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Land models, which have been developed by the modeling community in the past two decades to predict future states of ecosystems and climate, have to be critically evaluated for their performance skills of simulating ecosystem responses and feedback to climate change. Benchmarking is an emerging procedure to measure and evaluate performance of models against a set of defined standards. This paper proposes a benchmarking framework for evaluation of land models. The framework includes (1) targeted aspects of model performance to be evaluated; (2) a set of benchmarks as defined references to test model performance; (3) metrics to measure and compare performance skills among models so as to identify model strengths and deficiencies; and (4) model improvement. Component 4 may or may not be involved in a benchmark analysis but is an ultimate goal of general modeling research. Land models are required to simulate exchange of water, energy, carbon and sometimes other trace gases between the atmosphere and the land-surface, and should be evaluated for their simulations of biophysical processes, biogeochemical cycles, and vegetation dynamics across timescales in response to both weather and climate change. Benchmarks that are used to evaluate models generally consist of direct observations, data-model products, and data-derived patterns and relationships. Metrics of measuring mismatches between models and benchmarks may include (1) a priori thresholds of acceptable model performance and (2) a scoring system to combine data-model mismatches for various processes at different temporal and spatial scales. The benchmark analyses should identify clues of weak model performance for future improvement. Iterations between model evaluation and improvement via benchmarking shall demonstrate progress of land modeling and help establish confidence in land models for their predictions of future states of ecosystems and climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies sustained the possibility that a photochemical reflectance index (PRI) directly obtained from satellite data can be used as a proxy for ecosystem light use efficiency (LUE) in diagnostic models of gross primary productivity. This modelling approach would avoid the complications that are involved in using meteorological data as constraints for a fixed maximum LUE. However, no unifying model predicting LUE across climate zones and time based on MODIS PRI has been published to date. In this study, we evaluate the efficiency with which MODIS-based PRI can be used to estimate ecosystem light use efficiency at study sites of different plant functional types and vegetation densities. Our objective is to examine if known limitations such as dependance on viewing and illumination geometry can be overcome and a single PRIbased model of LUE (i.e. based on the same reference band) can be applied under a wide range of conditions. Furthermore, we were interested in the effect of using different faPAR (fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation) products on the in-situ LUE used as ground truth and thus on the whole evaluation exercise. We found that estimating LUE at site-level based on PRI reduces uncertainty compared to the approaches relying on a maximum LUE reduced by minimum temperature and vapour pressure deficit. Despite the advantages of using PRI to estimate LUE at sitelevel, we could not establish an universally applicable light use efficiency model based on MODIS PRI. Models that were optimised for a pool of data from several sites did not perform well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In air-conditioning field, a dehumidification has become increasingly important for human health and comfort especially in hot and humid climates. However, a conventional mechanical dehumidification with a vapor compression refrigerator has some problems. Therefore, much attention has been paid recently to a desiccant air-conditioning system as an alternative to the conventional system. In this paper, we focus on a rotary desiccant wheel which is the main component of the desiccant air-conditioning system and develop and validate the mathematical model by comparison with experimental results. The validation is conducted under various operating conditions. The mathematical model discussed in this paper includes, for example, the entrance region effect in air channel, detailed diffusion phenomenon in porous solid. In experiments, effects of the regeneration air temperature, air superficial velocity, wheel thickness and wheel rotational speed on the desiccant wheel performance are investigated. In addition, the temperature and humidity distribution at the outlet of the desiccant wheel are measured. As a result, an average relative error between the predicted and the measured humidity ratio difference distribution is 3.3% and temperature difference distribution 10.8%. Moreover, the effect of the regeneration air inlet temperature, the air superficial velocity, wheel thickness and wheel rotational speed on the desiccant wheel performance are clarified and the predicted results are totally in good agreement with the measured results. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to propose an integrative framework for understanding the determinants of business strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the impact of these determinants on performance. The proposed structural equation model is based on a survey of 319 Canadian manufacturing firms. The study calls into question the traditionally positive relationship between a firm's environmental commitment and its economic motivations. However, the results also show a win-win relationship between the commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and financial performance. This study contributes to the understanding of the motivations underlying the efforts manufacturers make to tackle climate change and their economic benefits. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates, for the first time, flash-flood guidance (FFG) values and recently developed gridded FFG (GFFG) used by the National Weather Service (NWS) to monitor and predict imminent flash flooding, which is the leading storm-related cause of death in the United States. It is envisioned that results from this study will be used 1) to establish benchmark performance of existing operational flash-flood prediction tools and 2) to provide information to NWS forecasters that reveals how the existing tools can be readily optimized. Sources used to evaluate the products include official reports of flash floods from the NWS Storm Data database, discharge measurements on small basins available from the U.S. Geological Survey, and witness reports of flash flooding collected during the Severe Hazards Analysis and Verification Experiment. Results indicated that the operational guidance values, with no calibration, were marginally skillful, with the highest critical success index of 0.20 occurring with 3-h GFFG. The false-alarm rates fell and the skill improved to 0.34 when the rainfall was first spatially averaged within basins and then reached 50%% of FFG for 1-h accumulation and exceeded 3-h FFG. Although the skill of the GFFG values was generally lower than that of their FFG counterparts, GFFG was capable of detecting the spatial variability of reported flash flooding better than FFG was for a case study in an urban setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For certain temperate climate types, cooling towers have the potential to produce high temperature chilled water, which when used in conjunction with radiant and displacement cooling technologies, have prompted interest in this concept as a potential approach for the conditioning of buildings. The feasibility of the proposed system depends largely, on achieving low approach water temperatures within an appropriately designed cooling tower, at acceptable levels of energy performance. Using a validated mathematical model, the current paper examines the performance of such a cooling tower for four different temperate climate conditions. The current assessment shows for building water return temperature of 22 °C, for temperate climates that are considered warm and humid, the limitations on cooling tower operation are when ambient conditions exceed 25 °C and 75% RH. Two strategies were investigated to allow the smallest practicable approach to the wet bulb temperature to be achieved: (i) increasing the tower air flowrate, (ii) decreasing the tower water flowrate. For a temperate climate that is warm and humid, operating the cooling tower with an approach of 1.0 K was found to be not practicable for all encountered weather conditions, but use of a 2.0 K approach was found to be practicable for all conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal aspect of solar energy is widely used in the desalination plants. Experimental investigation and mathematical modeling of inverted V-type solar still integrated with drip system are presented in this paper. The experiment is performed in the Kerala climatic conditions (10.8439°N, 76.0328°E), March 2012 at M E S College of Engineering, Kuttippuram. A two segment still of 2 m² is constructed. Experimental investigations on productivity and internal heat transfer are analyzed. The results indicate that the mean standard deviations between theoretical and experimental values are less than 7% (temperature of rippled wick), 8% (temperature of glass in rippled system), 11% (temperature of flat wick), and 7% (temperature of glass in flat system), an average for the working hours of the day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study examines a scenario for realizing large-scale reductions of operational carbon dioxide (CO2) emission in commercial districts in temperate and tropical zones. In warm climates, energy usage for heating is not dominant in a building''s energy usage, and hence, every available emission reduction technology must be fully utilized to achieve a large overall reduction in emissions, as in the scenario examined in this study. The focus is on commercial buildings in Nakanoshima area, a sandbank 3 km long and 50 ha wide, a central business and cultural area in the city of Osaka, Japan. The commercial buildings in Nakanoshima with approximately 1.2 million square meters of total floor area emitted 88 thousand tons of CO2 in 2008. The method used in this paper combines: 1) energy flow analysis, 2) community-scale building performance simulation validated with actual energy consumption and supported by detailed field survey and reference survey, and 3) what-if analysis assuming technological deployment and social change based on a long-term perspective. It enables a comprehensive understanding of how much energy is consumed for what purpose as well as how much energy can be reduced by implementing which technologies and measures. The result showed that approximately 65% emissions of the present operational CO2 emission could be reduced in the coming decades. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In cooling buildings, the use of solar energy can save around 50% of primary energy. Many studies have demonstrated the interest of such systems. However, developing and improving reliability of new components, design, control, and implementation remain a major concern. The performances of solar cooling systems are greatly influenced by climatic conditions. Indeed they affect both the driving energy of the chiller and the heat rejection. It is important to mention that internal loads and control strategy also have an impact on energy performances. Therefore, assessing the energy performance during the design phase is a key point in evaluating the economic interest of an installation. Moreover, once the commissioning of the installation is accomplished, there is a need to follow through and ensure its performance, since a large number of malfunctions can affect the quality of the system. Actual performances can be very different from those calculated in the design phase. With this aim, the present article deals with the development of an absorption chiller model used in an existing solar cooling system. This installation includes a single effect absorption chiller with a nominal chilling capacity of 30kW (EAW LB30 chiller functioning with water and lithium bromide), and it cools four classrooms of a University building in Reunion Island which is situated under a tropical climate. This pilot plant is very good monitored and can thus be used to develop and validate the absorption chiller model. The present paper first recalls the absorption principle and presents the pilot plant, the metrology, and the control strategy. Secondly, the experimental results are analysed and the steady state chiller model and also the identification method are developed. Thereafter, the simplex method is used to determine the design parameters of the machine. Finally, the simulation results are presented. The good agreement between the prediction and the experimental results allows the use of the model not only to design an installation but also to follow and control its performances. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents the performance evaluation of a hybrid photovoltaic thermal (Semi transparent PVT) double pass facade for space heating. The thermal model has been developed by using the energy balance equations of the proposed hybrid photovoltaic thermal double pass facade under quasi-steady state condition. Numerical computations have been carried out for the composite climate of New Delhi, India. An analysis has been carried out to calculate annual energy and exergy gain for the hybrid photovoltaic thermal double pass facade. On the basis of numerical results it has been observed that the annual thermal and electrical energy are 480.81kWh and 469.87kWh respectively. The yearly overall thermal energy generated by the system has been calculated as 1729.84kWh. It is also observed that the room air temperature increases by 5–6°C than the ambient air temperature for a typical winter day. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In response to the EU Landfill Directive and the challenge of mitigating climate change, the UK government (nationally and locally) must develop strategies and policies to reduce, recycle, compost and recover waste. Best practice services that yield high recycling rates, such as alternate weekly collections, are now largely mainstream in suitable areas. However, national recycling performance is short of what is needed; policy makers must look for innovative ways to meet challenging recycling targets. Increasingly, local authorities are using behaviour change interventions to encourage the public to recycle; these tend to be based on the premise that an individuals’ behaviour is predetermined by their values. In practice, this has led to a host of initiatives that attempt to change individuals’ behaviour without addressing situational barriers. In this paper, we argue that that a behaviour-centric approach has limited effectiveness. Using an analysis of the literature and studies that investigated recycling participation in the city of Portsmouth, we have identified three significant clusters that can facilitate effective recycling: infrastructure, service and behaviour (ISB). We present the ISB model – a tool that can be used by waste practitioners when planning interventions to maximise recycling to better understand the situation and context for behaviour. Analysis using the ISB model suggests that current best practice, “business as usual” interventions could realistically achieve a national recycling rate of 50%. If the UK is to move towards zero waste, policy makers must look “upstream” for interventions that change the situational landscape. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article presents methodologies and case studies of low carbon technology screening under different building function and climate conditions. Low carbon technologies are selected under a three-step approach—be lean, be clean and be green. Advanced building physics modeling tools are utilized to study the performance of various low carbon strategies. Among these newly boomed low carbon technologies, renewable technologies are attracting a lot of attentions; however, as a first step, it is crucial that the potentials of the site and the building are maximized. This article illustrates how the performance-based approach is applied in different building sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]