DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: Thrive Home Builders, Lowry Plan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

2017-09-01

Thrive Home Builders built this 4,119-ft2 home at the Lowry development in Denver, Colorado, to the high-performance criteria of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Zero Energy Ready Home Program. Despite the dense positioning of the homes, mono-plane roof designs afforded plenty of space for the 8.68 kW of photovoltaic panels. With the PV, the home achieves a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) score of 4 and the home owners should enjoy energy bills of about $-11 a year. Without the PV, the home would score a HERS 38 (far lower than the HERS 80 to 100 of typical new homes).

Guidelines for Home Energy Professionals Project (Brochure)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None, None

2014-03-01

The Guidelines for Home Energy Professionals is a collaboration between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and a wide range of home energy performance industry professionals. The Guidelines project, managed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) for DOE, addresses the need for a highly-skilled weatherization workforce equipped to complete consistent, high-quality home energy upgrades for single-family homes, multifamily homes, and manufactured housing. In doing so, it helps increase energy efficiency in housing, which can mitigate climate change, one of the major challenges of the 21st century.

Children, parents and home energy use: Exploring motivations and limits to energy demand reduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fell, Michael J.; Chiu, Lai Fong

2014-01-01

While almost 30% of UK households include children, little research has attempted to present children's perspectives on home energy use. This study used focus groups with children and parents at two primary (elementary) schools in London, UK, to explore home energy use and energy feedback. Energy was found to be a little-discussed subject at home. Children derived more motivation to save energy from responsibility conferred by school activities than other (e.g. environmental) concerns, and some connected energy saving with dangers of using electricity (e.g. fire). Material and social constraints (e.g. access to outside space, parents' environmental attitudes) meant that it was sometimes difficult for children to save energy even when motivated. However, parents showed greater inclination to pay attention to energy saving when framed as supporting their child's learning than as a financial or environmental concern. Children were disinclined to reduce energy-consuming activities such as watching television, and while parents complained about children's energy use most saw it as a low priority issue. Policy implications of these findings are considered, and the approach employed is argued to be an effective way of investigating children's perceptions around energy use. - Highlights: • Separate focus groups were conducted with children and parents on home energy use. • Children were motivated to save energy by being given responsibility. • Parents viewed saving energy more positively when framed as educating their child. • Material and social factors limit children's ability to save energy. • The method may encourage openness by decreasing power imbalances

Home Performance with ENERGY STAR: Utility Bill Analysis on Homes Participating in Austin Energy's Program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Belzer, D.; Mosey, G.; Plympton, P.; Dagher, L.

2007-07-01

Home Performance with ENERGY STAR (HPwES) is a jointly managed program of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This program focuses on improving energy efficiency in existing homes via a whole-house approach to assessing and improving a home's energy performance, and helping to protect the environment. As one of HPwES's local sponsors, Austin Energy's HPwES program offers a complete home energy analysis and a list of recommendations for efficiency improvements, along with cost estimates. To determine the benefits of this program, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) collaborated with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to conduct a statistical analysis using energy consumption data of HPwES homes provided by Austin Energy. This report provides preliminary estimates of average savings per home from the HPwES Loan Program for the period 1998 through 2006. The results from this preliminary analysis suggest that the HPwES program sponsored by Austin Energy had a very significant impact on reducing average cooling electricity for participating households. Overall, average savings were in the range of 25%-35%, and appear to be robust under various criteria for the number of households included in the analysis.

Solarising tropical Africa’s rural homes to sustainably overcome energy poverty

Science.gov (United States)

Kanyarusoke, K. E.

2017-11-01

At less than 30% electrification, Tropical Africa is the most energy-poor electrified region of the world. At home level, the annual per-capita electric energy consumption ranges between 0 and 150 kWh in rural areas, where 83% of the population reside. This is well below the 250 kWh recommended by the International Energy Agency (IEA) as the threshold for exiting rural ‘Energy Poverty’. Some governments have tried to extend the grid to such areas but these efforts have not yielded much. The approaches of rural electrification - as is being done now have therefore failed - and they may not be able to electrify every home in the countries concerned. An alternative approach promoting stand-alone photovoltaic (PV) and other solar powered heat and mass transfer systems at home level is proposed. An example of the approach in a village home in rural Uganda, East Africa is given. It is estimated that the combined unit energy cost over the systems’ lifespan would be just about US 3 cents. Health, Education, and Sustainability in all its forms would be greatly improved. The main recommendation is for policy makers to adopt this approach for rural homes while sparing grid supply only for commercial and industrial activities.

Retrofitting Vegas: Implementing Energy Efficiency in Two Las Vegas Test Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Puttagunta, S.

2013-04-01

In 2009, the state of Nevada received nearly forty million dollars in Neighborhood Stabilization Funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The purpose of this funding was to stabilize communities that have suffered from foreclosures and abandonment. In an effort to provide guidance to local officials and maximize how effectively this NSP funding is utilized in retrofitting homes, CARB provided design specifications, energy modeling, and technical support for the Building America Retrofit Alliance (BARA) team and its local partners - Better Building Performance, Nevada Energy Star Partners Green Alliance, and Home Free Nevada - for two retrofit test homes. One home was to demonstrate a modest retrofit and the other a deep energy retrofit. Through this project, CARB has provided two robust solution packages for retrofitting homes built in this region between the 1980s and early 1990s without substantially inconveniencing the occupants. The two test homes, the Carmen and Sierra Hills, demonstrate how cost-effectively energy efficient upgrades can be implemented in the hot, dry climate of the Southwest. In addition, the homes were used as an educational experience for home performance professionals, building trades, remodelers, and the general public. In-field trainings on air-sealing, HVAC upgrades, and insulating were provided to local contractors during the retrofit and BARA documented these retrofits through a series of video presentations, beginning with a site survey and concluding with the finished remodel and test out.

Energy comes home

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aune, Margrethe

2007-01-01

The growth in private energy consumption is an increasing problem in western countries. From an environmental point of view, this consumption has to be reduced. On the basis of two Norwegian case studies, this article discusses private energy consumption and possibilities for reduction, with a special focus on the home. It argues against a rational economic view of the consumer and emphasizes the significance of a more subtle understanding of private energy use. The article approaches the challenges of reducing private energy consumption by analysing the domestication of the home and discusses everyday life activities as well as the phenomenon of rebuilding and redecorating. By using the concept of domestication, the article challenges the linear understanding of technological as well as behavioural change. Private energy consumption is part of a complex network and it is necessary to understand this network in order to achieve a more permanent reduction

Present Conditions and Problems of Home Care Education in Pharmaceutical Education: Through the Activities of "the Working Group to Create Home Clinical Cases for Education".

Science.gov (United States)

Kobuke, Yuko

2017-01-01

In the pharmaceutical education model core curriculums revision, "basic qualities required as a pharmacist" are clearly shown, and "the method based on learning outcomes" has been adopted. One of the 10 qualities (No. 7) is "Practical ability of the health and medical care in the community". In the large item "F. Pharmaceutical clinical" of the model core curriculums, "participation in the home (visit) medical care and nursing care" is written in "participation in the health, medical care, and welfare of the community", and it is an important problem to offer opportunities of home medical care education at university. In our university, we launched a working group to create "home clinical cases for education" from the educational point of view to pharmacy students to learn home medical care, in collaboration with university faculty members and pharmacists, who are practitioners of home care. Through its working group activities, we would like to organize the present conditions and problems of home care education in pharmaceutical education and to examine the possibility of using "home clinical case studies" in home care education at university.

The Value of Home Education Including Physical Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iradge Ahrabi-Fard

2017-10-01

Full Text Available There is a false notion that public school can educate great students. Facing diversity of students’ potential, different timing of growth pattern and varieties of home preparation of students to be a assiduous learner it is serious challenging task. Schools offer a general education to all with some attention to the diversity of students. It is home education, dealing with concentration habits during learning process, valuing educational process and respecting the rules of group learning that are influential in acquiring most from the educational opportunities. School is not able to go against the home culture and re-educate students to behave as a concern and diligent learner if these habits are not emphasized or supported at home. Public education in US is ranked between 18 to 22 in the world (according to different sources. Comparing with the world, American schools as the whole rank first for school structures, are number one for allocation of school budget, the emphasis and requirements of teacher education is number one. America expenditure per student exceed the top ten of the world combined. It is the lack of home education of learning demeanor and respecting the learning process that causes the inferiority. Physical education faces the same general dilemma at school having a very diverse group of students within variety of growth stages, potentials, sizes and capabilities based on their previous experiences. Decent general physical education at school can only offer a limited advancement. It is the responsibilities of parents to learn about the specifics of healthy growth and suitable skill development for their unique child. It is their parental task to act responsibly for the healthy growth of their child concerning: bone density and health, muscular strength, size and endurance, heart development to endure the stress of activities and function well, the range of motion of joints and finally their weight management. All the above

ThinkHome Energy Efficiency in Future Smart Homes

OpenAIRE

Christian Reinisch; Mario J. Kofler; Félix Iglesias; Wolfgang Kastner

2011-01-01

Abstract Smart homes have been viewed with increasing interest by both home owners and the research community in the past few years. One reason for this development is that the use of modern automation technology in the home or building promises considerable savings of energy, therefore, simultaneously reducing the operational costs of the building over its whole lifecycle. However, the full potential of smart homes still lies fallow, due to the complexity and diversity of the systems, badly ...

Home Education: The Social Motivation

Science.gov (United States)

Beck, Christian W.

2010-01-01

Data from a Norwegian survey show correlation between a student's socially related problems at school and the parent's social motivation for home education. I argue that more time spent at school by a student could result in more socially related problems at school, which can explain an increase in social motivation for home education.

Effectiveness of a San Francisco Bay area community education program on reducing home energy use

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkinson, Ellen M.

In order to promote the adoption of home energy reduction practices and mitigate the climate impact of the collective greenhouse gas emissions generated by consumers, it is critical to identify an effective educational approach. A community-based educational intervention model that employs norms, information, commitment, feedback, and face-to-face communication strategies was examined for its ability to motivate changes in everyday energy-use behavior in two communities compared to a control group. A follow up study was also conducted to evaluate whether behaviors adopted as a result of the intervention were long lasting, and whether the community-focused features of the intervention were motivating to participants. Results showed that a greater number of individuals participated in the intervention over its five-month duration, reported significantly higher numbers of adopted behaviors, and maintained more adopted behaviors post-intervention than did people in the control group. In addition, intervention participants reported that some of the community-based features of the intervention motivated their behavior changes. These findings lend support to a number of social and community psychology theories about how to design effective interventions by leveraging social awareness and support.

The energy aware smart home

OpenAIRE

Jahn, M.; Jentsch, M.; Prause, C.R.; Pramudianto, F.; Al-Akkad, A.; Reiners, R.

2010-01-01

In this paper, we present a novel smart home system integrating energy efficiency features. The smart home application is built on top of Hydra, a middleware framework that facilitates the intelligent communication of heterogeneous embedded devices through an overlay P2P network. We interconnect common devices available in private households and integrate wireless power metering plugs to gain access to energy consumption data. These data are used for monitoring and analyzing consumed energy o...

From Energy Audits to Home Performance: 30 Years of Articles in Home Energy Magazine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meier, Alan

2014-08-11

Home Energy Magazine has been publishing articles about residential energy efficiency for 30 years. Its goal has been to disseminate technically reliable and neutral information to the practitioners, that is, professionals in the business of home energy efficiency. The articles, editorials, letters, and advertisements are a kind of window on the evolution of energy conservation technologies, policies, and organizations. Initially, the focus was on audits and simple retrofits, such as weatherstripping and insulation. Instrumentation was sparse sometimes limited to a ruler to measure depth of attic insulation and a blower door was exotic. CFLs were heavy, awkward bulbs which might, or might not, fit in a fixture. Saving air conditioning energy was not a priority. Solar energy was only for the most adventurous. Thirty years on, the technologies and business have moved beyond just insulating attics to the larger challenge of delivering home performance and achieving zero net energy. This shift reflects the success in reducing space heating energy and the need to create a profitable industry by providing more services. The leading edge of the residential energy services market is becoming much more sophisticated, offering both efficiency and solar systems. The challenge is to continue providing relevant and reliable information in a transformed industry and a revolutionized media landscape.

Energy Efficiency: The Implementation of Minimum Energy Performance Standard (MEPS Application on Home Appliances for Residential

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rahman K.A

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Generally, Minimum Energy Performance Standard (MEPS has been widespread across the country especially developed country. However, most consumers do not even know about the MEPS. Without sufficient knowledge, much energy have been wasted before this. The aim of this study is to review the implementation of MEPS of Asia country and to compare electricity consumption of home appliances with star rating and without star rating. In order to fulfil the objectives of the study, the equipment must be chosen correctly and must be learned properly. The home appliances that will be used also need to be chosen so that the comparison between the appliances will be matched correctly. To understand the results, the analysis was done using graphs and table. The purpose of using graph and table is to understand the comparison between appliances more clearly. The results show that home appliances with MEPS is more efficient on energy saving rather than without MEPS. This is the evidence as a method to educate a consumer on energy saving.

Home and Building Energy Management Systems | Grid Modernization | NREL

Science.gov (United States)

Home and Building Energy Management Systems Home and Building Energy Management Systems NREL researchers are developing tools to understand the impact of changes in home and building energy use and how researchers who received a record of invention for a home energy management system in a smart home laboratory

Securing a Home Energy Managing Platform

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mikkelsen, Søren Aagaard; Jacobsen, Rune Hylsberg

2016-01-01

Energy management in households gets increasingly more attention in the struggle to integrate more sustainable energy sources. Especially in the electrical system, smart grid towards a better utilisation of the energy production and distribution infrastructure. The Home Energy Management System...... (HEMS) is a critical infrastructure component in this endeavour. Its main goal is to enable energy services utilising smart devices in the households based on the interest of the residential consumers and external actors. With the role of being both an essential link in the communication infrastructure...... for balancing the electrical grid and a surveillance unit in private homes, security and privacy become essential to address. In this chapter, we identify and address potential threats Home Energy Management Platform (HEMP) developers should consider in the progress of designing architecture, selecting hardware...

CHEST: Home of the Clinician-Educator.

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, William F; Niven, Alexander S

2018-03-01

Many hands can build a house; it takes trust to make that house a home. Trust has two main components: credibility (worthiness based on preparation and past performance) and empathy (the ability to understand and share another person's values). CHEST has maintained its credibility and empathy as the global leader in clinical pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medical education. It follows that the leader in chest clinical education would also be the home of the clinician-educator. You are that educator. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Reliability and energy efficiency of zero energy homes (Conference Presentation)

Science.gov (United States)

Dhere, Neelkanth G.

2016-09-01

Photovoltaic (PV) modules and systems are being installed increasingly on residential homes to increase the proportion of renewable energy in the energy mix. The ultimate goal is to attain sustainability without subsidy. The prices of PV modules and systems have declined substantially during the recent years. They will be reduced further to reach grid parity. Additionally the total consumed energy must be reduced by making the homes more energy efficient. FSEC/UCF Researchers have carried out research on development of PV cells and systems and on reducing the energy consumption in homes and by small businesses. Additionally, they have provided guidance on PV module and system installation and to make the homes energy efficient. The produced energy is fed into the utility grid and the consumed energy is obtained from the utility grid, thus the grid is assisting in the storage. Currently the State of Florida permits net metering leading to equal charge for the produced and consumed electricity. This paper describes the installation of 5.29 KW crystalline silicon PV system on a south-facing tilt at approximately latitude tilt on a single-story, three-bedroom house. It also describes the computer program on Building Energy Efficiency and the processes that were employed for reducing the energy consumption of the house by improving the insulation, air circulation and windows, etc. Finally it describes actual consumption and production of electricity and the installation of additional crystalline silicon PV modules and balance of system to make it a zero energy home.

Home Performance with ENERGY STAR(R) Exchange

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2003-10-01

Handout for the Energy and Environmental Building Association's Building Solutions 2003 Conference and Expo: Chicago, Illinois, October 2003 The following summaries, provided by implementers of ''Home Performance with ENERGY STAR{reg_sign}'' around the country, are for use in the October 15 discussion during the Energy & Environmental Building Association (EEBA) Building Solutions, 2003 Conference in Chicago. The summaries and session discussions provide an overview of ''Home Performance with ENERGY STAR'', along with results and lessons learned from existing ''Home Performance'' implementers in New York, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, California, and Kansas City. Five future pilot projects set to begin in Georgia/Alabama, Idaho, Missouri, New Jersey and Texas will also be presented and discussed. Session topics will include the use of different training approaches, methods of quality assurance, and the role contractor certification plays in several of the programs. The session will conclude with a roundtable discussion of Home Performance issues by current and emerging implementers, with time for participant questions. ''Home Performance with ENERGY STAR'' uses the growing awareness and credibility of the ENERGY STAR brand to encourage and facilitate whole-house energy improvements in existing homes through self-sustaining energy efficiency programs. Whether you're a state energy official, utility program manager, contractor training professional or efficiency program implementer, you're sure to benefit from the unique presentations and networking opportunities that this session will offer.

Smart Home Energy Management Based on Zigbee

OpenAIRE

E.Mallikarjuna

2015-01-01

Today organizations use IEEE 802.15&Zigbee to effectively deliver solutions for a variety of areas including consumer electronic device control, energy management and efficiency home and commercial building automation as well as industrial plant management. The smart home energy network has gained widespread attentions due to its flexible integrati- ion into everyday life. This next generation green home system transparently unifies various home appliances smart sensors &wireless communicati...

The Human Right of Home Education

Science.gov (United States)

Donnelly, Michael P.

2016-01-01

Homeschooling is legal and growing in many countries but is virtually forbidden by law in Germany and a few others. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has reviewed and upheld this ban. Is home education a human right? How do these courts employ their jurisprudence of proportionality to find banning home education does not violate relevant…

Modular Zero Energy. BrightBuilt Home

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aldrich, Robb [Steven Winter Associates, Inc., Norwalk, CT (United States); Butterfield, Karla [Steven Winter Associates, Inc., Norwalk, CT (United States)

2016-03-01

With funding from the Building America Program, part of the U.S. Department of Energy Building Technologies Office, the Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB) worked with BrightBuilt Home (BBH) to evaluate and optimize building systems. CARB’s work focused on a home built by Black Bros. Builders in Lincolnville, Maine (International Energy Conservation Code Climate Zone 6). As with most BBH projects to date, modular boxes were built by Keiser Homes in Oxford, Maine.

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: Amaris Custom Homes, St. Paul, Minnesota

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2015-06-01

For this project, Amaris worked with U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) team, NorthernSTAR Building America Partnership, to develop the first Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) in Minnesota's cold climate using reasonable, cost-effective, and replicable construction materials and practices. The result is a passive solar, super-efficient 3542-ft2 walkout ranch-style home with all the creature comforts. Along with meeting ZERH standards, Amaris also achieved certifications for Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design for Homes v4, MN Green Path Emerald, and a Builders Association of the Twin Cities Reggie Award of Excellence. The home achieves a HERS score of 41 without photovoltaics; with PV, the home achieves a HERS score of 5.

On the Path to Zero Energy Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Merrigan, T.

2001-03-30

Just imagine living in Florida and your fantasies might turn to swaying palms, fresh orange juice and lots of air-conditioning. For most people, a summer spent in Florida's heat and humidity would be unbearable without it. So air-conditioning is a necessity. But it's also a big energy drain, accounting for about 35% of all electricity used in a typical Florida house. As the largest single source of energy consumption in Florida, a home's air-conditioning load represents the biggest energy challenge. The Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) designed a project to answer this challenge. Two homes were built with the same floor plan on near-by lots. The difference was that one (the ''control home'') conformed to local residential building practices, and the other (the ''Zero Energy home'') was designed with energy efficiency in mind and solar technology systems on the roof. The homes were then monitored carefully for energy use. The project's designers were looking to answer two important questions: Could a home in a climate such as central Florida's be engineered and built so efficiently that a relatively small PV system would serve the majority of its cooling needs--and even some of its daytime electrical needs? And, would that home be as comfortable and appealing as the conventional model built alongside it? The answer to both questions turned out to be a resounding yes. And the test was especially rigorous, because it was conducted in the summer of 1998--one of the hottest summers on record in Florida. This news is important for city planners, architects, builders, and homeowners not only in the Sunshine State, but elsewhere, too. The solar/energy efficiency combo worked so well in Florida that it can--and should--be tried in other parts of the country. This brochure describes the Zero Energy Homes concept using a case study.

U.S. Department of Energy Zero Energy Ready Home Implementation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rothgeb, Stacey K [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Schirber, T. [Univ. of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN (United States). NorthernSTAR Building America Partnership; Mosiman, G. [Univ. of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN (United States). NorthernSTAR Building America Partnership; VonThoma, E. [Univ. of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN (United States). NorthernSTAR Building America Partnership

2017-07-25

The intention of this project is to assist home builders in the upper Midwest in achieving DOE Zero Energy Ready Home program certification, and to document the process and outcomes involved in meeting this rigorous standard. NorthernSTAR, in conjunction with our program partner Building Knowledge, Inc., provided technical support to the builders during the design and construction process. At the time of this publication, four qualifying homes have been completed and an additional three are currently under construction to be completed later this year. Three additional homes were excluded from certification due to the HVAC contractor not completing their required credentialing until after completion of the homes, though the energy performance would have otherwise qualified the homes for program certification. Both Amaris Homes and Cobblestone Homes note that participation in the ZERH program provides them with competitive advantage in the market place at reasonable construction costs that also result in extremely satisfied clients who are willing to recommend the builders to friends and family.

Energy renovation practices in Danish homes. The influence of energy labels on home renovation practices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Christensen, Toke Haunstrup; Gram-Hanssen, Kirsten [Danish Building Research Institute, Aalborg University, Dr. Neergaards Vej 15, DK-2970 Hoersholm (Denmark); Adjei, Afi [Building Research Establishment Ltd. BRE, Bucknalls Lane, Garston, WD25 9XX Watford (United Kingdom); De Best-Waldhober, Marjolein [Energy research Centre of the Netherlands ECN, Policy Studies, Amsterdam (Netherlands)

2012-02-15

Heating of dwellings represents a major policy challenge for the transition to a low carbon society. In Denmark, heating of dwellings represents about 25% of the total Danish final energy consumption and about 13% of the total CO2 emission. The majority of this is related to heating of older dwellings, and as the rate of replacement is low, the main potential for energy saving is to improve the energy efficiency of the existing dwelling stock through energy renovation. This paper provides an analysis of Danish experiences with energy labels (also known as the Energy Performance Certificate, EPC), which indicate the energy efficiency of buildings and include recommendations for improvements. The aim of the EPC is to motivate homeowners to do energy improvements. In Denmark, energy audit schemes date back to the early 1980s and energy rating of houses (energy labelling) was introduced in 1997. The long history of energy audit schemes and energy labelling makes Denmark an interesting case for the study of the experiences with and impact of this kind of policy measure. With the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) from 2002, an energy labelling scheme similar to the Danish scheme introduced in 1997 is now in use in all EU member states. The focus of this paper is on the homeowners' experience and use of the EPC and the key research questions are: How do the homeowners understand and use the EPC? Does the EPC have an influence on home energy renovation practices? The analysis is based on results from a survey of Danish homeowners who have purchased a home with an EPC within recent years. The Danish survey is part of the European project IDEAL EPBD, which was funded by the European Commission under the Intelligent Energy Europe programme and run from 2008 to 2011. The results indicate a rather limited influence of the EPC on Danish homeowners' home energy renovation practices. Also, the results show that even though most homeowners find the label

Vocational Home Economics Education. Coalition Statement. Second Edition.

Science.gov (United States)

Home Economics Education Association, Gainesville, VA.

This pamphlet contains the statement of the Coalition of the American Home Economics Association, American Vocational Association, and Home Economics Education Association regarding the scope and definition of vocational home economics education. It is intended to serve as a basis for professional action. Sections of this statement address the…

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: Garbett Homes, Herriman, Utah

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

none,

2013-09-01

As the first net zero-energy production home certified in Utah, this house incorporates two 94% efficient tankless water heaters and two roof-mounted solar panels that preheat the home's water supply. This home won a 2013 Housing Innovation Award in the production builder category.

Manufactured Home Energy Audit (MHEA)Users Manual (Version 7)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gettings, M.B.

2003-01-27

The Manufactured Home Energy Audit (MHEA) is a software tool that predicts manufactured home energy consumption and recommends weatherization retrofit measures. It was developed to assist local weatherization agencies working with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Weatherization Assistance Program. Whether new or experienced, employed within or outside the Weatherization Assistance Program, all users can benefit from incorporating MHEA into their manufactured home weatherization programs. DOE anticipates that the state weatherization assistance programs that incorporate MHEA into their programs will find significant growth in the energy and cost savings achieved from manufactured home weatherization. The easy-to-use MHEA uses a relatively standard Windows graphical interface for entering simple inputs and provides understandable, usable results. The user enters information about the manufactured home construction, heating equipment, cooling equipment appliances, and weather site. MHEA then calculates annual energy consumption using a simplified building energy analysis technique. Weatherization retrofit measures are evaluated based on the predicted energy savings after installation of the measure, the measure cost, and the measure life. Finally, MHEA recommends retrofit measures that are energy and cost effective for the particular home being evaluated. MHEA evaluates each manufactured home individually and takes into account local weather conditions, retrofit measure costs, and fuel costs. The recommended package of weatherization retrofit measures is tailored to the home being evaluated. More traditional techniques apply the same package of retrofit measures to all manufactured homes, often the same set of measures that are installed into site-built homes. Effective manufactured home weatherization can be achieved only by installing measures developed specifically for manufactured homes. The unique manufactured home construction characteristics require that

Energy Saver: Tips on Saving Money & Energy at Home

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2017-09-01

Provides consumers with home energy and money savings tips such as insulation, weatherization, heating, cooling, water heating, energy efficient windows, landscaping, lighting, and energy efficient appliances.

Energy Savers: Tips on Saving Money & Energy at Home

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2011-12-01

Provides consumers with home energy and money savings tips such as insulation, weatherization, heating, cooling, water heating, energy efficient windows, landscaping, lighting, and energy efficient appliances.

Energy Savers: Tips on Saving Money & Energy at Home

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2014-05-01

Provides consumers with home energy and money savings tips such as insulation, weatherization, heating, cooling, water heating, energy efficient windows, landscaping, lighting, and energy efficient appliances.

Energy Savers Tips on Saving Energy& Money at Home

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2003-06-01

Provides consumers with home energy and money savings tips such as insulation, weatherization, heating, cooling, water heating, energy efficient windows, landscaping, lighting, and energy efficient appliances

Zero energy homes – Are they economically viable?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berry, Stephen; Davidson, Kathryn

2015-01-01

Whilst net zero energy homes are espoused in many policy circles, and many bespoke examples have been constructed to demonstrate their technical feasibility, there is a scarcity of evidence demonstrating such a standard would be economically rational, particularly for large scale housing development where orientation and aspect may not always be optimal. Drawing on energy monitoring evidence and construction economics associated with a nearly zero energy housing estate in Adelaide, Australia, this paper explores the economic feasibility of the net zero energy home policy in warm temperate climates. The results demonstrate that using economic tools and assumptions typically applied for building energy regulatory policy changes, net societal economic benefits significantly outweigh costs. The clear economic outcomes, combined with expected health and productivity benefits from improved levels of thermal comfort, should provide security to policy makers to progress home energy standards towards net zero energy performance. -- Highlights: •The concept of net zero energy homes is examined for economic viability. •Evidence is collected from a near net zero energy housing estate. •Conservative results show that societal benefits outweigh costs. •Significant additional benefits gained from net zero energy homes

Liability aspects of home energy-rating systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hendrickson, P.L.

1983-10-01

Liability aspects of home energy rating systems are discussed. An introduction to the rating system concept, including types of rating systems, implementation efforts to date, and possible groups to conduct ratings, is also included. The home energy rating system concept involves the periodic rating of the energy efficiency of residential buildings. The rating can provide a relative indication of a home's energy efficiency and also a quantitative estimate of consumption, fuel cost, or both. Primary attention is given to liability issues associated with developing and performing ratings. Secondary attention is given to possible liability associated with misuse of a rating once it has been performed.

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: Amaris Homes, Afton Model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

2017-09-01

Amaris Homes built this 3,734-ft2 home in Afton, Minnesota, to the performance criteria of the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) program. A high-efficiency gas boiler provides hot water for the zoned radiant floor system as well as for faucets and showers. A high-efficiency heat pump provides zoned cooling.

Smart Homes and Sensors for Surveillance and Preventive Education at Home: Example of Obesity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacques Demongeot

2016-08-01

Full Text Available (1 Background: The aim of this paper is to show that e-health tools like smart homes allow the personalization of the surveillance and preventive education of chronic patients, such as obese persons, in order to maintain a comfortable and preventive lifestyle at home. (2 Technologies and methods: Several types of sensors allow coaching the patient at home, e.g., the sensors recording the activity and monitoring the physiology of the person. All of this information serves to personalize serious games dedicated to preventive education, for example in nutrition and vision. (3 Results: We built a system of personalized preventive education at home based on serious games, derived from the feedback information they provide through a monitoring system. Therefore, it is possible to define (after clustering and personalized calibration from the at home surveillance of chronic patients different comfort zones where their behavior can be estimated as normal or abnormal and, then, to adapt both alarm levels for surveillance and education programs for prevention, the chosen example of application being obesity.

The Home, the Family and the Energy Advisor

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tjørring, Lise

within. The empirical focus is on the households' potential to perform energy renovations of their homes and adopt flexible electricity use. Four papers investigate what characterises the social and gendered engagements among the home, the family and the energy advisor and the implications...... events, social relations, historical conditions and social status. These findings call for new methods to increase the number of energy renovations and the likelihood of adopting flexible electricity use. We must focus on the home not only as a technical issue that can be improved but also as a dwelling...... space that contains gendered practices, cultural norms and social engagements among the home, the family and the energy advisor....

Energy Savings Measure Packages. Existing Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Casey, Sean [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Booten, Chuck [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2011-11-01

This document presents the most cost effective Energy Savings Measure Packages (ESMP) for existing mixed-fuel and all electric homes to achieve 15% and 30% savings for each BetterBuildings grantee location across the United States. These packages are optimized for minimum cost to homeowners for source energy savings given the local climate and prevalent building characteristics (i.e. foundation types). Maximum cost savings are typically found between 30% and 50% energy savings over the reference home; this typically amounts to $300 - $700/year.

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study, Weiss Building & Development, LLC., System Home, River Forest, Illinois

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

none,

2013-09-01

The Passive House Challenge Home located in River Forest, Illinois, is a 5-bedroom, 4.5-bath, 3,600 ft2 two-story home (plus basement) that costs about $237 less per month to operate than a similar sized home built to the 2009 IECC. For a home with no solar photovoltaic panels installed, it scored an amazingly low 27 on the Home Energy Rating System (HERS) score.An ENERGY STAR-rated dishwasher, clothes washer, and refrigerator; an induction cooktop, condensing clothes dryer, and LED lighting are among the energy-saving devices inside the home. All plumbing fixtures comply with EPA WaterSense criteria. The home was awarded a 2013 Housing Innovation Award in the "systems builder" category.

Challenge Students to Design an Energy-Efficient Home

Science.gov (United States)

Griffith, Jack

2008-01-01

This article presents an activity that gives students a practical understanding of how much energy the average home consumes and wastes, and shows how the construction technologies used in home design affect overall energy usage. In this activity, students will outline the cost of a home's electrical system, give a breakdown of how much power the…

A Novel Web Service Based Home Energy Management System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rossello Busquet, Ana; Soler, José

2011-01-01

and optimize the energy consumption in home environments. The main element of HEMS is the home gateway. In this paper, a home gateway suitable for HEMS is presented. The home gateway proposed uses rules to implement the home energy management system. The rules can be downloaded though web services from a rule...... server. Furthermore, web services are used to provide modularity to the home gateway by enabling the deployment of the different logical components into different devices, if necessary....

Near zero energy homes – What do users think?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berry, Stephen; Whaley, David; Davidson, Kathryn; Saman, Wasim

2014-01-01

With policy directions firmly moving towards net zero energy homes, what do we know about the perceptions and experiences of households who already live in homes at or near that standard? The research sets out to determine whether householders believe these buildings are thermally comfortable, and if they feel confident operating the smart technologies that help achieve the net zero energy outcome? Combining interviews from 25 households and monitored energy data from over 50 near zero energy homes, this paper examines the validity of this policy goal from the building user perspective. The evidence shows households attain high levels of thermal comfort, enjoy lower energy bills, and believe their behaviour has been influenced by the building and its energy systems. Yet many remain concerned that the building industry is unable to produce homes that maintain thermal comfort in all spaces and all seasons. The residents have also identified significant issues in the reliability and usability of the energy technologies. Whilst the policy appears valid from the end-user perspective, the case study highlights the substantial task ahead for policy makers to establish suitable commissioning and compliance processes, and develop effective energy rating tools on the path to zero energy homes. - Highlights: • The policy concept of zero energy homes is examined from the user perspective. • Evidence is collected from a near net zero energy housing estate. • Results show that the homes are highly comfortable and valued by households. • Seasonal differences in the delivery of thermal comfort are found. • Significant design problems and technology reliability issues are identified

Energy Saver: Tips on Saving Energy and Money in Your Home

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Casey, Allison L [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-10-04

This guide shows you how easy it is to reduce your energy use at home and on the road. You'll find quick tips you can use to start saving today, as well as information on larger projects that will help save you money over the long term. Find even more information about saving money and energy at home by visiting our website, EnergySaver.gov.

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: Nexus EnergyHomes, Frederick, Maryland

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

none,

2013-09-01

This urban infill community with 24 duplexes, 19 townhomes, and 7 single-family homes features SIP walls, geothermal heat pumps, solar PV, and a proprietary energy management system. The builder won a 2013 Housing Innovation Award in the production builder category.

STEM learning activity among home-educating families

Science.gov (United States)

Bachman, Jennifer

2011-12-01

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning was studied among families in a group of home-educators in the Pacific Northwest. Ethnographic methods recorded learning activity (video, audio, fieldnotes, and artifacts) which was analyzed using a unique combination of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) and Mediated Action (MA), enabling analysis of activity at multiple levels. Findings indicate that STEM learning activity is family-led, guided by parents' values and goals for learning, and negotiated with children to account for learner interests and differences, and available resources. Families' STEM education practice is dynamic, evolves, and influenced by larger societal STEM learning activity. Parents actively seek support and resources for STEM learning within their home-school community, working individually and collectively to share their funds of knowledge. Home-schoolers also access a wide variety of free-choice learning resources: web-based materials, museums, libraries, and community education opportunities (e.g. afterschool, weekend and summer programs, science clubs and classes, etc.). A lesson-heuristic, grounded in Mediated Action, represents and analyzes home STEM learning activity in terms of tensions between parental goals, roles, and lesson structure. One tension observed was between 'academic' goals or school-like activity and 'lifelong' goals or everyday learning activity. Theoretical and experiential learning was found in both activity, though parents with academic goals tended to focus more on theoretical learning and those with lifelong learning goals tended to be more experiential. Examples of the National Research Council's science learning strands (NRC, 2009) were observed in the STEM practices of all these families. Findings contribute to the small but growing body of empirical CHAT research in science education, specifically to the empirical base of family STEM learning practices at home. It also fills a

Safety Education Resources: Childproofing Your Home

Science.gov (United States)

... Kids and Babies En Español Kids and Babies - Safety Alerts Back to Safety Education Resources Air Mattresses ... Home Drowning Deaths in Spanish Kids and Babies - Safety Guides Back to Safety Education Resources Baby Safety ...

