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Abstract: Current energy designs for a building in China focus on the energy efficiency of the whole building and thus often neglect the energy difference between different housing units in apartment buildings. The best design technique in terms of energy savings is not only to decrease whole building energy demand, but also to reduce the energy difference between different housing units to a relatively low level. This paper introduces an important index “energy performance difference between housing units” (EDH) to evaluate the drawbacks of conventional designs on a typical residential building in hot summer and cold winter zone. Then nine improved design options were considered as the possible strategies to diminish the EDH, based on a number of building simulations with the program DeST-h. Results show that the option 9 (add movable shading for the east facing windows and west facing windows, and reduce the U-values of the east walls and west facing windows), an improved design strategy according to the EDH of the current design, reduces the EDH to less than 4% that is much lower than other options and meanwhile ensures a decrease in whole building energy demands. A case study was carried out to validate the effectiveness of this index in optimization. As a conclusion, EDH is a very useful index for optimizing energy designs of apartment buildings and can be used in China to improve conventional building designs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the reasons for ever growing energy consumption in buildings and to give enhanced supervision strategies for reduction of building energy consumption compared to regular ones. A case study of Ningbo city was used to make a detail analysis. Several factors were determined as the reasons for ever growing building energy consumption including climate change, household electricity load increase, the growth of real estate, fast-growing household electrical appliances, high energy consumption in existing buildings, changes in industrial structure and the lack of enhanced government supervision. Then the discussion of suitable countermeasures shows that only enhanced supervision strategies are currently applicable. Finally, it is concluded that enhanced government supervision strategies, including the establishment of a strict control system for new built buildings through information integration and encryption, establishing an energy efficiency supervision system of large-scale public building and a carrot-and-stick approach with added expert checklist for the building application of renewable energy, showed great advantages in promoting building energy efficiency in Ningbo, compared with other cities. These supervision strategies are applicable in other cities as they are in the similar situations in the enforcement of building energy efficiency. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper investigates the energy and economic uncertainty of residential apartments using a stochastic AC behavior model and evaluates the appropriateness of existing building standards/codes-based AC setting in predicting energy and life cycle economic performance of energy-saving measures (e.g. wall insulation) in hot summer and cold winter zone of China. Monte Carlo simulation, distribution fitting and statistical tests were used to conduct relevant analysis. Results show that cooling energy uncertainty at different temporal scales is significant ranging from 8.59% (annual) to 70.22% (hourly) while standards/codes-based AC setting does not provide uncertainty information. The widely used simple assumption that the relative values of the energy-saving effects in actual are the same as those in thermal simulation (standard-based AC setting) is incorrect and there is a significant overestimation of cooling energy saving by standard-based AC setting. Further life cycle economic analysis of adding wall insulation shows that standards/codes-based AC setting may overestimate net present value (NPV) by about 1243.82% and lead to an inappropriate design decision when comparing different energy-saving measures. Therefore, existing building standards/codes-based AC setting may lead to biased energy and economic prediction of energy-saving measures and recommendations on future building standard and policy improvements are provided. Image 1 • An air conditioning (AC) behavior model was used for energy and economic analysis. • Monte Carlo simulation was combined with statistical test for energy prediction. • Indicators were proposed for uncertainty and convergence quantification. • Cooling energy uncertainty is significant at different temporal scales. • Energy and economic savings are over-predicted by standard-based AC setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The photovoltaic-thermal heat pump system, which integrates multiple energy technologies, can meet the building's diverse energy needs. This study evaluates the energy, economic, and environmental performance of a direct-expansion photovoltaic-thermal heat pump system for domestic hot water supply through a life cycle approach. The annual thermal and electrical outputs are estimated. On this basis, economic analysis is conducted with indicators of life cycle cost, levelized cost of heat, and investment payback time. Moreover, a detailed life cycle assessment is performed to evaluate the environmental impact, following three methods: cumulative energy demand, IPCC 2021 global warming potential, and ReCiPe 2016 Endpoint. Results show that the proposed system is highly effective, with a 9.67% increase in annual electricity output over traditional photovoltaic systems and a self-sufficient rate of 88.21%. The system also has a significantly lower environmental impact than conventional heating systems, with a life cycle environmental impact of only 3–5% compared to