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The aim of the paper is to inform about the construction and technical survey of the oldest building in the village of Horní Nivy. It is a chapel that has undergone unprofessional construction modifications in the past. These modifications damaged the building in terms of history but also in terms of construction. The chapel shows cracks in the masonry and humidity maps. Construction engineering research shows that all failures are caused by the problem of increased humidity, both ground and surface. The paper also includes an evaluation of the non-destructive and destructive tests performed, as well as a proposal for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of this historically significant building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper gives the idea of solving some of the problems faced by farmers. The population rate of the world is growing rapidly and will double in the coming decades and the need of food is also increasing simultaneously. To meet this rapid growth in demand for food, automation in agriculture is the best solution. The aim of this paper is to design and develop an automated system to monitor the various conditions of soil and moisture on the crops, and the proper supply of water, which affects the crops [5]. Such a system will contain sensors, a pump and a device called a humidifier, and various advanced techniques like IoT, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. The technical field is racing to provide more optimum solutions. The incorporation of IoT, along with cloud computing, big data analytics, and wireless sensor networks can provide enough scope to predicrocess, analyze situations and improve activities in a real-time situation. Green House is one of the best solutions as the crops can be grown in a controlled climate without the natural environmental conditions. In the last few decades there has been a huge advancement in technology for agriculture, with the help of technology we can help farmers for increasing their rate of yielding. With this, we can overcome the major problems of farmers. This small processor-based unit can be used to control anything from a fan, air-conditioner, humidifier, and watering system from 4 relay outputs. A temperature and humidity range can be set to control relay outputs. The main focus of this paper is to implement the Internet of Things (IoT) in the monitoring of humidity, soil condition, temperature, supply of water to the field, level of water, environmental condition, etc. The IoT-based Smart agriculture System being planned via this paper is integrated with different Sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper comprises the presentation of non-invasive and non-contact microwave measurement method in order to estimate the humidity of building materials. The content of the paper covers information concerning the phenomena related to propagation of electromagnetic waves in building materials, introduction of non-invasive and non-contact measurement method with the use of wideband microwave signals and presentation of the exemplary moisture measurement results achieved by red brick examination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Humidity Polymer sensors are of great interest for the scientific communities depending on their properties and applications such as alarm clocks, smart watches and flexible wearable electronic devices. In this paper, humidity sensors have been prepared using mixture of poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA), poly (4-styrenesulfonic acid) (PSSA) and silver nitrate (AgNO3) using solvent casting method. The ratio of PVA/PSSA is kept constant and different concentrations of AgNO3 is mixed with it. Variations in the properties was analyzed using the impedance analyser and humidity analyser was used to analyse the relative humidity. The relative humidity was measured in range of (68% to 21%) at temperature range of (25 °C to 65°C). This paper concludes that on addition of 0.6gm of AgNO3, best results of dielectric properties and the conductivity was seen. Relevant parameter like conductivity of the membranes and relative humidity was highly affected by AgNO3 content. Incresase in conductivity of membrane was observed at low frequency and after 104 Hz it start decreasing as frequency increases. Highest dielectric constant of the membrane increased from 104 to 107. Decrease in relative humidity was observed with increase in temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Storage is the key link of modern logistics. Warehouse environment monitoring is an important part of storage safety management. To meet the storage requirements of different materials, guarantee their quality in the greatest extent, which has great significance. In the warehouse environment monitoring, the most important parameters are air temperature and relative humidity. In this paper, a design of warehouse multipoint temperature and humidity monitoring system based on King view, which realizes the multipoint temperature and humidity data real-time acquisition, monitoring and storage in warehouse by using temperature and humidity sensor. Also, this paper will take the bulk grain warehouse as an example and based on the data collected in real-time monitoring, giving the corresponding expert advice that combined with the corresponding algorithm, providing theoretical guidance to control the temperature and humidity in grain