How to Desire Differently: Home Education as a Heterotopia

Science.gov (United States)

Pattison, Harriet

2015-01-01

This article explores the co-existence of, and relationship between, alternative education in the form of home education and mainstream schooling. Home education is conceptually subordinate to schooling, relying on schooling for its status as alternative, but also being tied to schooling through the dominant discourse that forms our understandings…

Final Scientific/Technical Report: Context-Aware Smart Home Energy Manager (CASHEM)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Foslien, Wendy K. [Honeywell International Inc., Golden Valley, MN (United States); Curtner, Keith L. [Honeywell International Inc., Golden Valley, MN (United States)

2013-01-15

Because of growing energy demands and shortages, residential home owners are turning to energy conservation measures and smart home energy management devices to help them reduce energy costs and live more sustainably. In this context, the Honeywell team researched, developed, and tested the Context Aware Smart Home Energy Manager (CASHEM) as a trusted advisor for home energy management. The project focused on connecting multiple devices in a home through a uniform user interface. The design of the user interface was an important feature of the project because it provided a single place for the homeowner to control all devices and was also where they received coaching. CASHEM then used data collected from homes to identify the contexts that affect operation of home appliances. CASHEM's goal was to reduce energy consumption while keeping the user's key needs satisfied. Thus, CASHEM was intended to find the opportunities to minimize energy consumption in a way that fit the user's lifestyle.

Adopting Energy Efficiency in Connected Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Christensen, Dane T [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Kemper, Emily [CLEAResult

2017-10-02

This presentation on connected homes was presented at the 11th Rocky Mountain Utility Efficiency Exchange on September 28, 2017. The discussion covered the integration of energy efficiency measures and practices with Internet of Things (IoT) awareness and adoption of smart technologies and services via WiFi/ Bluetooth enabled home and office equipment. The presentation also describes the benefits to the home and business and benefits/challenges for the utility/implementer.

77 FR 19008 - Guidelines for Home Energy Professionals: Standard Work Specifications for Single Family Energy...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-29

.... The development of the Guidelines for Home Energy Professionals: Standard Work Specifications for... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Guidelines for Home Energy Professionals: Standard Work Specifications for Single Family Energy Upgrades AGENCY: Office of Energy...

77 FR 23238 - Guidelines for Home Energy Professionals: Standard Work Specifications for Single Family Energy...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-18

...: Comments on the Guidelines for Home Energy Professionals: Standard Work Specifications for Single Family... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Guidelines for Home Energy Professionals: Standard Work Specifications for Single Family Energy Upgrades AGENCY: Office of Energy...

Energy impacts of the smart home - conflicting visions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nyborg, Sophie; Røpke, Inge

2011-01-01

of households in the smart grid? What visions are articulated for the functionalities of the smart home? Secondly, we critically investigate these visions to explore if they support the development of sustainable energy consumption. We claim that the smart home in the smart grid is the latest addition...... to a family of ideas emerging in relation to the application of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the home. The smart home is thus a melting pot of such different trends as automation of household chores, entertainment and energy management. These different ingredients of the melting pot co......To support the transition towards an energy system that is based 100 percent on renewable energy sources, the smart grid is presently undergoing rapid development in Denmark – a hype that can also be seen in the rest of the world. Many actors are playing in the field, and the present situation...

Muslims, Home Education and Risk in British Society

Science.gov (United States)

Myers, Martin; Bhopal, Kalwant

2018-01-01

The number of families who choose to home educate has significantly increased in the last decade. This article explores the experiences of British Muslims who home educate using data from a larger study exploring the views of a diverse range of families. Drawing on the work of Beck, we discuss how 'risk' is understood in relation to Muslim home…

Energy Storage System Control Algorithm by Operating Target Power to Improve Energy Sustainability of Smart Home

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Byeongkwan Kang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available As energy issues are emerging around the world, a variety of smart home technologies aimed at realizing zero energy houses are being introduced. Energy storage system (ESS for smart home energy independence is increasingly gaining interest. However, limitations exist in that most of them are controlled according to time schedules or used in conjunction with photovoltaic (PV generation systems. In consideration of load usage patterns and PV generation of smart home, this study proposes an ESS control algorithm that uses constant energy of energy network while making maximum use of ESS. Constant energy means that the load consumes a certain amount of power under all conditions, which translates to low variability. The proposed algorithm makes a smart home a load of energy network with low uncertainty and complexity. The simulation results show that the optimal ESS operating target power not only makes the smart home use power constantly from the energy network, but also maximizes utilization of the ESS. In addition, since the smart home is a load that uses constant energy, it has the advantage of being able to operate an efficient energy network from the viewpoint of energy providers.

Consumer Acceptance Analysis of the Home Energy Management System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eung-Suk Park

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to study consumer acceptance of the Home Energy Management System, which is the next generation electronic management system that the Korean government plans to implement in households. The Home Energy Management System is a critical device in maximizing the efficiency of electric energy consumption for each household by using a smart grid. Because it can visualize real-time price information on the electricity, households can easily monitor and control the amount of electricity consumption. With this feature, the Home Energy Management System can contribute to consumers’ total energy savings. This is a major reason why the Korean government wishes to implement it nationwide. Since the Home Energy Management System is a product that applies new technology that has not yet been directly encountered by consumers, there may be a difference in the level of public perception of the Home Energy Management System. Therefore, the impact of consumers’ awareness of the Home Energy Management System on their intention to use is important. To do this, the Technology Acceptance Model is utilized in this study. Traditional research on the Technology Acceptance Model includes awareness of usefulness and ease of use as well as intention to use. In contrast, in this research, an extended Technology Acceptance Model with four additional factors—economic benefit, social contribution, environmental responsibility, and innovativeness—that may affect the consumer’s awareness of usefulness and ease of use, is proposed. To collect the data, the survey was conducted with 287 respondents. As a result, the proposed model proved to be suitable in explaining the intention to use with a 70.3% explanation power. It is found that economic benefit (0.231 and innovativeness (0.259 impact on usefulness of the Home Energy Management System. Moreover, usefulness (0.551 has a bigger effect on intention to use than ease of use (0.338 does. Based

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: Sterling Brook Custom Homes — Village Park Eco Home, Double Park, TX

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

none,

2014-09-01

This builder won a Custom Builder honor in the 2014 Housing Innovation Awards for this showcase home that serves as an energy-efficient model home for the custom home builder: 1,300 visitors toured the home, thousands more learned about the home’s advanced construction via the webpage, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

NREL/Habitat for Humanity Zero Energy Home: A Cold-Climate Case Study for Affordable Zero Energy Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Norton, P.; Christensen, C.; Hancock, E.; Barker, G.; Reeves, P.

2008-06-01

The design of this 1,280-square-foot, three-bedroom Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver zero energy home carefully combines envelope efficiency, efficient equipment, appliances and lighting, and passive and active solar features to reach the zero energy goal. The home was designed with an early version (July 22, 2004) of the BEOpt building optimization software; DOE2 and TRNSYS were used to perform additional analysis. This engineering approach was tempered by regular discussions with Habitat construction staff and volunteers. These discussions weighed the applicability of the optimized solutions to the special needs and economics of a Habitat house--moving the design toward simple, easily maintained mechanical systems and volunteer-friendly construction techniques. A data acquisition system was installed in the completed home to monitor its performance.

Development of a Context-Aware Smart Home Energy Manager (CASHEM)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Srivastava, Viraj [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Makhmalbaf, Atefe [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Parker, Graham B. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2013-03-01

The research reported is part of a collaborative with Honeywell, Inc. to bring novel home energy management concepts and technologies to reduce energy consumption, reduce peak electricity demand, integrate renewable energy and storage technology, and change homeowner behavior to manage and consume less energy. The objective of the collaborative is to create a Context-Aware Smart Home Energy Manager (CASHEM) that dynamically schedules major home appliances according to conditions and homeowner convenience of service (CoS) preferences, monitors and analyzes energy consumption of appliances, recommends further energy saving actions, and engages/motivates the homeowner to adopt those recommendations.

A Solution Based on Bluetooth Low Energy for Smart Home Energy Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mario Collotta

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The research and the implementation of home automation are getting more popular because the Internet of Things holds promise for making homes smarter through wireless technologies. The installation of systems based on wireless networks can play a key role also in the extension of the smart grid towards smart homes, that can be deemed as one of the most important components of smart grids. This paper proposes a fuzzy-based solution for smart energy management in a home automation wireless network. The approach, by using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE, introduces a Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC in order to improve a Home Energy Management (HEM scheme, addressing the power load of standby appliances and their loads in different hours of the day. Since the consumer is involved in the choice of switching on/off of home appliances, the approach introduced in this work proposes a fuzzy-based solution in order to manage the consumer feedbacks. Simulation results show that the proposed solution is efficient in terms of reducing peak load demand, electricity consumption charges with an increase comfort level of consumers. The performance of the proposed BLE-based wireless network scenario are validated in terms of packet delivery ratio, delay, and jitter and are compared to IEEE 802.15.4 technology.

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: Dwell Development, Seattle, Washington

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

none,

2013-09-01

This Challenge Home is one of 42 homes in a micro-community of ultra-modern, energy-efficient homes built by Dwell Development on an urban gray-field site in South Seattle. Every home will achieve a 5-Star Built Green rating from the regional master builders association and meet the criteria of the Northwest ENERGY STAR program, which is more strict than the national ENERGY STAR criteria. Also, the home won a 2013 Housing Innovation Award in the "systems builder" category.

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: TC Legend Homes, Seattle, Washington

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

none,

2013-09-01

This house incorporates slab-on-grade, EPS roof, and radiant heating with an air-to-water heat pump that also preheats domestic hot water. Without counting in the solar panels, the home earns a home energy rating system (HERS) score of 37, with projected utility bills of about $740 a year. With the 6.4-kW photovoltaic power system installed on the roof, the home’s HERS scores drops to -1 and utility bills for the all-electric home drop to zero. This home was awarded a 2013 Housing Innovation Award in the affordable builder category.

Universal standard for the smart energy home

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hatler, M.

2009-01-01

Smart metering systems are now being installed in countries throughout the world. This article discussed technologies designed to connect in-home electrical devices such as thermostats, energy displays, and computers to the electricity grid. The smart-grid connected devices will form part of the home area network (HAN) designed to provide consumers with real time control of their energy use. Many governments are now mandating the use of HAN interfaces, and members of the energy industry are developing global standards for HANs. Within 5 years, it is estimated that over 126 million smart meters will be installed in households worldwide. Using HANs, consumers will be able to shift their usage away from peak energy usage times that are more expensive. Studies have demonstrated that the use of dynamic pricing options can result in a 50 per cent load reduction during critical peak periods. A universal standard and certification process is currently underway to prevent HAN market fragmentation and to ensure plug-and-play interoperability among HAN devices. It was concluded that the smart energy home will present large market opportunities for software developers, investors, and manufacturers. 1 fig

Building America Case Study: Whole-House Solutions for Existing Homes: Greenbelt Homes, Inc. Pilot Retrofit Program; Whole-House Solutions for Existing Homes, Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2015-06-01

In the fall of 2010, a multiyear pilot energy efficiency retrofit project was undertaken by Greenbelt Homes, Inc, (GHI) a 1,566 home cooperative of circa 1930 and 1940 homes in Greenbelt, Maryland. GHI established this pilot project to serve as a basis for decision making for the rollout of a decade-long community-wide upgrade program that will incorporate energy efficiency improvements to the building envelope and mechanical equipment. With the community upgrade fully funded by the cooperative through their membership without outside subsidies, this project presents a unique opportunity to evaluate and prioritize the wide-range of benefits of high-performance retrofits based on member experience with and acceptance of the retrofit measures implemented during the pilot project. Addressing the complex interactions between benefits, trade-offs, construction methods, project management implications, realistic upfront costs, financing, and other considerations, serves as a case study for energy retrofit projects to include high-performance technologies based on the long-term value to the homeowner. The pilot project focused on identifying the added costs and energy savings benefits of improvements. Phase 1: baseline evaluation for a representative set of 28 homes sited in seven buildings; Phase 2: installation of the building envelope improvements and continued monitoring of the energy consumption for the heating season and energy simulations supporting recommendations for HVAC and water heating upgrades to be implemented in Phase 3.

Energy-efficient mortgages and home energy rating systems: A report on the nation`s progress

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Farhar, B.C.; Eckert, J.

1993-09-01

This report summarizes progress throughout the nation in establishing voluntary programs linking home energy rating systems (HERS) and energy-efficient mortgages (EEMs). These programs use methods for rating the energy efficiency of new and existing homes and predicting energy cost savings so lenders can factor in energy cost savings when underwriting mortgages. The programs also encourage lenders to finance cost-effective energy-efficiency improvements to existing homes with low-interest mortgages or other instruments. The money saved on utility bills over the long term can more than offset the cost of such energy-efficiency improvements. The National Collaborative on HERS and EEMs recommended that this report be prepared.

Community-Wide Zero Energy Ready Home Standard

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Herk, A. [IBACOS, Inc., Pittsburght, PA (United States); Beggs, T. [IBACOS, Inc., Pittsburght, PA (United States)

2016-02-05

This report outlines the steps a developer can use when looking to create and implement higher performance standards such as the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) standards in a community. The report also describes the specific examples of how this process was followed by a developer, Forest City, in the Stapleton community in Denver, Colorado. IBACOS described the steps used to begin to bring the DOE ZERH standard to the Forest City Stapleton community based on 15 years of community-scale development work done by IBACOS. As a result of this prior IBACOS work, the team gained an understanding of the various components that a master developer needs to consider and created strategies for incorporating those components in the initial phases of development to achieve higher performance buildings in the community. An automated scoring system can be used to perform an internal audit that provides a detailed and consistent evaluation of how several homes under construction or builders' floor plans compare with the requirements of the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home program. This audit can be performed multiple times at specific milestones during construction to allow the builder to make changes as needed throughout construction for the project to meet Zero Energy Ready Home standards. This scoring system also can be used to analyze a builder's current construction practices and design.

Improving Elderly's Dental Hygiene Through Nursing Home Staff's Dental Health Education at the Nursing Home

OpenAIRE

Santoso, Bedjo; Eko Ningtyas, Endah Aryati; Fatmasari, Diyah

2017-01-01

Stomatitis often occurs in elderly at nursing home. They need nursing home staff assistance to maintain their dental and oral health. Therefore, nursing home staff need dental health education. Lecture or discussion methods, which are more effective to improve knowledge, attitude and skill of nursing home staff was the purpose of this research. The research design was quasi-experiment research and pretest-posttest with control group. The sample was 42 nursing home staffs and 74 elderlies, div...

A new home energy management algorithm with voltage control in a smart home environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elma, Onur; Selamogullari, Ugur Savas

2015-01-01

Energy management in electrical systems is one of the important issues for energy efficiency and future grid systems. Energy management is defined as a HEM (home energy management) on the residential consumer side. The HEM system plays a key role in residential demand response applications. In this study, a new HEM algorithm is proposed for smart home environments to reduce peak demand and increase the energy efficiency. The proposed algorithm includes VC (voltage control) methodology to reduce the power consumption of residential appliances so that the shifting of appliances is minimized. The results of the survey are used to produce representative load profiles for a weekday and for a weekend. Then, case studies are completed to test the proposed HEM algorithm in reducing the peak demand in the house. The main aim of the proposed HEM algorithm is to minimize the number of turned-off appliances to decrease demand so that the customer comfort is maximized. The smart home laboratory at Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey is used in case studies. Experimental results show that the proposed HEM algorithm reduces the peak demand by 17.5% with the voltage control and by 38% with both the voltage control and the appliance shifting. - Highlights: • A new HEM (home energy management) algorithm is proposed. • Voltage control in the HEM is introduced as a solution for peak load reduction. • Customer comfort is maximized by minimizing the number of turned-off appliances. • The proposed HEM algorithm is experimentally validated at a smart home laboratory. • A survey is completed to produce typical load profiles of a Turkish family.

Solar Energy in the Home. Revised.

Science.gov (United States)

Roeder, Allen A.; Woodland, James A.

Recommended for grades 10-12 physical, earth, or general science classes, this 5-7 day unit is designed to give students a general understanding of solar energy and its use as a viable alternative to present energy sources. Along with this technology, students examine several factors of solar energy which influence the choice of solar home site…

Energy Savers--Tips on Saving Energy and Money at Home (Fifth Printing)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

DOE Office of Building Technology, State and Community Programs

2001-01-01

Provides consumers with home energy and money savings tips such as insulation, weatherization, heating, cooling, water heating, energy efficient windows, landscaping, lighting, and energy efficient appliances

Energy Savers---Tips on Saving Energy and Money at Home (Fifth Printing)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

DOE Office of Building Technology, State and Community Programs

2001-08-13

Provides consumers with home energy and money savings tips such as insulation, weatherization, heating, cooling, water heating, energy efficient windows, landscaping, lighting, and energy efficient appliances.

Bio-energy and youth: Analyzing the role of school, home, and media from the future policy perspectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Halder, Pradipta; Havu-Nuutinen, Sari; Pietarinen, Janne; Pelkonen, Paavo

2011-01-01

The study investigated the relationships between students' perceived information on bio-energy from school, home and media and their perceptions, attitudes, and knowledge regarding bio-energy. The study also analyzed the scope of future policies to raise awareness among young students about bio-energy. Data drawn from 495 Finnish students studying in ninth grade revealed that the students were more positive in their attitudes towards bio-energy compared to their perceptions of it. They were very positive about learning about bio-energy, while not so eager towards its utilization. It appeared that school, home, and media all had statistically significant effects on students' perceptions, attitudes, and level of knowledge related to bio-energy. Three principal components emerged from students' perceptions and attitudes towards bio-energy viz. 'motivation' revealing students' eagerness to know more about bio-energy; 'considering sustainability' revealing their criticality of forest bio-energy; and 'utilization' revealing their state of interests to use bio-energy. Bio-energy policies to be effective must consider the role of school, home, and media as important means to engage young students in bio-energy related discussions. It is also desirable to establish interactions between energy and educational policies to integrate the modern renewable energy concepts in the school curriculum.

Business Solutions Case Study: Marketing Zero Energy Homes: LifeStyle Homes, Melbourne, Florida

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2015-06-01

Building America research has shown that high-performance homes can potentially give builders an edge in the marketplace and can boost sales. But it doesn't happen automatically. It requires a tailored, easy to understand marketing campaign and sometimes a little flair. This case study highlights LifeStyle Homes’ successful marketing approach for their SunSmart home package, which has helped to boost sales for the company. SunSmart marketing includes a modified logo, weekly blog, social media, traditional advertising, website, and sales staff training. Marketing focuses on quality, durability, healthy indoor air, and energy efficiency with an emphasis on the surety of third-party verification and the scientific approach to developing the SunSmart package. With the introduction of SunSmart, LifeStyle began an early recovery, nearly doubling sales in 2010; SunSmart sales now exceed 300 homes, including more than 20 zero energy homes. Completed homes in 2014 far outpaced the national (19%) and southern census region (27%) recovery rates for the same period. As technology improves and evolves, this builder will continue to collaborate with Building America.

School-Aged Children Who Are Educated at Home by Their Parents: Is There a Role for Educational Psychologists?

Science.gov (United States)

Arora, Tiny C. M. J.

2003-01-01

This paper reviews the literature on home education with reference to issues that may concern educational psychologists. It notes the fast growing number of families (at present, 1% of the UK school population) who have chosen to educate their school-aged children at home. The great majority of home-educated children are reported to be well…

National status report: Home energy rating systems and energy-efficient mortgages

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Plympton, P.

2000-04-27

The Energy Policy Act of 1992 included several provisions promoting the use of HERS and EEMs, which strengthened efforts to develop a national infrastructure for HERS and to promote the use of EEMs. This report documents HERS and EEMs activities since 1992 by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, mortgage lenders, and other organizations. Though the process of establishing HERS has faced some barriers, this report shows that, as of November 1999, home energy ratings were available in 47 states and the District of Columbia, which represents a significant increase from 1993 when home energy ratings were available in 17 states. Both national and state organizations have developed HERS and related residential energy-efficiency programs. The availability and use of EEMs has also increased significantly. The number of EEMs supported by the Federal Housing Administration has increased more than eight times in the last three years. More than $2.5 billion in federally supported EEMs have been issued to date. Several national lenders offer EEMs, and six states have state-specific EEM or loan programs. EEMs have been used to finance energy-efficient homes in every state.

Classification of educational subject matter: the case of Home ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Although it represents an individual view, this article was submitted to the Department of Education by the Cape Higher Education Consortium (CHEC) as an outcome of the review of the field of Home Economics in the Western Cape region. By presenting some history, it argues that the category of Home Economics is no ...

Feasibility of Achieving a Zero-Net-Energy, Zero-Net-Cost Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Al-Beaini, S.; Borgeson, S.; Coffery, B.; Gregory, D.; Konis, K.; Scown, C.; Simjanovic, J.; Stanley, J.; Strogen, B.; Walker, I.

2009-09-01

A green building competition, to be known as the Energy Free Home Challenge (EFHC), is scheduled to be opened to teams around the world in 2010. This competition will encourage both design innovation and cost reduction, by requiring design entries to meet 'zero net energy' and 'zero net cost' criteria. For the purposes of this competition, a 'zero net energy' home produces at least as much energy as it purchases over the course of a year, regardless of the time and form of the energy (e.g., electricity, heat, or fuel) consumed or produced. A 'zero net cost' home is no more expensive than a traditional home of comparable size and comfort, when evaluated over the course of a 30-year mortgage. In other words, the 'green premium' must have a payback period less than 30 years, based on the value of energy saved. The overarching goal of the competition is to develop affordable, high-performance homes that can be mass-produced at a large scale, and are able to meet occupant needs in harsh climates (as can be found where the competition will be held in Illinois). This report outlines the goals of the competition, and gauges their feasibility using both modeling results and published data. To ensure that the established rules are challenging, yet reasonable, this report seeks to refine the competition goals after exploring their feasibility through case studies, cost projections, and energy modeling. The authors of this report conducted a survey of the most progressive home energy-efficiency practices expected to appear in competition design submittals. In Appendix A, a summary can be found of recent projects throughout the United States, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and Japan, where some of the most progressive technologies have been implemented. As with past energy efficient home projects, EFHC competitors will incorporate a multitude of energy efficiency measures into their home designs. The authors believe that

Energy Consumption Information Services for Smart Home Inhabitants

Science.gov (United States)

Schwanzer, Michael; Fensel, Anna

We investigate services giving users an adequate insight on his or her energy consumption habits in order to optimize it in the long run. The explored energy awareness services are addressed to inhabitants of smart homes, equipped with smart meters, advanced communication facilities, sensors and actuators. To analyze the potential of such services, a game at a social network Facebook has been designed and implemented, and the information about players' responses and interactions within the game environment has been collected and analyzed. The players have had their virtual home energy usage visualized in different ways, and had to optimize the energy consumption basing on their own perceptions of the consumption information. Evaluations reveal, in particular, that users are specifically responsive to information shown as a real-time graph and as costs in Euro, and are able to produce and share with each other policies for managing their smart home environments.

U.S. Department of Energy Zero Energy Ready Home Implementation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

VonThoma, E. [Univ. of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN (United States). NorthernSTAR Building America Partnership; Mosiman, G. [Univ. of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN (United States). NorthernSTAR Building America Partnership

2017-07-01

This report documents the process and outcomes involved in achieving the U.S. Department of Energy Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) program certification standards while helping homebuilders in Climate Zones 5 and 6 in the Upper Midwest achieve ZERH certification.

Marketing energy conservation options to Northwest manufactured home buyers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hendrickson, P.L.; Mohler, B.L.; Taylor, Z.T.; Lee, A.D.; Onisko, S.A.

1985-06-01

This study relies on extensive, existing survey data and new analyses to develop information that would help design a marketing plan to achieve energy conservation in new manufactured homes. Existing surveys present comprehensive information about regional manufactured home occupants and their homes that are relevant to a potential conservation marketing plan. An independent analysis of the cost-effectiveness of various efficiency improvements provides background information for designing a marketing plan. This analysis focuses on the economic impacts of alternative energy conservation options as perceived by the home owner. Identifying impediments to conservation investments is also very important in designing a marketing plan. A recent report suggests that financial constraints and the need for better information and knowledge about conservation pose the major conservation investment barriers. Since loan interest rates for new manufactured homes typically exceed site-built rates by a considerable amount and the buyers tend to have lower incomes, the economics of manufactured home conservation investments are likely to significantly influence their viability. Conservation information and its presentation directly influences the manufactured home buyer's decision. A marketing plan should address these impediments and their implications very clearly. Dealers express a belief that consumer satisfaction is the major advantage to selling energy efficient manufactured homes. This suggests that targeting dealers in a marketing plan and providing them direct information on consumers' indicated attitudes may be important. 74 refs.

A Sustainable Home Energy Prosumer-Chain Methodology with Energy Tags over the Blockchain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lee Won Park

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we aim to provide a power trade system that will promote a sustainable electrical energy transaction ecosystem between prosumers and consumers of smart homes. We suggest a blockchain-based peer-to-peer (P2P energy transaction platform be implemented to enable efficient electrical energy transaction between prosumers. We suggest the platform be built on the blockchain, as this technology allows a decentralized and distributed trading system, and allows a more transparent, trustworthy and secure P2P trading environment. We believe that such characteristics of the blockchain are necessary in electrical energy transactions within the smart home environment because the smart home aims to enhance user comfort and security, along with energy conservation and cost-savings. First, we classify the two different types of P2P trade to identify which will best benefit from the use of the suggested blockchain-based P2P energy-transaction platform. Within the two types of P2P trade, that we classify (pure P2P trade and hybrid P2P trade, the hybrid P2P trade will benefit more from a blockchain-based P2P energy-transaction platform. In the blockchain-based P2P energy-transaction platform, a smart contract is embedded in the blockchain and called an energy tag. The energy tag will set conditions for making every future energy transaction more cost-efficient while maintaining the most ideal and high-quality energy selection. With the blockchain-based energy tag in the energy-transaction process, multiple energy resources and home appliances will be democratically connected in order to provide users with high-quality, low-cost energy at all times and locations. In this paper, we provide simulation results that compare the unit price of electrical energy on the suggested platform to the unit price of electrical energy set by currently existing conventional power-generation companies. Additionally, we present simulation results that calculate how long

Energy efficiency in the British housing stock: Energy demand and the Homes Energy Efficiency Database

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamilton, Ian G.; Steadman, Philip J.; Bruhns, Harry; Summerfield, Alex J.; Lowe, Robert

2013-01-01

The UK Government has unveiled an ambitious retrofit programme that seeks significant improvement to the energy efficiency of the housing stock. High quality data on the energy efficiency of buildings and their related energy demand is critical to supporting and targeting investment in energy efficiency. Using existing home improvement programmes over the past 15 years, the UK Government has brought together data on energy efficiency retrofits in approximately 13 million homes into the Homes Energy Efficiency Database (HEED), along with annual metered gas and electricity use for the period of 2004–2007. This paper describes the HEED sample and assesses its representativeness in terms of dwelling characteristics, the energy demand of different energy performance levels using linked gas and electricity meter data, along with an analysis of the impact retrofit measures has on energy demand. Energy savings are shown to be associated with the installation of loft and cavity insulation, and glazing and boiler replacement. The analysis illustrates this source of ‘in-action’ data can be used to provide empirical estimates of impacts of energy efficiency retrofit on energy demand and provides a source of empirical data from which to support the development of national housing energy efficiency retrofit policies. - Highlights: • The energy efficiency level for 50% of the British housing stock is described. • Energy demand is influenced by size and age and energy performance. • Housing retrofits (e.g. cavity insulation, glazing and boiler replacements) save energy. • Historic differences in energy performance show persistent long-term energy savings

Smart and usable home energy management systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Dam, S.S.

2009-01-01

This paper reviews research into Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS). These are intermediary products that can visualize, manage, and/or monitor the energy use of other products or whole households. HEMS have lately received increasing attention for their possible role in conserving energy within

Energy Storage System Control Algorithm by Operating Target Power to Improve Energy Sustainability of Smart Home

OpenAIRE

Byeongkwan Kang; Kyuhee Jang; Sounghoan Park; Myeong-in Choi; Sehyun Park

2018-01-01

As energy issues are emerging around the world, a variety of smart home technologies aimed at realizing zero energy houses are being introduced. Energy storage system (ESS) for smart home energy independence is increasingly gaining interest. However, limitations exist in that most of them are controlled according to time schedules or used in conjunction with photovoltaic (PV) generation systems. In consideration of load usage patterns and PV generation of smart home, this study proposes an ES...

Group Home Energy Efficiency Retrofit for 30% Energy Savings: Washington, D.C. (Fact Sheet)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None, None

2013-11-01

Energy efficiency retrofits (EERs) face many challenges on the path to scalability. Limited budgets, cost effectiveness, risk factors, and accessibility impact the type and the extent of measures that can be implemented feasibly to achieve energy savings goals. Group home retrofits can face additional challenges than those in single family homes - such as reduced access (occupant-in-place restrictions) and lack of incentives for occupant behavioral change. This project studies the specification, implementation, and energy savings from an EER in a group home, with an energy savings goal of 30%. This short term test report chronicles the retrofit measures specified, their projected cost-effectiveness using building energy simulations, and the short term test results that were used to characterize pre-retrofit and post-retrofit conditions. Additionally, the final report for the project will include analysis of pre- and post-retrofit performance data on whole building energy use, and an assessment of the energy impact of occupant interface with the building (i.e., window operation). Ultimately, the study's results will be used to identify cost effective EER measures that can be implemented in group homes, given constraints that are characteristic of these buildings. Results will also point towards opportunities for future energy savings.

Importance of patient education on home medical care waste disposal in Japan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ikeda, Yukihiro, E-mail: yuyu@med.kindai.ac.jp

2014-07-15

Highlights: • Attached office nurses more recovered medical waste from patients’ homes. • Most nurses educated their patients on how to store home medical care waste in their homes and on how to separate them. • Around half of nurses educated their patients on where to dispose of their home medical care waste. - Abstract: To determine current practices in the disposal and handling of home medical care (HMC) waste, a questionnaire was mailed to 1965 offices nationwide. Of the office that responded, 1283 offices were analyzed. Offices were classified by management configuration: those attached to hospitals were classified as ”attached offices” and others as “independent offices”. More nurses from attached offices recovered medical waste from patients’ homes than those from independent offices. Most nurses educated their patients on how to store HMC waste in their homes (79.3% of total) and on how to separate HMC waste (76.5% of total). On the other hand, only around half of nurses (47.3% from attached offices and 53.2% from independent offices) educated their patients on where to dispose of their HMC waste. 66.0% of offices replied that patients had separated their waste appropriately. The need for patient education has emerged in recent years, with education for nurses under the diverse conditions of HMC being a key factor in patient education.

Importance of patient education on home medical care waste disposal in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ikeda, Yukihiro

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Attached office nurses more recovered medical waste from patients’ homes. • Most nurses educated their patients on how to store home medical care waste in their homes and on how to separate them. • Around half of nurses educated their patients on where to dispose of their home medical care waste. - Abstract: To determine current practices in the disposal and handling of home medical care (HMC) waste, a questionnaire was mailed to 1965 offices nationwide. Of the office that responded, 1283 offices were analyzed. Offices were classified by management configuration: those attached to hospitals were classified as ”attached offices” and others as “independent offices”. More nurses from attached offices recovered medical waste from patients’ homes than those from independent offices. Most nurses educated their patients on how to store HMC waste in their homes (79.3% of total) and on how to separate HMC waste (76.5% of total). On the other hand, only around half of nurses (47.3% from attached offices and 53.2% from independent offices) educated their patients on where to dispose of their HMC waste. 66.0% of offices replied that patients had separated their waste appropriately. The need for patient education has emerged in recent years, with education for nurses under the diverse conditions of HMC being a key factor in patient education

Fuzzy-Logic Subsumption Controller for Home Energy Management Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ainsworth, Nathan; Johnson, Brian; Lundstrom, Blake

2015-10-06

Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS) are controllers that manage and coordinate the generation, storage, and loads in a home. These controllers are increasingly necessary to ensure that increasing penetrations of distributed energy resources are used effectively and do not disrupt the operation of the grid. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to HEMS design based on behavioral control methods, which do not require accurate models or predictions and are very responsive to changing conditions. We develop a proof-of-concept behavioral HEMS controller and show by simulation on an example home energy system that it capable of making context-dependent tradeoffs between goals under challenging conditions.

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: Cobblestone Homes — 2014 Model Home, Midland, MI

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

none,

2014-09-01

This builder's first DOE Zero Energy Ready Home won a Custom Builder award in the 2014 Housing Innovation Awards, scored HERS 49 without PV or HERS 44 with 1.4 kW of PV, and served as a prototype and energy efficiency demonstration model while performance testing was conducted.

Continuing Education Preferences, Facilitators, and Barriers for Nursing Home Nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Dyck, Mary J; Kim, Myoung Jin

2018-01-01

The purpose of the study was to determine the continuing education needs for nursing home nurses in rural central Illinois and to determine any potential facilitators or barriers to obtaining continuing education. Data were collected using the Educational Needs Assessment questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were computed to examine continuing education preferences, facilitators, and barriers among nursing home nurses. Independent samples t tests were used to compare preferences between administrative and staff nurses. The sample included 317 nurses from 34 facilities. The five top needs were related to clinical problems. Administrative nurses had greater needs for professional issues, managerial skills, and quality improvement than staff nurses. Barriers included rural settings, need for vacation time for programs, and inadequate staffing. Continuing education needs of nursing home nurses in Illinois are similar to previous studies conducted in Arizona and North Carolina. Continuing education barriers were mostly organizational, rather than personal. J Contin Nurs Educ. 2018;49(1):26-33. Copyright 2018, SLACK Incorporated.

Use of the Home Safety Self-Assessment Tool (HSSAT) within Community Health Education to Improve Home Safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Horowitz, Beverly P; Almonte, Tiffany; Vasil, Andrea

2016-10-01

This exploratory research examined the benefits of a health education program utilizing the Home Safety Self-Assessment Tool (HSSAT) to increase perceived knowledge of home safety, recognition of unsafe activities, ability to safely perform activities, and develop home safety plans of 47 older adults. Focus groups in two senior centers explored social workers' perspectives on use of the HSSAT in community practice. Results for the health education program found significant differences between reported knowledge of home safety (p = .02), ability to recognize unsafe activities (p = .01), safely perform activities (p = .04), and develop a safety plan (p = .002). Social workers identified home safety as a major concern and the HSSAT a promising assessment tool. Research has implications for reducing environmental fall risks.

Handbook for Home Economics Cooperative Education Teacher-Coordinators in Texas. Revised.

Science.gov (United States)

Texas Education Agency, Austin. Dept. of Occupational Education and Technology.

The instructor-coordinator's handbook is for Home Economics Cooperative Education programs, those which are designed to prepare students for the world of work or for advanced education. The guide lists terms related to home economics cooperative education and covers the following subjects in separate chapters: (1) vocational homemaking education…

Higher Referrals for Diabetes Education in a Medical Home Model of Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Manard, William T; Syberg, Kevin; Behera, Anit; Salas, Joanne; Schneider, F David; Armbrecht, Eric; Hooks-Anderson, Denise; Crannage, Erica; Scherrer, Jeffrey

2016-01-01

The medical home model has been gaining attention from the health care community as a strategy for improved outcomes for management of chronic disease, including diabetes. The purpose of this study was to compare referrals for diabetes education among patients receiving care from a medical home model versus a traditional practice. Data were obtained from a large, university-affiliated primary care patient data registry. All patients (age 18-96 years) with a diagnosis of prediabetes or diabetes and seen by a physician at least twice during 2011 to 2013 were selected for inclusion. Multivariate regression models measuring the association between medical home status and referral to diabetes education were computed before and after adjusting for covariates. A significantly (P patients in a medical home than without a medical home (23.9% vs 13.5%) received a referral for diabetes education. After adjusting for covariates, medical home patients were 2.7 times more likely to receive a referral for diabetes education (odds ratio, 2.70; 95% confidence interval, 1.69-4.35). Patients in a medical home model were more likely to receive referrals for diabetes education than patients in a standard university-affiliated family medicine practice. Future longitudinal designs that match characteristics of patients with a medical home with those of patients without one will provide strong evidence to determine whether referral to diabetes education is a result of the medical home model of care independent of confounding factors. © Copyright 2016 by the American Board of Family Medicine.

