A classification of data quality assessment methods

Data quality (DQ) assessment can be significantly enhanced with the use of the right DQ assessment methods, which provide automated solutions to assess DQ. The range of DQ assessment methods is very broad: from data profiling and semantic profiling to data matching and data validation. This paper gives an overview of current methods for DQ assessment and classifies the DQ assessment methods into an existing taxonomy of DQ problems. Specific examples of the placement of each DQ method in the taxonomy are provided and illustrate why the method is relevant to the particular taxonomy position. The gaps in the taxonomy, where no current DQ methods exist, show where new methods are required and can guide future research and DQ tool development.

Polymer film packaging for food: An environmental assessment

Plastics packaging is ubiquitous in the food industry, fulfilling a range of functions including a significant role in reducing food waste. The public perception of packaging, however, is dominated by end-of-life aspects, when the packaging becomes waste often found littering urban, rural and marine environments. A balanced analysis of the role of packaging demands that the whole lifecycle is examined, looking not only at the packaging itself but also at the product being packaged. This paper focuses on packaging in the meat and cheese industry, analysing the impact of films and bags. The functions of packaging are defined and the environmental impact of delivering these functions is assessed. The influence of packaging on levels of waste and energy consumption elsewhere in the system is examined, including the contentious issue of end-of-life for packaging. Strategies for minimizing the environmental impact of the packaging itself involve reduction in the amount of material used (thinner packaging), rather than emphasizing end-of-life issues. Currently, with polymer recycling not at a high level, evidence suggests that this strategy is justifiable. Biodegradable polymers may have some potential for improving environmental performance, but are still problematic. The conclusion is that although current packaging is in some ways wasteful and inefficient, the alternatives are even less desirable. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Environmental priorities in strategic product development

This paper reports some results from a major research project on the integration of environmental issues into design in the electrical and electronic industry. Product development practice and ecodesign methods were examined along with qualitative data from 19 manufacturers, using interviews and an action research methodology. A four-stage framework for ecodesign practice resulted: first, to make an environmental assessment from a life cycle viewpoint; then to communicate the analysis and collect feedback; thirdly to prioritize the environmental issues and finally to complete the design using relevant tools and methods. This 'ARPI' framework (analyse, report, prioritize, improve) applies to both strategic and operational levels. Initial testing of the framework in collaborating companies highlighted difficulties with communication with design teams; the role of 'ecodesign champions' is explained. Other challenges are the development of customized tools and the training of designers. The study concludes that the prioritization step is critical, as it simplifies and clarifies the tasks in design that take place after formulation of the specification. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment.

Future-proofed energy design for dwellings: Case studies from England and application to the Code for Sustainable Homes

This paper investigates 'future-proofing' as an unexplored yet all-important aspect in the design of low-energy dwellings. It refers particularly to adopting lifecycle thinking and accommodating risks and uncertainties in the selection of fabric energy efficiency measures and low or zero-carbon technologies. Based on a conceptual framework for future-proofed design, the paper first presents results from the analysis of two 'best practice' housing developments in England; i.e., North West Cambridge in Cambridge and West Carclaze and Baal in St. Austell, Cornwall. Second, it examines the 'Energy and CO2 Emissions' part of the Code for Sustainable Homes to reveal which design criteria and assessment methods can be practically integrated into this established building certification scheme so that it can become more dynamic and future-oriented.Practical application: Future-proofed construction is promoted implicitly within the increasingly stringent building regulations; however, there is no comprehensive method to readily incorporate futures thinking into the energy design of buildings. This study has a three-fold objective of relevance to the building industry:Illuminating the two key categories of long-term impacts in buildings, which are often erroneously treated interchangeably:- The environmental impact of buildings due to their long lifecycles.- The environment's impacts on buildings due to risks and uncertainties affecting the energy consumption by at least 2050. This refers to social, technological, economic, environmental and regulatory (predictable or unknown) trends and drivers of change, such as climate uncertainty, home-working, technology readiness etc.Encouraging future-proofing from an early planning stage to reduce the likelihood of a prematurely obsolete building design.Enhancing established building energy assessment methods (certification, modelling or audit tools) by integrating a set of future-oriented criteria into their methodologies. © 2012 The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers.