warehouse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The indoor environment can influence not only people's well-being but also their productivity. The paper presents a questionnaire study on a large number of volunteers, who assessed their productivity under various environmental conditions (air temperature, relative humidity, CO2 concentration). The physical parameters of indoor air were measured in each room with the microclimate meter (Testo 400). The data obtained during these measurements was compared with the subjective assessments of the respondents. The tests were performed in the educational intelligent building of Kielce University of Technology (Poland). Based on it, the conclusions were drawn on the influence of indoor environment on productivity. The results indicate that the students' productivity was weak in almost 30% of the responses, which is quite intriguing considering the high level of building sophistication. The highest self-reported productivity values were obtained for the air temperature range of 21 – 23 °C. A similar finding of the optimal level of thermal sensations in the range of about +/-0.4 has been found for highest productivity rating. Additionally, a relation between productivity and the subjective well-being rating was observed. The experimental material collected from a large group of volunteers can be used by building managers to set such indoor conditions that maximize productivity and working performance. Such tests are rare in intelligent buildings, which makes the data presented in the paper valuable and important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the sorption hysteresis of spruce wood (Picea Abies). First, its hysteretic behaviour was measured under laboratory conditions at a constant temperature in several steps covering the entire hygroscopic range. The measurement had the form of loops with the same relative humidity at the beginning and end of each step. Then two hysteresis models, the independent domain theory based IPM model and empirical Frandsen's model, were successfully fitted to the measured data. To do so, modifications to their shape parameters have been proposed. Only a minor change was necessary in the case of the IPM model, more extensive in the case of Frandsen's model. Testing and application in dynamic simulation showed that the IPM model is able to capture more accurately and reliably the hysteretic behaviour of spruce wood. The use of the Frandsen's model should be preceded by a critical analysis due to the risk of pumping error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The moisture behaviour of wood has been naturally studied since ancient times. Despite being commonly used in almost all industries, some of its moisture properties are still not precisely defined. Inaccuracies of the measured properties are reflected in numerical simulations and can lead to its improper use. Although the wood can often handle minor errors in its use, it will be beneficial to use it more consciously and efficiently in the future. Therefore, it is important to understand its moisture behaviour more accurately. This paper presents an experiment of dynamic moisture transport in spruce wood in high levels of ambient relative humidity under constant temperature. Only one-dimensional moisture transport in the tangential and radial directions were studied. The results show the rate of the stabilization of moisture content and the effect of sorption hysteresis under repeated cycles of the step changes of boundary humidity levels. The results can help to better understanding of the moisture behaviour of wood and to further improvement of some of the numerical simulation tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollution by particulate matter with a particle diameter between 2.5 and 10 μm (PM10) is going up recently in the entire Danube region, Bulgaria [1, 2, 5, 6]. The sources of dust on the territory of Bulgaria are industry, transport and domestic heating by solid fuel [12]. PM10 levels for the Danube region in Bulgaria mark a significant increase during the autumn-winter period compared to the levels during the spring-summer period. For example in Ruse – a city belonging to this region the levels of PM10 are going up recently [5]. The biggest peak of PM10 levels for the autumn-winter period is usually observed in January months. It is in January that the number of days in which there is exceedance of the limit values of the PM10 levels is maximum observed. This paper is one continuation of our investigations of PM10 pollution for Danube region, Bulgaria especially for another city of the region - Silistra. It is devoted to examine the PM10 pollution during winter and its relationship with atmospheric characteristics (temperature, atmospheric pressure and humidity). It presents a statistical analysis of the level of PM10 air pollution in Silistra using data from the official monitoring stations in the city. The measurements cover the period since 2011 till 2017. Descriptive statistics of PM10 and atmospheric characteristics – temperature, atmospheric pressure and relative humidity as well as linear regression modeling are presented and commented in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presented paper offers an alternative to time consuming and computationally extensive tasks that are often solved in the field of building physics. As a typical example, perforated ceramic block was selected, of which hygrothermal performance must be predicted with emphasis put on the