Bio-energy and youth: Analyzing the role of school, home, and media from the future policy perspectives

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Halder, Pradipta; Pelkonen, Paavo [School of Forest Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 111, 80101 Joensuu (Finland); Havu-Nuutinen, Sari [School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 111, 80101 Joensuu (Finland); Pietarinen, Janne [School of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 111, 80101 Joensuu (Finland)

2011-04-15

The study investigated the relationships between students' perceived information on bio-energy from school, home and media and their perceptions, attitudes, and knowledge regarding bio-energy. The study also analyzed the scope of future policies to raise awareness among young students about bio-energy. Data drawn from 495 Finnish students studying in ninth grade revealed that the students were more positive in their attitudes towards bio-energy compared to their perceptions of it. They were very positive about learning about bio-energy, while not so eager towards its utilization. It appeared that school, home, and media all had statistically significant effects on students' perceptions, attitudes, and level of knowledge related to bio-energy. Three principal components emerged from students' perceptions and attitudes towards bio-energy viz. 'motivation' revealing students' eagerness to know more about bio-energy; 'considering sustainability' revealing their criticality of forest bio-energy; and 'utilization' revealing their state of interests to use bio-energy. Bio-energy policies to be effective must consider the role of school, home, and media as important means to engage young students in bio-energy related discussions. It is also desirable to establish interactions between energy and educational policies to integrate the modern renewable energy concepts in the school curriculum. (author)

Pilot Residential Deep Energy Retrofits and the PNNL Lab Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Widder, Sarah H.; Chandra, Subrato; Parker, Graham B.; Sande, Susan; Blanchard, Jeremy; Stroer, Dennis; McIlvaine, Janet; Chasar, David; Beal, David; Sutherland, Karen

2012-01-01

This report summarizes research investigating the technical and economic feasibility of several pilot deep energy retrofits, or retrofits that save 30% to 50% or more on a whole-house basis while increasing comfort, durability, combustion safety, and indoor air quality. The work is being conducted for the U.S. Department of Energy Building Technologies Program as part of the Building America Program. As part of the overall program, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) researchers are collecting and analyzing a comprehensive dataset that describes pre- and post-retrofit energy consumption, retrofit measure cost, health and comfort impacts, and other pertinent information for each home participating in the study. The research and data collection protocol includes recruitment of candidate residences, a thorough test-in audit, home energy modeling, and generation of retrofit measure recommendations, implementation of the measures, test-out, and continued evaluation. On some homes, more detailed data will be collected to disaggregate energy-consumption information. This multi-year effort began in October 2010. To date, the PNNL team has performed test-in audits on 51 homes in the marine, cold, and hot-humid climate zones, and completed 3 retrofits in Texas, 10 in Florida, and 2 in the Pacific Northwest. Two of the retrofits are anticipated to save 50% or more in energy bills and the others - savings are in the 30% to 40% range. Fourteen other retrofits are under way in the three climate zones. Metering equipment has been installed in seven of these retrofits - three in Texas, three in Florida, and one in the Pacific Northwest. This report is an interim update, providing information on the research protocol and status of the PNNL deep energy retrofit project as of December, 2011. The report also presents key findings and lessons learned, based on the body of work to date. In addition, the report summarizes the status of the PNNL Lab Homes that are new

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: Mandalay Homes — Pronghorn Ranch, Prescott Valley, AZ

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

none,

2014-09-01

The builder has certified 20 homes to DOE Zero Energy Ready Home program and plans are underway for 50 more. Winner of a Production Builder prize in the 2014 Housing Innovation Awards, the homes achieved a HERS score of 48 without photovoltaics (PV) or HERS 25 with 3.5 kW PV included.

Dimensions of taste qualifying didactic reflections on home economics education

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wistoft, Karen; Qvortrup, Lars

Aim: Traditionally and worldwide home economics education has been concerned with taste and flavorings based training associated with students cooking in the school kitchen. In contrast new educational research on food knowledge in the Danish public school shows that taste is used as a didactic...... review on children, learning, food and taste followed by analyses in a value reflective pedagogy perspective as well as quantitative and qualitative research in home economic education. This has been combined with systems theory developed by the German sociologist Niklas Luhmann providing concepts...... element and "overtakes" more traditional didactic elements like motivation and active participation. The purpose of this proposal is to present a systematic model for qualifying reflections on taste in home economics and food education. The objective is to identify four dimensions of taste that can...

Fundamental elements in examining a child’s right to education: A study of home education research and regulation in Australia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Glenda JACKSON

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Home education provides valuable educational and developmental opportunities for children. An examination of Australia’s research indicates many best educational practices, including more informed mediation, contextualised learning, and opportunities to exercise autonomy. Key features include learning embedded in communities and program modification in response to students’ needs. Current state and territory legal requirements are examined within the context of this research and Australia’s obligations to international human rights treaties. All jurisdictions accept home education as one way to meet compulsory education requirements. The extent to which respective laws then reflect understanding of home education research and practice varies. Most jurisdictions allow for a varietyof educational approaches. Some oversight regulation could however be modified to reflect a better understanding of home education. Consultation with home educators and reference to research would assist the development of more uniform legislation and policy across Australia, and enable better regulatory practice.

Field Evaluation of Advances in Energy-Efficiency Practices for Manufactured Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Levy, E. [Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions (ARIES) Collaboration, New York, NY (United States); Dentz, J. [Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions (ARIES) Collaboration, New York, NY (United States); Ansanelli, E. [Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions (ARIES) Collaboration, New York, NY (United States); Barker, G. [Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions (ARIES) Collaboration, New York, NY (United States); Rath, P. [Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions (ARIES) Collaboration, New York, NY (United States); Dadia, D. [Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions (ARIES) Collaboration, New York, NY (United States)

2016-03-01

Three side-by-side lab houses were built, instrumented and monitored in an effort to determine through field testing and analysis the relative contributions of select technologies toward reducing energy use in new manufactured homes. The lab houses in Russellville, Alabama compared the performance of three homes built to varying levels of thermal integrity and HVAC equipment: a baseline HUD-code home equipped with an electric furnace and a split system air conditioner; an ENERGY STAR manufactured home with an enhanced thermal envelope and traditional split system heat pump; and a house designed to qualify for Zero Energy Ready Home designation with a ductless mini-split heat pump with transfer fan distribution system in place of the traditional duct system for distribution. Experiments were conducted in the lab houses to evaluate impact on energy and comfort of interior door position, window blind position and transfer fan operation. The report describes results of tracer gas and co-heating tests and presents calculation of the heat pump coefficient of performance for both the traditional heat pump and the ductless mini-split. A series of calibrated energy models was developed based on measured data and run in three locations in the Southeast to compare annual energy usage of the three homes.

Home energy monitors : Impact over the medium-term

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Dam, S.S.; Bakker, C.A.; Van Hal, J.D.M.

2010-01-01

Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS), e.g. energy monitors, are intermediary products that can visualize, manage, and/or monitor the energy use of other products or whole households. HEMS increasingly receive attention for their role in energy conservation in households. A literature review and a

Energy Value Housing Award Guide: How to Build and Profit with Energy Efficiency in New Home Construction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sikora, J. L.

2001-06-01

As concern over the environment grows, builders have the potential to fulfill a market niche by building homes that use fewer resources and have lower environmental impact than conventional construction. Builders can increase their marketability and customer satisfaction and, at the same time, reduce the environmental impact of their homes. However, it takes dedication to build environmentally sound homes along with a solid marketing approach to ensure that customers recognize the added value of energy and resource efficiency. This guide is intended for builders seeking suggestions on how to improve energy and resource efficiency in their new homes. It is a compilation of ideas and concepts for designing, building, and marketing energy- and resource-efficient homes based on the experience of recipients of the national Energy Value Housing Award (EVHA).

Smart metering gateway works as Smart Home Energy Manager; Smart Metering Gateway als Smart Home Energy Manager

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Walter, Klaus-Dieter [SSV Software Systems GmbH, Hannover (Germany)

2011-07-01

The installation of smart meters together with real time consumption data visualization doesn't help to save energy CO2 emissions. With regards to refinancing options, the situation in Germany has been quite different since the middle of last year for buildings equipped with a photovoltaic system. If a heat pump system is also present, intelligent energy use in conjunction with smart meters can save considerable amounts of money. A Smart Home Energy Manager (SHEM) automates the energy saving. (orig.)

Using EnergyPlus to Perform Dehumidification Analysis on Building America Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fang, Xia [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Winkler, Jon [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Christensen, Dane [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2011-03-01

This study used EnergyPlus to investigate humidity issues on a typical mid-1990s reference home, a 2006 International Energy Conservation Code home, and a high-performance home in a hot-humid climate; the study confirmed that supplemental dehumidification should be provided to maintain space relative humidity below 60% in a hot-humid climate.

Keeping warm? Self-reported housing and home energy efficiency factors impacting on older people heating homes in North Wales

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burholt, Vanessa; Windle, Gill

2006-01-01

This paper examines a representative sample (N=421) of older people (aged 70+) living in rural North Wales with regard to relationships between fuel poverty, feeling cold in one's home and a range of self-reported housing and home energy efficiency items. In the Welsh context, the combination of poor housing stock and low-level income is likely to increase the chance of older people experiencing fuel poverty, therefore the analyses are relevant to both energy and social policy. The paper hypothesises that: (i) People in 'fuel poor' homes are: low-income households; living in older houses; lacking home energy efficiency measures; (ii) not all people facing difficulties heating their home (i.e. wearing extra clothing to keep warm during cold spells) are identified as 'fuel poor', but there will be an association between taking extra measures to keep warm and low income; older houses and lacking home energy efficiency factors. The results partially support the hypotheses. An estimation is made of the expenditure required to counter the factors associated with fuel poverty and cold homes in the region. The paper concludes with implications for the UK Fuel Poverty Strategy

Demonstration of Hydrogen Energy Network and Fuel Cells in Residential Homes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirohisa Aki; Tetsuhiko Maeda; Itaru Tamura; Akeshi Kegasa; Yoshiro Ishikawa; Ichiro Sugimoto; Itaru Ishii

2006-01-01

The authors proposed the setting up of an energy interchange system by establishing energy networks of electricity, hot water, and hydrogen in residential homes. In such networks, some homes are equipped with fuel cell stacks, fuel processors, hydrogen storage devices, and large storage tanks for hot water. The energy network enables the flexible operation of the fuel cell stacks and fuel processors. A demonstration project has been planned in existing residential homes to evaluate the proposal. The demonstration will be presented in a small apartment building. The building will be renovated and will be equipped with a hydrogen production facility, a hydrogen interchange pipe, and fuel cell stacks with a heat recovery device. The energy flow process from hydrogen production to consumption in the homes will be demonstrated. This paper presents the proposed energy interchange system and demonstration project. (authors)

Building America Case Study: Retrofitting a 1960s Split-Level, Cold-Climate Home, Westport, Connecticut; Whole-House Solutions for Existing Homes, Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2015-08-01

??National programs such as Home Performance with ENERGY STAR(R) and numerous other utility air sealing programs have brought awareness to homeowners of the benefits of energy efficiency retrofits. Yet, these programs tend to focus on the low-hanging fruit: air-sealing the thermal envelope and ductwork where accessible, switch to efficient lighting, and low-flow fixtures. At the other end of the spectrum, deep-energy retrofit programs are also being encouraged by various utilities across the country. While deep energy retrofits typically seek 50% energy savings, they are often quite costly and most applicable to gut-rehab projects. A significant potential for lowering energy usage in existing homes lies between the low hanging fruit and deep energy retrofit approaches - retrofits that save approximately 30% in energy over the existing conditions. A key is to be non-intrusive with the efficiency measures so the retrofit projects can be accomplished in occupied homes. This cold climate retrofit project involved the design and optimization of a home in Connecticut that sought to improve energy savings by at least 30% (excluding solar PV) over the existing home's performance. This report documents the successful implementation of a cost-effective solution package that achieved performance greater than 30% over the pre-retrofit - what worked, what did not, and what improvements could be made. Confirmation of successfully achieving 30% source energy savings over the pre-existing conditions was confirmed through energy modeling and comparison of the utility bills pre- and post- retrofit.

Analysis of Illinois Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® Measure Packages

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baker, J. [Partnership for Advanced Residential Retrofit (PARR), Chicago, IL (United States); Yee, S. [Partnership for Advanced Residential Retrofit (PARR), Chicago, IL (United States); Brand, L. [Partnership for Advanced Residential Retrofit (PARR), Chicago, IL (United States)

2013-09-01

Through the Chicagoland Single Family Housing Characterization and Retrofit Prioritization report, the Partnership for Advanced Residential Retrofit research team characterized 15 housing types in the Chicagoland region based on assessor data, utility billing history, and available data from prior energy efficiency programs. Within these 15 groups, a subset showed the greatest opportunity for energy savings based on BEopt Version 1.1 modeling of potential energy efficiency package options and the percent of the housing stock represented by each group. In this project, collected field data from a whole-home program in Illinois are utilized to compare marketplace-installed measures to the energy saving optimal packages previously developed for the 15 housing types. Housing type, conditions, energy efficiency measures installed, and retrofit cost information were collected from 19 homes that participated in the Illinois Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program in 2012, representing eight of the characterized housing groups. Two were selected for further case study analysis to provide an illustration of the differences between optimal and actually installed measures. Taken together, these homes are representative of 34.8% of the Chicagoland residential building stock. In one instance, actual installed measures closely matched optimal recommended measures.

My Home - analysis of the easy and intelligent way to save energy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wilke, Goeran (The Danish Electricity Saving Trust (Denmark))

2009-07-01

The concept of the intelligent home is not new, but translating theory into reality presents many challenges. Launched in Denmark in October 2008, My Home is an interactive web portal offering consumers the opportunity to calculate their household energy consumption, receive advice on possible savings, and control and monitor their indoor environments by managing their energy consumption appropriately. This paper describes the software functionality of My Home and examines the energy saving benefits available to consumers who use this system to control and monitor electricity consumption in their homes. The paper further discusses the necessity of having a common infrastructure and standard for use by all producers and suppliers in order to ensure a mass market for compatible equipment and solutions. The analysis focuses on how My Home allows users to map energy consumption in their homes by using drag-and-drop icons to organise and equip a floorplan with their own electrical appliances. My Home features a calculator which automatically works out the annual electricity consumption and displays appropriate savings advice based on manually inputted readings or remote readings supplied by an electricity provider. Detailed statistical evaluation of metered values is also available. The extent to which the use of My Home has resulted in lower energy consumption in the homes of individual users is currently being determined by ongoing research. This involves examining users' motivations and needs, and testing for usability on the basis of ethnographic field work. The results showed that My Home facilitates easy configuration of home control and monitoring systems, which is normally very difficult to perform.

Motivating sustainable energy consumption in the home

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

He, H.A.; Greenberg, S. [Calgary Univ., AB (Canada). Dept. of Computer Science

2009-07-01

This paper discussed social motivations related to household energy conservation. The aim of the study was to explore how technology can be designed and used in the home to encourage sustainable energy use. The basic techniques used to motivate sustainable energy action included behaviour change techniques; information techniques; positive motivational techniques; and coercive motivational techniques. The psychological theories used in the study included cognitive dissonance as a means of reminding people of the inconsistency of their attitudes towards energy and their behaviour, and utility theory as a means of determining personal motivations for energy conservation. The study showed that people are more motivated to act when presented with personalized information and monetary losses as opposed to monetary gain. Social value orientation and self-reflection motivations were also considered. The study showed that pro-social orientation can be used in the form of ambient displays located in public areas of the home. Self-reflection can be encouraged by allowing family members to annotate visualizations containing a history of their energy consumption data. Results of the study will be used to design actual feedback visualizations of energy use. 18 refs.

Comfort, Indoor Air Quality, and Energy Consumption in Low Energy Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Englemann, P. [Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems, Cambridge, MA (United States); Roth, K. [Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems, Cambridge, MA (United States); Tiefenbeck, V. [Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems, Cambridge, MA (United States)

2013-01-01

This report documents the results of an in-depth evaluation of energy consumption and thermal comfort for two potential net zero-energy homes (NZEHs) in Massachusetts, as well as an indoor air quality (IAQ) evaluation performed in conjunction with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL).

Technical Barriers, Gaps, and Opportunities Related to Home Energy Upgrade Market Delivery

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bianchi, M. V. A.

2011-11-01

This report outlines the technical barriers, gaps, and opportunities that arise in executing home energy upgrade market delivery approaches, as identified through research conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy's Building America program. The objective of this report is to outline the technical1 barriers, gaps, and opportunities that arise in executing home energy upgrade market delivery approaches, as identified through research conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Building America program. This information will be used to provide guidance for new research necessary to enable the success of the approaches. Investigation for this report was conducted via publications related to home energy upgrade market delivery approaches, and a series of interviews with subject matter experts (contractors, consultants, program managers, manufacturers, trade organization representatives, and real estate agents). These experts specified technical barriers and gaps, and offered suggestions for how the technical community might address them. The potential benefits of home energy upgrades are many and varied: reduced energy use and costs; improved comfort, durability, and safety; increased property value; and job creation. Nevertheless, home energy upgrades do not comprise a large part of the overall home improvement market. Residential energy efficiency is the most complex climate intervention option to deliver because the market failures are many and transaction costs are high (Climate Change Capital 2009). The key reasons that energy efficiency investment is not being delivered are: (1) The opportunity is highly fragmented; and (2) The energy efficiency assets are nonstatus, low-visibility investments that are not properly valued. There are significant barriers to mobilizing the investment in home energy upgrades, including the 'hassle factor' (the time and effort required to identify and secure improvement works), access to financing, and the

Zero Energy Ready Home Multifamily Case Study Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dentz, Jordan [Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions Collaborative, New York, NY (United States); Alaigh, Kunal [Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions Collaborative, New York, NY (United States)

2016-02-01

Two multifamily buildings planned in Climate Zone 4 were analyzed to determine the cost, energy and performance implications of redesigning them to comply with Zero Energy Ready Home, a recognition program of the U.S. Department of Energy. Energy modeling was conducted on one representative apartment in each building using BEopt.

Making the home consume less - putting energy efficiency on the refurbishment agenda

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stiess, Immanuel; Deffner, Jutta (Inst. for Social-Ecological Research ISOE GmbH (Germany)). e-mail: stiess@isoe.de; Zundel, Stefan (Lausitz Univ. of Applied Sciences (Germany))

2009-07-01

Private home owners can reduce their energy use significantly and move towards a low carbon lifestyle by retrofitting their homes in an energy efficient standard. Despite high awareness for energy efficiency and rising energy prices, home owners only slowly take this opportunity to cut down their personal energy use and carbon emission significantly. In many cases, maintenance and repair activities only result in incremental improvements of energy efficiency. Thus, the dynamics of refurbishment seems to have a conservative bias. Against this background, we will present results from an empirical survey, focussing on home owners' maintenance and refurbishment decisions. Drawing on approaches from social-psychology, lifestyle analysis and evolutionary economics, we will explore the impact of attitudes, lifestyle orientations, cognitive frameworks and social resources on refurbishment decision especially on energy efficient ones and present a model integrating the most important driving factors.

Stochastic control of smart home energy management with plug-in electric vehicle battery energy storage and photovoltaic array

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Xiaohua; Hu, Xiaosong; Moura, Scott; Yin, Xiaofeng; Pickert, Volker

2016-11-01

Energy management strategies are instrumental in the performance and economy of smart homes integrating renewable energy and energy storage. This article focuses on stochastic energy management of a smart home with PEV (plug-in electric vehicle) energy storage and photovoltaic (PV) array. It is motivated by the challenges associated with sustainable energy supplies and the local energy storage opportunity provided by vehicle electrification. This paper seeks to minimize a consumer's energy charges under a time-of-use tariff, while satisfying home power demand and PEV charging requirements, and accommodating the variability of solar power. First, the random-variable models are developed, including Markov Chain model of PEV mobility, as well as predictive models of home power demand and PV power supply. Second, a stochastic optimal control problem is mathematically formulated for managing the power flow among energy sources in the smart home. Finally, based on time-varying electricity price, we systematically examine the performance of the proposed control strategy. As a result, the electric cost is 493.6% less for a Tesla Model S with optimal stochastic dynamic programming (SDP) control relative to the no optimal control case, and it is by 175.89% for a Nissan Leaf.

Designing a Portable and Low Cost Home Energy Management Toolkit

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Keyson, D.V.; Al Mahmud, A.; De Hoogh, M.; Luxen, R.

2013-01-01

In this paper we describe the design of a home energy and comfort management system. The system has three components such as a smart plug with a wireless module, a residential gateway and a mobile app. The combined system is called a home energy management and comfort toolkit. The design is inspired

Marketing energy conservation options to Northwest manufactured home buyers. Revision 1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hendrickson, P.L.; Mohler, B.L.; Taylor, Z.T.; Lee, A.D.; Onisko, S.A.

1985-10-01

Manufactured, or HUD-Code, homes comprise a growing share of the housing stock in the Northwest, as well as nationally. Their relatively low cost has made them especially attractive to lower income families, first-time home-buyers, and retired persons. The characteristics of manufactured home (MH) buyers, the unique energy consumption characteristics of the homes, and their increasing market share make this market an especially critical one for energy consumption and conservation planning in the Northwest. This study relies on extensive, existing survey data and new analyses to develop information that can potentially assist the design of a marketing plan to achieve energy conservation in new manufactured homes. This study has the objective of assisting BPA in the development of a regional approach in which numerous organizations and parties would participate to achieve conservation in new manufactured homes. A previous survey and information collected for this study from regional dealers and manufacturers provide an indication of the energy conservation options being sold to manufactured home buyers in the PNW. Manufacturers in the Northwest appear to sell homes that usually exceed the HUD thermal requirements. Manufacturers typically offer efficiency improvements in packages that include fixed improvements in insulation levels, glazing, and infiltration control. Wholesale costs of these packages range from about $100 to $1500. Typical packages include significant upgrades in floor insulation values with modest upgrades in ceilings and walls. This study identifies trends and impacts that a marketing plan should consider to adequately address the financial concerns of manufactured home buyers.

Qualitative assessment of home environment across the different educational status of parents.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, S

1997-01-01

This study examined the home environment of preschool children among 6 villages in Ludhiana district in Punjab state, India. The sample included 120 children aged 3-5 years. Eight composite scales were used to measure the home environment: learning stimulation, language stimulation, physical environment, warmth and affection, academic stimulation, role modeling, variety of experience, and acceptance. The sample reflected four educational groups for the father (illiterate, primary, matric, and graduate) and three educational groups for the mother (illiterate, primary, and matric). Findings clearly indicate that graduate level parents provided a more enriched home environment than less educated and illiterate parents. Education was unrelated to warmth and affection or acceptance between parents and children. Educated mothers showed slightly more warmth and affection. The stimulation in the growth of language and learning stimulation was significantly greater among graduate parents. Mothers encouraged their children to speak correctly, whereas illiterate mothers did not realize the importance. The lesser physical environment among lower educated parents supports findings of R.K. Srivastava (1974) on the association between lower scholastic achievement and overcrowding in the home. The study included homes where parents had sufficient financial resources to provide a safe and adequate physical environment but did not do so.

Renewable energy systems the earthscan expert guide to renewable energy technologies for home and business

CERN Document Server

Jenkins, Dilwyn

2013-01-01

This book is the long awaited guide for anyone interested in renewables at home or work. It sweeps away scores of common misconceptions while clearly illustrating the best in renewable and energy efficiency technologies. A fully illustrated guide to renewable energy for the home and small business, the book provides an expert overview of precisely which sustainable energy technologies are appropriate for wide-spread domestic and small business application. The sections on different renewable energy options provide detailed descriptions of each technology along with case studies, installatio

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: Durable Energy Builders - Houston, Texas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

none,

2014-11-01

This case study describes a DOE Zero Energy Ready Home in Houston, Texas, that scored HERS 39 without PV and HERS 29 with PV. This 5,947 ft2 custom home has 11.5-inch ICF walls. The attic is insulated along the roof line with 5 to 7 inches of open-cell spray foam. Most of the home's drinking water is supplied by a 11,500-gallon rainwater cistern. Hurricane strapping connects the roof to the walls. The triple-pane windows are impact resistant. The foundation is a raised slab.

The Comfortable Home and Energy Consumption

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Line Valdorff

2017-01-01

This paper investigates relations between notions of comfort and notions of home, aiming at a better understanding of residential comfort and the related energy consumption. Residential comfort is examined through a practice-theoretical lens and as something that appears in between the social...... and material structures of a home. The approach considers different elements of comfort in homemaking practices, such as the body, materials and social meanings. The paper examines how conceptions of comfort and homeliness interrelate through homemaking practices and thereby redefine comfort within a framework...... of the home and social practices. This implies focus on “the comfortable home” as made up of homemaking practices that include knowhow, sensations and social norms. The empirical basis comprises interviews and visual data from a field study on detached housing on the outskirts of a Danish city. The paper...

Future-Proofed Energy Design Approaches for Achieving Low-Energy Homes: Enhancing the Code for Sustainable Homes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Christina Georgiadou

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Under the label “future-proofing”, this paper examines the temporal component of sustainable construction as an unexplored, yet fundamental ingredient in the delivery of low-energy domestic buildings. The overarching aim is to explore the integration of future-proofed design approaches into current mainstream construction practice in the UK, focusing on the example of the Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH tool. Regulation has been the most significant driver for achieving the 2016 zero-carbon target; however, there is a gap between the appeal for future-proofing and the lack of effective implementation by building professionals. Even though the CSH was introduced as the leading tool to drive the “step-change” required for achieving zero-carbon new homes by 2016 and the single national standard to encourage energy performance beyond current statutory minima, it lacks assessment criteria that explicitly promote a futures perspective. Based on an established conceptual model of future-proofing, 14 interviews with building practitioners in the UK were conducted to identify the “feasible” and “reasonably feasible” future-proofed design approaches with the potential to enhance the “Energy and CO2 Emissions” category of the CSH. The findings are categorised under three key aspects; namely: coverage of sustainability issues; adopting lifecycle thinking; and accommodating risks and uncertainties and seek to inform industry practice and policy-making in relation to building energy performance.

Using EnergyPlus to Perform Dehumidification Analysis on Building America Homes: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fang, X.; Winkler, J.; Christensen, D.

2011-03-01

A parametric study was conducted using EnergyPlus version 6.0 to investigate humidity issues on a typical mid-1990s reference home, a 2006 International Energy Conservation Code home, and a high-performance home in a hot-humid climate. The impacts of various dehumidification equipment and controls are analyzed on the high performance home. The study examined the combined effects of infiltration and mechanical ventilation with balanced and unbalanced mechanical ventilation systems. Indoor relative humidity excursions were examined; specifically, the number of excursions, average excursion length, and maximum excursion length. Space relative humidity, thermal comfort, and whole-house source energy consumption were analyzed for indoor relative humidity set points of 50%, 55%, and 60%. The study showed and explained why similar trends of high humidity were observed in all three homes regardless of energy efficiency, and why humidity problems are not necessarily unique in high-performance homes. Thermal comfort analysis indicated that occupants are unlikely to notice indoor humidity problems. The study confirmed that supplemental dehumidification should be provided to maintain space relative humidity below 60% in a hot-humid climate.

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: Amerisips Homes — Miller-Bloch Residence, Johns Island, SC

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

none,

2014-09-01

For this DOE Zero Energy Ready Home that won a Custom Builder award in the 2014 Housing Innovation Awards, the builder uses structural insulated panels to construct the entire building shell, including the roof, walls, and floor of the home.

75 FR 68784 - Healthy Indoor Environment Protocols for Home Energy Upgrades

Science.gov (United States)

2010-11-09

... carefully crafted to stimulate the growth of a vibrant, private sector- led market for residential energy... collaboration to help overcome barriers to these recommended healthy homes actions. Additional resources... assistance and other home energy retrofit program guidance and training materials, and collaboration to help...

An Education Initiative Modifies Opinions of Hemodialysis Nurses towards Home Dialysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew Phillips

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Background: It has been shown that in-center hemodialysis (HD nurses prefer in-center HD for patients with certain characteristics; however it is not known if their opinions can be changed. Objective: To determine if an education initiative modified the perceptions of in-center HD nurses towards home dialysis. Design: Cross-sectional survey of in-center HD nurses before and after a three hour continuing nursing education (CNE initiative. Content of the CNE initiative included a didactic review of benefits of home dialysis, common misconceptions about patient eligibility, cost comparisons of different modalities and a home dialysis patient testimonial video. Setting: All in-center HD nurses (including those working in satellite dialysis units affiliated with a single academic institution Measurements: Survey themes included perceived barriers to home dialysis, preferred modality (home versus in-center HD, ideal modality distribution in the local program, awareness of home dialysis and patient education about home modalities. Methods: Paired comparisons of responses before and after the CNE initiative. Results: Of the 115 in-center HD nurses, 100 registered for the CNE initiative and 89 completed pre and post surveys (89% response rate. At baseline, in-center HD nurses perceived that impaired cognition, poor motor strength and poor visual acuity were barriers to peritoneal dialysis and home HD. In-center HD was preferred for availability of multidisciplinary care and medical personnel in case of catastrophic events. After the initiative, perceptions were more in favor of home dialysis for all patient characteristics, and most patient/system factors. Home dialysis was perceived to be underutilized both at baseline and after the initiative. Finally, in-center HD nurses were more aware of home dialysis, felt better informed about its benefits and were more comfortable teaching in-center HD patients about home modalities after the CNE session

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: Promethean Homes — Gross-Shepard Residence, Charlottesville, VA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

none,

2014-09-01

This is the first DOE Zero Energy Ready Home for this builder, who earned a Custom Builder honor in the 2014 Housing Innovation Awards. The home included rigid mineral wool board insulation over house wrap and plywood on the 2x6 advanced framed walls, achieving HERS 33 without PV.

Pre-Employment Laboratory Education. Home Furnishings/Interior Design Guidebook.

Science.gov (United States)

Texas Tech Univ., Lubbock. Home Economics Instructional Materials Center.

This guidebook is designed for use in teaching students enrolled in pre-employment laboratory education (PELE) home furnishing/interior design programs. The first of two major sections includes an overview for teachers on planning, conducting, and evaluating a home furnishings/interior design program. Specific topics discussed in section 1 include…

Prediction of appliances energy use in smart homes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arghira, Nicoleta; Hawarah, Lamis; Ploix, Stéphane; Jacomino, Mireille

2012-01-01

This paper presents methods for prediction of energy consumption of different appliances in homes. The aim is to predict the next day electricity consumption for some services in homes. Historical data for a set of homes in France was used. Two basic predictors are tested and a stochastic based predictor is proposed. The performance of the predictors is studied and it shows that the proposed predictor gives better results than other approaches. Two processings are proposed to improve the performance of the predictor, segmentation and aggregation of data. Application results are provided.

Analysis of Illinois Home Performance with ENERGY STAR(R) Measure Packages

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baker, J.; Yee, S.; Brand, L.

2013-09-01

Through the Chicagoland Single Family Housing Characterization and Retrofit Prioritization report, the Partnership for Advanced Residential Retrofit characterized 15 housing types in the Chicagoland region based on assessor data, utility billing history, and available data from prior energy efficiency programs. Within these 15 groups, a subset showed the greatest opportunity for energy savings based on BEopt Version 1.1 modeling of potential energy efficiency package options and the percent of the housing stock represented by each group. In this project, collected field data from a whole-home program in Illinois are utilized to compare marketplace-installed measures to the energy saving optimal packages previously developed for the 15 housing types. Housing type, conditions, energy efficiency measures installed, and retrofit cost information were collected from 19 homes that participated in the Illinois Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program in 2012, representing eight of the characterized housing groups. Two were selected for further case study analysis to provide an illustration of the differences between optimal and actually installed measures. Taken together, these homes are representative of 34.8% of the Chicagoland residential building stock. In one instance, actual installed measures closely matched optimal recommended measures.

Super Energy Efficient Design (S.E.E.D.) Home Evaluation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

German, A. [Alliance for Residential Building Innovation (ARBI), Davis, CA (United States); Dakin, B. [Alliance for Residential Building Innovation (ARBI), Davis, CA (United States); Backman, C. [Alliance for Residential Building Innovation (ARBI), Davis, CA (United States); Weitzel, E. [Alliance for Residential Building Innovation (ARBI), Davis, CA (United States); Springer, D. [Alliance for Residential Building Innovation (ARBI), Davis, CA (United States)

2012-12-01

This report describes the results of evaluation by the Alliance for Residential Building Innovation (ARBI) Building America team of the “Super Energy Efficient Design” (S.E.E.D) home, a 1,935 sq. ft., single-story spec home located in Tucson, AZ. This prototype design was developed with the goal of providing an exceptionally energy efficient yet affordable home and includes numerous aggressive energy features intended to significantly reduce heating and cooling loads such as structural insulated panel (SIP) walls and roof, high performance windows, an ERV, an air-to-water heat pump with mixed-mode radiant and forced air delivery, solar water heating, and rooftop PV. Source energy savings are estimated at 45% over the Building America B10 Benchmark. System commissioning, short term testing, long term monitoring and detailed analysis of results was conducted to identify the performance attributes and cost effectiveness of the whole house measure package.

Recommended Ventilation Strategies for Energy-Efficient Production Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roberson, J.; Brown, R.; Koomey, J.; Warner, J.; Greenberg, S.

1998-12-01

This report evaluates residential ventilation systems for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) ENERGY STAR{reg_sign} Homes program and recommends mechanical ventilation strategies for new, low-infiltration, energy-efficient, single-family, ENERGY STAR production (site-built tract) homes in four climates: cold, mixed (cold and hot), hot humid, and hot arid. Our group in the Energy Analysis Department at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab compared residential ventilation strategies in four climates according to three criteria: total annualized costs (the sum of annualized capital cost and annual operating cost), predominant indoor pressure induced by the ventilation system, and distribution of ventilation air within the home. The mechanical ventilation systems modeled deliver 0.35 air changes per hour continuously, regardless of actual infiltration or occupant window-opening behavior. Based on the assumptions and analysis described in this report, we recommend independently ducted multi-port supply ventilation in all climates except cold because this strategy provides the safety and health benefits of positive indoor pressure as well as the ability to dehumidify and filter ventilation air. In cold climates, we recommend that multi-port supply ventilation be balanced by a single-port exhaust ventilation fan, and that builders offer balanced heat-recovery ventilation to buyers as an optional upgrade. For builders who continue to install forced-air integrated supply ventilation, we recommend ensuring ducts are airtight or in conditioned space, installing a control that automatically operates the forced-air fan 15-20 minutes during each hour that the fan does not operate for heating or cooling, and offering ICM forced-air fans to home buyers as an upgrade.

Travellers and Home Education: Safe Spaces and Inequality

Science.gov (United States)

D'Arcy, Kate

2014-01-01

Elective home education (EHE) is a legal alternative to school in England but the statutory requirements for provision are remarkably vague. This book explores the use of EHE by Gypsy and Traveller families. The accounts of their experiences and their views about education spaces reveal the racism and discrimination their children encounter in…

Home in the heat: Dramatic seasonal variation in home range of desert golden eagles informs management for renewable energy development

Science.gov (United States)

Braham, Melissa A.; Miller, Tricia A.; Duerr, Adam E.; Lanzone, Michael J.; Fesnock, Amy; LaPre, Larry; Driscoll, Daniel; Katzner, Todd E.

2015-01-01

Renewable energy is expanding quickly with sometimes dramatic impacts to species and ecosystems. To understand the degree to which sensitive species may be impacted by renewable energy projects, it is informative to know how much space individuals use and how that space may overlap with planned development. We used global positioning system–global system for mobile communications (GPS-GSM) telemetry to measure year-round movements of golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) from the Mojave Desert of California, USA. We estimated monthly space use with adaptive local convex hulls to identify the temporal and spatial scales at which eagles may encounter renewable energy projects in the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan area. Mean size of home ranges was lowest and least variable from November through January and greatest in February–March and May–August. These monthly home range patterns coincided with seasonal variation in breeding ecology, habitat associations, and temperature. The expanded home ranges in hot summer months included movements to cooler, prey-dense, mountainous areas characterized by forest, grasslands, and scrublands. Breeding-season home ranges (October–May) included more lowland semi-desert and rock vegetation. Overlap of eagle home ranges and focus areas for renewable energy development was greatest when eagle home ranges were smallest, during the breeding season. Golden eagles in the Mojave Desert used more space and a wider range of habitat types than expected and renewable energy projects could affect a larger section of the regional population than was previously thought.

