasons, for wind turbines to be at all efficient, they must be installed at locations that are known to receive a constant amount of wind (with average wind speeds of more than 15 mph), rather than locations that receive wind sporadically. A small wind turbine can be installed on a roof. Installation issues then include the strength of the roof, vibration, and the turbulence caused by the roof ledge. Small-scale rooftop wind turbines have been known to be able to generate power from 10% to up to 25% of the electricity required of a regular domestic household dwelling. Turbines for residential scale use are usually between 7 feet (2 m) to 25 feet (8 m) in diameter and produce electricity at a rate of 900 watts to 10,000 watts at their tested wind speed. Building integrated wind turbine performance can be enhanced with the addition of an aerofoil wing on top of a roof mounted turbine.

Solar Water Heating
Solar water heaters, also called solar domestic hot water systems, can be a cost-effective way to generate hot water for a home. They can be used in any climate, and the fuel they use—sunshine—is free.
There are two types of solar water systems- active and passive. An active solar collector system can produce about 80 to 100 gallons of hot water per day. A passive system will have a lower capacity.
There are also two types of circulation, direct circulation systems and indirect circulation systems. Direct circulation systems loop the domestic water through the panels. They should not be used in climates with temperatures below freezing. Indirect circulation loops glycol or some other fluid through the solar panels and uses a heat exchanger to heat up the domestic water.
The two most common types of collector panels are Flat-Plate and Evacuated-tube. The two work similarly except that evacuated tubes do not convectively lose heat, which greatly improves their efficiency (5%-25% more efficient). With these higher efficiencies, Evacuated-tube solar collectors can also produce higher-temperature space heating, and even higher temperatures for absorption cooling systems.
Electric-resistance water heaters that are common in homes today have an electrical demand around 4500 kW·h/year. With the use of solar collectors, the energy use is cut in half. The up-front cost of installing solar collectors is high, but with the annual energy savings, payback periods are relatively short.
Heat Pumps
Air-source heat pumps (ASHP) can be thought of as reversible air conditioners. Like an air conditioner, an ASHP can take heat from a relatively cool space (e.g. a house at 70 °F) and dump it into a hot place (e.g. outside at 85 °F). However, unlike an air conditioner, the condenser and evaporator of an ASHP can switch roles and absorb heat from the cool outside air and dump it into a warm house.
Air-source heat pumps are inexpensive relative to other heat pump systems. However, the efficiency of air-source heat pumps decline when the outdoor temperature is very cold or very hot; therefore, they are only really applicable in temperate climates.
For areas not located in temperate climates, ground-source (or geothermal) heat pumps provide an efficient alternative. The difference between the two heat pumps is that the ground-source has one of its heat exchangers placed underground—usually in a horizontal or vertical arrangement. Ground-source takes advantage of the relatively constant, mild temperatures underground, which means their efficiencies can be much greater than that of an air-source heat pump. The in-ground heat exchanger generally needs a considerable amount of area. Designers have placed them in an open area next to the building or underneath a parking lot.
Energy Star ground-source heat pumps can be 40% to 60% more efficient than their air-source counterparts. They are also quieter and can also be applied to other functions like domestic hot water heating.
In terms of initial cost, the ground-source heat pump system costs about twice as much as a standard air-source heat pump to be installed. However, the up-front costs can be more than offset by the decrease in energy costs. The reduction in energy costs is especially apparent in areas with typically hot summers and cold winters.
Other types of heat pumps are water-source and air-earth. If the building is located near a body of water, the pond or lake could be used as a heat source or sink. Air-earth heat pumps circulate the building's air through underground ducts. With higher fan power requirements and inefficient heat transfer, Air-earth heat pumps are generally not practical for major construction.
Sustainable Building Materials

Some examples of sustainable building materials include recycled denim or blown-in fiber glass insulation, sustainably harvested wood, Trass, Linoleum, sheep wool, concrete (high and ultra high performance roman self-healing concrete), panels made from paper flakes, baked earth, rammed earth, clay, vermiculite, flax linnen, sisal, seegrass, expanded clay grains, coconut, wood fibre plates, calcium sand stone, locally obtained stone and rock, and bamboo, which is one of the strongest and fastest growing woody plants, and non-toxic low-VOC glues and paints.

Recycled Materials


Recycling items for building.

Sustainable architecture often incorporates the use of recycled or second hand materials, such as reclaimed lumber and recycled copper. The reduction in use of new materials creates a corresponding reduction in embodied energy (energy used in the production of materials). Often sustainable architects attempt to retrofit old structures to serve new needs in order to avoid unnecessary development. Architectural salvage and reclaimed materials are used when appropriate. When older buildings are demolished, frequently any good wood is reclaimed, renewed, and sold as flooring. Any good dimension stone is similarly reclaimed. Many other parts are reused as well, such as doors, windows, mantels, and hardware, thus reducing the consumption of new goods. When new materials are employed, green designers look for materials that are rapidly replenished, such as bamboo, which can be harvested for commercial use after only 6 years of growth, sorghum or wheat straw, both of which are waste material that can be pressed into panels, or cork oak, in which only the outer bark is removed for use, thus preserving the tree. When possible, building materials may be gleaned from the site itself; for example, if a new structure is being constructed in a wooded area, wood from the trees which were cut to make room for the building would be re-used as part of the building itself.

