No abstract

Nowadays, it can be observed that Wireless Sensors Networks (WSN) are taking increasingly vital roles in many applications, such as building energy monitoring and control, which is the focus of the work in this paper. However, the main challenging issue with adopting WSN technology is the use of power sources such as batteries, which have a limited lifetime. A smart solution that could tackle this problem is using Energy Harvesting technology. The work in this paper will be focused on proposing a new power management design through harvesting indoor light intensity. The new approach is inspired by the use of the Fractional Open Circuit Voltage based Maximum Power Point tracking (MPPT) concept for sub mw Photo Voltaic (PV) cells. The new design adopts two main features: First, it minimizes the power consumed by the power management section; and second, it maximizes the MPPT-converted output voltage and consequently improves the efficiency of the power conversion in the sub mw power level. The new experimentally-tested design showed an improvement of 81% in the efficiency of MPPT conversion using 0.5 mW input power in comparison with the other presented solutions that showed less efficiency with higher input power.

Describes the National Action Learning Programme (NALP) and summarises some of the key attributes of the NALP approach that has helped to effect operational improvement in well‐established organisations. The programme represented an inter‐organisational action learning response to the need for organisations as well as individuals to acquire a capacity for operational improvement in the face of exponential rates of change. The establishment of a learning network, self‐assessment, feedback, action planning and evaluation of plans, action learning and reflection cycles, evaluation and distillation of learning emerged as key elements of the approach. Reflects in some detail on the experience of firms participating in one of the learning networks.

Software applications for managing building systems have traditionally been provided by control manufacturers in the form of Building Management Systems (BMS) and for maintaining building facilities through the use of Computer-Aided Facility Management (CAFM) applications. With technological advances in smartphones and tablet PCs, along with increased capacity of data communication networks, mobile applications can further enhance support for the monitoring and maintenance of building systems. The aim of this work is to develop a mobile platform to support maintenance engineers with remote tasks and provide access to building performance and maintenance data using standard web technology and using a context aware data model, availing of data warehousing (DW) techniques.

Abstract. It is commonly agreed that a 15-40% reduction of building energy consumption is achievable by efficiently operated buildings when compared with typical practice. Existing research has identified that the level of information available to Building Managers with existing Building Management Systems and Environmental Monitoring Systems (BMS/EMS) is insufficient to perform the required performance based building assessment. The majority of today's buildings are insufficiently sensored to obtain an unambiguous understanding of performance. The cost of installing additional sensors and meters is extremely high, primarily due to the estimated cost of wiring and the needed labor. From this perspectives wireless sensors technology proves to have a greater cost-efficiency while maintaining high levels of functionality and reliability. In this paper, a wireless sensor network mote hardware design and implementation are introduced for building deployment application. The core of the mote design is based on the 8 bit AVR microcontroller, Atmega1281 and 2.4 GHz wireless communication chip, CC2420. The sensors were selected carefully to meet both the building monitoring and design requirements. Beside the sensing capability, actuation and interfacing to external meters/sensors are provided to perform different management control and data recording tasks. The experiments show that the developed mote works effectively in giving stable data acquisition and owns good communication and power performance.