Towards productivity indicators for performance-based façade design in commercial buildings

Decision-making in the façade design process has a significant influence on several aspects of indoor environment, thereby making it a complex and multi-objective optimisation process. There are two principal barriers in the process of indentifying an optimal façade solution. Firstly, most existing indoor environmental evaluation methods do not account for all the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) aspects relevant to façade design. Secondly, the relationship between the physical properties of a particular façade design option and the resulting economic benefits accrued during its service-life is unknown. In this paper, we introduce the bases for establishing relationships between occupant productivity and the combinatorial effects of four key façade-related IEQ aspects, namely, thermal comfort, aural comfort, visual comfort and air quality, on occupant productivity. The proposed framework's potential is tested against seven existing experimental investigations and its applicability is illustrated by a simple façade design example. The proposed approach ultimately aims to provide a quantitative economic measure of alternative façade design options that would be applicable to early design stage. Aspects of the work that require further experimental validation are identified. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

Centrifuge modelling of the response of buildings to tunnelling

Understanding how buildings respond to tunnelling induced ground movements is an area of great importance for many urban tunnelling projects. Testing described in this paper aims to investigate soil structure interaction effects by observing the response of elastic and non elastic beams of varying stiffness and geometry to tunnelling, using the 8 m diameter beam centrifuge at Cambridge University. Soil and structure displacements are extensively monitored through a photo imaging technique which enables a detailed analysis of the interaction mechanisms. Results demonstrate that buildings can significantly modify greenfield ground movements in both the vertical and horizontal planes. The magnitude of the modification is shown to be strongly dependent on the relative building stiffness. It is also shown that negligible horizontal strains are transferred into the model buildings. This can have significant implications for commonly adopted damage assessment methods. © 2012 Taylor & Francis Group.

A conceptual framework for future-proofing the energy performance of buildings

This paper presents a review undertaken to understand the concept of 'future-proofing' the energy performance of buildings. The long lifecycles of the building stock, the impacts of climate change and the requirements for low carbon development underline the need for long-term thinking from the early design stages. 'Future-proofing' is an emerging research agenda with currently no widely accepted definition amongst scholars and building professionals. In this paper, it refers to design processes that accommodate explicitly full lifecycle perspectives and energy trends and drivers by at least 2050, when selecting energy efficient measures and low carbon technologies. A knowledge map is introduced, which explores the key axes (or attributes) for achieving a 'future-proofed' energy design; namely, coverage of sustainability issues, lifecycle thinking, and accommodating risks and uncertainties that affect the energy consumption. It is concluded that further research is needed so that established building energy assessment methods are refined to better incorporate future-proofing. The study follows an interdisciplinary approach and is targeted at design teams with aspirations to achieve resilient and flexible low-energy buildings over the long-term. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

Interaction between heavy vehicles and roads

This paper discusses road damage caused by heavy commercial vehicles. Chapter 1 presents some important terminology and a brief historical review of road construction and vehicle-road interaction, from ancient times to the present day. The main types of vehicle-generated road damage, and the methods that are used by pavement engineers to analyze them are discussed in Chapter 2. Attention is also given to the main features of the response of road surfaces to vehicle loads and mathematical models that have been developed to predict road response. Chapter 3 reviews the effects on road damage of vehicle features which can be studied without consideration of vehicle dynamics. These include gross vehicle weight, axle and tire configurations, tire contact conditions and static load sharing in axle group suspensions. The dynamic tire forces generated by heavy vehicles are examined in Chapter 4. The discussion includes their simulation and measurement, their principal characteristics, the effects of tires and suspension design on dynamic forces, and the potential benefits of using advanced suspensions for minimizing dynamic tire forces. Chapter 5 discusses methods for estimating the effects of dynamic tire forces on road damage. The two main approaches are either to examine the statistics of the forces themselves; or to calculate the response of a pavement model to the forces, and to calculate the resulting wear using a material damage model. The issues involved in assessing vehicles for 'road friendliness' are discussed in Chapter 6. Possible assessment methods include measuring strains in an instrumented pavement traversed by the vehicle, measuring dynamic tire forces, or measuring vehicle parameters such as the 'natural frequency' and 'damping ratio'. Each of these measurements involves different assumptions and analysis methods for converting the results into some measure of road damage. Chapter 7 includes a summary of the main conclusions of the paper and recommendations for tire and suspension design, road design and construction, and for vehicle regulations.