Research of home energy management system based on technology of PLC and ZigBee

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Qi; Shen, Jiaojiao

2015-12-01

In view of the problem of saving effectively energy and energy management in home, this paper designs a home energy intelligent control system based on power line carrier communication and wireless ZigBee sensor networks. The system is based on ARM controller, power line carrier communication and wireless ZigBee sensor network as the terminal communication mode, and realizes the centralized and intelligent control of home appliances. Through the combination of these two technologies, the advantages of the two technologies complement each other, and provide a feasible plan for the construction of energy-efficient, intelligent home energy management system.

Implementing a Zero Energy Ready Home Multifamily Project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Springer, David [Alliance for Residential Building Innovation, Davis, CA (United States); German, Alea [Alliance for Residential Building Innovation, Davis, CA (United States)

2015-08-01

An objective of this project was to gain a highly visible foothold for residential buildings built to the U.S. Department of Energy's Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) specification that can be used to encourage participation by other California builders. This report briefly describes two single family homes that were ZERH-certified, and focuses on the experience of working with developer Mutual Housing on a 62 unit multi-family community at the Spring Lake subdivision in Woodland, CA. The Spring Lake project is expected to be the first ZERH certified multi-family project nationwide. This report discusses challenges encountered, lessons learned, and how obstacles were overcome.

'That would have been beneficial': LGBTQ education for home-care service providers.

Science.gov (United States)

Daley, Andrea; MacDonnell, Judith A

2015-05-01

This paper reports qualitative findings from a pilot study that explored the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) education needs of home-care service providers working in one large, urban Canadian city. The pilot study builds upon research that has documented barriers to health services for diversely situated LGBTQ people, which function to limit access to good-quality healthcare. LGBTQ activists, organisations and allies have underscored the need for health provider education related to the unique health and service experiences of sexual and gender minority communities. However, the home-care sector is generally overlooked in this important body of research literature. We used purposeful convenience sampling to conduct four focus groups and two individual interviews with a total of 15 professionally diverse home-care service providers. Data collection was carried out from January 2011 to July 2012 and data were analysed using grounded theory methods towards the identification of the overarching theme, 'provider education' and it had two sub-themes: (i) experiences of LGBTQ education; and (ii) recommendations for LGBTQ education. The study findings raise important questions about limited and uneven access to adequate LGBTQ education for home-care service providers, suggest important policy implications for the education and health sectors, and point to the need for anti-oppression principles in the development of education initiatives. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Review of water, lighting, and cooling energy efficiency measures for low-income homes located in warm climates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martin, M.A.; Gettings, M.B.

1998-02-01

In support of the U.S. Department of Energy`s Weatherization Assistance Program, Oak Ridge National Laboratory has performed a literature review of weatherization measures applicable for homes located in warm climate regions. Sources for this information included: (1) documented engineering estimates, (2) vendor information, (3) reported performance from research and field tests, and (4) direct discussions with researchers, vendors, and field reporters. Estimated savings are extrapolated from reported energy savings and applied to the end-use energy consumption for low-income homes reported by the Energy Information Administration. Additionally, installation costs, savings-to-investment ratios, and parameters indicating performance sensitivity to issues such as occupancy, construction, client education, and maintenance requirements are presented. The report is comprised of two sections: (1) an overview of measure performance, and (2) an appendix. The overview of measures is in a tabular format, which allows for quick reference. More detailed discussions and references for each measure are presented in the Appendix and it is highly recommended that these be reviewed prior to measure selection.

Super Energy Efficiency Design (S.E.E.D.) Home Evaluation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

German, A.; Dakin, B.; Backman, C.; Weitzel, E.; Springer, D.

2012-12-01

This report describes the results of evaluation by the Alliance for Residential Building Innovation (ARBI) Building America team of the 'Super Energy Efficient Design' (S.E.E.D) home, a 1,935 sq. ft., single-story spec home located in Tucson, AZ. This prototype design was developed with the goal of providing an exceptionally energy efficient yet affordable home and includes numerous aggressive energy features intended to significantly reduce heating and cooling loads such as structural insulated panel (SIP) walls and roof, high performance windows, an ERV, an air-to-water heat pump with mixed-mode radiant and forced air delivery, solar water heating, and rooftop PV. Source energy savings are estimated at 45% over the Building America B10 Benchmark. System commissioning, short term testing, long term monitoring and detailed analysis of results was conducted to identify the performance attributes and cost effectiveness of the whole house measure package.

Home Energy Systems: the State of the Art

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van de Kaa, G.; Ligtvoet, A.; Fens, T.W.; Herder, P.M.

2014-01-01

Smart home energy systems are technically possible to realize but are not yet applied on a large scale partly due to the fact that no common standards exist that enable interconnection of components that make up these smart energy systems. Multiple standards have been developed which are competing

Northwest Energy Efficient Manufactured Housing Program High-Performance Test Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hewes, Tom; Peeks, Brady

2015-09-15

?This project represents the third phase of a multi-year effort to develop and bring to market a High Performance Manufactured Home (HPMH). The scope of this project involved building four HPMH prototypes, resulting in what is expected to be a 30% savings relative to the Building America Benchmark. (The actual % savings varies depending on choice of heating equipment and climate zone). The HPMH home is intended to make significant progress toward performing as zero-net-energy ready. Previous phases of this project created a HPMH specification and prototyped individual measures from the package to obtain engineering approvals and develop preliminary factory construction processes. This report describes the project team's work during 2014 to build prototype homes to the HPMH specifications and to monitor the homes for energy performance and durability during 2014. Monitoring is expected to continue into 2016.

Evaluation of an oral health education session for Early Head Start home visitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Glatt, Kevin; Okunseri, Christopher; Flanagan, Diane; Simpson, Pippa; Cao, Yumei; Willis, Earnestine

2016-06-01

Home visiting programs promote the education and health of Early Head Start (EHS) children and pregnant women. However, EHS's oral health component is unevenly implemented. We conducted an educational intervention to improve oral health knowledge and motivational interviewing techniques among Wisconsin EHS home visitors. A questionnaire assessing oral health-related knowledge and confidence was administered to home visitors before and after an educational session. Changes between pre/post-responses were analyzed with McNemar's test and Wilcoxon Signed Rank test. After the intervention there were increases in both knowledge and confidence related to oral health communication. Knowledge increases were observed in such topics as fluoridation, dental caries, and caregivers' role in assisting and supervising children's tooth brushing. A brief educational intervention was associated with increased home visitor knowledge and confidence in communicating oral health messages to EHS caregivers and pregnant women. © 2016 American Association of Public Health Dentistry.

Load Balancing Integrated Least Slack Time-Based Appliance Scheduling for Smart Home Energy Management

OpenAIRE

Bhagya Nathali Silva; Murad Khan; Kijun Han

2018-01-01

The emergence of smart devices and smart appliances has highly favored the realization of the smart home concept. Modern smart home systems handle a wide range of user requirements. Energy management and energy conservation are in the spotlight when deploying sophisticated smart homes. However, the performance of energy management systems is highly influenced by user behaviors and adopted energy management approaches. Appliance scheduling is widely accepted as an effective mechanism to manage...

Business Solutions Case Study: Marketing Zero Energy Homes: Tommy Williams Homes, Gainesville, Florida

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2015-06-01

Building America research has shown that high-performance homes can potentially give builders an edge in the marketplace and can boost sales, but it doesn't happen automatically. It requires a tailored, easy-to-understand marketing campaign, and sometimes a little flair. This case study highlights the successful marketing approach of Tommy Williams Homes, which devotes resources to advertising, targeted social media outlets and blogs, realtor education seminars, and groundbreaking and open house celebrations. As a result, in one community, 2013 property sales records show that TWH outsells the only other builder in the development at a higher price, with fewer days on the market.

Taking the Challenge at Singer Village. A Cold Climate Zero Energy Ready Home

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Puttagunta, S. [Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings, Norwalk, CT (United States); Faakye, O. [Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings, Norwalk, CT (United States)

2014-10-01

After progressively incorporating ENERGY STAR® for Homes Versions 1, 2, and 3 into its standard practices over the years, this builder, Brookside Development, was seeking to build an even more sustainable product that would further increase energy efficiency, while also addressing indoor air quality, water conservation, renewable-ready, and resiliency. These objectives align with the framework of the DOE Challenge Home program, which "builds upon the comprehensive building science requirements of ENERGY STAR for Homes Version 3, along with proven Building America innovations and best practices. Other special attribute programs are incorporated to help builders reach unparalleled levels of performance with homes designed to last hundreds of years." Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB) partnered with Brookside Development on the design optimization and construction of the first home in a small development of seven planned new homes being built on the old Singer Estate in Derby, CT.

Taking the Challenge at Singer Village--A Cold Climate Zero Energy Ready Home

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Puttagunta, S.; Gaakye, O.

2014-10-01

After progressively incorporating ENERGY STAR(R) for Homes Versions 1, 2, and 3 into its standard practices over the years, this builder, Brookside Development, was seeking to build an even more sustainable product that would further increase energy efficiency, while also addressing indoor air quality, water conservation, renewable-ready, and resiliency. These objectives align with the framework of the DOE Challenge Home program, which 'builds upon the comprehensive building science requirements of ENERGY STAR for Homes Version 3, along with proven Building America innovations and best practices. Other special attribute programs are incorporated to help builders reach unparalleled levels of performance with homes designed to last hundreds of years.' CARB partnered with Brookside Development on the design optimization and construction of the first home in a small development of seven planned new homes being built on the old Singer Estate in Derby, CT.

Existing Whole-House Solutions Case Study: Group Home Energy Efficiency Retrofit for 30% Energy Savings, Washington, D.C.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2013-11-01

Energy efficiency retrofits (EERs) face many challenges on the path to scalability. Limited budgets, cost effectiveness, risk factors, and accessibility impact the type and the extent of measures that can be implemented feasibly to achieve energy savings goals. Group home retrofits can face additional challenges than those in single family homes – such as reduced access (occupant-in-place restrictions) and lack of incentives for occupant behavioral change. This project studies the specification, implementation, and energy savings from an EER in a group home, with an energy savings goal of 30%. This short term test report chronicles the retrofit measures specified, their projected cost-effectiveness using building energy simulations, and the short term test results that were used to characterize pre-retrofit and post-retrofit conditions. Additionally, the final report for the project will include analysis of pre- and post-retrofit performance data on whole building energy use, and an assessment of the energy impact of occupant interface with the building (i.e., window operation). Ultimately, the study’s results will be used to identify cost effective EER measures that can be implemented in group homes, given constraints that are characteristic of these buildings. Results will also point towards opportunities for future energy savings.

Occupant-in-Place Energy Efficiency Retrofit in a Group Home for 30% Energy Savings in Climate Zone 4

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moore, M.

2013-08-01

Energy efficiency retrofits (EERs) face many challenges on the path to scalability. Limited budgets, cost effectiveness, risk factors, and accessibility impact the type and the extent of measures that can be implemented feasibly to achieve energy savings goals. Group home retrofits can face additional challenges than those in single family homes - such as reduced access (occupant-in-place restrictions) and lack of incentives for occupant behavioral change. This project studies the specification, implementation, and energy savings from an EER in a group home, with an energy savings goal of 30%. This short term test report chronicles the retrofit measures specified, their projected cost-effectiveness using building energy simulations, and the short term test results that were used to characterize pre-retrofit and post-retrofit conditions. Additionally, the final report for the project will include analysis of pre- and post-retrofit performance data on whole building energy use, and an assessment of the energy impact of occupant interface with the building (i.e., window operation). Ultimately, the study's results will be used to identify cost effective EER measures that can be implemented in group homes, given constraints that are characteristic of these buildings. Results will also point towards opportunities for future energy savings.

Occupant-in-Place Energy Efficiency Retrofit in a Group Home for 30% Energy Savings in Climate Zone 4

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moore, Mike [Building America Partnership for Improved Residential Construction (BA-PIRC), Cocoa, FL (United States)

2013-08-01

Energy efficiency retrofits (EERs) face many challenges on the path to scalability. Limited budgets, cost effectiveness, risk factors, and accessibility impact the type and the extent of measures that can be implemented feasibly to achieve energy savings goals. Group home retrofits can face additional challenges than those in single family homes – such as reduced access (occupant-in-place restrictions) and lack of incentives for occupant behavioral change. This project studies the specification, implementation, and energy savings from an EER in a group home, with an energy savings goal of 30%. This short term test report chronicles the retrofit measures specified, their projected cost effectiveness using building energy simulations, and the short term test results that were used to characterize pre-retrofit and post-retrofit conditions. Additionally, the final report for the project will include analysis of pre- and post-retrofit performance data on whole building energy use, and an assessment of the energy impact of occupant interface with the building (i.e., window operation). Ultimately, the study’s results will be used to identify cost-effective EER measures that can be implemented in group homes, given constraints that are characteristic of these buildings. Results will also point towards opportunities for future energy savings.

HIA 2016 DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: Mandalay Homes, Cathedral Point at The Dells, Prescott, AZ

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

2016-09-01

Case study of a DOE 2016 Housing Innovation Award winning production home in the mixed-dry climate that met the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home criteria and achieved a HERS 47 without PV or HERS -2 with PV.

Home Energy Displays: Consumer Adoption and Response

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

LaMarche, J.; Cheney, K.; Akers, C.; Roth, K.; Sachs, O.

2012-12-01

The focus of this project was to investigate the factors influencing consumer adoption of Home Energy Displays (HEDs) and to evaluate electricity consumption in households with basic HEDs versus enhanced feedback methods - web portals or alerts. We hypothesized that providing flexible and relatable information to users, in addition to a basic HED, would make feedback more effective and achieve persistent energy savings. In Phase I, we conducted three user research studies and found preferences for aesthetically pleasing, easy to understand feedback that is accessible through multiple media and offered free of charge. The deployment of HEDs in 150 households planned for Phase II encountered major recruitment and HED field deployment problems. First, after extensive outreach campaigns to apartment complexes with 760 units, only 8% of building's tenants elected to receive a free HED in their homes as part of the field study. Second, the HED used, a leading market model, had a spectrum of problems, including gateway miscommunications, failure to post to a data-hosting third party, and display malfunctions. In light of these challenges, we are pursuing a modified study investigating the energy savings of a web portal versus alert-based energy feedback instead of a physical HED.

Review of survey data on the importance of energy efficiency to new home buyers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hendrickson, P.L.

1984-10-01

The surveys reviewed for this report support the notion that the Council's model conservation standards will be received reasonably well and can be successfully marketed. A number of subtopics are addressed including the home purchase process and the role of energy efficiency considerations in the process, the importance of energy efficiency considerations in the decision to purchase a new home, the relative importance of energy efficiency in comparison to other home selection attributes, homeowner preferences for particular energy efficiency features, and measures of the willingness to pay for energy efficiency improvements.

Comparative Analysis of Homebuyer Response to New Zero-Energy Homes: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Farhar, B. C.; Coburn, T. C.; Murphy, M.

2004-07-01

In 2004, mail questionnaires were sent to 271 homebuyers in a highly energy-efficient community and 98 homebuyers living in an adjacent conventional community. People surveyed had to have lived in their homes for at least 6 months. The questionnaires addressed perceptions and preferences relative to the new home purchases, and the role, if any, that energy efficiency and solar features might have played in these purchases. Also investigated was the willingness to pay for energy features; preferences on whether energy features should be standard or optional; preferences on energy policies; perceived problems; aesthetics; homebuyer satisfaction and the reasons for it; environmentalism; and experience with the utility company.

Can we improve the identification of cold homes for targeted home energy-efficiency improvements?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hutchinson, Emma J.; Wilkinson, Paul; Hong, Sung H.; Oreszczyn, Tadj

2006-01-01

Objective: To investigate the extent to which homes with low indoor-temperatures can be identified from dwelling and household characteristics. Design: Analysis of data from a national survey of dwellings, occupied by low-income households, scheduled for home energy-efficiency improvements. Setting: Five urban areas of England: Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Southampton. Methods: Half-hourly living-room temperatures were recorded for two to four weeks in dwellings over the winter periods November to April 2001-2002 and 2002-2003. Regression of indoor on outdoor temperatures was used to identify cold-homes in which standardized daytime living-room and/or nighttime bedroom-temperatures were o C (when the outdoor temperature was 5 o C). Tabulation and logistic regression were used to examine the extent to which these cold-homes can be identified from dwelling and household characteristics. Results: Overall, 21.0% of dwellings had standardized daytime living-room temperatures o C, and 46.4% had standardized nighttime bedroom-temperatures below the same temperature. Standardized indoor-temperatures were influenced by a wide range of household and dwelling characteristics, but most strongly by the energy efficiency (SAP) rating and by standardized heating costs. However, even using these variables, along with other dwelling and household characteristics in a multi-variable prediction model, it would be necessary to target more than half of all dwellings in our sample to ensure at least 80% sensitivity for identifying dwellings with cold living-room temperatures. An even higher proportion would have to be targeted to ensure 80% sensitivity for identifying dwellings with cold-bedroom temperatures. Conclusion: Property and household characteristics provide only limited potential for identifying dwellings where winter indoor temperatures are likely to be low, presumably because of the multiple influences on home heating, including personal choice and

Home Food Preservation Training for Extension Educators

Science.gov (United States)

Goard, Linnette Mizer; Hill, Melinda; Shumaker, Katharine; Warrix, Marisa

2013-01-01

During times of economic downturn, there has been an increased interest in home food preservation. As the primary resource for current research-based recommendations, a team of Extension Family and Consumer Sciences educators with specialization in food safety and food preservation responded to this demand by developing a standardized food…

Energy Management strategies for Smart Home Regarding Uncertainties: State of the art, Trends, and Challenges

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yousefi, Mojtaba; Hajizadeh, Amin; N. Soltani, Mohsen

2018-01-01

The advent of Smart grid and high-energy demand for electricity has provided new opportunities for energy management systems (EMSs) in a smart home (SH). Energy management strategies play a key role in performance and economy of smart homes integrating renewable energy resources, Heat Pumps (HP......), and Plug-in Electrical Vehicle (PEV) energy storages. This paper presents a critical review and analysis of different energy management strategies for SH to handle the uncertainties involved in renewable energy resources, home load demands, PEV charging requirements, and household comfort. In addition...

A Fuzzy-Logic Subsumption Controller for Home Energy Management Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ainstworth, Nathan; Johnson, Brian; Lundstrom, Blake

2015-10-05

Presentation for NAPS 2015 associated with conference publication CP-64392. Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS) are controllers that manage and coordinate the generation, storage, and loads in a home. These controllers are increasingly necessary to ensure that increasing penetrations of distributed energy resources are used effectively and do not disrupt the operation of the grid. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to HEMS design based on behavioral control methods, which do not require accurate models or predictions and are very responsive to changing conditions.

Home Field Advantage Calculation for Physical Education and Sport Students

Science.gov (United States)

Inan, Tugbay

2018-01-01

It is a well-established fact that playing at home field is an advantageous condition for professional sport teams. For this reason, the home field advantage in team sports is an important issue to be explored. It is also one of the different topics that physical education and sports students can use when they want to perform performance analysis…

Electric Energy Management in the Smart Home: Perspectives on Enabling Technologies and Consumer Behavior

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zipperer, A. [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Aloise-Young, P. A. [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Suryanarayanan, S. [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Zimmerle, D. [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Roche, R. [Univ. of Technology, Belfort-Montebeliard (France); Earle, L. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Christensen, D. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Bauleo, P. [Fort Collins Utilities, CO (United States)

2013-08-01

Smart homes hold the potential for increasing energy efficiency, decreasing costs of energy use, decreasing the carbon footprint by including renewable resources, and trans-forming the role of the occupant. At the crux of the smart home is an efficient electric energy management system that is enabled by emerging technologies in the electricity grid and consumer electronics. This article presents a discussion of the state-of-the-art in electricity management in smart homes, the various enabling technologies that will accelerate this concept, and topics around consumer behavior with respect to energy usage.

Electric Energy Management in the Smart Home: Perspectives on Enabling Technologies and Consumer Behavior

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zipperer, Adam; Aloise-Young, Patricia A.; Suryanarayanan, Siddharth; Roche, Robin; Earle, Lieko; Christensen, Dane; Bauleo, Pablo; Zimmerle, Daniel

2013-11-01

Smart homes hold the potential for increasing energy efficiency, decreasing costs of energy use, decreasing the carbon footprint by including renewable resources, and transforming the role of the occupant. At the crux of the smart home is an efficient electric energy management system that is enabled by emerging technologies in the electric grid and consumer electronics. This article presents a discussion of the state-of-the-art in electricity management in smart homes, the various enabling technologies that will accelerate this concept, and topics around consumer behavior with respect to energy usage.

Dietary intake of energy, nutrients and water in elderly people living at home or in nursing home.

Science.gov (United States)

Engelheart, S; Akner, G

2015-03-01

There is a lack of detailed information on dietary intake in elderly people at an individual level, which is crucial for improvement of nutritional support. The aim of this study was to investigate the dietary intake in elderly people in two types of living situations. Observational study, analysing prospective data. The dietary intake was studied in elderly people living at home or in nursing home, in different cities of Sweden. A total of 264 elderly people (mean age 84) participated in the observational study. Dietary intake was measured using weighed food records and food diaries, comparing females and males. The observed dietary intake was related to Recommended intake and Lower intake level. All dietary intake and patient characteristic variables showed large individual differences (ranges). We found no significant differences (p>0.05) between those living at home and nursing home residents regarding the average intake of energy, protein and water when expressed as total intake per kg of body weight. A very low daily intake of energy (<20 kcal/kg body weight/day) was observed in 16% of the participants. For vitamin D and iron, 19% and 15%, respectively, had intakes below the Lower intake level. There was no correlation between intake of energy, protein or water and resident characteristics such as age, autonomy, morbidity, nutritional state or cognition. The large individual differences (ranges) in energy, nutrients and water show that the use of mean values when analysing dietary intake data from elderly people is misleading. From a clinical perspective it is more important to consider the individual intake of energy, nutrients and water. Ageism is intrinsic in the realm of 'averageology'.

A Web-Based Model for Diabetes Education and Decision Support for the Home Care Nurse

OpenAIRE

Hill, Michelle; Kirby, Judy

1998-01-01

Diabetes education for the home care population requires expert knowledge to be available at the point-of-care, the patient's home. This poster displays a model for Web-based diabetes education and decision support for the home care nurse. The system utilizes the line of reasoning (LOR) model to organize and represent expert decision-making thought processes.

Energy conservation through smart homes in a smart city: A lesson for Singapore households

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhati, Abhishek; Hansen, Michael; Chan, Ching Man

2017-01-01

Energy saving is a hot topic due to the proliferation of climate changes and energy challenges globally. However, people's perception about using smart technology for energy saving is still in the concept stage. This means that people talk about environmental awareness readily, yet in reality, they accept to pay the given energy bill. Due to the availability of electricity and its integral role, modulating consumers’ attitudes towards energy savings can be a challenge. Notably, the gap in today's smart technology design in smart homes is the understanding of consumers’ behaviour and the integration of this understanding into the smart technology. As part of the Paris Climate change agreement (2015), it is paramount for Singapore to introduce smart technologies targeted to reduce energy consumption. This paper focused on the perception of Singapore households on smart technology and its usage to save energy. Areas of current research include: (1) energy consumption in Singapore households, (2) public programs and policies in energy savings, (3) use of technology in energy savings, and (4) household perception of energy savings in smart homes. Furthermore, three case studies are reviewed in relation to smart homes and smart technology, while discussing the maturity of existing solutions. - Highlights: • Analyse perception of Singapore households about the usage of smart technology to save energy. • Reviews energy consumption, public policies and household perception of energy savings. • Three case studies were developed and reviewed in relation to smart homes and smart technology. • Analyse research gap of household behaviours and perceptions as smart home design focus.

Field Evaluation of Advances in Energy-Efficiency Practices for Manufactured Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Levy, E. [Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions (ARIES) Collaborative, New York, NY (United States); Dentz, J. [Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions (ARIES) Collaborative, New York, NY (United States); Ansanelli, E. [Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions (ARIES) Collaborative, New York, NY (United States); Barker, G. [Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions (ARIES) Collaborative, New York, NY (United States); Rath, P. [Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions (ARIES) Collaborative, New York, NY (United States); Dadia, D. [Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions (ARIES) Collaborative, New York, NY (United States)

2016-03-01

Through field-testing and analysis, this project evaluated whole-building approaches and estimated the relative contributions of select technologies toward reducing energy use related to space conditioning in new manufactured homes. Three lab houses of varying designs were built and tested side-by-side under controlled conditions in Russellville, Alabama. The tests provided a valuable indicator of how changes in the construction of manufactured homes can contribute to significant reductions in energy use.

Estimating the environmental impact of home energy visits and extent of behaviour change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Revell, Kristy

2014-01-01

The objective of this study was to estimate the environmental impact of a home energy visit programme, known as RE:NEW, that was delivered in London, in the United Kingdom. These home energy visits intended to encourage reductions in household carbon emissions and water consumption through the installation of small energy saving measures (such as radiator panels, in-home energy displays and low-flow shower heads), further significant energy saving measures (loft and cavity wall insulation) and behaviour change advice. The environmental impact of the programme was estimated in terms of carbon emissions abated and on average, for each household in the study, a visit led to an average carbon abatement of 146 kgCO 2 . The majority of this was achieved through the installation of small energy saving measures. The impact of the visits on the installation of significant measures was negligible, as was the impact on behaviour change. Therefore, these visits did not overcome the barriers required to generate behaviour change or the barriers to the installation of more significant energy saving measures. Given this, a number of recommendations are proposed in this paper, which could increase the efficacy of these home energy visits. - Highlights: • The environmental impact of the RE:NEW home energy visit programme is estimated. • Visits do not generate significant pro-environmental behaviour change. • Visits do not overcome the barriers to the installation loft and wall insulation. • Small energy saving measures yield carbon savings of 145 kgCO 2 /year. • The average carbon abatement per household was estimated to be 146 kgCO 2 /year

Cambridge Homes Increases Energy Efficiency in a Mix of Housing Types

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poole, L.; Anderson, R.

2001-01-01

New houses designed by Cambridge Homes in Crest Hill, Illinois, with technical support from the U.S. Department of Energy's Building America Program, save their homeowners money by applying the principles of ''whole-building'' design to the entire home product line. Regardless of the model chosen, home buyers can enjoy consistently high levels of comfort and performance with the added benefit of reduced operating costs

Implementing a Zero Energy Ready Home Multifamily Project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Springer, David [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); German, Alea [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2015-08-17

Building cost-effective, high-performance homes that provide superior comfort, health, and durability is the goal of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) program. Building America research and other innovative programs throughout the country have addressed many of the technical challenges of building to the ZERH standard. The cost-effectiveness of measure packages that result in 30% source energy savings compared to a code-compliant home have been demonstrated. However, additional challenges remain, particularly with respect to convincing production builders of the strong business case for ZERH. The Alliance for Residential Building Innovation (ARBI) team believes that the keys to successfully engaging builders and developers in the California market are to help them leverage development agreement requirements, code compliance requirements, incentives, and competitive market advantages of ZERH certification, and navigate through this process. A primary objective of this project was to gain a highly visible foothold for residential buildings that are built to the DOE ZERH specification that can be used to encourage participation by other California builders. This report briefly describes two single-family homes that were ZERH certified and focuses on the experience of working with developer Mutual Housing on a 62-unit multifamily community at the Spring Lake subdivision in Woodland, California. The Spring Lake project is expected to be the first ZERH-certified multifamily project in the country. This report discusses the challenges encountered, lessons learned, and how obstacles were overcome.

Linking mortgage finance incentives to a voluntary home energy rating system: Insight into consensus building

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jenior, M.-M.

1994-01-01

A collaborative consensus process was created to implement a program linking voluntary home energy rating systems (HERS) to mortgage incentives. The participants involved many of the stakeholders or interest groups who have a role in implementing and who will be affected by energy efficiency mortgate incentive programs linked to HERS. The participants included representatives from the primary and secondary mortgage market; real estate, home building, and remodeling industries; utilities; state, local, consumer, and environmental organizations; and home energy rating providers. The participants defined the actions required to implement as well as the technical requirements of a program linking home energy ratings and mortgage finance. Building on the recommendations of the collaborative process, members of the collaborative continue to take initiatives to put a Home Energy Rating Systems Council into place, in planning pilot programs for developing and testing ways to link HERS and mortgage programs, and in making home buyers and owners aware of existing mortgage incentives. At the same time, mortgage providers are working to develop uniformity among mortgage incentive programs and with the US Department of Energy to develop procedures to verify the relative accuracy of HERS calculation tools and their application, and with the emerging HERS Council to develop the guidelines for voluntary HERS required under the Energy Policy Act of 1992

Load Balancing Integrated Least Slack Time-Based Appliance Scheduling for Smart Home Energy Management.

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, Bhagya Nathali; Khan, Murad; Han, Kijun

2018-02-25

The emergence of smart devices and smart appliances has highly favored the realization of the smart home concept. Modern smart home systems handle a wide range of user requirements. Energy management and energy conservation are in the spotlight when deploying sophisticated smart homes. However, the performance of energy management systems is highly influenced by user behaviors and adopted energy management approaches. Appliance scheduling is widely accepted as an effective mechanism to manage domestic energy consumption. Hence, we propose a smart home energy management system that reduces unnecessary energy consumption by integrating an automated switching off system with load balancing and appliance scheduling algorithm. The load balancing scheme acts according to defined constraints such that the cumulative energy consumption of the household is managed below the defined maximum threshold. The scheduling of appliances adheres to the least slack time (LST) algorithm while considering user comfort during scheduling. The performance of the proposed scheme has been evaluated against an existing energy management scheme through computer simulation. The simulation results have revealed a significant improvement gained through the proposed LST-based energy management scheme in terms of cost of energy, along with reduced domestic energy consumption facilitated by an automated switching off mechanism.

Load Balancing Integrated Least Slack Time-Based Appliance Scheduling for Smart Home Energy Management

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, Bhagya Nathali; Khan, Murad; Han, Kijun

2018-01-01

The emergence of smart devices and smart appliances has highly favored the realization of the smart home concept. Modern smart home systems handle a wide range of user requirements. Energy management and energy conservation are in the spotlight when deploying sophisticated smart homes. However, the performance of energy management systems is highly influenced by user behaviors and adopted energy management approaches. Appliance scheduling is widely accepted as an effective mechanism to manage domestic energy consumption. Hence, we propose a smart home energy management system that reduces unnecessary energy consumption by integrating an automated switching off system with load balancing and appliance scheduling algorithm. The load balancing scheme acts according to defined constraints such that the cumulative energy consumption of the household is managed below the defined maximum threshold. The scheduling of appliances adheres to the least slack time (LST) algorithm while considering user comfort during scheduling. The performance of the proposed scheme has been evaluated against an existing energy management scheme through computer simulation. The simulation results have revealed a significant improvement gained through the proposed LST-based energy management scheme in terms of cost of energy, along with reduced domestic energy consumption facilitated by an automated switching off mechanism. PMID:29495346

Load Balancing Integrated Least Slack Time-Based Appliance Scheduling for Smart Home Energy Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bhagya Nathali Silva

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The emergence of smart devices and smart appliances has highly favored the realization of the smart home concept. Modern smart home systems handle a wide range of user requirements. Energy management and energy conservation are in the spotlight when deploying sophisticated smart homes. However, the performance of energy management systems is highly influenced by user behaviors and adopted energy management approaches. Appliance scheduling is widely accepted as an effective mechanism to manage domestic energy consumption. Hence, we propose a smart home energy management system that reduces unnecessary energy consumption by integrating an automated switching off system with load balancing and appliance scheduling algorithm. The load balancing scheme acts according to defined constraints such that the cumulative energy consumption of the household is managed below the defined maximum threshold. The scheduling of appliances adheres to the least slack time (LST algorithm while considering user comfort during scheduling. The performance of the proposed scheme has been evaluated against an existing energy management scheme through computer simulation. The simulation results have revealed a significant improvement gained through the proposed LST-based energy management scheme in terms of cost of energy, along with reduced domestic energy consumption facilitated by an automated switching off mechanism.

Indirect Solar Water Heating in Single-Family, Zero Energy Ready Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aldrich, Robb [Steven Winters Associates, Inc., Norwalk, CT (United States)

2016-02-01

In western Massachusetts, an affordable housing developer built a community of 20 homes with the goal of approaching zero energy consumption. In addition to excellent thermal envelopes and photovoltaic systems, the developer installed a solar domestic hot water (SDHW) system on each home. The Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB), a U.S. Department of Energy Building America research team, commissioned some of the systems, and CARB was able to monitor detailed performance of one system for 28 months.

Northwest Energy Efficient Manufactured Housing Program High-Performance Test Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hewes, Tom [Building America Partnership for Improved Residential Construction, Corvallis, OR (United States); Peeks, Brady [Building America Partnership for Improved Residential Construction, Corvallis, OR (United States)

2015-09-01

This project represents the third phase of a multi-year effort to develop and bring to market a High Performance Manufactured Home (HPMH), which is intended to make significant progress toward performing as zero-net-energy ready. The scope of this project involved building four HPMH prototypes, resulting in what is expected to be a 30% savings relative to the Building America Benchmark. (The actual percent savings varies depending on choice of heating equipment and climate zone). Previous phases of this project created a HPMH specification and prototyped individual measures from the package to obtain engineering approvals and develop preliminary factory construction processes. This report describes the project team's work during 2014 to build prototype homes to the HPMH specifications and to monitor the homes for energy performance and durability during 2014. Monitoring is expected to continue into 2016.

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: New Town Builders, Denver, Colorado

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

none,

2013-09-01

All homes in the Stapleton community must be ENERGY STAR certified; New Town Builders has announced that it will build 250–300 new homes over the next 7–10 years, all of which will be Challenge Homes. New Town received a 2013 Housing Innovation Award in the production builder category.

Documentation of Calculation Methodology, Input data, and Infrastructure for the Home Energy Saver Web Site

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pinckard, Margaret J.; Brown, Richard E.; Mills, Evan; Lutz, James D.; Moezzi, Mithra M.; Atkinson, Celina; Bolduc, Chris; Homan, Gregory K.; Coughlin, Katie

2005-07-13

The Home Energy Saver (HES, http://HomeEnergySaver.lbl.gov) is an interactive web site designed to help residential consumers make decisions about energy use in their homes. This report describes the underlying methods and data for estimating energy consumption. Using engineering models, the site estimates energy consumption for six major categories (end uses); heating, cooling, water heating, major appliances, lighting, and miscellaneous equipment. The approach taken by the Home Energy Saver is to provide users with initial results based on a minimum of user input, allowing progressively greater control in specifying the characteristics of the house and energy consuming appliances. Outputs include energy consumption (by fuel and end use), energy-related emissions (carbon dioxide), energy bills (total and by fuel and end use), and energy saving recommendations. Real-world electricity tariffs are used for many locations, making the bill estimates even more accurate. Where information about the house is not available from the user, default values are used based on end-use surveys and engineering studies. An extensive body of qualitative decision-support information augments the analytical results.

Home-Learning Practices in Kenya: Views of Parents and Education Officers

Science.gov (United States)

Nyatuka, Benard Omenge

2016-01-01

In order for children to acquire meaningful education, families are advised to participate in learning activities at home. Such activities range from monitoring homework, problem-solving to reading with children during leisure time. But home-learning was claimed to receive little attention from key stakeholders among primary schools in Kenya's…

Energy education; Education a l'energie

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-07-01

The aim of this forum is to analyze the role of local and regional energy agencies in promoting low energy consuming technologies and in the information and education of the general public about energy mastery and conservation. (J.S.)

