Search

Hydrogen has been widely recognised as a versatile and environmentally-friendly energy carrier, with a broad range of potential applications across various sectors. The abundance of hydrogen in the universe and its high energy content makes it an attractive alternative to conventional fossil fuels. Moreover, the utilization of hydrogen does not produce greenhouse gases or other pollutants that contribute to air pollution and climate change. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in developing and deploying hydrogen technologies for a sustainable energy future. This paper provides an in-depth exploration of the potential of hydrogen as a clean energy source in different sectors, such as transportation, energy storage, power generation, industry, buildings, maritime transport, and aviation. The aim of the paper is to provide an overview of the current state of hydrogen applications in Europe and the Baltic States, including examples of ongoing projects and initiatives, and to assess the advantages and disadvantages of hydrogen technologies in different sectors. The main results of the paper highlight that hydrogen has the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve carbon neutrality targets. However, the deployment of hydrogen technologies also faces various challenges such as high production costs, lack of infrastructure, and safety concerns. The tasks of the paper are to provide an insight into the potential of hydrogen, identify the challenges and limitations, and highlight ongoing research and development efforts in this field. The paper concludes that the widespread adoption of hydrogen technologies is a long-term goal that requires the cooperation of various stakeholders and the development of innovative and cost-effective solutions. Despite the challenges, the current state of hydrogen applications and ongoing projects in Europe and the Baltic States demonstrate that hydrogen has the potential to play a significant role in the transition to a sustainable and low-carbon future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the possibilities of architectural design of wooden structures in the digital age. The first part of the paper presents the material-based design as a new approach to shaping free-form objects. The problem is that a new geometry requires new materials or a new approach to old, well-known building materials and structures. The lack of suitable materials to build curvilinear free-form surfaces has led to the use of traditional materials in new ways. The second part describes the historical techniques of designing and manufacturing of curvilinear wooden forms. They were compared to digital tectonics as a new methodology in architectural design. Historically, architects and carpenters used the stereotomy method and manufactured non-standard wooden elements (e.g. guitarde dormers and balconies), taking into account the inherent properties of the material. Digital CAD/CAM technologies have radically changed the conceptual approach to architectural and engineering design. Architectural forms created with the use of digital parametric tools are considered in terms of geometry, material properties and means of production. Such well-known buildings as Chesa Futura in St Moritz (Switzerland) and Weltstadthaus in Cologne (Germany) were presented as model examples of digital tectonic design in wooden architecture. In the Discussion, the paper presents the advantages of timber architecture. The new generation of high-performance wood materials offers unique architectural possibilities. The digital era led to the transformation of traditional tectonics into digital tectonics operating in terms of construction logic shaped according to the principles of digital design and fabrication tools. The CAD/CAM system is the basic formula of digital tectonic approach and it unveils inherent properties of wood as a natural material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper provides an architectural analysis of the switchable PV-EC glazing technology based on combining photovoltaic (PV) technology with electrochromic (EC) glazing. The integration of these technologies is considered to constitute futureoriented façade solutions in shaping buildings that are energy-saving and environmentally friendly. The paper aims to define theoretical models of windows using PV-EC technology as solutions adequate from the architectural point of view. To achieve this goal, a comparative analysis of three PV-EC technologies was conducted, i.e., side-by-side (SBS) technology and tandem technologies, namely tandem solid technology (TST) and tandem liquid technology (TLT). The analysis covered functional aspects related to such issues as thermal and visual comfort, energy and aesthetics. The analysis led to extracting the features of the three compared technologies; consequently, their strengths and weaknesses were determined. As a result, seven window models were developed which, based on the above analysis and the insights derived from it, were recognized as the solutions in which the potential of PV and EC technology is best used. The dominant advantages of SBS, being the most developed technology and one with the greatest flexibility in construction applications, are indicated. The research is of a contributory nature, as it constitutes the basis for further numerical and simulation research. Such studies may prove useful to architects in making design decisions, especially at the initial design stages. However, at the current stage of technological development, the study mainly serves as an introduction to further research on improving the PV-EC properties towards integration with the building and its architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the main methods of energy optimization of the purification processes, by implementing computer-based technologies. Both the process control possibilities using fuzzy logic, for situations where the process model is not very certain, but it must be well known, as well as the use of feed-forward artificial neural networks trained by the back-propagation method using the learning mechanism are reviewed and supervised (using the Matlab program). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents material collected during field research and inventory of old village houses from the village of Soce in the municipality of Narew. Its purpose was to collect architectural-ethnographic information about buildings important in terms of cultural values. They were described in the article in order to document the disappearing local heritage and to supplement the research and inventory of documentary resources. Drawings of plans, sections and facades of the buildings and their furnishings were prepared as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Statistics confirm that in the EU, buildings consume approx. 40% of final energy, which accounts for 36% of total European greenhouse gas production after energy consumption. Energy efficiency measures are urgently needed to effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Decreasing fossil fuel consumption would have a major impact on declining energy demand per unit of gross domestic product. In 2014, European leaders adopted the ambitious Climate and Energy Framework 2030, in which the three key targets were raised: a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, a 27% reduction in RES and a 27% increase in energy efficiency. Then, in November 2016, the European Commission (EC) proposed the Clean Energy for All Europeans package, designed to support and accelerates the transition to a carbon-free energy system. This paper comprises a case study of the current situation of these matters in Romania and focuses on steps and methodology of what actions are reliable and available to be put into practice on this matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the important feature categories in urban geographic data, buildings are the key thematic elements to be represented in large-scale urban mapping with the high speed of urban digital construction. The identification and extraction of buildings are of great significance for feature extraction, feature matching, image interpretation and mapping. However, the great variability of building size, shape, color, orientation, etc., in remote sensing images poses a great challenge to building detection. To this end, this paper proposes an algorithm based on multi-feature multi-scale fusion for the automatic extraction of buildings in remote sensing images are represented in the form of roofs. It is difficult to represent all buildings with a single feature because of the different colors, textures and shapes of building roofs. Effective features to describe buildings are proposed, including edge density and edge distribution, brightness contrast, color contrast and other features to describe building edge brightness. We propose effective features to describe buildings, including edge density and edge distribution, luminance contrast, color contrast and other underlying features to describe the edges, luminance and color of buildings, and adding special structural features such as main direction orthogonality and target integrity and symmetry to describe buildings by multiple features together.