Lower Volatile  Organic Compounds
Low-impact building materials are used wherever feasible: for example, insulation may be made from low VOC (volatile organic compound)- emitting materials such as recycled denim or cellulose insulation, rather than the building insulation materials that may contain carcinogenic or toxic materials such as formaldehyde. To discourage insect damage, these alternate insulation materials may be treated with boric acid. Organic or milk-based paints may be used. However, a common fallacy is that "green" materials are always better for the health of occupants or the environment. Many harmful substances (including formaldehyde, arsenic, and asbestos) are naturally occurring and are not without their histories of use with the best of intentions. A study of emissions from materials by the State of California has shown that there are some green materials that have substantial emissions whereas some more "traditional" materials actually were lower emitters. Thus, the subject of emissions must be carefully investigated before concluding that natural materials are always the healthiest alternatives for occupants and for the Earth.
Volatile organic compounds (VOC) can be found in any indoor environment coming from a variety of different sources. VOCs have a high vapor pressure and low water solubility, and are suspected of causing sick building syndrome type symptoms. This is because many VOCs have been known to cause sensory irritation and central nervous system symptoms characteristic to sick building syndrome, indoor concentrations of VOCs are higher than in the outdoor atmosphere, and when there are many VOCs present, they can cause additive and multiplicative effects.
Green products are usually considered to contain fewer VOCs and be better for human and environmental health. A case study conducted by the Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering at the University of Miami that compared three green products and their non-green counterparts found that even though both the green products and the non-green counterparts both emitted levels of VOCs, the amount and intensity of the VOCs emitted from the green products were much safer and comfortable for human exposure.
Materials Sustainability Standards

Despite the importance of materials to overall building sustainability, quantifying and evaluating the sustainability of building materials has proven difficult. There is little coherence in the measurement and assessment of materials sustainability attributes, resulting in a landscape today that is littered with hundreds of competing, inconsistent and often imprecise eco-labels, standards and certifications. This discord has led both to confusion among consumers and commercial purchasers and to the incorporation of inconsistent sustainability criteria in larger building certification programs such as LEED. Various proposals have been made regarding rationalization of the standardization landscape for sustainable building materials.

Waste Management

Waste takes the form of spent or useless materials generated from households and businesses, construction and demolition processes, and manufacturing and agricultural industries. These materials are loosely categorized as municipal solid waste, construction and demolition (C&D) debris, and industrial or agricultural by-products. Sustainable architecture focuses on the on-site use of waste management, incorporating things such as grey water systems for use on garden beds, and composting toilets to reduce sewage. These methods, when combined with on-site food waste composting and off-site recycling, can reduce a house's waste to a small amount of packaging waste.This is the new techniques of sustainable architecture .

Building Placement

One central and often ignored aspect of sustainable architecture is building placement. Although the ideal environmental home or office structure is often envisioned as an isolated place, this kind of placement is usually detrimental to the environment. First, such structures often serve as the unknowing frontlines of suburban sprawl. Second, they usually increase the energy consumption required for transportation and lead to unnecessary auto emissions. Ideally, most building should avoid suburban sprawl in favor of the kind of light urban development articulated by the New Urbanist movement. Careful mixed use zoning can make commercial, residential, and light industrial areas more accessible for those traveling by foot, bicycle, or public transit, as proposed in the Principles of Intelligent Urbanism. The study of Permaculture, in its holistic application, can also greatly help in proper building placement that minimizes energy consumption and works with the surroundings rather than against them, especially in rural and forested zones.

Sustainable building consulting
A sustainable building consultant may be engaged early in the design process, to forecast the sustainability implications of building materials, orientation, glazing and other physical factors, so as to identify a sustainable approach that meets the specific requirements of a project.
Norms and standards have been formalized by performance-based rating systems e.g. LEED and Energy Star for homes. They define benchmarks,to be met and provide metrics and testing to meet those benchmarks. It is up to the parties involved in the project to determine the best approach to meet those standards.
Changing pedagogies
Critics of the reductionism of modernism often noted the abandonment of the teaching of architectural history as a causal factor. The fact that a number of the major players in the shift away from modernism were trained at Princeton University's School of Architecture, where recourse to history continued to be a part of design training in the 1940s and 1950s, was significant. The increasing rise of interest in history had a profound impact on architectural education. History courses became more typical and regularized. With the demand for professors knowledgeable in the history of architecture, several PhD programs in schools of architecture arose in order to differentiate themselves from art history PhD programs, where architectural historians had previously trained. In the US, MIT and Cornell were the first, created in the mid-1970s, followed by Columbia, Berkeley,  and Princeton. Among the founders of new architectural history programs were Bruno Zevi at the Institute for the History of Architecture in Venice, Stanford Anderson and Henry Millon at MIT, Alexander Tzonis at the Architectural Association, Anthony Vidler at Princeton, Manfredo Tafuri at the University of Venice, Kenneth Frampton at Columbia University, and Werner Oechslin and Kurt Forster at ETH Zürich.
The term “sustainability” in relation to architecture has so far been mostly considered through the lens of building technology and its transformations. Going beyond the technical sphere of “green” design, invention and expertise, some scholars are starting to position architecture within a much broader cultural framework of the human interrelationship with nature. Adopting this framework allows tracing a rich history of cultural debates about our relationship to nature and the environment, from the point of view of different historical and geographical contexts.
Sustainable Urbanism and architecture

