A method for supporting the design of efficient heating systems using EU product policy data

The design of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems is still a challenging engineering task which requires experienced and informed decision-making. These systems have a great energy-saving potential at the system level rather than at the level of the individual products of which they are composed. European environmental product policies have been very useful in facilitating a homogeneous rating scheme which can be used to compare the energy performance of different products that provide the same service. This paper proposes a simplified design method which uses the performance of components that are regulated by European product policies to obtain the overall performance of heating systems in residential buildings. It is a flexible method and allows different product configurations to be assessed so as to optimise the system performance during the design phase. The method is tested on a real case study with domestic hot water and space heating systems. The case study shows the potential for improving the heating systems according to the performance levels of its products currently available in the market. Results of the domestic hot water system show that upgrading its storage tank to the maximum energy class (A⁺) could bring the highest energy savings ( 4162 kWh/y).     

An innovative sustainability assessment for urban wastewater infrastructure and its application in Chengdu, China

Sustainability assessments are an increasingly common tool for measuring progress towards sustainable development. Despite their popularity, sustainability assessments and the indicators that compose them are said to have had little impact on the policy arena. In this paper we discuss four attributes that we contend will improve the use of sustainability assessments to guide decision making: non-compartmentalization, site specificity, built-in guidance for target setting, and ability to measure active sustainability. We present a novel assessment tool for wastewater treatment infrastructure that illustrates these attributes. The assessment is composed of two-dimensional indicators we call “burden to capacity” ratios, that reveal and quantify the local value of resources embodied in wastewater and treatment byproducts, and the tradeoffs between designing systems for disposal versus reuse. We apply the sustainability assessment framework to an existing treatment plant in Chengdu, China and discuss the results.     

A System to Monitor Climate Change with Epilithic Lichens

The issue of biological monitoring of the local consequences of anticipated global climate change is considered for the Central Negev Highlands, Israel. Epilithic lichens are suggested as biological monitors. The proposed methodology of such monitoring consists of a sampling scheme, including lichen measurement along transects on flat calcareous rocks, and construction of a trend detection index (TDI). TDI is a sum of lichen species cover with coefficients chosen so as to ensure maximum ability to detect global climate trends. Coefficients have been estimated in a study of lichens along an altitudinal gradient from 500 to 1000 m a.s.l. The gradient study demonstrated that the TDI index is performed better than other integrated indices. Recommendations on this system to monitor climate change with epilthic lichens are given. Measuring, for instance, a hundred transects in fifty plots (two transet per plot scheme) allows one to detect a climate-driven change in the epilithic lichen community corresponding to a 0.8 °C shift in annual mean temperature. Such resolution appears sufficient in view of global warming of 2.5 °C considered by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as a realistic prediction for the end of the next century.     

广东和海南红树林的生物地球化学特征

本文研究了广东和海南红树林的土壤,植物叶子和死地被物的化学成分以及它们之间的相互关系,并与相同地区的一些植物群落进行比较,从而探讨红树林的生物地球化学特征。结果表明,红树林的土壤和植物的某些化学成分含量较高,尤其是Na和Ca的含量较为突出。另外,虽然海岸带海水的pH＞8,土壤都呈酸性。红树林的养分利用率只有N较高,其余大多数元素都较低。红树林的生物吸收率和生物归还率通常也较低,但其大多数元素的生物分解率则较高。     

Indicating ecosystem integrity — theoretical concepts and environmental requirements

This paper discusses some conceptual fundamentals for the derivation of environmental indicator sets. On the one hand, it defines requirements from environmental politics, environmental management and legislation, reaching from political target hierarchies and sustainable management strategies to holistic protection concepts such as process protection, resource preservation, ecosystem health and ecological integrity. On the other hand, demands from ecosystem theory are described which include the consideration of features such as self-organization, emergence, thermodynamics, gradients and ecological orientors in environmental indicator sets. From that concept, collective and emergent properties are selected and eight holistic ecosystem features are presented that indicate the ecosystemic state as an ensemble. These general indicators of ecosystem integrity are supplemented by variables on structural changes and substance dynamics.     

