Search

Energy-intense activities and the unpredictable and complex behavior of building occupants lead to an increase in building energy demand. It is, therefore, crucial to study underlying factors for building energy demand related to the users. Higher educational buildings are relevant to study for several reasons: they host the future workforce and citizens, they are predicted to increase in numbers, and they represent a building type less studied. Furthermore, green-rated buildings equipped with smart building systems also represent a research gap that is relevant to address since such a building design involves IoT-functionalities and digital features for the building occupants to interact with. There is also a conceivable risk that if the users know that the building is green-rated and technologically advanced, this may alter their perception of the building operation and thus their behavior. To study the relationship between building occupants and such green and smart educational structure, a survey was conducted in a Swedish higher educational building; as a result, 300 responses were collected and analyzed. The responses revealed that the building occupants act with energy awareness, and they are conscious about energy-saving behaviors. One building feature in particular was studied: the Digital Room Panels (DRPs). The DRP allows the building occupants to modify the indoor temperature and is, therefore, essential for thermal comfort. One key finding from the survey revealed that 70% of the building occupants did not know how the DRPs operate. This study argues that this result can be explained with a lack of communication and user friendliness. Inadequate interactions with building systems could also result in opportunities for energy saving might not be realized. The findings of this case study led to valuable recommendations and suggestions for future research endeavors.

In the light of global climate change and the current energy crisis, it is crucial to target sustainable energy use in all sectors. Buildings still remain one of the most energy-demanding sectors. Campus buildings and higher educational buildings are important to target due to their high and increasing energy demand. This building segment also represents a research gap, as mostly office or domestic buildings have been studied previously. In the quest for thermal comfort, a key stakeholder in building energy demand is the building occupant. It is therefore crucial to promote energy-aware behaviors. The building systems are another key factor to consider. As conventional building systems are replaced with smart building systems, the entire scenario is redrawn for how building occupants interact with the building and its systems. This study argues that behavior is evolving with the smartness of building systems. By means of a semi-systematic literature review, this study presents key findings from peer-reviewed research that deal with building occupant behavior, building systems and energy use in campus buildings. The literature review was an iterative process based on six predefined research questions. Two key results are presented: a graph of reported energy-saving potentials and a conceptual framework to evaluate building occupants impact on building energy use. Furthermore, based on the identified research gaps in the selected literature, areas for future research are proposed.

The presence of cubic PuH2 and PuH3, the products of hydrogen corrosion of Pu, during long-term storage is of concern because of the materials’ pyrophoricity and ability to catalyse the oxidation reaction of Pu to form PuO2. Here, we modelled cubic PuH2 and PuH3 using Density Functional Theory (DFT) and assessed the performance of the PBEsol+U+SOC (0 ≤ U ≤ 7 eV) including van der Waals dispersion using the Grimme D3 method and the hybrid HSE06sol+SOC. We investigated the structural, magnetic and electronic properties of the cubic hydride phases. We considered spin–orbit coupling (SOC) and non-collinear magnetism to study ferromagnetic (FM), longitudinal and transverse antiferromagnetic (AFM) orders aligned in the , and directions. The hybrid DFT confirmed that FM orders in the and directions were the most stable for cubic PuH2 and PuH3, respectively. For the standard DFT, the most stable magnetic order is dependent on the value of U used, with transitions in the magnetic order at higher U values (U > 5 eV) seen for both PuH2 and PuH3.

Digitalization offers new, unprecedented possibilities to increase the energy efficiency and improve the indoor conditions in buildings in a cost-efficient way. Smart buildings are seen by many stakeholders as the way forward. Smart buildings feature advanced monitoring and control systems that allow a better control of the buildings’ indoor spaces, but it is becoming evident that the massive amount of data produced in smart buildings is rarely used. This work presents a long-term evaluation of a smart building testbed for one year; the building features state-of-the-art monitoring capability and local energy generation (PV). The analysis shows room for improving energy efficiency and indoor comfort due to non-optimal control settings; for instance, average indoor temperatures in all winter months were above 24 °C. The analysis of electricity and domestic hot water use has shown a relevant spread in average use, with single users consuming approximately four times more than the average users. The combination of CO2 and temperature sensor was sufficient to pinpoint the anomalous operation of windows in wintertime, which has an impact on energy use for space heating. Although the quantification of the impact of users on the overall energy performance of the building was beyond the scope of this paper, this study showcases that modern commercial monitoring systems for buildings have the potential to identify anomalies. The evidence collected in the paper suggests that this data could be used to promote energy-efficient behaviors among building occupants and shows that cost-effective actions could be carried out if data generated by the monitoring and control systems were used more extensively.

Insanity defense is sometimes invoked in criminal cases, and its demonstration is usually based on a multifactorial contribution of behavioural, clinical, and neurological elements. Neuroradiological evidence of structural alterations in cerebral areas that involve decision-making and moral reasoning is often accepted as a useful tool in these evaluations. On the other hand, the genetic predisposition to anti-social behavior is still controversial. In this paper, we describe two cases of violent crimes committed by young carriers of genetic variants associated with personality disorder; both the defendants claimed to be insane at the time of the crime. We discuss these cases and review the scientific literature regarding the relationship between legal incapacity/predisposition to criminal behavior and genetic mutations. In conclusion, despite some genetic variants being able to influence several cognitive processes (like moral judgement and impulse control), there is currently no evidence that carriers of these mutations are, per se, incapable of intentionally committing crimes.