"Compulsory Schooling" Despite the Law: How Education Policy Underpins the Widespread Ignorance of the Right to Home Educate in France

Science.gov (United States)

Bongrand, Philippe

2016-01-01

Everyone in France takes for granted the existence of compulsory school attendance ("école obligatoire") while home education remains very exceptional. Yet school attendance is not, and has never been, legally compulsory in France. How can one explain the fact that the right to home educate is little known and practiced? This article…

Residential Photovoltaic Energy Systems in California: The Effect on Home Sales Prices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoen, Ben; Wiser, Ryan; Thayer, Mark; Cappers, Peter

2012-04-15

Relatively little research exists estimating the marginal impacts of photovoltaic (PV) energy systems on home sale prices. Using a large dataset of California homes that sold from 2000 through mid-2009, we find strong evidence, despite a variety of robustness checks, that existing homes with PV systems sold for a premium over comparable homes without PV systems, implying a near full return on investment. Premiums for new homes are found to be considerably lower than those for existing homes, implying, potentially, a tradeoff between price and sales velocity. The results have significant implications for homeowners, builders, appraisers, lenders, and policymakers.

Very low energy homes in the United States: Perspectives on performance from measured data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Parker, Danny S. [Florida Solar Energy Center, 1679 Clearlake Rd., Cocoa, FL 32922 (United States)

2009-05-15

We present measured annual performance data from a dozen recent-vintage very low energy homes in North America. Many of the designs combine greater energy efficiency with solar electric photovoltaic power in an attempt to create Zero Energy Homes (ZEH). We also provide measured data from the first home constructed to the German Passivhaus standard in the United States. Several projects either exceeded or come very close to true net zero energy when evaluated over a year. The data indicate that very low energy use buildings can very readily be achieved in North America. Annual energy use half that or less than standard housing can be achieved for an equivalent cost of $0.10/kWh from the efficiency investment. In general, the better cost effectiveness seen from energy efficiency measures indicates that greater investment in conservation should be a prerequisite to installation of solar water heating and solar electricity in Zero Energy Homes. However, over emphasis in efficiency is also possible. This suggests that optimization tools such as BEopt and EGUSA, which characterize both renewable resource performance and that also of specific combinations of energy efficiency measures, will best guide designers to locate the most economically favorable mix to reach an energy neutral level. (author)

Ambient Intelligence in a Smart Home for Energy Efficiency and Eldercare

Science.gov (United States)

de Silva, Liyanage C.; Petra, M. Iskandar; Punchihewa, G. Amal

In this paper we present our research results related to smart monitoring, control and communication with the main objective of energy efficiency and eldercare in mind. One of the main objectives of this research work is to use multitude of different sensors to monitor activities in a smart home and use the results to control the home environment to meet the objectives of energy efficiency and eldercare. Here we present the application of the smart monitoring to a prototype system.

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: Alliance Green Builders, Casa Aguila

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

2017-09-01

Alliance Green Builders built this 3,129-ft2 home in the hills above Ramona, California, to the high-performance criteria of the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) program. The home should perform far better than net zero thanks to a super-efficient building shell, a wind turbine, three suntracking solar photovoltaic arrays, and solar thermal water heating.

Net-Zero Energy Home Grows Up: Lessons and Puzzles from 10 Years of Data; Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sparn, Bethany; Earle, Lieko; Christensen, Craig; Norton, Paul

2016-05-17

In 2005, Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver, with support from NREL and other partners, built one of the first homes in the US to achieve net-zero energy based on monitored data. A family of three moved into the house when it was completed and lives there still. The home has been monitored continuously for the past ten years. Although PV production has remained steady, net energy performance has varied each year. The home was a net producer of energy annually in each of the first three years and in the ninth year, but not in years four through eight. Over the years, the PV system provided between 124% and 64% of the home source energy use. Electricity use in the home increased steadily during the first eight years, even though no significant new appliance was introduced into the house, such as a window air conditioner. Miscellaneous electric loads and space heating, both strongly dependent on occupant behavior, appear to be primarily responsible for the observed increase in energy use. An interesting aspect of this case study is how, even within a single family, natural changes in occupant lifestyles over time (e.g., kids growing up, schedules changing) can substantially impact the overall energy intensity of a home. Data from the last ten years will be explored for lessons learned that can improve the way we design low-load homes without sacrificing comfort or convenience for the occupants, and how we can make realistic predictions of long-term energy performance.

A Sustainable Home Energy Prosumer-Chain Methodology with Energy Tags over the Blockchain

OpenAIRE

Lee Won Park; Sanghoon Lee; Hangbae Chang

2018-01-01

In this paper, we aim to provide a power trade system that will promote a sustainable electrical energy transaction ecosystem between prosumers and consumers of smart homes. We suggest a blockchain-based peer-to-peer (P2P) energy transaction platform be implemented to enable efficient electrical energy transaction between prosumers. We suggest the platform be built on the blockchain, as this technology allows a decentralized and distributed trading system, and allows a more transparent, trust...

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: Greenhill Contracting, Inc., Hickory Ridge

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

2017-09-01

Greenhill Contracting built this 3,912-ft2 house in Gardiner, New York, to the high-performance criteria of the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) program. A highly efficient air-source heat pump heats and cools the home’s interior, while the roof-mounted photovoltaic system offsets electricity usage to cut energy bills to nearly zero. Many months the home owners see a credit on their utility bill.

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: KB Homes, San Marcos, California

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

none,

2013-09-01

Designed to produce as much energy as it uses, the ZeroHouse incorporates a PV system, R-15 fiberglass batts in walls, and slab-on-grade foundation. The builder ranked fifth in the nation on Builder Magazine’s 2012 Top 100 ranking of U.S. home builders based on number of housing starts, and won a 2013 Housing Innovation Award in the production builder category.

Validating Savings Claims of Cold Climate Zero Energy Ready Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Williamson, J. [Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings, Norwalk, CT (United States); Puttagunta, S. [Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings, Norwalk, CT (United States)

2015-06-05

This study was intended to validate actual performance of three ZERHs in the Northeast to energy models created in REM/Rate v14.5 (one of the certified software programs used to generate a HERS Index) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Building Energy Optimization (BEopt™) v2.3 E+ (a more sophisticated hourly energy simulation software). This report details the validation methods used to analyze energy consumption at each home.

Evaluation of the Home Energy Score: An Experiment with New Jersey Natural Gas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Knittel, Christopher [Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); Wolfran, Catherine [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Gandhi, Raina [Evoworx Inc., Wilmington, DE (United States)

2016-03-01

A wide range of climate plans rely on energy efficiency to generate energy and carbon emissions reductions, but conventional wisdom holds that consumers have historically underinvested in energy efficiency upgrades. This underinvestment may occur for a variety of reasons, one of which is that consumers are not adequately informed about the benefits to energy efficiency. To address this, the U.S. Department of Energy created a tool called the Home Energy Score (HEScore) to act as a simple, low-cost means to provide clear information about a home’s energy efficiency and motivate homeowners and homebuyers to invest in energy efficiency. The Department of Energy is in the process of conducting four evaluations assessing the impact of the Home Energy Score on residential energy efficiency investments and program participation. This paper describes one of these evaluations: a randomized controlled trial conducted in New Jersey in partnership with New Jersey Natural Gas. The evaluation randomly provides homeowners who have received an audit, either because they have recently replaced their furnace, boiler, and/or gas water heater with a high-efficiency model and participated in a free audit to access an incentive, or because they requested an independent audit3, between May 2014 and October 2015, with the Home Energy Score.

Energy Management strategies for Smart Home Regarding Uncertainties: State of the art, Trends, and Challenges

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yousefi, Mojtaba; Hajizadeh, Amin; N. Soltani, Mohsen

2018-01-01

The advent of Smart grid and high-energy demand for electricity has provided new opportunities for energy management systems (EMSs) in a smart home (SH). Energy management strategies play a key role in performance and economy of smart homes integrating renewable energy resources, Heat Pumps (HP......), and Plug-in Electrical Vehicle (PEV) energy storages. This paper presents a critical review and analysis of different energy management strategies for SH to handle the uncertainties involved in renewable energy resources, home load demands, PEV charging requirements, and household comfort. In addition......, the present paper provides a comprehensive study of work on EMS, with a focus on stochastic modeling approaches and their effect on SH operations and outcomes. This review of different stochastic energy management strategies will be entirely helpful for SH development....

Community-Wide Zero Energy Ready Home Standard

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Herk, A. [IBACOS, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA (United States); Beggs, T. [IBACOS, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

2016-02-05

This report outlines the steps a developer can take when creating and implementing high performance standards such as the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) standards on a community-wide scale. The report also describes the specific examples of how this process is underway in the Stapleton community in Denver, Colorado, by the developer Forest City.

An Event-Triggered Online Energy Management Algorithm of Smart Home: Lyapunov Optimization Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei Fan

2016-05-01

Full Text Available As an important component of the smart grid on the user side, a home energy management system is the core of optimal operation for a smart home. In this paper, the energy scheduling problem for a household equipped with photovoltaic devices was investigated. An online energy management algorithm based on event triggering was proposed. The Lyapunov optimization method was adopted to schedule controllable load in the household. Without forecasting related variables, real-time decisions were made based only on the current information. Energy could be rapidly regulated under the fluctuation of distributed generation, electricity demand and market price. The event-triggering mechanism was adopted to trigger the execution of the online algorithm, so as to cut down the execution frequency and unnecessary calculation. A comprehensive result obtained from simulation shows that the proposed algorithm could effectively decrease the electricity bills of users. Moreover, the required computational resource is small, which contributes to the low-cost energy management of a smart home.

Marginal Groups in Marginal Times: Gypsy and Traveller Parents and Home Education in England, UK

Science.gov (United States)

Bhopal, Kalwant; Myers, Martin

2016-01-01

This article examines the experiences of home education for Gypsy and Traveller groups in England, UK. We argue that home education is perceived in a particular historical "moment" characterised in the media and more generally throughout society by "risk". Against this backdrop this article considers Gypsy and Traveller…

Preparation and production of a home builders' guide. Building and selling energy-efficient homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Keast, D. N.; Mahoney, J. M.; McMahon, N. M.; Troy, M. H.; Wood, E. W.

1977-06-01

Procedures used in the preparation of a manual on the construction of energy-saving one- and two-family houses are described. Prior to writing the manual, builders were interviewed and a bibliographic search was conducted to obtain information on the design, construction and marketing of energy conserving homes. The packaging and distribution of the manual was planned. When written FEA will publish the manual. (ERA citation 04:044977)

Pilot States Program report: Home energy ratings systems and energy-efficient mortgages

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Farhar, B.

2000-04-04

This report covers the accomplishments of the home energy ratings systems/energy-efficient mortgages (HERS/EEMs) pilot states from 1993 through 1998, including such indicators as funding, ratings and EEMs achieved, active raters, and training and marketing activities. A brief description of each HERS program's evolution is included, as well as their directors' views of the programs' future prospects. Finally, an analysis is provided of successful HERS program characteristics and factors that appear to contribute to HERS program success.

Two energy storage alternatives for a solar-powered sustainable single floor desert home

KAUST Repository

Serag-Eldin, M. A.

2010-09-30

This paper is concerned with the thermodynamic analysis of a totally solarpowered desert home. The home is air-conditioned and provides all modern comforts and facilities. It features closely spaced, roof mounted photovoltaic modules, which collect the solar energy driving the whole energy system. During the day time, the modules form an elevated horizontal surface above the roof, shielding it from direct solar radiation. After sunset, the photovoltaic modules are flipped vertically upwards to expose the roof to the sky, thus enhancing night-time cooling. Two methods of energy storage are proposed and compared, one using solely battery storage of electrical output, and the other employing a combination of cold water storage and battery storage. The analysis is based on detailed dynamic heat transfer calculations for the entire building envelope, coupled with a solar radiation model, and followed by energy balances. The results reveal that indeed it is feasible to employ solar energy as the only source of energy to power the home, and that each storage system has its own merits and shortcomings. © 2010 WIT Press.

Mini-Split Heat Pump Evaluation and Zero Energy Ready Home Support

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Herk, Anastasia [IBACOS, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

2017-01-01

IBACOS worked with builder Imagine Homes to evaluate the performance of an occupied new construction test house following construction of the house in the hot, humid climate of San Antonio, Texas. The project measures the effectiveness of a space conditioning strategy using a multihead mini-split heat pump (MSHP) system in a reduced-load home to achieve acceptable comfort levels (temperature and humidity) and energy performance. IBACOS collected long-term data and analyzed the energy consumption and comfort conditions of the occupied house after one year of operation. Although measured results indicate that the test system provides comfort both inside and outside the ASHRAE Standard 55-2010 range, the occupants of the house claimed both adequate comfort and appreciation of the ease of use and flexibility of the installed MSHP system. IBACOS also assisted the builder to evaluate design and specification changes necessary to comply with Zero Energy Ready Home, but the builder chose to not move forward with it because of concerns about the 'solar ready' requirements of the program.

Optimal synthesis and operation of advanced energy supply systems for standard and domotic home

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buoro, Dario; Casisi, Melchiorre; Pinamonti, Piero; Reini, Mauro

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Definition of an optimization model for a home energy supply system. ► Optimization of the energy supply system for standard and domotic home. ► Strong improvement can be achieved adopting the optimal system in standard and domotic home. ► The improvements are consistent if supply side and demand side strategies are applied together. ► Solutions with internal combustion engines are less sensible to market price of electricity and gas. - Abstract: The paper deals with the optimization of an advanced energy supply systems for two dwellings: a standard home and an advanced domotic home, where some demand side energy saving strategies have been implemented. In both cases the optimal synthesis, design and operation of the whole energy supply system have been obtained and a sensitivity analysis has been performed, by introducing different economic constraints. The optimization model is based on a Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP) and includes different kinds of small-scale cogenerators, geothermal heat pumps, boilers, heat storages, solar thermal and photovoltaic panels. In addition, absorption machines, supplied with cogenerated heat, can be used instead of conventional electrical chiller to face the cooling demand. The aim of the analysis is to address the question if advanced demand strategies and supply strategies have to be regarded as alternatives, or if they have to be simultaneously applied, in order to obtain the maximum energy and economic benefit.

Internet-enabled pulmonary rehabilitation and diabetes education in group settings at home: a preliminary study of patient acceptability.

Science.gov (United States)

Burkow, Tatjana M; Vognild, Lars K; Østengen, Geir; Johnsen, Elin; Risberg, Marijke Jongsma; Bratvold, Astrid; Hagen, Tord; Brattvoll, Morten; Krogstad, Trine; Hjalmarsen, Audhild

2013-03-05

The prevalence of major chronic illnesses, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and diabetes, is increasing. Pulmonary rehabilitation and diabetes self-management education are important in the management of COPD and diabetes respectively. However, not everyone can participate in the programmes offered at a hospital or other central locations, for reasons such as travel and transport. Internet-enabled home-based programmes have the potential to overcome these barriers.This study aims to assess patient acceptability of the delivery form and components of Internet-enabled programmes based on home groups for comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation and for diabetes self-management education. We have developed Internet-enabled home programmes for comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation and for diabetes self-management education that include group education, group exercising (COPD only), individual consultations, educational videos and a digital health diary. Our prototype technology platform makes use of each user's own TV at home, connected to a computer, and a remote control. We conducted a six-week home trial with 10 participants: one group with COPD and one with diabetes. The participants were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. Both home-based programmes were well accepted by the participants. The group setting at home made it possible to share experiences and to learn from questions raised by others, as in conventional group education. In the sessions, interaction and discussion worked well, despite the structure needed for turn taking. The thematic educational videos were well accepted although they were up to 40 minutes long and their quality was below TV broadcasting standards. Taking part in group exercising at home under the guidance of a physiotherapist was also well accepted by the participants. Participants in the COPD group appreciated the social aspect of group education sessions and of exercising together, each in their own home

Declarations of Independence: Home School Families' Perspectives on Education, the Common Good, and Diversity

Science.gov (United States)

Anthony, Kenneth V.

2013-01-01

This study examined the perspectives of home school families regarding the rights, interests, and responsibilities of family and state over education. These families viewed the common good differently than critics of home schooling. They believed the diversity of curriculum and worldview in their home schools positively impacts the common good by…

Mobility based energy efficient and multi-sink algorithms for consumer home networks

OpenAIRE

Wang, Jin; Yin, Yue; Zhang, Jianwei; Lee, Sungyoung; Sherratt, R. Simon

2013-01-01

With the fast development of the Internet, wireless communications and semiconductor devices, home networking has received significant attention. Consumer products can collect and transmit various types of data in the home environment. Typical consumer sensors are often equipped with tiny, irreplaceable batteries and it therefore of the utmost importance to design energy efficient algorithms to prolong the home network lifetime and reduce devices going to landfill. Sink mobility is an importa...

Distributed Demand Side Management with Battery Storage for Smart Home Energy Scheduling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Omowunmi Mary Longe

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The role of Demand Side Management (DSM with Distributed Energy Storage (DES has been gaining attention in recent studies due to the impact of the latter on energy management in the smart grid. In this work, an Energy Scheduling and Distributed Storage (ESDS algorithm is proposed to be installed into the smart meters of Time-of-Use (TOU pricing consumers possessing in-home energy storage devices. Source of energy supply to the smart home appliances was optimized between the utility grid and the DES device depending on energy tariff and consumer demand satisfaction information. This is to minimize consumer energy expenditure and maximize demand satisfaction simultaneously. The ESDS algorithm was found to offer consumer-friendly and utility-friendly enhancements to the DSM program such as energy, financial, and investment savings, reduced/eliminated consumer dissatisfaction even at peak periods, Peak-to-Average-Ratio (PAR demand reduction, grid energy sustainability, socio-economic benefits, and other associated benefits such as environmental-friendliness.

Greenbelt Homes Pilot Energy Efficiency Program Phase 1 Summary. Existing Conditions and Baseline Energy Use

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wiehagen, J. [NAHB Research Center, Upper Marlboro, MD (United States); Del Bianco, M. [NAHB Research Center, Upper Marlboro, MD (United States); Wood, A. [NAHB Research Center, Upper Marlboro, MD (United States)

2013-02-01

A multi-year pilot energy efficiency retrofit project has been undertaken by Greenbelt Homes, Inc, (GHI) a 1,566 co-operative of circa 1930 and '40 homes. The three predominate construction methods of the townhomes in the community are materials common to the area and climate zone including 8” CMU block, wood frame with brick veneer and wood frame with vinyl siding. GHI has established a pilot project that will serve as a basis for decision making for the roll out of a decade-long community upgrade program that will incorporate energy efficiency to the building envelope and equipment with the modernization of other systems like plumbing, mechanical equipment, and cladding.

Greenbelt Homes Pilot Energy Efficiency Program Phase 1 Summary: Existing Conditions and Baseline Energy Use

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wiehagen, J.; Del Bianco, M.; Wood, A.

2013-02-01

A multi-year pilot energy efficiency retrofit project has been undertaken by Greenbelt Homes, Inc, (GHI) a 1,566 co-operative of circa 1930 and '40 homes. The three predominate construction methods of the townhomes in the community are materials common to the area and climate zone including 8" CMU block, wood frame with brick veneer and wood frame with vinyl siding. GHI has established a pilot project that will serve as a basis for decision making for the roll out of a decade-long community upgrade program that will incorporate energy efficiency to the building envelope and equipment with the modernization of other systems like plumbing, mechanical equipment, and cladding.

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: The Imery Group — Proud Green Home, Serenbe, GA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

none,

2014-09-01

The first certified Zero Energy Ready Home in Georgia was honored in the Custom Builder category of the 2014 Housing Innovation Awards. The 2,811-ft2, two-story custom home has 2x6 advanced framed walls filled with R-20 of open-cell spray foam, plus an R-6.6 insulated coated OSB sheathing. Also included is electronic monitoring equipment that tracks the PV, solar thermal water heater, ERV, mini-split heat pump with three indoor heads, solar water heater, and LED and CFL lighting.

Education to energy; Education a l'energie

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brunel, A. [Clerc Infos, 93 - Montreuil (France)

2004-06-01

This dossier presents the actions and thoughts carried out in France in the domain of education to energy mastery and to renewable energy uses: new pedagogical approaches and programs in schools, experience feedback of an environmental education experiment launched in September 2003 in 84 French schools, drawing contests and exhibitions, shows, games, distribution of pedagogical booklets for students and teachers, leisure activities and experimental projects (building of a mini-wind turbine, solar furnace etc..), exhibition of scale models of energy systems, etc.. A quick overview of some equivalent approaches in Norway, Denmark and other European countries is presented in conclusion. (J.S.)

Home Energy Displays. Consumer Adoption and Response

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

LaMarche, Janelle [Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems, Cambridge, MA (United States); Cheney, K. [Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems, Cambridge, MA (United States); Akers, C. [Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems, Cambridge, MA (United States); Roth, K. [Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems, Cambridge, MA (United States); Sachs, O. [Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems, Cambridge, MA (United States)

2012-12-01

The focus of this project was to investigate the factors influencing consumer adoption of Home Energy Displays (HEDs) and to evaluate electricity consumption in households with basic HEDs versus enhanced feedback methods - web portals or alerts. The team hypothesized that providing flexible and relatable information to users, in addition to a basic HED, would make feedback more effective and achieve persistent energy savings. In Phase I, Fraunhofer conducted three user research studies and found preferences for aesthetically pleasing, easy to understand feedback that is accessible through multiple media and offered free of charge. The deployment of HEDs in 150 households planned for Phase II encountered major recruitment and HED field deployment problems. In light of these challenges, the team is pursuing a modified study investigating the energy savings of a web portal versus alert-based energy feedback instead of a physical HED.

Energy and Nutrient Content of Food Served and Consumed by Nursing Home Residents.

Science.gov (United States)

Buckinx, F; Allepaerts, S; Paquot, N; Reginster, J Y; de Cock, C; Petermans, J; Bruyère, O

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to compare energy and protein content of the served food with the actual intake from the food consumed by nursing home residents. This study also aimed to compare food intake and dietary allowances. This is a cross sectional study. This study was performed in nursing homes. Residents of these 2 nursing homes were eligible for the study if they agreed to participate and if they meet the selection criteria (to be older than 65 years and have a regular texture diet). Nutrient content of the served food and real food consumption was calculated for all meals during a 5-day period by precise weighting method. Difference between consumed and served dietary content was evaluated by the Chi² test. Seventy-four Belgian nursing home residents (75% of women, 85.8 ± 7.04 years on average) were included in this study. These subjects had a mean body mass index of 24.9 ± 4.83 kg/m². The mean energy content of the served food was 1783.3 ± 125.7 kcal per day. However, residents did not eat the whole of the meals and the actual energy content of the consumed food was significantly less (1552.4 ± 342.1 kcal per day; peating significantly more energy than the others (p=.04). Meals served in nursing homes are not entirely consumed by their residents. As expected, the energy consumed are lower in subjects considered as malnourished or at risk of malnutrition.

Education confronts the energy dilemma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

1977-01-01

The conference was convened to present a role that America's schools could play in solving or coping with the energy crisis. Eleven sessions were conducted to fulfill this concern: Our Energy Crisis and Education: A Critical Assessment; The Energy Agenda at the Office of Education; Energy Resources: Scenarios for the Future; The Moral Dilemma of Energy Education; Constraints Influencing Education's Role; Energy Education: What's Been Done to Date; Practitioners Discuss Their Future Roles, Responsibilities; Politics of Energy Education; Confronting the Energy Dilemma; The Meaning of Scarcity; and The Impact of the Carter Energy Program on American Schools. Summary reports and reactions to the conference conclude the proceedings. (MCW)

Overcoming resistance to culture change: nursing home administrators' use of education, training, and communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Tyler, Denise A; Lepore, Michael; Shield, Renee R; Looze, Jessica; Miller, Susan C

2014-01-01

Nursing home culture change is becoming more prevalent, and research has demonstrated its benefits for nursing home residents and staff-but little is known about the role of nursing home administrators in culture change implementation. The purpose of this study was to determine what barriers nursing home administrators face in implementing culture change practices, and to identify the strategies used to overcome them. The authors conducted in-depth individual interviews with 64 administrators identified through a nationally representative survey. Results showed that a key barrier to culture change implementation reported by administrators was staff, resident, and family member resistance to change. Most nursing home administrators stressed the importance of using communication, education and training to overcome this resistance. Themes emerging around the concepts of communication and education indicate that these efforts should be ongoing, communication should be reciprocal, and that all stakeholders should be included.

Contribution of foods consumed away from home to energy intake in Brazilian urban areas: the 2008-9 Nationwide Dietary Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Bezerra, Ilana Nogueira; de Moura Souza, Amanda; Pereira, Rosangela Alves; Sichieri, Rosely

2013-04-14

The objectives of the present study were to estimate the dietary contribution of away-from-home food consumption, to describe the contribution of away-from-home foods to energy intake, and to investigate the association between eating away from home and total energy intake in Brazilian urban areas. In the first Brazilian Nationwide Dietary Survey, conducted in 2008-9, food records were collected from 25 753 individuals aged 10 years or older, living in urban areas of Brazil. Foods were grouped into thirty-three food groups, and the mean energy intake provided by away-from-home food consumption was estimated. Linear regression models were used to evaluate the association between away-from-home food consumption and total energy intake. All analyses considered the sample design effect. Of the total population, 43 % consumed at least one food item away from home. The mean energy intake from foods consumed away from home was 1408 kJ (337 kcal), averaging 18 % of total energy intake. Eating away from home was associated with increased total energy intake, except for men in the highest income level. The highest percentage of away-from-home energy sources was for food with a high content of energy, such as alcoholic beverages (59 %), baked and deep-fried snacks (54 %), pizza (42 %), soft drinks (40 %), sandwiches (40 %), and sweets and desserts (30 %). The consumption of foods away from home was related to a greater energy intake. The characterisation of away-from-home food habits is necessary in order to properly design strategies to promote healthy food consumption in the away-from-home environment.

Designing the Desirable Smart Home: A Study of Household Experiences and Energy Consumption Impacts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Rikke Hagensby; Kjeldskov, Jesper; Skov, Mikael

2018-01-01

Research has shown that desirable designs shape the use and experiences people have when interacting with technology. Nevertheless, how desirability influences energy consumption is often overlooked, particularly in HCI studies evaluating the sustainability benefits of smart home technology....... In this paper, we present a qualitative study with 23 Australian households who reflect on their experiences of living with smart home devices. Drawing on Nelson and Stolterman’s concept of desiderata we develop a typology of householders’ desires for the smart home and their energy implications. We structure...... these desires as three smart home personas: the helper, optimiser and hedonist, which align with desiderata’s three approaches to desire (reason, ethics and aesthetics). We use these insights to discuss how desirability can be used within HCI for steering design of the smart home towards sustainability....

Multilingual children with hearing loss: Factors contributing to language use at home and in early education

Science.gov (United States)

Crowe, Kathryn; McKinnon, David H; McLeod, Sharynne; Ching, Teresa YC

2013-01-01

Understanding the relationship between children’s cultural and linguistic diversity and child, caregiver, and environmental characteristics is important to ensure appropriate educational expectations and provisions. As part of the Longitudinal Outcomes of Children with Hearing Impairment (LOCHI) study, children’s caregivers and educators completed questionnaires on demographic characteristics, including the communication mode (oral, manual, or mixed) and languages used in home and early educational environments. This article reports an exploratory analysis to examine factors associated with language use and communication mode of children at 3 years of age. A Chi Square Automatic Interaction Detector (CHAID) analysis was performed on data from 406 children to examine factors influencing communication mode and oral language use. The factor that most influenced children’s communication mode at home was the communication mode used by their female caregiver. Children’s communication mode in their early education environment was most related to the communication mode they used at home, and then related to the presence of additional needs in the children, female caregivers’ level of education and the male caregivers’ use of languages other than English (LOTEs). A second exploratory CHAID analysis of data for children from multilingual families (n = 106) indicated that female caregivers’ use of English at home significantly influenced whether children used a LOTE at home. Finally, the use of a LOTE at home was associated with the use of a LOTE in the early education environment. These findings serve as an initial description of the factors that were associated with the communication mode and language use of children with hearing loss. PMID:23519446

A Policymaker's Guide to Scaling Home Energy Upgrades

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

LeBaron, Robin [Home Performance Coalition, Moon, PA (United States); Saul-Rinaldi, Kara [Home Performance Coalition, Moon, PA (United States)

2015-09-01

There has never been a better time to launch initiatives to promote residential energy efficiency savings. Over the past several decades, residential retrofit programs have demonstrated that energy efficiency measures contribute to achieving multiple benefits, including but not limited to reductions in home energy consumption, stabilization improvements for the grid by shaving peak loads, saving consumers millions on utility bills, and significantly reducing carbon emissions. Although a number of barriers to widespread uptake of home energy upgrades persist, the lessons learned as a result of the 2009 stimulus funding1 have resulted in a set of policy approaches that create new strategies for taking residential energy efficiency to scale.2 The identification of these approaches is well timed; energy efficiency is often the least expensive and most cost effective way to comply with a variety of federal, state and local policies. This Guide is designed to help state and local policymakers to take full advantage of new policy developments by providing them with a comprehensive set of tools to support launching or accelerating residential energy efficiency programs. It is written primarily for state and local policymakers, including state and local executives, legislators, public utility commissioners, and the staff who advise them.

Living Smart Homes: A Pilot Australian Sustainability Education Programme

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Evonne; Buys, Laurie; Bell, Lorraine

2009-01-01

This article documents the rationale and experience of a pilot Australian sustainability education programme, "Living Smart Homes" (LSH) based on a community-based social marketing model. Inspired by the Australian "Land for Wildlife" scheme, LSH is designed to engage homeowners with sustainable practices through face-to-face…

A Survey of Communications and Networking Technologies for Energy Management in Buildings and Home Automation

OpenAIRE

Kailas, Aravind; Cecchi, Valentina; Mukherjee, Arindam

2012-01-01

With the exploding power consumption in private households and increasing environmental and regulatory restraints, the need to improve the overall efficiency of electrical networks has never been greater. That being said, the most efficient way to minimize the power consumption is by voluntary mitigation of home electric energy consumption, based on energy-awareness and automatic or manual reduction of standby power of idling home appliances. Deploying bi-directional smart meters and home ene...

Effects of Home Energy Management Systems on Distribution Utilities and Feeders Under Various Market Structure; NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ruth, M.; Pratt, A.; Lunacek, M.; Mittal, S.; Wu, H.; Jones, W.

2015-06-15

The combination of distributed energy resources (DER) and retail tariff structures to provide benefits to both utility consumers and the utilities is not well understood. To improve understanding, an Integrated Energy System Model (IESM) is being developed to simulate the physical and economic aspects of DER technologies, the buildings where they reside, and feeders servicing them. The IESM was used to simulate 20 houses with home energy management systems on a single feeder under a time-of-use (TOU) tariff to estimate economic and physical impacts on both the households and the distribution utilities. Home energy management systems (HEMS) reduce consumers’ electric bills by precooling houses in the hours before peak electricity pricing. Utilization of HEMS reduce peak loads during high price hours but shifts it to hours with off-peak and shoulder prices, resulting in a higher peak load. used to simulate 20 houses with home energy management systems on a single feeder under a time-of-use (TOU) tariff to estimate economic and physical impacts on both the households and the distribution utilities. Home energy management systems (HEMS) reduce consumers’ electric bills by precooling houses in the hours before peak electricity pricing. Utilization of HEMS reduce peak loads during high price hours but shifts it to hours with off-peak and shoulder prices, resulting in a higher peak load.

Integrative solutions for intelligent energy management. Smart metering, smart home, smart grid; Integrative Loesungsansaetze fuer ein intelligentes Energiemanagement. Smart Metering, Smart Home and Smart Grid

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jungfleisch, Achim [Hager Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH und Co. KG, Blieskastel (Germany). Marketing

2011-07-01

Smart Metering, Smart Home, Smart Grid - these key words significantly determine the current debate about intelligent energy management, or new energy concepts. The author of the contribution under consideration describes the interactions between Smart Metering, Smart Home and Smart Grids and the technical connection of these interactions. Thus, the compact tebis KNX demovea server connects Windows computer and the Internet with the building automation based on KNX. The technically simple combination of smart metering and smart home via Hager radio tower of the building automation provides an access to key energy data for an intelligent load management.

Energy Saving Homes and Buildings, Continuum Magazine, Spring 2014 / Issue 6 (Book)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2014-03-01

This issue of Continuum focuses on NREL's research to improve the energy efficiency of residential and commercial buildings. Heating, cooling, and lighting our homes and commercial structures account for more than 70% of all electricity used in the United States. That costs homeowners, businesses, and government agencies more than $400 billion annually, about 40% of our nation's total energy costs. Producing that energy contributes almost 40% of our nation's carbon dioxide emissions.By 2030, an estimated 900 billion square feet of new and rebuilt construction will be developed worldwide, providing an unprecedented opportunity to create efficient, sustainable buildings. Increasing the energy performance of our homes alone could potentially eliminate up to 160 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions and lower residential energy bills by $21 billion annually by the end of the decade.

ResStock - Targeting Energy and Cost Savings for U.S. Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wilson, Eric J [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-09-29

The ResStock analysis tool is helping states, municipalities, utilities, and manufacturers identify which home upgrades save the most energy and money. Across the country there's a vast diversity in the age, size, construction practices, installed equipment, appliances, and resident behavior of the housing stock, not to mention the range of climates. These variations have hindered the accuracy of predicting savings for existing homes. Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) developed ResStock. It's a versatile tool that takes a new approach to large-scale residential energy analysis by combining: large public and private data sources, statistical sampling, detailed subhourly building simulations, high-performance computing. This combination achieves unprecedented granularity and most importantly - accuracy - in modeling the diversity of the single-family housing stock.

Preliminary assessment of the Louisiana Home Energy Rebate Offer program using IPMVP guidelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kaiser, Mark J.; Pulsipher, Allan G. [Center for Energy Studies, Louisiana State University, Energy Coast and Environment Building, Nicholson Extension Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 (United States)

2010-02-15

The Louisiana Home Energy Rebate Offer (HERO) is a residential energy conservation program established in 1999 to provide rebates for qualified applicants to build new homes that are more energy efficient or improve the energy efficiency of existing homes. Energy conservation programs require careful evaluation because of the high cost to implement the measures and the expectation that they will reduce energy use. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that residential energy conservation measures in a hot and humid climate can be evaluated using the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP), a best practice methodology commonly used in industrial and commercial performance-based contracts, but rarely, if ever, applied to residential programs. Using a random sample of 60 HERO participants, we were able to construct statistically significant electricity consumption baseline models for 90% of households. We determined that more than half of the sample participants consumed more electricity after their efficiency improvement, with an average net household savings of 172 kWh/yr, about 1% pre-retrofit consumption. A description of the baseline model construction, preliminary program evaluation, and recommendations are provided. All program conclusions are considered preliminary until a larger and more comprehensive study is conducted. (author)

Preliminary assessment of the Louisiana Home Energy Rebate Offer program using IPMVP guidelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaiser, Mark J.; Pulsipher, Allan G.

2010-01-01

The Louisiana Home Energy Rebate Offer (HERO) is a residential energy conservation program established in 1999 to provide rebates for qualified applicants to build new homes that are more energy efficient or improve the energy efficiency of existing homes. Energy conservation programs require careful evaluation because of the high cost to implement the measures and the expectation that they will reduce energy use. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that residential energy conservation measures in a hot and humid climate can be evaluated using the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP), a best practice methodology commonly used in industrial and commercial performance-based contracts, but rarely, if ever, applied to residential programs. Using a random sample of 60 HERO participants, we were able to construct statistically significant electricity consumption baseline models for 90% of households. We determined that more than half of the sample participants consumed more electricity after their efficiency improvement, with an average net household savings of 172 kWh/yr, about 1% pre-retrofit consumption. A description of the baseline model construction, preliminary program evaluation, and recommendations are provided. All program conclusions are considered preliminary until a larger and more comprehensive study is conducted.