潮滩沉积物重金属生物地球化学研究进展

潮滩是一个物理、化学以及生物条件复杂多变的场所,重金属在这个特殊的环境中有着独特的地球化学行为及其生物有效性.笔者意在对该领域的研究成果进行阐述,并指出该领域中研究比较薄弱的环节以及将来的发展方向,以期推动该领域的进一步研究.      

海绵城市规划指标分解案例研究——以北京A新城为例

设计指标分解是海绵城市规划设计的重难点,但目前并没有统一的标准来指导实践.为探索海绵城市规划指标分解方法,以A新城海绵城市专项规划为例,将年径流总量控制率、控制容积作为控制性指标,下沉式绿地率、透水铺装率、绿色屋顶率和调蓄容积作为引导性指标,结合建设情况、汇水面种类及构成情况等条件,利用海绵城市规划设计辅助计算软件加权...     

Influences of Water and Sediment Quality and Hydrologic Processes on Mussels in the Clinch River

Segments of the Clinch River in Virginia have experienced declining freshwater mussel populations during the past 40 years, while other segments of the river continue to support some of the richest mussel communities in the country. The close proximity of these contrasting reaches provides a study area where differences in climate, hydrology, and historic mussel distribution are minimal. The USGS conducted a study between 2009 and 2011 to evaluate possible causes of the mussel declines. Evaluation of mussel habitat showed no differences in physical habitat quality, leaving water and sediment quality as possible causes for declines. Three years of continuous water‐quality data showed higher turbidity and specific conductance in the reaches with low‐quality mussel assemblages compared to reaches with high‐quality mussel assemblages. Discrete water‐quality samples showed higher major ions and metals concentrations in the low‐quality reach. Base‐flow samples contained high major ion and metal concentrations coincident to low‐quality mussel populations. These results support a conceptual model of dilution and augmentation where increased concentrations of major ions and other dissolved constituents from mined tributaries result in reaches with declining mussel populations. Tributaries from unmined basins provide water with low concentrations of dissolved constituents, diluting reaches of the Clinch River where high‐quality mussel populations occur.     

旅游影响区等级划分及旅游影响指标的分析

采用TWINSPAN分类法,根据旅游对森林植被影响程度,划分为6个旅游等级影响区,反映了以游径为轴线的旅游影响水平空间格局变化规律;对12个旅游影响指标相关分析表明,有3对旅游影响指标间存在显著或极显著关系。其中剔除树桩影响系数和游径距离为极显著相关,旅游垃圾影响系数和剔除树桩影响系数、旅游垃圾影响系数和游径距离这2对指标均为显著相关;根据主成分分析的结果,有5个主成分所提供的信息量占全部信息量的81.88％,这5个主成分与12个旅游影响指标中的7个旅游影响指标关系密切。以7个旅游影响指标进行的旅游影响区等级划分与12个旅游影响指标所得结果是一致的,这就简化了旅游对植被影响评价和影响区等级划分指标的选取。     

Environmental biogeochemical behaviors of rare earth elements in soil–plant systems

With the continual increase in the utilization of rare earth elements (REEs) for industrial and agricultural purposes in China, the research into the environmental biogeochemical behavior of REEs has become a pressing issue. The REEs’ content in soil and various parts of wheat under different conditions in soil–plant systems were measured by INAA and ICP-MS. The results showed four aspects. (1) The mean value of total REEs in soil of China was 176.8 mg kg⁻¹. The mean ratio of ΣLREE/ΣHREE in soils was 8.0 and cerium accounts for 42% of the total REEs. The content of REEs in wheat seed ranged between 10⁻¹¹ and 10⁻⁸ g g⁻¹, 3–4 orders of magnitude lower than that in soil. (2) The REEs contents in ryegrass, especially in roots, were significantly related to that of soil. The bioavailability of REEs in soil mainly depended on the exchangeable fraction of REEs, which was strongly affected by the physico–chemical properties of the soil. (3) Long-term foliage-dressing with Changle microfertilizer of REEs did not affect the contents and distribution patterns of REEs in soil. At the maturing stage of spring wheat, the REEs content was in the order of root > leaf >stem and crust. Compared with the control, foliage-dressing has a higher accumulation of REEs in root and leaf. However, no significant difference was found in stem and crust between the two treatments. (4) There was no significant accumulation with the soil-dressing method. When comparing controls in both foliage- and soil-dressing methods, no distinct residue of REEs in grains was found.