Concurrently, the recent movements of New Urbanism and New Classical Architecture promote a sustainable approach towards construction, that appreciates and develops smart growth, architectural tradition and classical design. This in contrast to modernist and globally uniform architecture, as well as leaning against solitary housing estates and suburban sprawl. Both trends started in the 1980s. The Driehaus Architecture Prize is an award that recognizes efforts in New Urbanism and New Classical Architecture, and is endowed with a prize money twice as high as that of the modernist Pritzker Prize.

Criticism
There are conflicting ethical, engineering, and political orientations depending on the viewpoints.
There is no doubt Green Technology has made its headway into the architectural community, the implementation of given technologies have changed the ways we see and perceive modern day architecture. While green architecture has been proven to show great improvements of ways of living both environmentally and technologically the question remains, is all this sustainable? Many building codes have been demeaned to international standards. "LEED" ( Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design ) has been criticized for exercising flexible codes for building to follow. Contractors do this to save as much money as they possibly can. For example, a building may have solar paneling but if the infrastructure of the building's core doesn't support that over a long period of time improvements would have to be made on a constant basis and the building itself would be vulnerable to disasters or enhancements. With companies cutting paths to make shortcuts with sustainable architecture when building their structures it fuels to the irony that the "sustainable" architecture isn't sustainable at all. Sustainability comes in reference to longevity and effectiveness.
Ethics and Politics also play into sustainable architecture and its ability to grow in urban environment. Conflicting viewpoints between engineering techniques and environmental impacts still are popular issues that resonate in the architectural community. With every revolutionary technology or innovation there comes criticisms of legitimacy and effectiveness when and how it is being utilized. Many of the criticisms of sustainable architecture do not reflect every aspect of it but rather a broader spectrum across the international community.
References

  1. ^ "Sustainable Architecture and Simulation Modelling", Dublin Institute of Technology, [1].
  2. ^ Doerr Architecture, Definition of Sustainability and the Impacts of Buildings [2].
  3. a b M. DeKay & G.Z. Brown, Sun Wind & Light, architectural design strategies, 3rd ed. Wiley, 2014
  4. ^ M. Montavon, Optimization of Urban Form by the Evaluation of the Solar Potential, EPFL, 2010
  5. ^ shamilton. "Module Pricing", Solarbuzz. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
  6. ^ G.Z. Brown, Mark DeKay. Sun, Wind & Light. 2001
  7. a b Brower, Michael; Cool Energy, The Renewable Solution to Global Warming; Union of Concerned Scientists, 1990
  8. ^ Gipe, Paul; Wind Power: Renewable Energy for Farm and Business; Chelsea Green Publishing, 2004
  9. ^ The Sunday Times, "Home wind turbines dealt killer blow", April 16, 2006
  10. ^ "Wind turbine, a powerful investment", Rapid City Journal, February 20, 2008
  11. ^ Factors enhancing aerofoil wings for wind energy harnessing in buildings,7 November 2013 http://bse.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/11/07/0143624413509097.abstract?papetoc.
  12. ^ U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Solar Water Heaters, March 24, 2009 [3].
  13. ^ "Solar Water Heaters". Toolbase.org. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
  14. a b c d e John Randolph and Gilbert M. Masters, 2008. "Energy for Sustainability: Technology, Planning, Policy," Island Press, Washington, DC.
  15. ^ Duurzaam en Gezond Bouwen en Wonen by Hugo Vanderstadt,
  16. ^ Time:Cementing the future
  17. ^ Roman concrete self-healing
  18. ^ Information on low-emitting materials may be found at www.buildingecology.com/iaq_links.php IAQ links
  19. ^ Building Emissions Study accessed at California Integrated Waste Management web site
  20. ^ James, J.P., Yang, X. Indoor and Built Environment, Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds from Several Green and Non-Green Building Materials: A Comparison, January 2004.[4] Retrieved: 2008-04-30.
External Links

  • World Green Building Council
  • El Paso Solar Energy Association Information page about passive solar water heating
  • Energy Recovery Council
  • Passivhaus Institut German institute for passive buildings
  • U.S. EPA - Landfill Research Bioreactor landfill research supports sustainable waste management initiatives

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