The financial sustainability of passive house construction in Ireland.

In Ireland the average energy cost for a household in 2006 was estimated to be €1,767, an increase of 4% on 2005 figures. With the state o f the current economic climate, home owners are beginning to realise the potential of energy efficient construction methods. The Passive House Standard offers a cost efficient and sustainable construction solution compared to the Traditional Irish construction methods. This report focuses on the Cost comparison between Passive House construction and traditional construction methods. The report also focuses on barriers that are slowing market penetration of the Passive House standard in the Irish Market. It also identifies potential energy savings that passive house occupants would benefit from. The report also highlights professional opinions on the future development o f the Passive House Standard in Ireland. The conclusions of this report are that the Passive House Standard is a more financially suitable construction solution compared to that o f a traditional dwelling complying with the Irish Building Regulations. The report also concludes that the Passive House Standard won’t be introduced as an Irish Building Regulation in the future but that it will have a big impact on future building regulations. The hypothesis o f this report is supported by data obtained from a literature review, qualitative data analysis and a case study. The report recommends that in order for the Passive House Standard to penetrate further into the Irish construction market, various barriers must be rectified. Local manufactures must start producing suitable components that suit the Passive House specification. The Building Energy Rating system must be altered in order for the Passive House to achieve its potential BER rating.

Optimisation of a surface mount technology process using a SnAgCu lead-free alloy

The impending introduction of lead-free solder in the manufacture of electrical and electronic products has presented the electronics industry with many challenges. European manufacturers must transfer from a tin-lead process to a lead-free process by July 2006 as a result of the publication of two directives from the European Parliament. Tin-lead solders have been used for mechanical and electrical connections on printed circuit boards for over fifty years and considerable process knowledge has been accumulated. Extensive literature reviews were conducted on the topic and as a result it was found there are many implications to be considered with the introduction of lead-free solder. One particular question that requires answering is; can lead-free solder be used in existing manufacturing processes? The purpose of this research is to conduct a comparative study of a tin-lead solder and a lead-free solder in two key surface mount technology (SMT) processes. The two SMT processes in question were the stencil printing process and the reflow soldering process. Unreplicated fractional factorial experimental designs were used to carry out the studies. The quality of paste deposition in terms of height and volume were the characteristics of interest in the stencil printing process. The quality of solder joints produced in the reflow soldering experiment was assessed using x-ray and cross sectional analysis. This provided qualitative data that was then uniquely scored and weighted using a method developed during the research. Nested experimental design techniques were then used to analyse the resulting quantitative data. Predictive models were developed that allowed for the optimisation of both processes. Results from both experiments show that solder joints of comparable quality to those produced using tin-lead solder can be produced using lead-free solder in current SMT processes.