Tourism architecture is an important material guarantee for carrying out tourism activities in scenic spots and is an important part of the tourism system. This paper analyzes the theory and structure of the G-DINA model in detail. To conceptualize the geospatial tourism architecture, form a conceptual cognition, and establish a basic geospatial tourism architecture cognitive model. Then the G-DINA model is brought into the basic cognitive model, and cognitive judgments are made using observation of tourism building features to form a G-DINA-based geospatial cognitive model of tourism buildings for planning and design of scenic tourism buildings. Experimental proof: By comparing the number of tourists in a tourist area for two months, it is obvious that the number of tourists in the second month has increased by 592 compared with the number of tourists in the first month, which is 160% of the number of tourists in the first month, and the comprehensive index of tourism economy has increased from 0.08 to 0.5, with an annual growth of 8.3%, showing a gradual upward trend in general. Accordingly, it can be considered that the attractiveness and competitiveness of tourist areas are significantly improved through the rational planning and design of tourist buildings. This verifies that reasonable design of tourism architecture and scientific planning of tourism areas can strengthen the harmony between tourism architecture and local style and surrounding environment, highlight regional characteristics and let them be inherited, and promote tourism development.

The built environment, through the consumption of energy from non-renewable sources and the associated CO2 emissions, as well as through the production of waste throughout its life cycle and the effects of soil and water degradation, contributes significantly not only to the phenomenon of climate change, but also to the irreversible degradation of the natural environment. The concept of regenerative design provides a framework for a holistic approach to these issues in order to identify the most effective remedies, proposing the restoration and regeneration of the global socio-ecological environment through a system of engineering practices suitable to the specific context. The defining aspects of the regeneration applied in the buildings sector refer to the architecture and inserting in the natural environment ensuring a healthy and well-being indoor environment, reducing to zero the consumption of energy from non-renewable sources and promoting renewable energy sources, minimizing carbon footprint by rational use of materials and waste management throughout the life cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]