78 FR 9936 - Federal Housing Administration (FHA): PowerSaver Home Energy Retrofit Loan Pilot Program...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-12

... Administration (FHA): PowerSaver Home Energy Retrofit Loan Pilot Program: Extension of Pilot Program AGENCY...: On March 31, 2011, HUD published a notice that announced HUD's FHA Home Energy Retrofit Loan Pilot Program (Retrofit Pilot Program) known as FHA PowerSaver, which is a pilot program conducted for loans...

Indirect Solar Water Heating in Single-Family, Zero Energy Ready Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aldrich, Robb [Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings, Norwalk, CT (United States)

2016-02-17

Solar water heating systems are not new, but they have not become prevalent in most of the U.S. Most of the country is cold enough that indirect solar thermal systems are required for freeze protection, and average installed cost of these systems is $9,000 to $10,000 for typical systems on single-family homes. These costs can vary significantly in different markets and with different contractors, and federal and regional incentives can reduce these up-front costs by 50% or more. In western Massachusetts, an affordable housing developer built a community of 20 homes with a goal of approaching zero net energy consumption. In addition to excellent thermal envelopes and PV systems, the developer installed a solar domestic water heating system (SDHW) on each home. The Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB), a research consortium funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Building America program, commissioned some of the systems, and CARB was able to monitor detailed performance of one system for 28 months.

Handbook for Home Economics Pre-Employment Laboratory Education Teachers.

Science.gov (United States)

Texas Tech Univ., Lubbock. Home Economics Instructional Materials Center.

This handbook for home economics pre-employment laboratory education (PELE) teachers is divided into ten chapters. The first chapter provides detailed descriptions of each PELE program and possible career opportunities related to each program. Chapter 2 expounds upon the importance of the advisory council to the program. The third chapter…

Clean energy choices: Tips on buying and using renewable energy at home

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

NREL

2000-01-01

This brochure provides information on how consumers can use renewable energy in and around the home. Information on buying green power; using renewables to generate power; using passive and active solar and geothermal heat pumps to heat, cool and light buildings; and using alternative fuels and vehicles is included. Resources at the end of each chapter help readers find more information

Clean energy choices: Tips on buying and using renewable energy at home

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NREL

2000-04-07

This brochure provides information on how consumers can use renewable energy in and around the home. Information on buying green power; using renewables to generate power; using passive and active solar and geothermal heat pumps to heat, cool and light buildings; and using alternative fuels and vehicles is included. Resources at the end of each chapter help readers find more information.

Technical Barriers, Gaps,and Opportunities Related to Home Energy Upgrade Market Delivery

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bianchi, Marcus V.A. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2011-11-01

This report outlines the technical barriers, gaps, and opportunities that arise in executing home energy upgrade market delivery approaches, as identified through research conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy's Building America program.

Agreement Technologies for Energy Optimization at Home.

Science.gov (United States)

González-Briones, Alfonso; Chamoso, Pablo; De La Prieta, Fernando; Demazeau, Yves; Corchado, Juan M

2018-05-19

Nowadays, it is becoming increasingly common to deploy sensors in public buildings or homes with the aim of obtaining data from the environment and taking decisions that help to save energy. Many of the current state-of-the-art systems make decisions considering solely the environmental factors that cause the consumption of energy. These systems are successful at optimizing energy consumption; however, they do not adapt to the preferences of users and their comfort. Any system that is to be used by end-users should consider factors that affect their wellbeing. Thus, this article proposes an energy-saving system, which apart from considering the environmental conditions also adapts to the preferences of inhabitants. The architecture is based on a Multi-Agent System (MAS), its agents use Agreement Technologies (AT) to perform a negotiation process between the comfort preferences of the users and the degree of optimization that the system can achieve according to these preferences. A case study was conducted in an office building, showing that the proposed system achieved average energy savings of 17.15%.

Home is where the hearth is: grant recipients' views of England's home energy efficiency scheme (Warm Front).

Science.gov (United States)

Gilbertson, Jan; Stevens, Maryjane; Stiell, Bernadette; Thorogood, Nicki

2006-08-01

This paper reports the results of research carried out as part of the national health impact evaluation of the Warm Front Scheme, a government initiative aimed at alleviating fuel poverty in England. Semi-structured interviews were carried out in a purposive sample of 49 households which received home energy improvements under the Scheme from five urban areas (Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Southampton). Each household had received installation, replacement or refurbishment of the heating system and, in some cases, also insulation of the cavity wall or loft or both, and draught-proofing measures. Most householders reported improved and more controllable warmth and hot water. Many also reported perceptions of improved physical health and comfort, especially of mental health and emotional well-being and, in several cases, the easing of symptoms of chronic illness. There were reports of improved family relations, an expansion of the domestic space used during cold months, greater use of kitchens and improved nutrition, increased privacy, improved social interaction, and an increase in comfort and atmosphere within the home. Greater warmth and comfort also enhanced emotional security, and recipients were more content and at ease in their homes. However there was little evidence of substantially lower heating bills. These results provide evidence that Warm Front home energy improvements are accompanied by appreciable benefits in terms of use of living space, comfort and quality of life, physical and mental well-being, although there is only limited evidence of change in health behaviour.

Energy efficiency analysis considering the use of an intelligent systems management in a smart home

OpenAIRE

Morais, H.; Fernandes, Filipe; Faria, Pedro; Vale, Zita

2012-01-01

In this abstract is presented an energy management system included in a SCADA system existent in a intelligent home. The system control the home energy resources according to the players definitions (electricity consumption and comfort levels), the electricity prices variation in real time mode and the DR events proposed by the aggregators.

Integrated and Optimized Energy-Efficient Construction Package for a Community of Production Homes in the Mixed-Humid Climate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mallay, D. [Partnership for Home Innovation, Upper Marlboro, MD (United States); Wiehagen, J. [Partnership for Home Innovation, Upper Marlboro, MD (United States); Del Bianco, M. [Partnership for Home Innovation, Upper Marlboro, MD (United States)

2014-10-01

This research high performance home analyzes how a set of advanced technologies can be integrated into a durable and energy-efficient house in the mixed-humid climate while remaining affordable to homeowners. The technical solutions documented in this report are the cornerstone of the builder's entire business model based on delivering high-performance homes on a production basis as a standard product offering to all price segments of the residential market. Home Innovation Research Labs partnered with production builder Nexus EnergyHomes (CZ 4) and they plan to adopt the successful components of the energy solution package for all 55 homes in the community. The research objective was to optimize the builder's energy solution package based on energy performance and construction costs. All of the major construction features, including envelope upgrades, space conditioning system, hot water system, and solar electric system were analyzed.

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: Boulder ZED Design Build - Boulder, Colorado

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

none,

2014-11-01

This case study describes a DOE Zero Energy Ready Home in Boulder, Colorado, that scored HERS 38 without PV and 0 with PV. This 2,504 ft2 custom home has advanced framed walls, superior insulation a ground-source heat pump, ERV, and triple-pane windows.

Energy Education Materials Inventory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1979-08-01

The two volumes of the Energy Education Materials Inventory (EEMI) comprise an annotated bibliography of widely available energy education materials and reference sources. This systematic listing is designed to provide a source book which will facilitate access to these educational resources and hasten the inclusion of energy-focused learning experiences in kindergarten through grade twelve. EEMI Volume II expands Volume I and contains items that have become available since its completion in May, 1976. The inventory consists of three major parts. A core section entitled Media contains titles and descriptive information on educational materials, categorized according to medium. The other two major sections - Grade Level and Subject - are cross indexes of the items for which citations appear in the Media Section. These contain titles categorized according to grade level and subject and show the page numbers of the full citations. The general subject area covered includes the following: alternative energy sources (wood, fuel from organic wastes, geothermal energy, nuclear power, solar energy, tidal power, wind energy); energy conservation, consumption, and utilization; energy policy and legislation, environmental/social aspects of energy technology; and fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, petroleum). (RWR)

Solar Energy: Uses for Your Home. The CIRcular: Consumer Information Report 15.

Science.gov (United States)

Bank of America NT & SA, San Francisco, CA.

This report defines active and passive solar energy systems, describes home uses for solar energy, and offers guidelines for choosing and installing a system. Much of the information is specific to the state of California. Uses for solar energy which are presented include passive space heating, passive cooling, active space heating, household…

Attitudes and behaviours of private sector landlords towards the energy efficiency of tenanted homes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hope, Alexander John; Booth, Alexander

2014-01-01

The UK's housing stock generates approximately 27% of the country's total annual carbon emissions. In light of the legally binding targets to reduce carbon emissions, new housing is subject to a tightening of regulations governing energy demand and efficiency resulting in a gradual improvement in carbon emissions. The question is how to achieve the deep carbon emission reductions from existing domestic properties, of which 75% will still be in use in 2050. Government has sought to provide incentives to homeowners to improve the energy efficiency of their households, and mandate improvements in socially rented housing using a range of fiscal measures, most recently the ‘Green Deal’. There has however been little consideration of the 18% of UK households who privately rent their home, a tenure that is growing fast. The aim of this research is to investigate the factors that influence private sector landlords when considering energy efficiency improvements to their tenanted homes. The results indicate that government policy has consistently failed to engage private sector landlords in the issue of energy efficiency and thus measures must be taken to understand the motivations of landlords in order to design effective incentives and interventions. - Highlights: • Attitudes of private sector landlords to energy efficiency in their tenanted homes are analysed. • Reports on the actions taken by private landlords to improve energy efficiency. • Privately rented homes poorly performing in terms of energy performance. • The private rented sector is disengaged with the issue of housing energy performance. • Current government initiatives such as Green Deal offer little incentive for improvements

Out-of-Home Care and the Educational Achievement, Attendance, and Suspensions of Maltreated Children: A Propensity-Matched Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Maclean, Miriam J; Taylor, Catherine L; O'Donnell, Melissa

2018-04-30

To estimate the influence of out-of-home care on reading scores, attendance, and suspensions by comparing a matched sample of maltreated children who entered out-of-home care and maltreated children who remained at home. Linked administrative data for all children born in Western Australia between 1990 and 2010 was used, focusing on those with substantiated maltreatment before year 9 achievement tests (n = 3297). Propensity score modelling was used to address differences in preexisting risk factors (child, family, neighborhood characteristics, maltreatment history, and reading scores) and compare outcomes for children placed in out-of-home care and those remaining in in-home care. Both groups of maltreated children had poor educational outcomes. After accounting for group differences in risk characteristics, there was no difference in year 9 reading achievement for the out-of-home care and in-home care groups. There was no difference in suspensions for the groups. The only significant difference was children in out-of-home care had fewer school absences than children in in-home care. Out-of-home care was not found to be a significant factor in the adverse educational outcomes of these children; however, there is a clear need for further educational support to address poor outcomes for children involved with child protection services. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Guidelines for Home Energy Upgrade Professionals: Standard Work Specifications for Multifamily Energy Upgrades (Fact Sheet)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2011-08-01

This fact sheet provides essential information about the 2011 publication of the Workforce Guidelines for Multifamily Home Energy Upgrades, including their origin, their development with the help of industry leaders to create the standard work specifications for retrofit work.

University of Calgary students in 2011 solar home competition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

2010-01-01

This article described a solar home designed by University of Calgary students for the 2011 Solar Decathlon competition hosted by the United States Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The home features an Aboriginal design that will produces at least as much energy as it consumes. Designed as a collaborative project between First Nations, industry, and the University of Calgary, the entry will compete against teams from throughout the world. The entry will be judged in several categories, including architecture, engineering, affordability, and market appeal. In 2009, students from the university collaborated with other Canadian educational facilities to place sixth overall in the competition. 1 fig.

Promoting Residential Renewable Energy via Peer-to-Peer Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Heiskanen, Eva; Nissilä, Heli; Tainio, Pasi

2017-01-01

Peer-to-peer learning is gaining increasing attention in nonformal community-based environmental education. This article evaluates a novel modification of a concept for peer-to-peer learning about residential energy solutions (Open Homes). We organized collective "Energy Walks" visiting several homes with novel energy solutions and…

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: United Way of Long Island, United Veterans Beacon House

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

2017-09-01

United Way of Long Island’s Housing Development Corporation built this 3,719-ft2 two–story, 5-bedroom home in Huntington Station, New York, to the rigorous performance requirements of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Zero Energy Ready Home Program. The home is packed with high-performance features like LED lighting and ENERGY STAR appliances. The asymmetrical, optimally angled roof provides plenty of space for roof-mounted solar panels for electric generation and hot water.

Home discharge of technology-dependent children: evaluation of a respiratory-therapist driven family education program.

Science.gov (United States)

Tearl, Donna K; Hertzog, James H

2007-02-01

Initial hospital discharge to home of technology-dependent children requires extensive training and education of the family caregivers. Education of adult family members should promote positive interactions in a nonthreatening manner while facilitating the development of the knowledge and skills to competently and independently provide all aspects of the medical care. We utilize a training program for adult family members of children who have undergone tracheostomy to facilitate long-term mechanical ventilatory support and who are being prepared for their initial discharge from the hospital to home. A dedicated respiratory therapist family educator directs this program. Multiple teaching tools, activities, and training sessions, based on adult learning theory, are utilized to develop appropriate clinical skills to manage children with tracheostomies and the associated technological supports. We evaluated the effectiveness of our program by administering a written test to caregivers, at the start and the conclusion of their training. We also surveyed the caregivers about their satisfaction with the educational program and the respiratory therapist family educator's performance. We also surveyed employees of the durable medical equipment companies used by the families, regarding the caregivers' knowledge and competency in the home one month following discharge. Our program was associated with a statistically significant improvement in caregiver test performance, and the caregivers expressed a high degree of satisfaction with the program. The employees of the durable medical equipment companies perceived a high degree of knowledge and competence on the part of the home caregivers. Our training program appears to have a positive impact on the educational preparation of caregivers.

Integrated and Optimized Energy-Efficient Construction Package for a Community of Production Homes in the Mixed-Humid Climate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mallay, D.; Wiehagen, J.; Del Bianco, M.

2014-10-01

Selection and integration of high performance home features are two sides of the same coin in energy efficient sustainable construction. Many advanced technologies are available for selection, but it is in the integration of these technologies into an affordable set of features that can be used on a production basis by builders, that ensures whole-house performance meets expectations. This research high performance home analyzes how a set of advanced technologies can be integrated into a durable and energy efficient house in the mixed-humid climate while remaining affordable to homeowners. The technical solutions documented in this report are the cornerstone of the builder's entire business model based on delivering high-performance homes on a production basis as a standard product offering to all price segments of the residential market. Home Innovation Research Labs partnered with production builder Nexus EnergyHomes (CZ 4). The builder plans to adopt the successful components of the energy solution package for all 55 homes in the community. The research objective was to optimize the builder's energy solution package based on energy performance and construction costs. All of the major construction features, including envelope upgrades, space conditioning system, hot water system, and solar electric system were analyzed. The information in this report can be used by builders and designers to evaluate options, and the integration of options, for increasing the efficiency of home designs in climate zone 4. The data also provide a point of reference for evaluating estimates of energy savings and costs for specific features.

Denmark's net'zero energy home'

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Ellen Kathrine

2010-01-01

Judging by looks alone, you'd never guess that the simple one-and-a-half-story house on a residential street outside Århus, Denmark, is anything more than an ordinary single-family home. The stylish little house has the broad windows and long sloping roof of a typical Scandinavian home; a trampol......Judging by looks alone, you'd never guess that the simple one-and-a-half-story house on a residential street outside Århus, Denmark, is anything more than an ordinary single-family home. The stylish little house has the broad windows and long sloping roof of a typical Scandinavian home...

Document education to the energy; Dossier documentaire education a l'energie

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2003-01-01

This document proposes a recording of more than one hundred educational tools essential for the realization of a project on the energy education: books, reviews, videotapes, CD-Rom, educational cases. (A.L.B.)

Energy Education in Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Messick, Rosemary; de Paiva, Terezhina Villela O'Grady

1980-01-01

Compares energy education in Brazil and the United States. Topics discussed include the Brazilian setting, government initiatives, dependence on foreign fuel sources, public reaction, schools and energy education, and mass media involvement. (DB)

Developing the home energy report: An everyday householder-centred approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Parnell, R.; Popovic Larsen, O. [Sheffield Univ., School of Architecture, Sheffield (United Kingdom)

2005-10-01

A compulsory home energy report (Her) is to be introduced by the government in England and Wales as part of the Home Information Pack. This will, in part, meet the requirements of the European Directive on The Energy Performance of Buildings, providing energy performance certificates for dwellings when sold on the open market and information on measures to improve energy performance. This paper presents the results of a study, which explored the effectiveness of an Her in use. The study found that householders intended to take-up 27.1% ({+-}5.7%; n = 231, p < 0.05) of the recommended measures and 46.3% ({+-}6.4%; n = 231, p < 0.05) of householders intended to install at least one recommended measure within a year. However, preliminary findings suggest that actual take-up is lower than the intended rate and measures adopted tend to be those that are least effective. The paper draws on an everyday householder-centred framework in order to make proposals for the improved effectiveness of the HER programme in England and Wales. These recommendations have implications for: the report's motivational content; the presentation of information; and the environment in which information is delivered and action is supported. (Author)

The Influence of Education and Home Environment on the Cognitive Outcomes of Preschool Children in Germany

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicole Biedinger

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Educational inequality is a well-established topic among the scientific community in Western countries. Major individual differences emerge well before children arrive at school. Therefore the following analysis deals with the explanation of early differences in cognitive outcomes. However, there is not much research done in Germany. The main question is if the strong effect of the educational background and the home environment on their outcomes and on the improvement exists as well. To test this, data of the project “Preschool Education and Educational Careers among Migrant Children” was used. The results of structural equation models confirm that the home environment and the education of the parents are important for children's outcomes at the age of 3 to 4. In addition both factors also play a major role for the explanation of the improvement of the cognitive abilities. The results show that in Germany the home environment and parental education are important predictors of cognitive abilities. As a main result the study shows that it is very important to control for earlier abilities of the children and to encourage low educated parents to be active with their children, since in that way they can compensate for their lower educational background.

COMMUNITY BASED HOME ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Adnan Aziz

2017-05-01

Full Text Available In a Smart Grid (SG scenario, domestic consumers can gain cost reduction benefit by scheduling their Appliance Activation Time (AAT towards the slots of low charge. Minimization in cost is essential in Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS to induce consumers acceptance for power scheduling to accommodate for a Demand Response (DR at peak hours. Despite the fact that many algorithms address the power scheduling for HEMS, community based optimization has not been the focus. This paper presents an algorithm that targets the minimization of energy costs of whole community while keeping a low Peak to Average Ratio (PAR and smooth Power Usage Pattern (PUP. Objective of cost reduction is accomplished by finding most favorable AAT by Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO in conjunction with Inclined Block Rate (IBR approach and Circular Price Shift (CPS. Simulated numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of CPS to assist the merger of PSO & IBR to enhance the reduction/stability of PAR and cost reduction.

AAL Platform with a "De Facto" Standard Communication Interface (TICO): Training in Home Control in Special Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Guillomía San Bartolomé, Miguel A; Falcó Boudet, Jorge L; Artigas Maestre, José Ignacio; Sánchez Agustín, Ana

2017-10-12

Framed within a long-term cooperation between university and special education teachers, training in alternative communication skills and home control was realized using the "TICO" interface, a communication panel editor extensively used in special education schools. From a technological view we follow AAL technology trends by integrating a successful interface in a heterogeneous services AAL platform, focusing on a functional view. Educationally, a very flexible interface in line with communication training allows dynamic adjustment of complexity, enhanced by an accessible mindset and virtual elements significance already in use, offers specific interaction feedback, adapts to the evolving needs and capacities and improves the personal autonomy and self-confidence of children at school and home. TICO-home-control was installed during the last school year in the library of a special education school to study adaptations and training strategies to enhance the autonomy opportunities of its pupils. The methodology involved a case study and structured and semi-structured observations. Five children, considered unable to use commercial home control systems were trained obtaining good results in enabling them to use an open home control system. Moreover this AAL platform has proved efficient in training children in previous cognitive steps like virtual representation and cause-effect interaction.

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: AquaZephyr — Eco-Village-Ithaca, Ithaca, NY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

none,

2014-09-01

This two-story, 1,664 ft2 home is one of 17 single-family and four duplex homes built as part of an energy-efficient cooperative. Winner in the Production Builder category of the 2014 Housing Innovation Awards, the home achieves a HERS 56 without photovoltaics and HERS 15 with 4 kW of photovoltaics.

An Analysis of the Effects of Residential Photovoltaic Energy Systems on Home Sales Prices in California

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoen, Ben; Cappers, Peter; Wiser, Ryan; Thayer, Mark

2011-04-19

An increasing number of homes in the U.S. have sold with photovoltaic (PV) energy systems installed at the time of sale, yet relatively little research exists that estimates the marginal impacts of those PV systems on home sale prices. A clearer understanding of these possible impacts might influence the decisions of homeowners considering the installation of a PV system, homebuyers considering the purchase of a home with PV already installed, and new home builders considering including PV as an optional or standard product on their homes. This research analyzes a large dataset of California homes that sold from 2000 through mid-2009 with PV installed. It finds strong evidence that homes with PV systems sold for a premium over comparable homes without PV systems during this time frame. Estimates for this premium expressed in dollars per watt of installed PV range, on average, from roughly $4 to $5.5/watt across a large number of hedonic and repeat sales model specifications and robustness tests. When expressed as a ratio of the sales price premium of PV to estimated annual energy cost savings associated with PV, an average ratio of 14:1 to 19:1 can be calculated; these results are consistent with those of the more-extensive existing literature on the impact of energy efficiency on sales prices. When the data are split among new and existing homes, however, PV system premiums are markedly affected. New homes with PV show premiums of $2.3-2.6/watt, while existing homes with PV show premiums of more than $6/watt. Reasons for this discrepancy are suggested, yet further research is warranted. A number of other areas where future research would be useful are also highlighted.

Television Viewing, Educational Quality of the Home Environment, and School Readiness.

Science.gov (United States)

Clarke, Angela Teresa; Kurtz-Costes, Beth

1997-01-01

Researchers examined relationships among children's television viewing, school readiness, parental employment, and the home environment's educational quality. Thirty low-income parents completed surveys. Their preschoolers completed IQ and school readiness assessments. Television viewing adversely related to school readiness and the home…

Revision of the energy conservation requirements in the manufactured home construction and safety standards

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Conner, C C; Lee, A D; Lucas, R G; Taylor, Z T

1992-02-01

Thermal requirements were developed for manufactured (mobile) homes in response to legislation requiring the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to revise its thermal standards for manufactured homes. A life-cycle cost minimization from the home owner's perspecetive was used to establish an optimum in a large number of cities for several prototype homes. The development of the economic, financial, and energy conservation measure parameters input into the life-cycle cost analysis was documented. The optimization results were aggregated to zones which were expressed as a maximum overall home U-value (thermal transmittance) requirement. The revised standard's costs, benefits, and net value to the consumer were quantified. 50 refs.

Solar Energy Education. Reader, Part I. Energy, Society, and the Sun

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1981-05-01

A collection of magazine articles which were selected for information on solar energy is presented in this booklet. This booklet is the first of a four part series of the Solar Energy Reader. The articles provide brief discussions on topics such as the power of the sun, solar energy developments for homes, solar energy versus power plants, solar access laws, and the role of utilities with respect to the sun's energy. (BCS)

Oral health educational interventions for nursing home staff and residents.

Science.gov (United States)

Albrecht, Martina; Kupfer, Ramona; Reissmann, Daniel R; Mühlhauser, Ingrid; Köpke, Sascha

2016-09-30

Associations between nursing home residents' oral health status and quality of life, respiratory tract infections, and nutritional status have been reported. Educational interventions for nurses or residents, or both, focusing on knowledge and skills related to oral health management may have the potential to improve residents' oral health. To assess the effects of oral health educational interventions for nursing home staff or residents, or both, to maintain or improve the oral health of nursing home residents. We searched the Cochrane Oral Health Trials Register (to 18 January 2016), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (the Cochrane Library, 2015, Issue 12), MEDLINE Ovid (1946 to 18 January 2016), Embase Ovid (1980 to 18 January 2016), CINAHL EBSCO (1937 to 18 January 2016), and Web of Science Conference Proceedings (1990 to 18 January 2016). We searched ClinicalTrials.gov and the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform for ongoing trials to 18 January 2016. In addition, we searched reference lists of identified articles and contacted experts in the field. We placed no restrictions on language or date of publication when searching the electronic databases. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and cluster-RCTs comparing oral health educational programmes for nursing staff or residents, or both with usual care or any other oral healthcare intervention. Two review authors independently screened articles retrieved from the searches for relevance, extracted data from included studies, assessed risk of bias for each included study, and evaluated the overall quality of the evidence. We retrieved data about the development and evaluation processes of complex interventions on the basis of the Criteria for Reporting the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions in healthcare: revised guideline (CReDECI 2). We contacted authors of relevant studies for additional information. We included nine RCTs involving

Zero Energy Ready Home Multifamily Case Study Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dentz, Jordan [Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions Collaborative, New York, NY (United States); Alaigh, Kunal [Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions Collaborative, New York, NY (United States)

2016-02-05

Two multifamily buildings planned in Climate Zone 4 were analyzed to determine the cost, energy and performance implications of redesigning them to comply with Zero Energy Ready Home, a recognition program of the U.S. Department of Energy. Energy modeling was conducted on one representative apartment in each building using BEopt. Construction costs were obtained from the developer and subcontractors to determine savings and cost increases over ENERGY STAR. It was found that seven items would be necessary to change to comply with ZERH criteria when starting from the original design which was compliant with ENERGY STAR version 3.0. Design changes were made to the exterior walls, domestic water heating system, duct protection, duct design, garage ventilation, and pest control to comply with ZERH requirements. Energy impacts of upgrading from the original design to ZERH resulted in 2 to 8% reduction in modeled source energy consumption, or 1.7 to 10.4 MMBtu per year, although the original design was already about 8% better than a design configured to minimum ENERGY STAR criteria. According to the BEopt analysis, annualized energy related costs of the ZERH design were slightly higher for the apartment and slightly lower for the townhome when compared to the original design.

The Medical Home

Science.gov (United States)

... Videos for Educators Search English Español The Medical Home KidsHealth / For Parents / The Medical Home What's in ... for your child. What Does the Term "Medical Home" Mean? A medical home isn't a place ...

Power to the Plug: An Introduction to Energy, Electricity, Consumption and Efficiency

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

DOE / EERE / NEED Project

2011-06-07

The NEED Project and the U.S. Department of Energy have collaborated to bring you this educational four-page guide to energy, electricity, consumption and efficiency. It includes, on the last page, a home energy survey to help you analyze your home energy use.

Home safe home: Evaluation of a childhood home safety program.

Science.gov (United States)

Stewart, Tanya Charyk; Clark, Andrew; Gilliland, Jason; Miller, Michael R; Edwards, Jane; Haidar, Tania; Batey, Brandon; Vogt, Kelly N; Parry, Neil G; Fraser, Douglas D; Merritt, Neil

2016-09-01

The London Health Sciences Centre Home Safety Program (HSP) provides safety devices, education, a safety video, and home safety checklist to all first-time parents for the reduction of childhood home injuries. The objective of this study was to evaluate the HSP for the prevention of home injuries in children up to 2 years of age. A program evaluation was performed with follow-up survey, along with an interrupted time series analysis of emergency department (ED) visits for home injuries 5 years before (2007-2013) and 2 years after (2013-2015) implementation. Spatial analysis of ED visits was undertaken to assess differences in home injury rates by dissemination areas controlling differences in socioeconomic status (i.e., income, education, and lone-parent status) at the neighborhood level. A total of 3,458 first-time parents participated in the HSP (a 74% compliance rate). Of these, 20% (n = 696) of parents responded to our questionnaire, with 94% reporting the program to be useful (median, 6; interquartile range, 2 on a 7-point Likert scale) and 81% learning new strategies for preventing home injuries. The median age of the respondent's babies were 12 months (interquartile range, 1). The home safety check list was used by 87% of respondents to identify hazards in their home, with 95% taking action to minimize the risk. The time series analysis demonstrated a significant decline in ED visits for home injuries in toddlers younger than2 years of age after HSP implementation. The declines in ED visits for home injuries remained significant over and above each socioeconomic status covariate. Removing hazards, supervision, and installing safety devices are key facilitators in the reduction of home injuries. Parents found the HSP useful to identify hazards, learn new strategies, build confidence, and provide safety products. Initial finding suggests that the program is effective in reducing home injuries in children up to 2 years of age. Therapeutic/care management study

Higher education and spatial (im)mobility: nontraditional students and living at home

OpenAIRE

Hazel Christie

2007-01-01

I investigate the mobility decisions of students going into higher education in the UK, and look particularly at the circumstances under which students in one higher education market chose to live at home and their experiences of attending a local university. As more young people from nontraditional backgrounds are encouraged to participate in higher education, and as the financial costs of attending are increasingly borne by students and their families, more students are choosing to stay at ...

Whole-Building Design Increases Energy Efficiency in a Mixed-Humid Climate: Ideal Homes, Norman, Oklahoma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poole, L.; Anderson, R.

2001-01-01

New houses designed by Ideal Homes, with technical support from the U.S. Department of Energy's Building America Program, save their homeowners money by applying the principles of ''whole-building'' design. The homes are in Norman, Oklahoma

Energy Tracking Software Platform

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ryan Davis; Nathan Bird; Rebecca Birx; Hal Knowles

2011-04-04

Acceleration has created an interactive energy tracking and visualization platform that supports decreasing electric, water, and gas usage. Homeowners have access to tools that allow them to gauge their use and track progress toward a smaller energy footprint. Real estate agents have access to consumption data, allowing for sharing a comparison with potential home buyers. Home builders have the opportunity to compare their neighborhood's energy efficiency with competitors. Home energy raters have a tool for gauging the progress of their clients after efficiency changes. And, social groups are able to help encourage members to reduce their energy bills and help their environment. EnergyIT.com is the business umbrella for all energy tracking solutions and is designed to provide information about our energy tracking software and promote sales. CompareAndConserve.com (Gainesville-Green.com) helps homeowners conserve energy through education and competition. ToolsForTenants.com helps renters factor energy usage into their housing decisions.

Returning home

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agergaard, Jytte; Brøgger, Ditte

2016-01-01

flows. By focusing on these educational migrants, this paper explores how they connect to their rural homes. Guided by a critical reading of the migration-development scholarship, the paper examines how migrants and their relatives make sense of educational migrants’ remitting and returning practices......, and by comparing three groups of educational migrants, the migrants’ reasons for staying connected and sending remittances are scrutinized. The paper finds that although educational migrants do not generate extensive economic remittances for local development in Nepal, they stay connected to their rural homes...

75 FR 78730 - Federal Housing Administration (FHA): Notice of FHA PowerSaver Home Energy Retrofit Loan Pilot...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-16

... Administration (FHA): Notice of FHA PowerSaver Home Energy Retrofit Loan Pilot Program: Extension of Period... proposal to conduct an FHA Home Energy Retrofit Loan Pilot Program (Retrofit Pilot Program or Pilot Program... Efficient Mortgage Innovation pilot program targeted to the single family housing market, and the Retrofit...

Energy education - a multidisciplinary approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nezhad, H.G.

1993-01-01

One of the major global issues of the 1990s will be how to best use our scarce energy resources while maintaining a high economic growth rate and improving environmental quality. In fact, the survival of our civilization depends very much on the wise use of conventional energy sources and the development of renewable resources. Although securing our future energy needs requires joint efforts by governments, the public, and industry, the most crucial role is that of energy educators who are needed to train manpower and educate the public. In the past, education has played mainly a reactive role in crisis situations. We must become proactive now. I strongly believe that through appropriate energy education at all levels of our society, we can prevent future energy and environmental crisis and at the same rime provide our people with a safe environment and an adequate supply of energy

Document education to the energy; Dossier documentaire education a l'energie

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2003-01-01

This document proposes a recording of more than one hundred educational tools essential for the realization of a project on the energy education: books, reviews, videotapes, CD-Rom, educational cases. (A.L.B.)

Energy Education Incentives: Evaluating the Impact of Consumer Energy Kits

Science.gov (United States)

Kirby, Sarah D.; Guin, Autumn; Langham, Laura

2015-01-01

Measuring the energy and environmental impact of residential energy education efforts is difficult. The E-Conservation residential energy management program uses consumer energy kits to document the impact of energy-efficient improvements. The consumer energy kit provides an incentive for individuals attending energy education workshop, helps…

Food and Nutrition Practices and Education Needs in Florida's Adult Family Care Homes

Science.gov (United States)

Dahl, Wendy J.; Ford, Amanda L.; Gal, Nancy J.

2014-01-01

A statewide survey was carried out to determine food and nutrition practices and education needs of Florida's adult family care homes (AFCHs). The 30-item survey included questions on food and nutrition education, supplement use, and menu planning. Infrequent use of menus and nutrition supplements was reported. A strong need was indicated for…

Asthma Education and Intervention Program: Partnership for Asthma Trigger-Free Homes (PATH)

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Golden, Cheryl

2008-01-01

...) are the co-Principal Investigators for the Partnership for Asthma Trigger-Free Homes. The PATH study's goal is reducing the asthma disease burden on low-income housing residents by means of a peer-based education program...

AAL Platform with a “De Facto” Standard Communication Interface (TICO): Training in Home Control in Special Education

Science.gov (United States)

Guillomía San Bartolomé, Miguel A.; Artigas Maestre, José Ignacio; Sánchez Agustín, Ana

2017-01-01

Framed within a long-term cooperation between university and special education teachers, training in alternative communication skills and home control was realized using the “TICO” interface, a communication panel editor extensively used in special education schools. From a technological view we follow AAL technology trends by integrating a successful interface in a heterogeneous services AAL platform, focusing on a functional view. Educationally, a very flexible interface in line with communication training allows dynamic adjustment of complexity, enhanced by an accessible mindset and virtual elements significance already in use, offers specific interaction feedback, adapts to the evolving needs and capacities and improves the personal autonomy and self-confidence of children at school and home. TICO-home-control was installed during the last school year in the library of a special education school to study adaptations and training strategies to enhance the autonomy opportunities of its pupils. The methodology involved a case study and structured and semi-structured observations. Five children, considered unable to use commercial home control systems were trained obtaining good results in enabling them to use an open home control system. Moreover this AAL platform has proved efficient in training children in previous cognitive steps like virtual representation and cause-effect interaction. PMID:29023383

AAL Platform with a “De Facto” Standard Communication Interface (TICO: Training in Home Control in Special Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miguel A. Guillomía San Bartolomé

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Framed within a long-term cooperation between university and special education teachers, training in alternative communication skills and home control was realized using the “TICO” interface, a communication panel editor extensively used in special education schools. From a technological view we follow AAL technology trends by integrating a successful interface in a heterogeneous services AAL platform, focusing on a functional view. Educationally, a very flexible interface in line with communication training allows dynamic adjustment of complexity, enhanced by an accessible mindset and virtual elements significance already in use, offers specific interaction feedback, adapts to the evolving needs and capacities and improves the personal autonomy and self-confidence of children at school and home. TICO-home-control was installed during the last school year in the library of a special education school to study adaptations and training strategies to enhance the autonomy opportunities of its pupils. The methodology involved a case study and structured and semi-structured observations. Five children, considered unable to use commercial home control systems were trained obtaining good results in enabling them to use an open home control system. Moreover this AAL platform has proved efficient in training children in previous cognitive steps like virtual representation and cause-effect interaction.

Natural Aggregation Approach based Home Energy Manage System with User Satisfaction Modelling

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, F. J.; Ranzi, G.; Dong, Z. Y.; Murata, J.

2017-07-01

With the prevalence of advanced sensing and two-way communication technologies, Home Energy Management System (HEMS) has attracted lots of attentions in recent years. This paper proposes a HEMS that optimally schedules the controllable Residential Energy Resources (RERs) in a Time-of-Use (TOU) pricing and high solar power penetrated environment. The HEMS aims to minimize the overall operational cost of the home, and the user’s satisfactions and requirements on the operation of different household appliances are modelled and considered in the HEMS. Further, a new biological self-aggregation intelligence based optimization technique previously proposed by the authors, i.e., Natural Aggregation Algorithm (NAA), is applied to solve the proposed HEMS optimization model. Simulations are conducted to validate the proposed method.