electric boilers. The environmental payback time ranges from 0.33 to 5.18 years, according to the three methods used in the study, which is shorter than the investment payback time of 2.49–5.21 years, suggesting the need for cost reduction for future promotion. Moreover, electricity consumption during the operation stage accounts for 32–52% of the total environmental impacts. Thus, decarbonization of the power grid and improvements in system efficiency can significantly reduce the system's environmental footprint. Overall, the photovoltaic-thermal heat pump system is an intriguing strategy for building energy conservation, offering high energy efficiency, acceptable costs, and low environmental impact. • A direct-expansion photovoltaic-thermal heat pump system for hot water production. • Operation simulation, life cycle cost, and life cycle assessment are conducted. • Investment, energy, CO 2 , and total environment payback time are evaluated. • The main factors impacting environmental performance are identified. • The system outperforms conventional systems in energy and environmental aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The effects of green roofs and practical green façades within courtyard area on public buildings investigated for "Hot Summer, cold Winter" region of China. • Internal surface temperatures for areas with and without external greening monitored and compared. • Heating and cooling energy consumption before and after greening compared from computer simulation as well as from smart meter readings. • Actual heating and cooling energy consumption before and after greening compared using statistical analyses. T -statistics and p -values show significant reductions were achieved. The "Hot Summer Cold Winter" climate region of China is one of the most challenging regions for providing occupant comfort in buildings, with high demands for heating as well as cooling, together with high humidity levels. Although the performance of buildings has improved with the implementation of the new Chinese National Building Standards for the Zhejiang Province, it is believed that adding passive strategies could help to alleviate the problem even further. This paper aims to investigate the effects of adding horizontal greening (green roof) and vertical greening in the courtyard area to existing public buildings in the "Hot Summer Cold Winter" climate region of China. Using computer simulation and measurements from a monitored case in the city of Ningbo, the effects of green retrofitting on human comfort and energy consumption are analysed. Simulation results suggest that with partial horizontal and vertical greening, the cooling load could be reduced by 8.8% and heating load by 1.85%. Comparisons between actual energy use before and after greening on the case building showed significant reductions in both winter and summer, confirming the positive effects of vertical and horizontal greening of public buildings in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, in order to lower the discharge, environment pollution and improve the added value of apricot kernels processing, the debitterizing wastewater was consecutively filtrated by the ceramic membrane and organic membrane, and divided into three parts. The part of ultrafiltration water was taken as the main material to develop a flavor beverage, for which the formula was optimized and the properties were analyzed using the electronic nose, electronic tongue, gas chromatography mass spectrometry and high performance liquid chromatography, respectively. The results indicate that the hygienic parameters of the ultrafiltration water meet the requirements of the environment standards and could be developed for a flavor beverage of apricot kernel with the optimal formula of 6% sugar, 0.056% citric acid and 3:1 ratio of liquid to liquid (mL:mL). The flavor beverage mainly contained the typical aroma components like benzaldehyde (a food preservative) and benzyl alcohol, which can extend the beverage's shelf life and exert the healthy function, since this kind of water has been regarded as an important ingredient of the cough syrup in China. In summary, this research would provide a novel approach to maximize the full utilization and promote the added value of the apricot kernels in processing. • DW could be filtrated by the ceramic and organic membrane. • The concentrate part can be used to recycle the amygdalin. • The UFW part could be applied to develop the flavor beverage of apricot kernels. • The research provided a novel approach to re-utilize DW of apricot kernels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Kunming is a major city in south-western China. However, until recently, no epidemiological studies have been conducted to provide a profile of major depression in south-western China. Method: A representative sample of the Kunming general population composed of 5033 individuals aged 15 years or older was interviewed from November 2005 to January 2006 using the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview Version 2.1 (CIDI, version 2.1) for assessment. Results: The weighted prevalence of major depression were 1.96% (lifetime), 1.09% (12-month) and 0.93% (30-day). The correlates for reported lifetime MDD include having higher educational level, living in urban districts, being unemployed, and being divorced/widowed/separated. Major depression was significantly comorbided with DSM-IV anxiety disorders and somatization. Conclusions: The findings show a low prevalence rate of major depression in Kunming city. Close attention to public health approaches are required to address the relationships between social isolation, urban population, unemployed and high educational people. Resolving methodological problems may lead to more accurate prevalence estimates in future epidemiological studies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]