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The construction sector significantly contributes to global energy consumption, with 34% of final energy use and 19% of greenhouse gas emissions. In the EU, buildings account for 40% of total energy consumption and 36% of emissions. Most energy use in buildings (about 65%) comes from structures built before 2000. To save energy, it is crucial to assess and enhance the energy efficiency of existing residential buildings, aiming to streamline retrofitting, reduce consumption, and improve thermal comfort. This study aims to identify optimal passive solutions for renovating a traditional “Puccini” house in Nice, France, to boost energy efficiency and comfort, considering the Mediterranean climate. This study involves implementing passive strategies suitable for existing structures, including insulating external walls, roofs, and floors, upgrading windows, utilizing internal canopies, and minimizing air infiltration. By deploying these passive strategies, the house’s energy demand could be slashed by approximately 50%, dropping from 112.16 to 52.34 kWh/m²/year. To meet the remaining energy needs, integrating photovoltaic panels into the building’s shell as an active system on the roof is proposed. This design not only preserves the building’s aesthetics but also covers a substantial portion of the electrical energy demand.

A real-time automatic dose dispenser (RADD) has been designed and fabricated for automatic withdrawal and calibration of diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals such as those labelled with 99mTc. This system enhances the accuracy and precision of activity measurements and reduces personal radiation exposure. The structure, function, user-friendliness and performance of this device are described and examined for diagnostic activities of 99mTc ranging from 50 to 650 MBq. The results show that the RADD minimises the likelihood of miscalibration of radiopharmaceuticals due to human error and results in significantly reduced variability (i.e. higher precision) in dispensed activities of radiopharmaceuticals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Joint Automatic Dispenser Equipment (JADE) has been designed and fabricated for automatic withdrawal and calibration of radiopharmaceutical materials. The thermoluminescent dosemeter procedures have shown a reduction in dose to the technician's hand with this novel dose dispenser system JADE when compared with the manual withdrawal of 99mTc. This system helps to increase the precision of calibration and to minimise the radiation dose to the hands and body of the workers. This paper describes the structure of this device, its function and user-friendliness, and its efficacy. The efficacy of this device was determined by measuring the radiation dose delivered to the hands of the nuclear medicine laboratory technician. The user-friendliness of JADE has been examined. The automatic withdrawal and calibration offered by this system reduces the dose to the technician's hand to a level below the maximum permissible dose stipulated by the international protocols. This research will serve as a backbone for future study about the safe use of ionising radiation in medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]