Are Dutch residents ready for a more stringent policy to enhance the energy performance of their homes?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Middelkoop, Manon van; Vringer, Kees; Visser, Hans

2017-01-01

Investments in the energy performance of houses offer good prospects for reducing energy consumption and CO_2 emissions. However, people are not easily convinced of the need to take measures to improve the energy performance of their houses, even when financial benefits outweigh the costs. This article analyses the factors that influence the decision for improving the energy performance of existing homes, including policy instruments. Subsequently, the article provides policy suggestions on how to stimulate energy performance improvements. Both owners and tenants (50–70%) support government policy on energy performance improvements to existing homes. Nevertheless, people also have strong feelings of autonomy regarding their homes. Our results underline the importance of well-informed and competent decision-makers. Introducing the use of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) into the tax system for energy and residential buildings might therefore be an effective way to increase the interest of owners in the EPC, improve the use and effect of this informative instrument, and make the first step towards bridging the tension between autonomy and more stringent instruments.

Energy education on the move: A national energy education survey and case studies of outstanding programs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Harrigan, M.

1992-03-01

Energy education, defined as communication that is designed to influence people's energy usage, has been conducted in one form or another by a wide range of organizations since long before the energy crisis of 1973. Energy education is undertaken by a broad range of public, private, non-profit and utility organizations for a variety of purposes. Each program has a unique message, audience and objectives. Although many energy education programs are still in the early stages of development, some of the programs have been evaluated and show promising results. In an effort to consolidate, describe, and communicate information about the broad range of energy education efforts in this country, a survey was conducted. The surveys were developed to determine who provides energy education, what methods they use, and whether they evaluate the results. The results of the surveys are described and analyzed in the second section of this three-tiered report.

Energy education on the move: A national energy education survey and case studies of outstanding programs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Harrigan, M.

1992-03-01

Energy education, defined as communication that is designed to influence people`s energy usage, has been conducted in one form or another by a wide range of organizations since long before the energy crisis of 1973. Energy education is undertaken by a broad range of public, private, non-profit and utility organizations for a variety of purposes. Each program has a unique message, audience and objectives. Although many energy education programs are still in the early stages of development, some of the programs have been evaluated and show promising results. In an effort to consolidate, describe, and communicate information about the broad range of energy education efforts in this country, a survey was conducted. The surveys were developed to determine who provides energy education, what methods they use, and whether they evaluate the results. The results of the surveys are described and analyzed in the second section of this three-tiered report.

Eating patterns and energy and nutrient intakes of US women.

Science.gov (United States)

Haines, P S; Hungerford, D W; Popkin, B M; Guilkey, D K

1992-06-01

A longitudinal multivariate analysis was used to determine whether differences in energy and nutrient intakes were present for women classified into different eating patterns. Ten multidimensional eating patterns were created based on the proportion of energy consumed at home and at seven away-from-home locations. Data were from 1,120 women aged 19 through 50 years who were surveyed up to six times over a 1-year period as part of the 1985 Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals, US Department of Agriculture. Data from 5,993 days were analyzed. To examine differences in energy and nutrient intakes, longitudinal multivariate analyses were used to control for eating pattern and factors such as demographics, season, and day of week. Younger women in the Fast Food eating pattern consumed the greatest intakes of energy, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium. Well-educated, higher-income women in the Restaurant pattern consumed diets with the highest overall fat density. Nutrient densities for dietary fiber, calcium, vitamin C, and folacin were particularly low in away-from-home eating patterns. In contrast, moderately educated, middle-aged and middle-income women in the Home Mixed eating pattern (70% at home, 30% away from home) consumed the most healthful diets. We conclude that knowledge of demographics such as income and education is not enough to target dietary interventions. Rather, educational efforts must consider both demographics and the location of away-from-home eating. This will allow development of behavioral change strategies that consider food choices dictated by the eating environment as well as personal knowledge and attitude factors related to adoption of healthful food choices.

Energy Innovations for Healthy Buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bogucz, Edward A. [Syracuse Univ., NY (United States)

2016-09-23

Healthy buildings provide high indoor environmental quality for occupants while simultaneously reducing energy consumption. This project advanced the development and marketability of envisioned healthy, energy-efficient buildings through studies that evaluated the use of emerging technologies in commercial and residential buildings. The project also provided resources required for homebuilders to participate in DOE’s Builders Challenge, concomitant with the goal to reduce energy consumption in homes by at least 30% as a first step toward achieving envisioned widespread availability of net-zero energy homes by 2030. In addition, the project included outreach and education concerning energy efficiency in buildings.

Present status and future plans of web site ''NUCPAL'' for school education in the field of nuclear radiation and energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sumita, Kenji

2005-01-01

''NUCPAL'', a newly combined word of ''nuclear'' and ''pal'', means the fellows having common information for school education in the field of radiation and energy and is actively serving Japanese web-site for internet systems since 2002. The web-site offers basic knowledge information as IT materials for education about energy and environment in elementary, junior-high, and high schools. The kids corner opens since 2003, where people, for instance, call ''Trip to Seek where electricity comes from, '' the sequential game starts from the home electric tool to arrive the power line through terminal spots, and after several steps finally arrive the generator. Following activities are already on: Arrangement of lectures for school education on energy, radiation, and environment; Free charge releasing of video-tape and DVD for education; Issuing the text based on latest information; Introducing of typical example of practical cases for class rooms. (S. Ohno)

Parents’ motives for home education: The influence of methodological design and social context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas Spiegler

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Parents’ motives for home education are one of the most researched topics within home education research. The focus of this article is on the question of the degree to which the results regarding these motives are influenced and shaped by the applied methods and the social context. The empirical basis is a meta-analysis of twelve research examples from the last two decades. It is concluded that the diversity within the results can partly be traced back to fundamental differences in the methodological design, to the absence of detailed theoretical modelling and remarkable differences of the survey instruments and that the role of the social environment and the process of the construction of motives in a certain social context deserve more attention.

Parents’ motives for home education: The influence of methodological design and social context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas SPIEGLER

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Parents’ motives for home education are one of the most researched topics within home education research. The focus of this article is on the question of the degree to which the results regarding these motives are influenced and shaped by the applied methods and thesocial context. The empirical basis is a meta-analysis of twelve research examples from the last two decades. It is concluded that the diversity within the results can partly be traced back to fundamental differences in the methodological design, to the absence of detailed theoretical modelling and remarkable differences of the survey instruments and that the role of the social environment and the process of the construction of motives in a certain socialcontext deserve more attention.

Greenbelt Homes Pilot Program: Summary of Building Envelope Retrofits, Planned HVAC Equipment Upgrades, and Energy Savings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wiehagen, J. [Partnership for Home Innovation, Upper Marlboro, MD (United States); Del Bianco, M. [Partnership for Home Innovation, Upper Marlboro, MD (United States); Mallay, D. [Partnership for Home Innovation, Upper Marlboro, MD (United States)

2015-05-01

In the fall of 2010, a multiyear pilot energy efficiency retrofit project was undertaken by Greenbelt Homes, Inc, (GHI) a 1,566 home cooperative of circa 1930 and 1940 homes in Greenbelt, Maryland. GHI established this pilot project to serve as a basis for decision making for the rollout of a decade-long community-wide upgrade program that will incorporate energy efficiency improvements to the building envelope and mechanical equipment. It presents a unique opportunity to evaluate and prioritize the wide-range of benefits of high-performance retrofits based on member experience with and acceptance of the retrofit measures implemented during the pilot project. Addressing the complex interactions between benefits, trade-offs, construction methods, project management implications, realistic upfront costs, financing, and other considerations, serves as a case study for energy retrofit projects to include high-performance technologies based on the long-term value to the homeowner. The pilot project focused on identifying the added costs and energy savings benefits of improvements.

An ethnography of energy demand and working from home: exploring the affective dimensions of social practice in the United Kingdom

OpenAIRE

Hampton, Sam

2017-01-01

The practice of working from home has become widespread in developed countries, and the numbers of regular home workers are steadily increasing. There are potentially positive implications for energy consumption associated with home working, but these depend on myriad variables. This qualitative study, based on interviews with regular home workers, provides a more in-depth perspective on how and why energy is used compared with quantitative models of household consumption. Ethnographic resear...

A Survey of Communications and Networking Technologies for Energy Management in Buildings and Home Automation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aravind Kailas

2012-01-01

Full Text Available With the exploding power consumption in private households and increasing environmental and regulatory restraints, the need to improve the overall efficiency of electrical networks has never been greater. That being said, the most efficient way to minimize the power consumption is by voluntary mitigation of home electric energy consumption, based on energy-awareness and automatic or manual reduction of standby power of idling home appliances. Deploying bi-directional smart meters and home energy management (HEM agents that provision real-time usage monitoring and remote control, will enable HEM in “smart households.” Furthermore, the traditionally inelastic demand curve has began to change, and these emerging HEM technologies enable consumers (industrial to residential to respond to the energy market behavior to reduce their consumption at peak prices, to supply reserves on a as-needed basis, and to reduce demand on the electric grid. Because the development of smart grid-related activities has resulted in an increased interest in demand response (DR and demand side management (DSM programs, this paper presents some popular DR and DSM initiatives that include planning, implementation and evaluation techniques for reducing energy consumption and peak electricity demand. The paper then focuses on reviewing and distinguishing the various state-of-the-art HEM control and networking technologies, and outlines directions for promoting the shift towards a society with low energy demand and low greenhouse gas emissions. The paper also surveys the existing software and hardware tools, platforms, and test beds for evaluating the performance of the information and communications technologies that are at the core of future smart grids. It is envisioned that this paper will inspire future research and design efforts in developing standardized and user-friendly smart energy monitoring systems that are suitable for wide scale deployment in homes.

Educational Outcomes of a Collaborative School-Home Behavioral Intervention for ADHD

Science.gov (United States)

Pfiffner, Linda J.; Villodas, Miguel; Kaiser, Nina; Rooney, Mary; McBurnett, Keith

2013-01-01

This study evaluated educationally relevant outcomes from a newly developed collaborative school-home intervention (Collaborative Life Skills Program [CLS]) for youth with attention and/or behavior problems. Participants included 17 girls and 40 boys in second through fifth grades (mean age = 8.1 years) from diverse ethnic backgrounds. CLS was…

Public Energy Education: Issues for Discussion. Draft.

Science.gov (United States)

Public Energy Education Task Force.

This paper was intended to stimulate discussion of energy education issues at a conference on energy issues. The discussion ranges through numerous topics at issue in energy education including public energy awareness, definition of public education, the distinction between public education and public relations, and the presentation of a model…

Needs and preference assessment for an in-home nutrition education program using social marketing theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Francis, Sarah L; Taylor, Martha L; Strickland, Amy Williams

2004-01-01

Nutrition education programs for elder caregivers (CG) and their elder care recipients (CR) are important in preventing malnutrition. Using Social Marketing Theory, this study assessed the needs and preferences for nutrition education in elder CGs and their CRs in Guilford County, NC. Thirty-two pairs of community-residing elder CGs/CRs and three focus groups (FGs) participated. Health and diet questionnaires were administered to all CGs/CRs during in-home interviews. CGs/CRs and FGs evaluated nutrition education materials. Questionnaires were analyzed using SPSS v9. Ethnograph v5.0 was used to code the interviews regarding the education materials. The CGs were middle age (58.9 years), overweight (BMI = 28.8) Caucasian women. The CRs were old (79.4 years), overweight (BMI = 26.0) Caucasian women. Identified malnutrition risk factors of CGs and CRs included inadequate fluid and dietary intake, polypharmacy, and chronic disease. Identified nutrition needs and education preferences of CGs/CRs were similar. Perceived nutrition education preferences of the FGs did not reflect the interests of the CGs/CRs. This information is being used to revise the education materials and develop an in-home nutrition education program for CGs and CRs in Guilford County, NC.

Effective education for energy efficiency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zografakis, Nikolaos; Menegaki, Angeliki N.; Tsagarakis, Konstantinos P.

2008-01-01

A lot of today's world vices can be eliminated if certain targeted modules and adapted curricula are introduced in the schooling system. One of these vices is energy squandering with all its negative consequences for the planet (e.g. depletion of finite energy sources and the subsequent climate change). This paper describes the results of an energy-thrift information and education project taking place in different levels of education in Crete-Greece, which records 321 students' and their parents' routine energy-related behavior and proves that this behavior changes to a more energy efficient one, after the dissemination of relevant information and the participation into the energy education projects. Namely, response percentages indicating the energy-efficient behavior increased after project participation while the ones indicating an energy-squandering behavior decreased. The Wilcoxon signed rank test was statistically significant in all energy behavior questions related to students and to most questions related to parents

Bringing Your Baby Home

Science.gov (United States)

... for Educators Search English Español Bringing Your Baby Home KidsHealth / For Parents / Bringing Your Baby Home What's ... recall your baby's seemingly endless crying episodes. The Home Front Introducing your baby to others at home ...

Latino Parents of English Learners in Catholic Schools: Home vs. School Based Educational Involvement

Science.gov (United States)

Vera, Elizabeth M.; Heineke, Amy; Carr, Andrea L.; Camacho, Daniel; Israel, Marla Susman; Goldberger, Nancy; Clawson, Angela; Hill, Martin

2017-01-01

This study sought to expand the field's understanding of the educational involvement of Latino parents whose children were English Learners and attended Catholic schools. Specifically, we attempted to identify factors that facilitate as well as prohibit involvement in two home-based types of educational involvement and two specific school-based…

Research Toward Zero Energy Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Robert Hammon

2010-12-31

This final report was compiled from the detailed annual reports that were submitted for efforts in 2008 and 2009, and from individual task reports from 2010. Reports, case studies, and presentations derived from this work are available through the Building America website. The BIRA team is led by ConSol, a leading provider of energy solutions for builders since 1983. In partnership with over fifty builders, developers, architects, manufactures, researchers, utilities, and agencies, research work was performed in California, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii and five (5) climate regions (Hot-Dry, Marine, Hot-Humid, Cold, and Hot/Mixed Dry). In addition to research work, the team provided technical assistance to our partners whose interests span the entire building process. During the three year budget period, the BIRA team performed analyses of several emerging technologies, prototype homes, and high performance communities through detailed computer simulations and extensive field monitoring to meet the required climate joule milestone targets.

An Efficient Demand Side Management System with a New Optimized Home Energy Management Controller in Smart Grid

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hafiz Majid Hussain

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The traditional power grid is inadequate to overcome modern day challenges. As the modern era demands the traditional power grid to be more reliable, resilient, and cost-effective, the concept of smart grid evolves and various methods have been developed to overcome these demands which make the smart grid superior over the traditional power grid. One of the essential components of the smart grid, home energy management system (HEMS enhances the energy efficiency of electricity infrastructure in a residential area. In this aspect, we propose an efficient home energy management controller (EHEMC based on genetic harmony search algorithm (GHSA to reduce electricity expense, peak to average ratio (PAR, and maximize user comfort. We consider EHEMC for a single home and multiple homes with real-time electricity pricing (RTEP and critical peak pricing (CPP tariffs. In particular, for multiple homes, we classify modes of operation for the appliances according to their energy consumption with varying operation time slots. The constrained optimization problem is solved using heuristic algorithms: wind-driven optimization (WDO, harmony search algorithm (HSA, genetic algorithm (GA, and proposed algorithm GHSA. The proposed algorithm GHSA shows higher search efficiency and dynamic capability to attain optimal solutions as compared to existing algorithms. Simulation results also show that the proposed algorithm GHSA outperforms the existing algorithms in terms of reduction in electricity cost, PAR, and maximize user comfort.

Background on Establishing a Working Group to Create Home Clinical Cases for Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshitake, Taketo

2017-01-01

In Japan there are concerns that there will be a surge in social insurance costs such as medical and nursing care expenses as a result of the baby boom generation reaching the late stages of old age (75 years old and beyond) around 2025 ("The 2025 Problem"). In 2012, the "Outline on Social Insurance and Tax Reform" was approved by the Japanese cabinet and government, including "construction of regional comprehensive care". To promote participation in home medical care by pharmacists, this article presents the roles demanded of pharmacists in regional comprehensive care from the standpoint of physicians, and the discussion of case studies bridging the gap from knowledge learned in lectures to practical applications. In the field of medical education, "The 2023 Problem", regarding standards of education on a global level, caused medical schools across Japan to scramble for curriculum reform, specifically in the demand for increased time spent in clinical training and the expansion of community-based medical education. The current state of community-based medical education will be reviewed. In light of these developments, "the working group to create home clinical cases for education" was developed by clinical pharmacists in the field and university faculty members at Daiichi University of Pharmacy.

Energy Efficiency and Universal Design in Home Renovations - A Comparative Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Kapedani, Ermal; Herssens, Jasmien; Verbeeck, Griet

2016-01-01

Policy and societal objectives indicate a large need for housing renovations that both accommodate lifelong living and significantly increase energy efficiency. However, these two areas of research are not yet examined in conjunction and this paper hypothesizes this as a missed opportunity to create better renovation concepts. The paper outlines a comparative review on research in Energy Efficiency and Universal Design in order to find the similarities and differences in both depth and breadth of knowledge. Scientific literature in the two fields reveals a disparate depth of knowledge in areas of theory, research approach, and degree of implementation in society. Universal Design and Energy Efficiency are part of a trajectory of expanding scope towards greater sustainability and, although social urgency has been a driver of the research intensity and approach in both fields, in energy efficiency there is an engineering, problem solving approach while Universal Design has a more sociological, user-focused one. These different approaches are reflected in the way home owners in Energy Efficiency research are viewed as consumers and decision makers whose drivers are studied, while Universal Design treats home owners as informants in the design process and studies their needs. There is an inherent difficulty in directly merging Universal Design and Energy Efficiency at a conceptual level because Energy Efficiency is understood as a set of measures, i.e. a product, while Universal Design is part of a (design) process. The conceptual difference is apparent in their implementation as well. Internationally energy efficiency in housing has been largely imposed through legislation, while legislation directly mandating Universal Design is either non-existent or it has an explicit focus on accessibility. However, Energy Efficiency and Universal Design can be complementary concepts and, even though it is more complex than expected, the combination offers possibilities to advance

Smart Home Test Bed: Examining How Smart Homes Interact with the Power Grid

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2016-11-01

This fact sheet highlights the Smart Home Test Bed capability at the Energy Systems Integration Facility. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is working on one of the new frontiers of smart home research: finding ways for smart home technologies and systems to enhance grid operations in the presence of distributed, clean energy technologies such as photovoltaics (PV). To help advance this research, NREL has developed a controllable, flexible, and fully integrated Smart Home Test Bed.

HIA 2016 DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: Imery & Co, High-performance Bungalow, Roswell, GA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

2016-09-01

Case study of a DOE 2016 Housing Innovation Award winning custom for buyer home in the mixed-humid climate that met the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home criteria and achieved a HERS 41 without PV or HERS 6 with PV.

Optimizing Whole House Deep Energy Retrofit Packages: A Case Study of Existing Chicago-Area Homes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Honnie Aguilar Leinartas

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Improving the energy efficiency of the residential building stock plays a key role in mitigating global climate change. New guidelines are targeting widespread application of deep energy retrofits to existing homes that reduce their annual energy use by 50%, but questions remain as to how to identify and prioritize the most cost-effective retrofit measures. This work demonstrates the utility of whole building energy simulation and optimization software to construct a “tool-box” of prescriptive deep energy retrofits that can be applied to large portions of the existing housing stock. We consider 10 generally representative typology groups of existing single-family detached homes built prior to 1978 in the Chicago area for identifying cost-optimal deep energy retrofit packages. Simulations were conducted in BEopt and EnergyPlus operating on a cloud-computing platform to first identify cost-optimal enclosure retrofits and then identify cost-optimal upgrades to heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC systems. Results reveal that prescriptive retrofit packages achieving at least 50% site energy savings can be defined for most homes through a combination of envelope retrofits, lighting upgrades, and upgrades to existing HVAC system efficiency or conversion to mini-split heat pumps. The average upfront cost of retrofits is estimated to be ~$14,400, resulting in average annual site energy savings of ~54% and an average simple payback period of ~25 years. Widespread application of these prescriptive retrofit packages across the existing Chicago-area residential building stock is predicted to reduce annual site energy use by 3.7 × 1016 J and yield approximately $280 million USD in annual energy savings.

Education and training to enhance end-of-life care for nursing home staff: a systematic literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Anstey, Sally; Powell, Tom; Coles, Bernadette; Hale, Rachel; Gould, Dinah

2016-09-01

The delivery of end-of-life care in nursing homes is challenging. This situation is of concern as 20% of the population die in this setting. Commonly reported reasons include limited access to medical care, inadequate clinical leadership and poor communication between nursing home and medical staff. Education for nursing home staff is suggested as the most important way of overcoming these obstacles. To identify educational interventions to enhance end-of-life care for nursing home staff and to identify types of study designs and outcomes to indicate success and benchmark interventions against recent international guidelines for education for palliative and end-of-life care. Thirteen databases and reference lists of key journals were searched from the inception of each up to September 2014. Included studies were appraised for quality and data were synthesised thematically. Twenty-one studies were reviewed. Methodological quality was poor. Education was not of a standard that could be expected to alter clinical behaviour and was evaluated mainly from the perspectives of staff: self-reported increase in knowledge, skills and confidence delivering care rather than direct evidence of impact on clinical practice and patient outcomes. Follow-up was often short term, and despite sound economic arguments for delivering effective end-of-life care to reduce burden on the health service, no economic analyses were reported. There is a clear and urgent need to design educational interventions that have the potential to improve end-of-life care in nursing homes. Robust evaluation of these interventions should include impact on residents, families and staff and include economic analysis. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Occupational Home Economics Education Series. Catering Services. Competency Based Teaching Module.

Science.gov (United States)

Lowe, Phyllis; And Others

This module, one of ten competency based modules developed for vocational home economics teachers, is based on a job cluster in the catering industry. It is designed for use with a variety of levels of learners (secondary, postsecondary, adult) in both school and non-school educational settings. Focusing on two levels of employment, food caterer…

77 FR 33337 - Rule Concerning Disclosures Regarding Energy Consumption and Water Use of Certain Home Appliances...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-06

... Energy Consumption and Water Use of Certain Home Appliances and Other Products Required Under the Energy... furnace or central air conditioner meets applicable Department of Energy regional efficiency standards... members install products that comply with Department of Energy (DOE) efficiency standards. II. Background...

Home energy rating system business plan feasibility study in Washington state

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lineham, T.

1995-03-01

In the Fall of 1993, the Washington State Energy Office funded the Washington Home Energy Rating System project to investigate the benefits of a Washington state HERS. WSEO established a HERS and EEM Advisory Group. Composed of mortgage lenders/brokers, realtors, builders, utility staff, remodelers, and other state agency representatives, the Advisory Group met for the first time on November 17, 1993. The Advisory Group established several subcommittees to identify issues and options. During its March 1994 meeting, the Advisory Group formed a consensus directing WSEO to develop a HERS business plan for consideration. The Advisory Group also established a business plan subcommittee to help draft the plan. Under the guidance of the business plan subcommittee, WSEO conducted research on how customers value energy efficiency in the housing market. This plan represents WSEO`s effort to comply with the Advisory Group`s request. Why is a HERS Business Plan necessary? Strictly speaking this plan is more of a feasibility plan than a business plan since it is designed to help determine the feasibility of a new business venture: a statewide home energy rating system. To make this determination decision makers or possible investors require strategic information about the proposed enterprise. Ideally, the plan should anticipate the significant questions parties may want to know. Among other things, this document should establish decision points for action.

Educational and home-environment asthma interventions for children in urban, low-income, minority families.

Science.gov (United States)

Welker, Kristen; Nabors, Laura; Lang, Myia; Bernstein, Jonathan

2018-02-08

This review examined the impact of environmental change and educational interventions targeting young children from minority groups living in urban environments and who were from low-income families. A scoping methodology was used to find research across six databases, including CINAHL, ERIC, PsycINFO, PubMed, MEDLINE, and EMBASE. 299 studies were identified. Duplicates were removed leaving 159 studies. After reviewing for inclusion and exclusion criteria, 23 manuscripts were identified for this study: 11 featured home-environment change interventions and 12 emphasized education of children. Studies were reviewed to determine key interventions and outcomes for children. Both environmental interventions and educational programs had positive outcomes. Interventions did not always impact health outcomes, such as emergency department visits. Results indicated many of the environmental change and education interventions improved asthma management and some symptoms. A multipronged approach may be a good method for targeting both education and change in the home and school environment to promote the well-being of young children in urban areas. New research with careful documentation of information about study participants, dose of intervention (i.e., number and duration of sessions, booster sessions) and specific intervention components also will provide guidance for future research.

Who's cooking? Trends in US home food preparation by gender, education, and race/ethnicity from 2003 to 2016.

Science.gov (United States)

Taillie, Lindsey Smith

2018-04-02

While US home cooking declined in the late twentieth century, it is unclear whether the trend has continued. This study examines home cooking from 2003 to 2016 by gender, educational attainment, and race/ethnicity. Nationally representative data from the American Time Use Study from 2003 to 2016 and linear regression models were used to examine changes in the percent of adults aged 18-65 years who cook and their time spent cooking, with interactions to test for differential changes by demographic variables of gender, education, and race/ethnicity. Cooking increased overall from 2003 to 2016. The percent of college-educated men cooking increased from 37.9% in 2003 to 51.9% in 2016, but men with less than high school education who cook did not change (33.2% in 2016) (p educated women who cook increased from 64.7% in 2003 to 68.7% in 2016, while women with less than high school education had no change (72.3% in 2016) (p education spent more time cooking per day than high-educated women, but the reverse was true for men. Among men, the percent who cook increased for all race/ethnic groups except non-Hispanic blacks. Among women, only non-Hispanic whites increased in percent who cook. Among both men and women, non-Hispanic blacks had the lowest percentage who cooked, and non-Hispanic others spent the greatest amount of time cooking. Home cooking in the United States is increasing, especially among men, though women still cook much more than men. Further research is needed to understand whether the heterogeneity in home cooking by educational attainment and race/ethnicity observed here contributes to diet-related disparities in the United States.

New Whole-House Solutions Case Study: Northwest Energy Efficient Manufactured Housing Program High-Performance Test Homes - Pacific Northwest

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2015-05-01

This project represents the third phase of a multi-year effort to develop and bring to market a High Performance Manufactured Home (HPMH). In this project, the Northwest Energy Efficient Manufactured Housing Program worked with Building America Partnership for Improved Residential Construction and Bonneville Power Administration to help four factory homebuilders build prototype zero energy ready manufactured homes, resulting in what is expected to be a 30% savings relative to the Building America Benchmark. (The actual % savings varies depending on choice of heating equipment and climate zone). Previous phases of this project created a HPMH specification and prototyped individual measures from the package to obtain engineering approvals and develop preliminary factory construction processes. This case study describes the project team's work during 2014 to build prototype homes to the HPMH specifications and to monitor the homes for energy performance and durability. Monitoring is expected to continue into 2016.

Solar Energy Education. Reader, Part IV. Sun schooling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1981-05-01

A collection of magazine articles which focus on solar energy is presented. This is the final book of the four part series of the Solar Energy Reader. The articles include brief discussions on energy topics such as the sun, ocean energy, methane gas from cow manure, and solar homes. Instructions for constructing a sundial and a solar stove are also included. A glossary of energy related terms is provided. (BCS)

Test Methods and Protocols for Environmental and Safety Hazards Associated with Home Energy Retrofits

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cautley, D. [NorthernSTAR Building America Partnership, St. Paul, MN (United States); Viner, J. [NorthernSTAR Building America Partnership, St. Paul, MN (United States); Lord, M. [NorthernSTAR Building America Partnership, St. Paul, MN (United States); Pearce, M. [NorthernSTAR Building America Partnership, St. Paul, MN (United States)

2012-12-01

A number of health hazards and hazards to the durability of homes may be associated with energy retrofitting and home renovation projects. Among the hazards associated with energy retrofit work, exposure to radon is thought to cause more than 15,000 deaths per year in the U.S., while carbon monoxide poisoning results in about 20,000 injuries and 450 deaths per year. Testing procedures have been developed for identifying and quantifying hazards during retrofitting. These procedures commonly include a battery of tests to screen combustion appliances for safe operation, including worst case depressurization measurement, backdrafting (spillage) under depressurized or normal conditions, and carbon monoxide production.

Do home energy management systems make sense? Assessing their overall lifecycle impact

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dam, S.S. van; Bakker, C.A.; Buiter, J.C.

2013-01-01

An ever-increasing body of research explores the effectiveness of Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS) in achieving energy savings in households. To date, however, the overall life cycle impact of the HEMS itself has not been taken into account. Thus, no assessment has been made whether the amount of energy saved (e saved ) outweighs the energy needed for production, use and disposal (e invested ). Therefore, an eco-cost and a Cumulative Energy Demand (CED) method were used to analyze three distinct types of HEMS. Based on the literature, six scenarios were developed in order to find the break-even point, where e invested =e saved . The results show that the overall impact is dependent on the type of HEMS, and that if the duration of use is short and the achieved savings are small, the benefits do not always outweigh the environmental costs. Care should be taken not to develop HEMS with unnecessarily elaborate parts or functionalities and that their own electricity consumption is minimized. The paper concludes by discussing the implication for polices concerning the implementation of smart meters and HEMS and their design. - Highlights: • We conducted a lifecycle assessment of three Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS). • We developed six scenarios to find the breakeven point where e invested =e saved . • All three HEMS can achieve net energy savings over the course of five years. • Within the scenarios, it can take up to two years to achieve net energy savings. • No HEMS achieve a positive return on investment within five years in all scenarios

High education and nuclear energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghitescu, Petre; Prisecaru, Ilie; Stefanescu, Petre

1998-01-01

The Faculty of Energy of the University 'Politecnica' in Bucharest is the only faculty in Romania in the field of nuclear energy education. With an experience of more than 29 years, the Faculty of Energy offers the major 'Nuclear Power Plants', which students graduate after a 5-year education as engineers in the Nuclear Power Plant major. Among the principal objectives of the development and reshape of the Romanian education system was mentioned the upgrading of organizational forms by introducing the transfer credit system, and starting in the fall '97 by accrediting Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety Master education. As a result of co-operation and assistance offered by TEMPUS-SENECA program, the new major is shaped and endowed with a modern curriculum harmonized with UE and IAEA requirements and a modern and performing laboratory. This way the Romanian higher education offers a fully correct and concordant structure with UE countries education. (authors)

New American Home(regsign): Atlanta, Georgia - 2001; Building America--The New American Home

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

IBACOS; Anderson, R.

2001-01-01

The New American Home(reg s ign) is an annual showcase project designed by committee and co-sponsored by the National Association of Home Builders' National Council of the Housing Industry, BUILDERS Magazine, and Ladies Home Journal. Hedgewood Properties teamed with Building America's IBACOS Consortium and Southface Energy Institute to build a house with a Home Energy Rating Systems (HERS) level of 90

ZEMCH toward the delivery of zero energy mass custom homes

CERN Document Server

2016-01-01

In this book, leading international experts explore the emerging concept of the zero energy mass custom home (ZEMCH) – designed to meet the need for social, economic, and environmental sustainability – and provide all of the knowledge required for the delivery of zero energy mass customized housing and community developments in developed and developing countries. The coverage is wide ranging, progressing from explanation of the meaning of sustainable development to discussion of challenges and trends in mass housing, the advantages and disadvantages of prefabricated methods of construction, and the concepts of mass customization, mass personalization, and inclusive design. A chapter on energy use will aid the reader in designing and retrofitting housing to reduce energy demand and/or improve energy end‐use efficiency. Passive design strategies and active technologies (especially solar) are thoroughly reviewed. Application of the ZEMCH construction criteria to new buildings and refurbishment of old house...

Wind energy basics a guide to home- and community-scale wind energy systems

CERN Document Server

Gipe, Paul

2009-01-01

The availability of clean, renewable power is without question going to be the defining challenge and goal of the 21st century, and wind will lead the way. Internationally acclaimed wind energy expert Paul Gipe is as soberly critical of past energy mistakes as he is convincingly optimistic about the future. The overwhelming challenge of transforming our world from one of fossil carbon to one of clean power seems daunting at best-and paralyzingly impractical at worst. "Wind Energy Basics" offers a solution. Wind power can realistically not only replace the lion's share of oil-, coal-, and natural gasndash; fired electrical plants in the U.S., but also can add enough extra power capacity to allow for most of the cars in the nation to run on electricity. Gipe explains why such a startlingly straightforward solution is eminently doable and can be accomplished much sooner than previously thought-and will have the capacity to resuscitate small and regional economies. "Wind Energy Basics" offers a how-to for home-ba...

77 FR 234 - Rule Concerning Disclosures Regarding Energy Consumption and Water Use of Certain Home Appliances...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-04

... Energy Consumption and Water Use of Certain Home Appliances and Other Products Required Under the Energy... equipment meets applicable new Department of Energy (``DOE'') efficiency standards for specific regions. The... disclosures and the DOE plan, the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy requested that the FTC...

Home Teaching and Herbart.

Science.gov (United States)

Rust, Val D.; Reed, Frances

1979-01-01

Viewing the growing disenchantment with state-controlled schooling, the authors predict that home teaching will become an established educational alternative within a short time, and they reflect on the teachings and writings of Johann Friedrich Herbart, an eighteenth-century advocate of educating children at home. (Editor/SJL)

Energy education; Pedagogia da energia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Muniz, Rafael Ninno, e-mail: rafaelninno@gmail.com

2006-07-01

'Pedagogia da Energia' (energy education) is a qualification course that has as intention to unite ambient education with renewable energies through the art-education and of the long-distance education. Collective made up of theoretical and practical activities through group dynamic and works, with intention to integrate and to enable the participants as a whole, aiming to form potentials to agreement and diffusion of energy concepts of the subjects environment - energy - residues. It possess the structure of an actual course with support of long-distance education with a platform of available web education in the Internet, where the participants have access the all content used in the course (texts, presentations and figures), virtual library, colloquy room, thematic list of quarrel and forum, beyond guardianship accompaniment. A structure constructed in classroom for the participants uses as pedagogical tool titled 'Mandala das Energias' where the concepts studied are worked in. The politics characteristics presented are, ambient and social of the use of the power plants and its implications in the daily one of the humanity. It understands the education as a reciprocal process, that understands the intention to teach and to learn in a set of exchanges of necessary information to the curious nature of the human beings. This article explains the structure and methodology of functioning of the course with a summary of the worked chapters. It also presents the pedagogical tool 'Mandala das Energias' and its respective flowchart of energies that originated it in annex at the end of the text. (author)

Energy education; Pedagogia da energia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Muniz, Rafael Ninno, e-mail: rafaelninno@gmail.com

2006-07-01

'Pedagogia da Energia' (energy education) is a qualification course that has as intention to unite ambient education with renewable energies through the art-education and of the long-distance education. Collective made up of theoretical and practical activities through group dynamic and works, with intention to integrate and to enable the participants as a whole, aiming to form potentials to agreement and diffusion of energy concepts of the subjects environment - energy - residues. It possess the structure of an actual course with support of long-distance education with a platform of available web education in the Internet, where the participants have access the all content used in the course (texts, presentations and figures), virtual library, colloquy room, thematic list of quarrel and forum, beyond guardianship accompaniment. A structure constructed in classroom for the participants uses as pedagogical tool titled 'Mandala das Energias' where the concepts studied are worked in. The politics characteristics presented are, ambient and social of the use of the power plants and its implications in the daily one of the humanity. It understands the education as a reciprocal process, that understands the intention to teach and to learn in a set of exchanges of necessary information to the curious nature of the human beings. This article explains the structure and methodology of functioning of the course with a summary of the worked chapters. It also presents the pedagogical tool 'Mandala das Energias' and its respective flowchart of energies that originated it in annex at the end of the text. (author)

Jump-Starting Early Childhood Education at Home: Early Learning, Parent Motivation, and Public Policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Maloney, Erin A; Converse, Benjamin A; Gibbs, Chloe R; Levine, Susan C; Beilock, Sian L

2015-11-01

By the time children begin formal schooling, their experiences at home have already contributed to large variations in their math and language development, and once school begins, academic achievement continues to depend strongly on influences outside of school. It is thus essential that educational reform strategies involve primary caregivers. Specifically, programs and policies should promote and support aspects of caregiver-child interaction that have been empirically demonstrated to boost early learning and should seek to impede "motivational sinkholes" that threaten to undermine caregivers' desires to engage their children effectively. This article draws on cognitive and behavioral science to detail simple, low-cost, and effective tools caregivers can employ to prepare their children for educational success and then describes conditions that can protect and facilitate caregivers' motivation to use those tools. Policy recommendations throughout focus on using existing infrastructure to more deeply engage caregivers in effective early childhood education at home. © The Author(s) 2015.