complex internal structure. Such computations required to be treated as at least two-dimensional which is very demanding on time and computing power. The offered alternative is based on materials homogenization that enables the problem transformation. The effective (homogenized) parameters of the block are determined using the Lichtenecker’s mixing rule, while the free parameters are estimated based on the long-term hygrothermal performance obtained using high performance computing. The results presented in this paper show that using k=0.9, the average RMSE after homogenization is only 0.566 °C and 0.992 % of relative humidity (RH) which can be considered as a very good match with the reference results. This approach therefore represents a good compromise between accuracy of results and demands on computing power and time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weather parameters have rather close relation with energy especially electricity. Parameters such as solar radiation and wind speed has been used in predicting energy yield from solar photovoltaic and wind power plant while other parameters such as air temperature and relative humidity can affect electricity usage which in turns incorporated in electricity system demand forecasting. Reanalysis weather data is commonly used in those applications related to electricity due to the availability and completeness of data. However, reanalysis data is often deviate from the real value measured on site. In this paper, reanalysis weather data from ECWMF is evaluated using respective ground measured data using bias measurement parameter. These data then calibrated with two simple calibration methods and reevaluated. By evaluating and calibrating reanalysis weather data with ground measured data we will obtain a closer to real value weather parameter data while maintaining the availability and completeness of the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper a family of fuzzy implications is derived using the operation of disjunction repeatedly and a new methodology of generating fuzzy implications is proposed. The set of the related fuzzy implication axioms was considered in order to check, which of them are satisfied. A relation is found and proven seeking the optimum number of repetitions according to the desired truth value of the implications. Finally, a large number of fuzzy implications was applied and compared using the data from temperature and humidity in a certain period of time. The proposed general formulae are verified by the computed results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building distortions due to some environmental factors refer to problems and diseases that lead to distortions and defects in buildings, which are caused by climatic causes and natural environmental factors. Understanding its causes and the imbalance resulting from it, and trying to measure it, enables preventive measures to be taken to avoid their occurrence, and enables to treatment. Through the field visits that took place in Babil Governorate, it was observed that a large number of buildings were distorted due to various environmental factors such as rain, humidity and heat, which led to distortion in the buildings from an aesthetic and the structural behavior. Sixty two buildings of different uses were monitored and were under the influence of a number of environmental factors. The monitoring method, follow up and some non-destructive tests were used to collect data, and then the data were analyzed using comparison tables. In this paper, it was concluded that the most important environmental factor affecting buildings is humidity, which is determined by more than 68% and is considered one of the most important problems that lead to building deformations and cracks, followed by the effect of soil. It was also found that the influence of other factors such as light, temperature and wind is very small compared to other factors. Also, some sources of moisture that affect building deformations in the city of Babylon have been identified, the most important of which are ground water and wastewater. Then, a number of proposals and recommendations that contribute to reducing these distortions were identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) detection was demonstrated on reduced graphene oxide (RGO) as sensing material that was integrated on Ti/Pt interdigitated electrode (IDE) deposited on a SiO2/Si substrate. The RGO sensing layer has been functionalized with gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) to enhance the sensitivity of the gas sensor. The detection of ppm level of VOC gases such as acetone, toluene and isoprene were performed at room temperature 30C and 40% relative humidity (RH), with low operating temperature and low power consumption. The slopes value for RGO sensor response against gradual increase of concentration of VOC gas showed decrement in the resistance reading. The functionalization RGO with Au have improve the sensitivity and selectivity of the sensor towards the targeted VOC gas. The bare RGO sensing layer has a sensitivity towards acetone and RGO-Au (30W 75s) sensitive towards toluene. Meanwhile isoprene has a good response on the sensing element of the bare RGO and RGO-Au (70W 15s). Hence, RGO and RGO-Au NPs as sensing elements have shown good responses towards low concentration of VOCs gas at room temperature and ambient humidity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollution by particle matter (PM10 - particulate matter with a diameter between 2.5 and 10􀈝m) is going up recently in Ruse region, Bulgaria [1,2]. It becomes clear also recently that the mean values of the temperature in Ruse region are slightly goes up for the last 40 years and they are bigger than the mean temperature for Bulgaria. This could be a proof for climate change and warming in Ruse region. The presence of PM10 maybe affects the main atmospheric characteristics - temperature, atmospheric pressure and humidity. In our work [3] we examined in more details the influence of the temperature on the PM10 contamination during January months. This paper is one continuation of [3] and is devoted to examine the PM10 pollution in Ruse region during winter and its relationship with some other atmospheric characteristics (atmospheric pressure and humidity). It presents a statistical analysis of the level of PM10 air pollution in Ruse using data from the monitoring stations in the city [4]. The measurements cover the period since 2011 up to now. Descriptive statistics of PM10 as well as linear regression modeling are also presented and commented in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dengue fever or dengue has been a concern for individuals living in Baguio City. Every year, incidence counts rise during rainy seasons experienced from June to October. A previous study involving simple linear regression between the two-year average monthly dengue incidence and one of the meteorological factors - relative humidity, precipitation, and average temperature. As a result, relative humidity and precipitation show strong association to the incidence. In this paper, we extend the study using multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis. Among the three possible MLR models, Relative Humidity and Average Temperature show strong influence on dengue incidence in the area. The two alternative types of temperature - Highest and Mean Maximum - remain significant in the study of the meteorological influence on dengue incidence in Baguio City. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a fuzzy logic model for prediction of the U-value which considers outside temperature, outside relative humidity and elevation. The fuzzy logic model uses the Takagi Sugeno inferencing and was derived and tested on data available in literature for the Czech Republic. The model shows good agreement with the reference data obtained with a simple estimation tool also available in literature. The presented fuzzy logic model was tested for application and can be used for prediction of the U-value for the weather conditions in the Czech Republic, both in lowland and highland, and also anywhere in between. This approach proved promising for further development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, three different plasters are investigated in order to study their effect on whole building envelope energy performance. As the studied plaster contain various amount of super absorbent polymers, they are primarily intended to control relative humidity levels in both building envelopes and interior environments. However, influencing moisture levels in the envelopes will have certain impact on energy performance as well. In order to investigate that effect, the material parameters of all studied plasters were determined and then, series of computational simulations was carried out. The results showed, that even a thin layer of interior plaster may have significant impact on overall building envelope performance. The studied plaster contributed to the reduction of energy consumption from 4 to 6 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interior thermal insulation systems represent in some cases the only admissible form of wall retrofitting. Having different impact on masonry than commonly used exterior systems, application of interior insulation requires a special treatment that consists in an assessment of hygrothermal performance within a pre-design stage. In this paper, computational modelling is used to make the assessment of wall segment with wooden beam laid in it. The assessment is done for unprotected as well as retrofitted wall and the results are compared. It was revealed that presence of interior thermal insulation system may result in deterioration of hygrothermal performance of the wall as the relative humidity content in a reference year is higher by up to 2.5 % after retrofitting. Such a change may speed up degradation processes due to colonization of the beam, e.g. by fungi. Additional measures should therefore accompany this kind of wall retrofitting, which would improve the hygric performance and prevent creation of suitable conditions for the wall segment degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proper indoor air quality and thermal comfort ensure healthy indoor environment where people live and work. The measurements in the paper were performed in the public utility, smart building as known "Energis" located on the campus of Kielce University of Technology (Poland). A group of student volunteers took part in the study. The anonymous questionnaires were used to assess their thermal sensations, preferences and acceptability before and after the lecture. At the same time carbon dioxide level, air and ambient temperatures, relative humidity as well as air velocity were recorded using the Testo 400 microclimate meter. The relationship between the changing air parameters throughout the one hour period of measurements, together with the test results from the questionnaire survey provides information on the possibility of providing high thermal comfort and indoor air quality in the smart buildings, which are still quite rare throughout the world and especially in developing countries like Central and Eastern Europe. The analysis of the obtained results showed that, despite the increase in CO2 in the room, the students felt better at the end of the class than at the beginning. No other sources of discomfort were observed during the test (rising temperature, draft, too warm or light clothing, etc.). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the test results of measurement into thermal comfort in the smart building "Energis" of Kielce University of Technology. The goal of the study was to assess the comfort level in the selected building and indicate problems related to the indoor environment. Three separate lecture rooms were analysed with regard to how students felt in the indoor conditions using questionnaires that they filled in. At the same time physical parameters of air such as temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide level and etc. were measured. The results are the basis for discussion on the human perception of indoor air in the considered smart building. It has been observed that even smart buildings do not offer a high level of comfort and the thermal conditions were not fine for all the people (quite many felt too warm or cold). The overall recommendation is that building managers should conduct such questionnaire tests at certain time intervals of at least a few months to obtain data that they can use to set indoor air parameters (temperature, humidity). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we mainly use the urban air quality monitoring data as the study data, the relationship between PM2.5 concentrations and several major air pollutant concentrations, meteorological elements in the same period are analyzed respectively. Through the analysis, we find that there is a significant correlation characteristic between the concentrations of PM2.5 and the concentrations of PM10, SO2, NO2, O3, CO, temperature and humidity. So, we take these factors as the variables; make a multiple linear regression analysis about PM2.5 concentrations, set up the urban PM2.5 concentrations regression calculation model. Through the estimation results of the model. In comparisons with the observed results, two results are basically identical, which shows that the regression model has a good fitting effect and use value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) constitutes an important issue in the building sector. The growth of mold is one of the factors that contribute to this phenomenon. Excessive humidity of the indoor air and increasing moisture of building envelopes frequently lead to the appearance of mold. The substances emitted by the fungi include Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). Detection of VOCs in the indoor air can be performed using a number of methods, such as chromatography or gas sensor arrays. The latter produce electric signals which then are subjected to analysis by means of statistical methods of interpretation. The presented paper describes the application of unsupervised statistical classifying model (fuzzy clustering) for the assessment of the signals generated by gas sensors array, used in the investigation of the indoor air from different types of buildings. A Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) sensors array was proposed for evaluating the mold threat in buildings. The sensor readouts pertaining to the air sampled from inside the buildings in varying degree of mold-contamination, compared with clean and synthetic air, were interpreted and presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In disease mapping, spatio-temporal regression analysis is essential in describing the relationship of certain covariates towards disease. Spatio-temporal regression analysis incorporates fixed covariates effects, spatial effect and temporal effect in the model. This paper applied spatio-temporal regression method to analyse the effect of climate variables which were the mean weekly temperature, the total weekly rainfall distribution and the mean weekly humidity percentage towrds dengue incidence in five districts in Pulau Pinang from 2015 to 2017. The model for this study was fitted within a hierarchical Bayesian framework and involved integrated nested Laplace approximation. For this analysis, the findings revealed that variable rainfall was not giving significant effect for dengue disease risk model in 2015 to 2017, while variable average weekly temperature was significant in 2015 and 2016 models and variable humidity only significant for dengue risk model in 2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of vertical greenery systems in buildings is becoming more and more common as they provide several benefits, particularly in improving indoor thermal comfort. This paper studies the influence of an indoor living wall on the air temperature and humidity in the test house in Ho Chi Minh City. Effects of the plants, irrigation and ventilation were examined. The temperature and humidity were monitored and analyzed during a 2–month period. The cooling effect of the living wall was proven, with an average reduction of 1°C of the room temperature. Higher air humidity levels were experienced near the green wall, increasing the overall humidity in the room. Irrigation for the plants also helped