Hope: a poem delivered at an exhibition in Cambridge, July 10, 1800

This four-page handwritten poem was composed by Harvard student Joseph Mansfield for a College exhibition on July 8, 1800. The poem begins, "I am not blesd, but may hereafter be; / Who knows what fortune has in store for me?" and concludes with verses about the American Revolutionary War and George Washington.

London, England, 1862 (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the historic paper map entitled: London : guide to the International Exhibition, 1862, drawn & engraved by John Dower. It was published by the Illustrated London News in 1862. Scale [ca. 1:15,840]. The image inside the map neatline is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the British National Grid coordinate system (British National Grid, Airy Spheroid OSGB (1936) Datum). All map collar and inset information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, index maps, legends, or other information associated with the principal map. This map shows features such as exhibition grounds, roads, railroads, drainage, selected public buildings, built-up areas, parks, bridges, docks, and more. Includes explanation of railways. This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps from The Harvard Map Collection as part of the Imaging the Urban Environment project. Maps selected for this project represent major urban areas and cities of the world, at various time periods. These maps typically portray both natural and manmade features at a large scale. The selection represents a range of regions, originators, ground condition dates, scales, and purposes.

The Energy Performance of Buildings: Promises Still Unfulfilled. Egmont Paper No. 78, May 2015

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY All observers agree that energy efficiency must be the cornerstone of any serious EU energy strategy. In this general context, the EU building sector is critical. It represents about 40% of EU final energy consumption (residential houses, public/private offices, commercial buildings, etc.) and approximately 36% of EU CO2 emissions. This is massive. The EU has certainly not been inactive in this field. The Energy Performance in Buildings Directive 2002/91/EC (EPBD) was the first and the main instrument to address the problem of the energy performance of buildings. It has established numerous principles: a reliable methodology which enables the calculation and rating of the energy performance of buildings; minimum energy performance standards for new buildings and existing buildings under major renovation; energy performance certificates; regular inspection of heating and air-conditioning systems; and, finally, quality standards for inspections and energy performance certificates. They were strengthened in 2010 by the recast Directive 2010/31/EU. This directive also introduces a decisive concept for the development of the building sector: ‘nearly zeroenergy buildings’. In 2012, the new Energy Efficiency Directive 2012/27/EU dealt with other aspects. In the building sector, three of them are particularly important. They concern: (1) the establishment of long-term strategies for mobilizing investment in the renovation of the national building stocks; (2) the introduction of energy saving schemes for ‘designated’ energy companies with a view to reducing consumption among ‘final consumers’ by 1.5% annually; and (3), as an option, the setting up of an Energy Efficiency National Fund to support energy efficiency initiatives. This paper also briefly examines the different instruments put in place to disseminate information and consultation, and the EU funding for energy efficiency in buildings. Results, however, have remained limited until now. The improvement of the energy performance of buildings and the rhythm of renovation remain extremely weak. Member States’ unwillingness to timely and properly transpose and implement the Directives continues despite the high degree of flexibility permitted. The decentralized approach chosen for some specific aspects and the differentiation in the application of EPBD standards between Member States do not appear optimal either. Adequate financial schemes remain rare. The permanent deficit of qualified and trained personnel and the inertia of public authorities to make the public understand the stakes in this domain remain problematic. Hence the need to take new initiatives to reap the benefits that the building sector is meant to bring.

“NET ZERO BUILDINGS” – APLICAÇÃO DO CONCEITO A UM EDIFÍCIO EXISTENTE

Os edifícios de balanço energético nulo (NZEB - Net-Zero Energy Building) e/ou quase nulo (nZEB), têm vindo a ganhar crescente atenção desde a publicação da diretiva europeia 2010/31/EU [15]. Em Portugal, com a introdução do Decreto-Lei n.º118/2013, dá o primeiro passo para os edifícios com necessidades quase nulas de energia. Os novos edifícios licenciados após 31 dezembro de 2020, ou após 31 de dezembro de 2018 no caso de edifícios públicos, serão edifícios com necessidades quase nulas de energia. O objetivo do trabalho descrito neste artigo consiste na aplicação do conceito ”Net Zero Energy Building”, ao edifício existente do Instituto Superior Politécnico Gaya (ISPGaya), em Vila Nova de Gaia, com o intuito de analisar a viabilidade de otimização de energia e a metodologia deste conceito ao edifício, com recurso a ferramentas de simulação. Neste trabalho efetuámos uma simulação energética do edifício, através do DesignBuilder®, que servirá como termo de comparação para outras simulações. Serão delineadas as especificações a implementar no edifício por forma a ser considerado Net Zero Energy Building, com alterações na simulação do mesmo de acordo com as novas especificações. Por último, será feita a comparação técnica, financeira e ambiental da solução NZEB encontrada. Através das várias simulações energéticas ao edifício, conclui-se que é possível baixar as necessidades energéticas do edifício através de medidas de eficiência energética, em especial na iluminação e que os resultados obtidos, apesar de ser viável a implementação do conceito Net Zero Energy Building, traduzem um esforço financeiro e algumas condicionantes para a sua concretização.

The investigation of energy efficiency measures in the traditional buildings in Oporto World Heritage Site

Background The improvement of energy efficiency in buildings is widely promoted as a measure to mitigate climate change through the reduction of CO2 emissions. Thermal regulations worldwide promote it, for both new and existing buildings. Among the existing stock, traditional and historic buildings pose the additional challenge of heritage conservation. Their energy efficiency upgrade raises the risk of provoking negative impacts on their significance. Aims and Methodology This research used an approach based on impact assessment methodologies, defining an inital baseline scenario for both heritage and energy, from which the appropriate improvement solutions were identified and assessed. The measures were dynamically simulated and the results for energy, CO2, cost and comfort compared with the initial scenario, and then being further assessed for their heritage impact to eventually determine the most feasible solutions. To test this method, ten case studies, representative of the identified typological variants, were selected among Oporto’s traditional buildings located in the World Heritage Site. Findings and Conclusions The fieldwork data revealed that the energy consumption of these dwellings was below the European average. Additionally, the households expressed that their home comfort sensation was overall positive. The simulations showed that the introduction of insulation and solar thermal panels were ineffective on these cases in terms of energy, cost and comfort. At the same time, these measures pose a great risk to the buildings heritage value. The most efficient solutions were obtained from behavioural changes and DHW retrofit. The study reinforced the idea that traditional buildings performed better than expected and can be retrofitted and updated at a low-cost and with passive solutions. The use of insulation and solar panels should be disregarded.