Dutch nurses' willingness to use home telehealth : implications for practice and education

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Houwelingen, C.T.M.; Barakat, A.; Best, R.; Boot, W.R.; Charness, N.; Kort, H.S.M.

Home telehealth (HT) refers to the use of videoconferencing to provide care to patients remotely and can help older adults age in place. However, these technologies are unlikely to impact care unless health care providers are motivated to use them. Education may play a key role in increasing

Children's education and home electrification: A case study in northwestern Madagascar

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rajaona Daka, Karen; Ballet, Jerome

2011-01-01

Assessments of the impact of electrification on the quality of life of households in developing countries have increased over the last decade. One aspect that has still received little attention is education and the ability of children to keep up at school. The underlying hypothesis is that electrification enables children to do their homework in the evening and so keep up with their school work. To this first hypothesis we add a second one, concerning the relation between access to electricity and attendance to school according to gender. Although most household tasks are carried out by the mothers, their daughters are also involved, and electrification could have a beneficial effect by making easier for girls to do their homework in the evening and easier for the mothers to help them. We will check the validity of these hypotheses using a case study of 162 children attending school in a small town in northwestern Madagascar. - Research Highlights: → We use a sample of 162 children in Madagascar to test the effect of access to the electricity supply in home to the education of children. → We also test the effect to the electricity supply in home to gender-specificities. → Our results confirm that electrification can contribute to reduce social reproduction with regard to education. → Our results also show that electrification helps to reduce gender inequalities.

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) - Better Buildings Neighborhood Program at Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance: Home Performance with Energy Star® and Better Buildings Performance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holzhauser, Andy; Jones, Chris; Faust, Jeremy; Meyer, Chris; Van Divender, Lisa

2013-12-30

The Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance (Energy Alliance) is a nonprofit economic development agency dedicated to helping Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky communities reduce energy consumption. The Energy Alliance has launched programs to educate homeowners, commercial property owners, and nonprofit organizations about energy efficiency opportunities they can use to drive energy use reductions and financial savings, while extending significant focus to creating/retaining jobs through these programs. The mission of the Energy Alliance is based on the premise that investment in energy efficiency can lead to transformative economic development in a region. With support from seven municipalities, the Energy Alliance began operation in early 2010 and has been among the fastest growing nonprofit organizations in the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area. The Energy Alliance offers two programs endorsed by the Department of Energy: the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® Program for homeowners and the Better Buildings Performance Program for commercial entities. Both programs couple expert guidance, project management, and education in energy efficiency best practices with incentives and innovative energy efficiency financing to help building owners effectively invest in the energy efficiency, comfort, health, longevity, and environmental impact of their residential or commercial buildings. The Energy Alliance has raised over $23 million of public and private capital to build a robust market for energy efficiency investment. Of the $23 million, $17 million was a direct grant from the Department of Energy Better Buildings Neighborhood Program (BBNP). The organization’s investments in energy efficiency projects in the residential and commercial sector have led to well over $50 million in direct economic activity and created over 375,000 hours of labor created or retained. In addition, over 250 workers have been trained through the Building Performance Training

76 FR 72872 - Rule Concerning Disclosures Regarding Energy Consumption and Water Use of Certain Home Appliances...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-28

... Energy Consumption and Water Use of Certain Home Appliances and Other Products Required Under the Energy... Department of Energy efficiency standard for the regions where it will be installed. The Commission seeks... staff will hold a public meeting with the Department of Energy to discuss possible disclosures. DATES...

Reconciling Ourselves to Reality: Arendt, Education and the Challenge of Being at Home in the World

Science.gov (United States)

Biesta, Gert

2016-01-01

In this paper, I explore the educational significance of the work of Hannah Arendt through reflections on four papers that constitute this special issue. I focus on the challenge of reconciling ourselves to reality, that is, of being at home in the world. Although Arendt's idea of being at home in the world is connected to her explorations of…

Home energy management (HEM database: A list with coded attributes of 308 devices commercially available in the US

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marco Pritoni

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Policymakers worldwide are currently discussing whether to include home energy management (HEM products in their portfolio of technologies to reduce carbon emissions and improve grid reliability. However, very little data is available about these products. Here we present the results of an extensive review including 308 HEM products available on the US market in 2015–2016. We gathered these data from publicly available sources such as vendor websites, online marketplaces and other vendor documents. A coding guide was developed iteratively during the data collection and utilized to classify the devices. Each product was coded based on 96 distinct attributes, grouped into 11 categories: Identifying information, Product components, Hardware, Communication, Software, Information - feedback, Information - feedforward, Control, Utility interaction, Additional benefits and Usability. The codes describe product features and functionalities, user interaction and interoperability with other devices. A mix of binary attributes and more descriptive codes allow to sort and group data without losing important qualitative information. The information is stored in a large spreadsheet included with this article, along with an explanatory coding guide. This dataset is analyzed and described in a research article entitled “Categories and functionality of smart home technology for energy management” (Ford et al., 2017 [1]. Keywords: Home energy management, Energy efficiency, Smart home, Home automation, Internet of things

The Return Home: Transitioning from a 28-Day Remote Outdoor Education Programme

Science.gov (United States)

McNatty, Shannon

2016-01-01

This article addresses the challenges for students transitioning from the remote Te Kahu (pseudonym) outdoor education programme back into their home and school city environments. Students must develop methods of coping and readjust to society to continue the personal growth and process the learning affected through the 28-day programme. The…

Intelligence, Income, and Education as Potential Influences on a Child's Home Environment: A (Maternal) Sibling-Comparison Design

Science.gov (United States)

Hadd, Alexandria Ree; Rodgers, Joseph Lee

2017-01-01

The quality of the home environment, as a predictor, is related to health, education, and emotion outcomes. However, factors influencing the quality of the home environment, as an outcome, have been understudied--particularly how children construct their own environments. Further, most previous research on family processes and outcomes has…

Maternal educational level and children's healthy eating behaviour: role of the home food environment (cross-sectional results from the INPACT study).

Science.gov (United States)

van Ansem, Wilke Jc; Schrijvers, Carola Tm; Rodenburg, Gerda; van de Mheen, Dike

2014-09-12

The aims of this study are 1) to investigate the association between maternal educational level and healthy eating behaviour of 11-year-old children (fruit, vegetables and breakfast consumption), and 2) to examine whether factors in the home food environment (parental intake of fruit, vegetables and breakfast; rules about fruit and vegetables and home availability of fruit and vegetables) mediate these associations. Data were obtained from the Dutch INPACT study. In total, 1318 parent-child dyads were included in this study. Multilevel regression models were used to investigate whether factors of the home food environment mediated the association between maternal educational level and children's healthy eating behaviour. Children of mothers with a high educational level consumed more pieces of fruit per day (B = 0.13, 95% CI: 0.04-0.22), more grams of vegetables per day (B = 23.81, 95% CI = 14.93-32.69) and were more likely to have breakfast on a daily basis (OR = 2.97, 95% CI: 1.38-6.39) than children of mothers with a low educational level. Home availability, food consumption rules and parental consumption mediated the association between maternal education level and children's fruit and vegetable consumption. Parental breakfast consumption mediated the association between maternal education level and children's breakfast consumption. Factors in the home food environment play an important role in the explanation of socio-economic disparities in children's healthy eating behaviour and may be promising targets for interventions.

NREL: News - Energy Department Honors Solar Decathlon Winners

Science.gov (United States)

maximum energy production and efficiency. In appearance, the homes are a mix of traditional and modern . Teams from 14 universities competed by building homes that blend aesthetics and modern conveniences with education, government advocacy, community redevelopment and public outreach activities, the AIA and its

The effects of a home-visiting discharge education on maternal self-esteem, maternal attachment, postpartum depression and family function in the mothers of NICU infants.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahn, Young-Mee; Kim, Mi-Ran

2004-12-01

A quasi-experimental study was performed to investigate the effects of a home visiting discharge education program on the maternal self-esteem, attachment, postpartum depression and family function in 35 mothers of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) infants. Twenty-three mothers in the intervention group received the home visiting discharge education while 12 mothers in the control group received the routine, hospital discharge education. Baseline data was collected in both groups one day after delivery. The intervention group received the home visiting discharge education while the control group did the routine hospital-based discharge education. The questionnaire including the data on maternal self-esteem, attachment, postpartum depression and family function were collected within 1 week after the discharge by mail. The scores of maternal self-esteem, and attachment were significantly increased, and the postpartum depression and the family function score were decreased after the home visiting discharge education in intervention group. There were no changes in these variables before and after the routine hospital-based discharge education in control group. These results support the beneficial effects of home visiting discharge education on the maternal role adaptation and family function of the mothers of NICU infants.

Cold homes, fuel poverty and energy efficiency improvements: A longitudinal focus group approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Grey, Charlotte N B; Schmieder-Gaite, Tina; Jiang, Shiyu; Nascimento, Christina; Poortinga, Wouter

2017-08-01

Cold homes and fuel poverty have been identified as factors in health and social inequalities that could be alleviated through energy efficiency interventions. Research on fuel poverty and the health impacts of affordable warmth initiatives have to date primarily been conducted using quantitative and statistical methods, limiting the way how fuel poverty is understood. This study took a longitudinal focus group approach that allowed exploration of lived experiences of fuel poverty before and after an energy efficiency intervention. Focus group discussions were held with residents from three low-income communities before (n = 28) and after (n = 22) they received energy efficiency measures funded through a government-led scheme. The results show that improving the energy efficiency of homes at risk of fuel poverty has a profound impact on wellbeing and quality of life, financial stress, thermal comfort, social interactions and indoor space use. However, the process of receiving the intervention was experienced by some as stressful. There is a need for better community engagement and communication to improve the benefits delivered by fuel poverty programmes, as well as further qualitative exploration to better understand the wider impacts of fuel poverty and policy-led intervention schemes.

Program Design Analysis using BEopt Building Energy Optimization Software: Defining a Technology Pathway Leading to New Homes with Zero Peak Cooling Demand; Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anderson, R.; Christensen, C.; Horowitz, S.

2006-08-01

An optimization method based on the evaluation of a broad range of different combinations of specific energy efficiency and renewable-energy options is used to determine the least-cost pathway to the development of new homes with zero peak cooling demand. The optimization approach conducts a sequential search of a large number of possible option combinations and uses the most cost-effective alternatives to generate a least-cost curve to achieve home-performance levels ranging from a Title 24-compliant home to a home that uses zero net source energy on an annual basis. By evaluating peak cooling load reductions on the least-cost curve, it is then possible to determine the most cost-effective combination of energy efficiency and renewable-energy options that both maximize annual energy savings and minimize peak-cooling demand.

Determinants of educational performance in India: Role of home and family

Science.gov (United States)

Desai, Uday

1991-06-01

This paper addresses the impacts of family and pupil characteristics on children's academic learning in primary schools in India. The present study focuses on the children who have dropped out before completing primary schooling. The study is based on a random sample of two hundred children from twenty villages in two districts in the state of Andhra Pradesh in south India. A special test was developed and administered to measure the academic achievement of the children. Our study found that education supplies and the sanitary facilities at home have a remarkable relationship with the academic performance of children. In addition, the locale of a child's home, its distance from the source of drinking water, the child's father's work status and literacy and the level (grade) of schooling that the child has completed before dropping out, also have significant influence on child's performance. Our study also found that the child's gender, age at enrollment, reason for dropping out, and parents' income, literacy and caste do not have significant influence on performance. These findings have important public policy implications for the provision of basic sanitary facilities to all households, subsidized educational supplies, free uniforms, text-books, and mid-day meals.

Driving Demand for Home Energy Improvements: Motivating residential customers to invest in comprehensive upgrades that eliminate energy waste, avoid high utility bills, and spur the economy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fuller, Merrian C.

2010-09-20

Policy makers and program designers in the U.S. and abroad are deeply concerned with the question of how to scale up energy efficiency to a level that is commensurate both to the scale of the energy and climate challenges we face, and to the potential for energy savings that has been touted for decades. When policy makers ask what energy efficiency can do, the answers usually revolve around the technical and economic potential of energy efficiency - they rarely hone in on the element of energy demand that matters most for changing energy usage in existing homes: the consumer. A growing literature is concerned with the behavioral underpinnings of energy consumption. We examine a narrower, related subject: How can millions of Americans be persuaded to divert valued time and resources into upgrading their homes to eliminate energy waste, avoid high utility bills, and spur the economy? With hundreds of millions of public dollars flowing into incentives, workforce training, and other initiatives to support comprehensive home energy improvements, it makes sense to review the history of these programs and begin gleaning best practices for encouraging comprehensive home energy improvements. Looking across 30 years of energy efficiency programs that targeted the residential market, many of the same issues that confronted past program administrators are relevant today: How do we cost-effectively motivate customers to take action? Who can we partner with to increase program participation? How do we get residential efficiency programs to scale? While there is no proven formula - and only limited success to date with reliably motivating large numbers of Americans to invest in comprehensive home energy improvements, especially if they are being asked to pay for a majority of the improvement costs - there is a rich and varied history of experiences that new programs can draw upon. Our primary audiences are policy makers and program designers - especially those that are relatively

Evaluation of Early Performance Results for Massachusetts Homes in the National Grid Pilot Deep Energy Retrofit Program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gates, C. [Building Science Corporation, Somerville, MA (United States); Neuhauser, K. [Building Science Corporation, Somerville, MA (United States)

2013-11-01

This research project evaluates post-retrofit performance measurements, energy use data and construction costs for 13 projects that participated in the National Grid Deep Energy Retrofit Pilot program. The projects implemented a package of measures defined by performance targets for building enclosure components and building enclosure air tightness. Nearly all of the homes reached a post-retrofit air tightness result of 1.5 ACH 50. Homes that used the chainsaw retrofit technique along with roof insulation, and wall insulation applied to the exterior had the best air tightness results and the lowest heating and cooling source energy use. Analysis of measure costs and project objectives yielded a categorization of costs relative to energy performance objectives. On average about 1/2 of the energy-related measure costs correspond primarily to energy-related objectives, and 20% of energy-related measure costs relate primarily to non-energy objectives.

Evaluation of Early Performance Results for Massachusetts Homes in the National Grid Pilot Deep Energy Retrofit Program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Neuhauser, K. [Building Science Corporation, Somerville, MA (United States); Gates, C. [Building Science Corporation, Somerville, MA (United States)

2013-11-01

This research project evaluates post-retrofit performance measurements, energy use data and construction costs for 13 projects that participated in the National Grid Deep Energy Retrofit Pilot program. The projects implemented a package of measures defined by performance targets for building enclosure components and building enclosure air tightness. Nearly all of the homes reached a post-retrofit air tightness result of 1.5 ACH 50. Homes that used the chainsaw retrofit technique along with roof insulation, and wall insulation applied to the exterior had the best air tightness results and the lowest heating and cooling source energy use. Analysis of measure costs and project objectives yielded a categorization of costs relative to energy performance objectives. On average about ½ of the energy-related measure costs correspond primarily to energy-related objectives, and 20% of energy-related measure costs relate primarily to non-energy objectives.

PRagmatic trial Of Video Education in Nursing homes: The design and rationale for a pragmatic cluster randomized trial in the nursing home setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Mor, Vincent; Volandes, Angelo E; Gutman, Roee; Gatsonis, Constantine; Mitchell, Susan L

2017-04-01

Background/Aims Nursing homes are complex healthcare systems serving an increasingly sick population. Nursing homes must engage patients in advance care planning, but do so inconsistently. Video decision support tools improved advance care planning in small randomized controlled trials. Pragmatic trials are increasingly employed in health services research, although not commonly in the nursing home setting to which they are well-suited. This report presents the design and rationale for a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial that evaluated the "real world" application of an Advance Care Planning Video Program in two large US nursing home healthcare systems. Methods PRagmatic trial Of Video Education in Nursing homes was conducted in 360 nursing homes (N = 119 intervention/N = 241 control) owned by two healthcare systems. Over an 18-month implementation period, intervention facilities were instructed to offer the Advance Care Planning Video Program to all patients. Control facilities employed usual advance care planning practices. Patient characteristics and outcomes were ascertained from Medicare Claims, Minimum Data Set assessments, and facility electronic medical record data. Intervention adherence was measured using a Video Status Report embedded into electronic medical record systems. The primary outcome was the number of hospitalizations/person-day alive among long-stay patients with advanced dementia or cardiopulmonary disease. The rationale for the approaches to facility randomization and recruitment, intervention implementation, population selection, data acquisition, regulatory issues, and statistical analyses are discussed. Results The large number of well-characterized candidate facilities enabled several unique design features including stratification on historical hospitalization rates, randomization prior to recruitment, and 2:1 control to intervention facilities ratio. Strong endorsement from corporate leadership made randomization

The Environmental Health/Home Safety Education Project: a successful and practical U.S.-Mexico border initiative.

Science.gov (United States)

Forster-Cox, Susan C; Mangadu, Thenral; Jacquez, Benjamín; Fullerton, Lynne

2010-05-01

The Environmental Health/Home Safety Education Project (Proyecto de Salud Ambiental y Seguridad en el Hogar) has been developed in response to a wide array of severe and often preventable environmental health issues occurring in and around homes on the U.S.-Mexico border. Utilizing well-trained community members, called promotoras , homes are visited and assessed for potential environmental hazards, including home fire and food safety issues. Data analyzed from project years 2002 to 2005 shows a significant impact in knowledge levels and initial behavior change among targeted participants as it relates to fire and food safety issues. Since the initiation of the project in 1999, hundreds of participants have improved their quality of life by making their homes safer. The project has proven to be sustainable, replicable, flexible, and attractive to funders.

The Role of Self-Determination Theory and Cognitive Evaluation Theory in Home Education

Science.gov (United States)

Riley, Gina

2016-01-01

This article explores the theories of Self-Determination, Cognitive Evaluation, and Intrinsic Motivation as it applies to home education. According to Self-Determination Theory, intrinsic motivation is innate. However, the maintenance and enhancement of intrinsic motivation depends upon the social and environmental conditions surrounding the…

Dementia-Related Work Activities of Home Care Nurses and Aides: Frequency, Perceived Competence, and Continuing Education Priorities

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, Debra G.; Kosteniuk, Julie G.; O'Connell, Megan E.; Dal Bello-Haas, Vanina; Stewart, Norma J.; Karunanayake, Chandima

2016-01-01

An understanding of the specific dementia learning needs of home care staff is needed to plan relevant continuing education (CE) programs and supports. The study's objective was to examine frequency and perceived competence in performing 20 dementia-related work activities, and identify CE priorities among home care staff. A cross-sectional survey…

The influence of organizational culture on negative work-home interference among highly educated employees in the hospitality industry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Blomme, R.J.; Sok, J.; Tromp, D.M.

2013-01-01

An issue which has recently come to the fore in studies conducted among hospitality industry employees is the effect of negative work-home interference on the turnover of highly educated employees. This article examines the role of organizational culture with regard to negative work-home

Keys to the House: Unlocking Residential Savings With Program Models for Home Energy Upgrades

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grevatt, Jim [Energy Futures Group (United States); Hoffman, Ian [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Hoffmeyer, Dale [US Department of Energy, Washington, DC (United States)

2017-07-05

After more than 40 years of effort, energy efficiency program administrators and associated contractors still find it challenging to penetrate the home retrofit market, especially at levels commensurate with state and federal goals for energy savings and emissions reductions. Residential retrofit programs further have not coalesced around a reliably successful model. They still vary in design, implementation and performance, and they remain among the more difficult and costly options for acquiring savings in the residential sector. If programs are to contribute fully to meeting resource and policy objectives, administrators need to understand what program elements are key to acquiring residential savings as cost effectively as possible. To that end, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) sponsored a comprehensive review and analysis of home energy upgrade programs with proven track records, focusing on those with robustly verified savings and constituting good examples for replication. The study team reviewed evaluations for the period 2010 to 2014 for 134 programs that are funded by customers of investor-owned utilities. All are programs that promote multi-measure retrofits or major system upgrades. We paid particular attention to useful design and implementation features, costs, and savings for nearly 30 programs with rigorous evaluations of performance. This meta-analysis describes program models and implementation strategies for (1) direct install retrofits; (2) heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) replacement and early retirement; and (3) comprehensive, whole-home retrofits. We analyze costs and impacts of these program models, in terms of both energy savings and emissions avoided. These program models can be useful guides as states consider expanding their strategies for acquiring energy savings as a resource and for emissions reductions. We also discuss the challenges of using evaluations to create program models that can be confidently applied in

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: Southeast Volusia Habitat for Humanity, Edgewater, FL

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

none,

2014-09-01

This home garnered an award in the Affordable Builder category of the 2014 Housing Innovation Awards, and features 2x4 walls with fiberglass batt inside plus R-3 rigid foam on the exterior, ENERGY STAR lighting, appliances, and ceiling fans, a solar water heater, an energy recovery ventilation, and a high efficiency heat pump.

Intelligent Control of Home Appliances via Network

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rossello Busquet, Ana

platform which guaranties interoperability, as well as scalability and flexibility. Therefore, a home gateway prototype has been developed in JAVA. This implementation offers the required capabilities for a Home Energy Management System, i.e. it enables the user to monitor and control the home devices......, in addition to providing energy management strategies to reduce electricity consumption. Reducing energy consumption in home environments has become crucial to meet the "20-20-20" targets set by European Commission Climate Action. However, reducing energy in home environments is not sufficient. The power grid......This thesis addresses selected topics of energy management in home environments and ICT for the Smart Grid. However, those two topics are vast and only a few aspects of them have been discussed. This thesis focuses on providing a home energy management solution based on a technology independent...

The Analysis of High School 'Home Economics' Textbooks from a Career Education Perspective

OpenAIRE

松田, 典子; マツダ, ノリコ; Noriko, Matsuda

2011-01-01

Recently, the system of employment has changed; it is said that career education is important. In this paper, I explore and clearly describe career education on `Home economics' textbooks. My findings suggest (1) the characteristics and cases of `housework' and `occupational work'were found in many textbooks. (2) `the diversity of employment' and `how to work' is frequently described in recent years. (3) one textbook specifically pick up `what vocational skills are needed'. (4) `life time' or...

Energy and education

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arima, Akito

2005-01-01

To understand the importance for school teachers to have adequate concepts of world-wide energy situation, the author presents fundamental information: world population projection, the history of energy amount consumed by mankind, the trend and changes of energy consumption rate for different district, estimation of reserved energy resources on the earth, global warming and greenhouse effect, carbon dioxide emissions caused by fossil fuel consumption, and the prospect of renewable energies such as wind, solar, waste, and biomass energy. The author concludes that we inevitably employ nuclear power as a practicable energy source without causing climate change and for this reason there is the need for radiation and radioactivity education in school. Ethical problems of scientists and engineers are also mentioned. (S. Ohno)

Socio-Cultural Dimensions of Cluster vs. Single Home Photovoltaic Solar Energy Systems in Rural Nepal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kimber Haddix McKay

2010-02-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes the socio-cultural dimensions of obstacles facing solar photovoltaic projects in two villages in rural Nepal. The study was conducted in Humla District, Nepal, one of the most remote and impoverished regions of the country. There are no roads in the district, homes lack running water and villagers’ health suffers from high levels of indoor air pollution from open cooking/heating fires and the smoky torches traditionally burned for light. The introduction of solar energy is important to these villagers, as it removes one major source of indoor air pollution from homes and provides brighter light than the traditional torches. Solar energy is preferable in many villages in the region due to the lack of suitable streams or rivers for micro-hydroelectric projects. In the villages under study in this paper, in-home solar electricity is a novel and recent innovation, and was installed within the last three years in two different geo-spatial styles, depending upon the configuration of homes in the village. In some villages, houses are grouped together, while in others households are widely dispersed. In the former, solar photovoltaic systems were installed in a “cluster” fashion with multiple homes utilizing power from a central battery store under the control of the householder storing the battery bank. In villages with widely spaced households, a single home system was used so that each home had a separate solar photovoltaic array, wiring system and battery bank. It became clear that the cluster system was the sensible choice due to the geographic layout of certain villages, but this put people into management groups that did not always work well due to caste or other differences. This paper describes the two systems and their management and usage costs and benefits from the perspective of the villagers themselves.

The role of self-determination theory and cognitive evaluation theory in home education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gina Riley

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This article explores the theories of Self-Determination, Cognitive Evaluation, and Intrinsic Motivation as it applies to home education. According to Self-Determination Theory, intrinsic motivation is innate. However, the maintenance and enhancement of intrinsic motivation depends upon the social and environmental conditions surrounding the individual. Deci and Ryan’s Cognitive Evaluation Theory specifically addresses the social and environmental factors that facilitate versus undermine intrinsic motivation and points to three significant psychological needs that must be present in the individual in order to foster self-motivation. These needs are competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Because of curriculum and time constraints, intrinsic motivation may be difficult to facilitate within the traditional classroom. This loss of intrinsic motivation for learning prompts some parents to homeschool their children. One of the most impressive strengths of home education lies in the fact that in many cases, the entire process revolves around a child’s intrinsic motivation to learn.

An evaluation and implementation of rule-based Home Energy Management System using the Rete algorithm.

Science.gov (United States)

Kawakami, Tomoya; Fujita, Naotaka; Yoshihisa, Tomoki; Tsukamoto, Masahiko

2014-01-01

In recent years, sensors become popular and Home Energy Management System (HEMS) takes an important role in saving energy without decrease in QoL (Quality of Life). Currently, many rule-based HEMSs have been proposed and almost all of them assume "IF-THEN" rules. The Rete algorithm is a typical pattern matching algorithm for IF-THEN rules. Currently, we have proposed a rule-based Home Energy Management System (HEMS) using the Rete algorithm. In the proposed system, rules for managing energy are processed by smart taps in network, and the loads for processing rules and collecting data are distributed to smart taps. In addition, the number of processes and collecting data are reduced by processing rules based on the Rete algorithm. In this paper, we evaluated the proposed system by simulation. In the simulation environment, rules are processed by a smart tap that relates to the action part of each rule. In addition, we implemented the proposed system as HEMS using smart taps.

Field Evaluation of Four Novel Roof Designs for Energy-Efficient Manufactured Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Levy, E. [Levy Partnership Inc., New York, NY (United States); Dentz, J. [Levy Partnership Inc., New York, NY (United States); Ansanelli, E. [Levy Partnership Inc., New York, NY (United States); Barker, G. [Levy Partnership Inc., New York, NY (United States); Rath, P. [Levy Partnership Inc., New York, NY (United States); Dadia, D. [Levy Partnership Inc., New York, NY (United States)

2015-12-01

A five-bay roof test structure was built, instrumented and monitored in an effort to determine through field testing and analysis the relative contributions of select technologies toward reducing energy use in new manufactured homes. The roof structure in Jamestown, California was designed to examine how differences in roof construction impact space conditioning loads, wood moisture content and attic humidity levels. Conclusions are drawn from the data on the relative energy and moisture performance of various configurations of vented and sealed attics.

Field Evaluation of Four Novel Roof Designs for Energy-Efficient Manufactured Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Levy, E. [ARIES Collaborative, New York, NY (United States); Dentz, J. [ARIES Collaborative, New York, NY (United States); Ansanelli, E. [ARIES Collaborative, New York, NY (United States); Barker, G. [ARIES Collaborative, New York, NY (United States); Rath, P. [ARIES Collaborative, New York, NY (United States); Dadia, D. [ARIES Collaborative, New York, NY (United States)

2015-12-03

"9A five-bay roof test structure was built, instrumented and monitored in an effort to determine through field testing and analysis the relative contributions of select technologies toward reducing energy use in new manufactured homes. The roof structure in Jamestown, California was designed to examine how differences in roof construction impact space conditioning loads, wood moisture content and attic humidity levels. Conclusions are drawn from the data on the relative energy and moisture performance of various configurations of vented and sealed attics.

Energy Literacy : Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts for Energy Education

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2017-03-01

Energy Literacy: Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts for Energy Education presents energy concepts that, if understood and applied, will help individuals and communities make informed energy decisions.

Energy Literacy : Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts for Energy Education

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2015-08-01

Energy Literacy: Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts for Energy Education presents energy concepts that, if understood and applied, will help individuals and communities make informed energy decisions.

Using an expanded outcomes framework and continuing education evidence to improve facilitation of patient-centered medical home recognition and transformation.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Hoof, Thomas J; Kelvey-Albert, Michele; Katz, Matthew; Lalime, Ken; Sacks, Ken; Meehan, Thomas P

2014-01-01

The patient-centered medical home is a model for delivering primary care in the United States. Primary care clinicians and their staffs require assistance in understanding the innovation and in applying it to practice. The purpose of this article is to describe and to critique a continuing education program that is relevant to, and will become more common in, primary care. A multifaceted educational strategy prepared 20 primary care private practices to achieve National Committee for Quality Assurance Level 3 recognition as Patient-Centered Medical Homes. Eighteen (90%) practices submitted an application to the National Committee for Quality Assurance. On the first submission attempt, 13 of 18 (72%) achieved Level 3 recognition and 5 (28%) achieved Level 1 recognition. An interactive multifaceted educational strategy can be successful in preparing primary care practices for Patient-Centered Medical Homes recognition, but the strategy may not ensure transformation. Future educational activities should consider an expanded outcomes framework and the evidence of effective continuing education to be more successful with recognition and transformation.

Human Capacity Building in Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy System Maintenance for the Yurok Tribe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Engel, R. A.' Zoellick, J J.

2007-07-31

From July 2005 to July 2007, the Schatz Energy Research Center (SERC) assisted the Yurok Tribe in the implementation of a program designed to build the Tribe’s own capacity to improve energy efficiency and maintain and repair renewable energy systems in Tribal homes on the Yurok Reservation. Funding for this effort was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Tribal Program under First Steps grant award #DE-FG36-05GO15166. The program’s centerpiece was a house-by-house needs assessment, in which Tribal staff visited and conducted energy audits at over fifty homes. The visits included assessment of household energy efficiency and condition of existing renewable energy systems. Staff also provided energy education to residents, evaluated potential sites for new household renewable energy systems, and performed minor repairs as needed on renewable energy systems.

Energy-efficient privacy protection for smart home environments using behavioral semantics.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Homin; Basaran, Can; Park, Taejoon; Son, Sang Hyuk

2014-09-02

Research on smart environments saturated with ubiquitous computing devices is rapidly advancing while raising serious privacy issues. According to recent studies, privacy concerns significantly hinder widespread adoption of smart home technologies. Previous work has shown that it is possible to infer the activities of daily living within environments equipped with wireless sensors by monitoring radio fingerprints and traffic patterns. Since data encryption cannot prevent privacy invasions exploiting transmission pattern analysis and statistical inference, various methods based on fake data generation for concealing traffic patterns have been studied. In this paper, we describe an energy-efficient, light-weight, low-latency algorithm for creating dummy activities that are semantically similar to the observed phenomena. By using these cloaking activities, the amount of  fake data transmissions can be flexibly controlled to support a trade-off between energy efficiency and privacy protection. According to the experiments using real data collected from a smart home environment, our proposed method can extend the lifetime of the network by more than 2× compared to the previous methods in the literature. Furthermore, the activity cloaking method supports low latency transmission of real data while also significantly reducing the accuracy of the wireless snooping attacks.

Guidelines for education in energy management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Morales, C. M.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Although educating for energy management is nowadays recognized as an important topic, the process of training is far from the ideal. One of the main shortcomings identified in the research is related to procedures selection, aside from the consensus of academic authorities of its inter-disciplinary character. This article aims to highlight the guidelines for education in energy management, as well as to advance the workshops for its implementation. The results of the research are only a part of a Ph D studied completed by the writer. The effectiveness of the proposal was appraised experimentally and subjected to specialists’ valuation. Key words: education in energy management, guidelines, environmental education.

Experimental Study of 6LoPLC for Home Energy Management Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Augustine Ikpehai

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Ubiquitous connectivity is already transforming residential dwellings into smart homes. As citizens continue to embrace the smart home paradigm, a new generation of low-rate and low-power communication systems is required to leverage the mass market presented by energy management in homes. Although Power Line Communication (PLC technology has evolved in the last decade, the adaptation of PLC for constrained networks is not fully charted. By adapting some features of IEEE 802.15.4 and IPv6 over Low-power Wireless Personal Area Network (6LoWPAN into power lines, this paper demonstrates a low-rate, low-power PLC system over the IPv6 network (referred to as 6LoPLC, for Home Energy Management System (HEMS applications. The overall idea is to provide a framework for assessing various scenarios that cannot be easily investigated with the limited number of evaluation hardware available. In this respect, a network model is developed in NS-3 (Version 21 to measure several important characteristics of the designed system and then validated with experimental results obtained using the Hanadu evaluation kits. Following the good agreement between the two, the NS-3 model is utilised to investigate more complex scenarios and various use-cases, such as the effects of impulsive noise, the number of nodes and packet size on the latency and Bit Error Rate (BER performances. We further demonstrate that for different network and application configurations, optimal data sizes exist. For instance, the results reveal that in order to guarantee 99% system reliability, the HEMS application data must not exceed 64 bytes. Finally, it is shown that with impulsive noise in a HEMS network comprising 50 appliances, provided the size of the payload does not exceed 64 bytes, monitoring and control applications incur a maximum latency of 238.117 ms and 248.959 ms, respectively; both of which are within acceptable limits.

Resonance – Journal of Science Education | Indian Academy of ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Resonance – Journal of Science Education. Deepa Khushalani. Articles written in Resonance – Journal of Science Education. Volume 23 Issue 3 March 2018 pp 355-369 General Article. Exploiting Sun's Energy Effectively as a Source of Renewable Energy · Deepa Khushalani · More Details Abstract ...

[Development of a web-based education program for nurses working in nursing homes on human rights of older adults].

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Ki-Kyong

2010-08-01

This study was done to develop a web-based education program for nurses working in nursing homes. The focus was on the rights of older adults. The program was designed based on the Network-Based Instructional System Design (NBISD) model and was operated and evaluated between July 2007 and June 2008. Out of nursing records of 40 residents from a nursing home, the final 7 cases were deducted through classification using the Resource Utilization Group (RUG)-III. The data on needs for education was collected from 28 nurses working in 15 nursing homes located in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, who agreed to complete a self-report questionnaire. A comprehensive review of the literature and two focus groups interviews were used to search for risk factors and guidelines for protection of human rights. The education program was developed based on Kolb's experiential learning model and composed of 5 units, which included content on types of human rights and rights to death with dignity, elder abuse, physical liberty, and self-determination. The program was positively evaluated showing a score of 3.35 (SD=0.37) out of 4. The educational program developed in this study should promote nurses' sensitivity to the rights of elders and improve nurses' behaviors in protecting the rights of elders residing in nursing homes.

Screen-based sedentary time: Association with soft drink consumption and the moderating effect of parental education in European children: The ENERGY study.

Science.gov (United States)

Gebremariam, Mekdes K; Chinapaw, Mai J; Bringolf-Isler, Bettina; Bere, Elling; Kovacs, Eva; Verloigne, Maïté; Stok, F Marijn; Manios, Yannis; Brug, Johannes; Lien, Nanna

2017-01-01