reduce the room temperature compared to that without irrigation. Therefore, these systems have been proven to be very useful and interesting for warm indoor environments due to the cooling effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expanded polystyrene (EPS) is a material commonly used in many different industrial areas. One of them is the building industry in which EPS is used as a thermal insulator, being placed mostly on the external side of building walls. In this setup, EPS lies between two different environments – building walls and the exterior. Consequently, there are different relative humidity on the two sides of an EPS panel and humidity flows through the panel. According to the technical specification EN 12086, the only mechanism of this transport is assumed to be diffusion. Other processes, such as osmosis or surface diffusion, are minor and, therefore, they could be neglected. In this paper we study the diffusion of water vapor through EPS in environments with different relative humidity. Experiments are performed on cylindrical samples with dimensions Ø90 mm×40 mm and density of 14.6 kg·m−3 in the environment with a relative humidity varying from 50% to 85%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The in-field investigation and comparison of a wet masonry wall drying process applying two drying devices is presented in this paper. Walls subjected to drying were a part of a basement of a historic building that was subjected to renovation works and which is located in the City of Łowicz (Poland). Both devices implement the thermo-injection method which is used for drying walls. The first device was the currently use device (CUD) and second one was a novel prototype with optimized control of drying parameters. The dedicated data acquisition system was developed to in-situ monitor parameters of the drying process. Air parameters like temperature and relative humidity in several points in the basement, temperature and moisture content at various locations in investigated walls as well as electrical parameters for both devices were measured and registered. The specific energy consumption during the drying process defined as energy consumption divided by the mean volumetric moisture content (MC) drop between the initial and final state in the wall and by the length of the dried wall section after 120 h of drying process was estimated to be 16.58 and 10.44 kWh/moisture content vol.%/m for CUD and new prototype, respectively. In this time the wall moisture content decreased by an average of 2.13 vol.% and 3.22 vol.% for the CUD and prototype, respectively. Moreover, temperature of wall surface in the drying zone was increased to approximately 35–40 °C and 40–55 °C for the CUD and prototype, respectively. The investigation showed that the new prototype is much more efficient than the CUD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with description of physical model designed for verification of behavior of grouting mixtures when applied below underground water level. Described physical model has been set up to determine propagation of grouting mixture in a given environment. Extension of grouting in this environment is based on measurement of humidity and temperature with the use of combined sensors located within preinstalled special measurement probes around grouting needle. Humidity was measured by combined capacity sensor DTH-1010, temperature was gathered by a NTC thermistor. Humidity sensors measured time when grouting mixture reached sensor location point. NTC thermistors measured temperature changes in time starting from initial of injection. This helped to develop 3D map showing the distribution of grouting mixture through the environment. Accomplishment of this particular measurement was carried out by a designed primary measurement module capable of connecting 4 humidity and temperature sensors. This module also takes care of converting these physical signals into unified analogue signals consequently brought to the input terminals of analogue input of programmable automation controller (PAC) WinPAC-8441. This controller ensures the measurement itself, archiving and visualization of all data. Detail description of a complex measurement system and evaluation in form of 3D animations and graphs is supposed to be in a full paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimating aerosol optical thickness (AOT) over regions can be tasking if satellite data set over such region is very scanty. Therefore a technique whose application captures real-time events is most appropriate for adequate monitoring of risk indicators. A new technique i.e. arithmetic translation of pictorial model (ATOPM) was developed. The ATOPM deals with the use mathematical expression to compute other meteorological parameters obtained from satellite or ground data set. Six locations within 335 x 230 Km2 area of a selected portion of Nigeria were chosen and analyzed -using the meteorological data set (1999-2012) and MATLAB. The research affirms the use of some parameters (e.g. minimum temperature, cloud cover, relative humidity and rainfall) to estimate the aerosol optical thickness. The objective of the paper was satisfied via the use of other meteorological parameters to estimate AOT when the satellite data set over an area is scanty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Constructions built between 1850 and 1960 comprise a remarkable percentage of the total European building stock and are from a time when there was very little focus on energy use. At the same time, many of these buildings have facades worthy of preservation, and in these cases, the only feasible thermal insulation option is internally. Consequently, internal insulation has become increasingly popular, despite numerous cases with mold problems behind the insulation. Hydrophobization has been suggested to reduce the moisture problems as it would prevent the driving rain penetration and ensure better insulation properties, as the water content of the wall is reduced. The present paper describes a case study of a residence built in 1877. An apartment was insulated internally with a diffusion-tight insulation system. Temperature and relative humidity were measured in the indoor climate, at the intersection between insulation and masonry, as well as at the wooden beam ends. Since there were indications of high relative humidity levels (more than 85%), the whole façade of the building was hydrophobized six years after insulation, and the measurements continued. After the application of hydrophobization, a small increase in the relative humidity was noticed, although the temperature was almost unaffected. Moisture may have been trapped as a result of the integrated vapor barrier of the diffusion-tight insulation system on the internal side of the wall, combined with the possible decrease in the diffusivity of the external side of the wall due to hydrophobization. Thereby the overall drying potential of the external envelope could have overruled the possible moisture reducing effect of the hydrophobization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Added insulation in cold attics can be an efficient and profitable energy efficiency measure. Simultaneously, added insulation increases the risk of a decreased temperature in the attic, thereby increasing the risk of high relative humidity and moisture damage. This paper collocates and reviews previous publications that deal with the impact of added insulation on attics as a renovation measure. This is done by systematically searching for publications relevant to tempered climate, specifically Swedish climate. Furthermore, the review aims to categorize and review existing literature in order to synthesize the examined impact of additional insulation of cold attics regarding the potential for energy reduction, the impact on risks for moisture damage, and the impact on indoor environmental quality. Results from the literature review show that the measure reduces the energy use of buildings and emissions. Furthermore, the measure is shown to be a profitable measure, especially in combination with other measures. However, previous publications also show that with increased insulation, the risk for moisture damage also increases, but that supplemental measures can be taken in order to reduce such a risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proper indoor air quality and thermal comfort are part of the healthy indoor environment. The tests performed in the public utility, intelligent building „Energies" of Kielce University of Technology (Poland) with a group of students are the focus of the paper. The anonymous questionnaire survey was used to determine their thermal sensations, preferences and acceptability before the lecture and after it. In the meantime CO2 level, air and globe temperatures, relative humidity and air velocity were measured with the Testo 400 microclimate meter. The comparison of the changing air parameters throughout the time of 1.2h with the questionnaire survey provides information on the possibility of providing high thermal comfort and indoor air quality in the intelligent buildings, which are still quite rare in Central Europe. Consequently, obtaining experimental data there is valuable and important. It turned out that the building did not provide good quality parameters during the study, because the people felt too warm or hot in the room and wanted to change the temperature to a much cooler environment. What is more, the assessment of air quality according to the students at the beginning of classes at relatively low CO2 contents turns out to be an interesting phenomenon, where 36% of students subjectively assessed it in their questionnaires as being unacceptable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When assessing the moisture damage risks of different external wall designs using hygrothermal simulation software, the user of said software can choose between different inputs for the determination of the indoor climate. This paper aims to compare results from field measurements in three Swedish buildings using different standards available in a widely used commercial hygrothermal simulation software, WUFI Pro. In this project, field measurements on external walls were conducted before the implementation of interior insulation. Measurements were conducted indoors, outdoors, and on the exterior and interior surfaces of the external walls. Comparing measurement and simulation results shows that on-site measurements give more accurate modelling of an existing external wall. However, the results also show that, when needed, any of the current standards can be used as replacements for actual measurements regarding indoor air temperature. The comparisons show that the most accurate results regarding the relative humidity are generated when ASHRAE Standard 160 is applied with an intermediate approach and a higher air change rate than in the nominal case. However, several parameters must be known for such an approach, such as the actual air change rate and the number of bedrooms. If such parameters are not known, the standard that gives the best fit between measured and simulated relative humidity is EN15026. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As other energy sources have become increasingly important, hydrokinetic turbines are one of the best energy production systems, and monitoring the state of hydrokinetic turbine power generation plays an important role. Ensuring proper condition-based monitoring, climate changes, stability aspects, turbine drive train status, and power outages should all be adequately monitored for remote turbines. Hydrokinetic turbines are capable of monitoring from any remote location. A condition monitoring system is a group of sensors that continuously collect performance data from hydrokinetic turbines, such as blade position, vibration, wind speed, humidity, temperature, structural alignment, drivetrain condition, vibration, rotor position, and generator state, and transmit it. If there is any error or omission, the controller responds promptly to avoid interruptions from any kind of defect that may damage and disrupt system performance. This is an innovative and novel idea, as the Internet of Underwater Things is a very niche area that is integrated with the hydrokinetics turbine, which is a comparatively new method of generating electricity. The erratic data or errors created as a result of disability are monitored for further processing of hydrokinetic turbines and related parameters. When the parameters are monitored, it will be easy to improve the performance of the turbine without causing any damage. The primary intent of the research is to establish an real-time monitoring system based on Internet of Things for a hydrokinetics turbine that will receive the data from the sensor network and send it to the seashore with the aid of an acoustic modem. From there, it will upload the data to the cloud for condition monitoring. The results shown in this paper are verified by node-red, an IoT-based platform that will show the data in real time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A better understanding of the urban heat island (UHI) effect has heightened interest in measuring, assessing, and modeling the outdoor thermal environment in urban areas around the world. Its modeling is currently becoming crucial for urban planning and design which facilitates the analysis of the phenomena. To get around this topic, this paper investigates the heat profile in a new urban area located in a vast semi-desert region characterized by a hot Mediterranean climate and how green spaces affect the outdoor thermal environment. In this work, we used two approaches: first, we created an urban weather generator workflow using the visual programming software Grasshopper to estimate a city's thermal conditions using many key geometric and material parameters of the urban landscape, such as buildings height, albedo, surface properties (roads, roofs, and walls), and heat traffics; after that the obtained weather file was used to map the heat using the universal thermal climate index (UTCI), which is strictly for outdoor spaces and takes into consideration the air temperature, mean radiant temperature, humidity, wind velocity, and solar radiation of the studied area. The outcoming results demonstrated that the value of the UTCI in the urban area without green space could reach 36°C in the hottest month of the year, whereas the modeling of the urban area with green spaces helped to reduce the value of the UTCI by 7°C to reach 29°C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with modelling of mold growth on wood using the logistic equation. Macroscopic mold coverage fraction was used in the model to express development of molds. Unknown parameters of the logistic model were estimated by finding the best agreement with the current state-of-the-art Finnish mold growth model. Calculations were performed for constant ambient boundary conditions. The estimated values of model parameters were finally expressed as functions of relative humidity and moisture content. The reliability of the proposed logistic model should be tested in the future against the experimental mold growth data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weather data is very important for many fields, like agriculture, transportation, fishing, etc. By knowing the weather data, the people or organizations/companies can determine the right step. The forecast and analysis of weather changes would be more accurate with the support of the fast and sufficient weather data. This paper will discuss the design of Internet of Things (IoT) for weather data (rainfall intensity, humidity, and temperature) monitoring using Raspberry. Anyone can monitor weather data by smartphone, so make it flexible and easy to get the weather data. The components of this system are rain gauge with tipping-bucket, The DHT11 as humidity and temperature sensor, and Raspberry as controller, database and server. Based on result of testing, it can be concluded that the system was able to work properly. The accuracy of rainfall intensity and temperature measurement are 99.34% and 98.53% respectively, while the accuracy of humidity measurement is 97.77%. Based on evaluation of website, PageSpeed Score B is 86% and Yslow Score A is 96%. Therefore, it is concluded that the IoT system of weather monitoring was run well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]