Quantifying the aggregate thermal performance of UK holiday homes

In the UK, there are approximately 330,000 holiday homes spread across a large number of mainly privately owned sites. These homes are often sited in exposed locations, are poorly insulated and are generally heated using expensive fuels, such as electricity or LPG. There is also a lack of empirical evidence available on the in situ energy performance of these homes. Consequently, it is not possible, given the existing evidence base, to determine whether these homes suffer from the same scale of building fabric thermal ‘performance gaps’ (between assumed and realised in situ performance) that have been documented for new build UK housing. This paper presents the results obtained from undertaking detailed in situ thermal fabric tests on five new holiday homes. Whilst sample size reported here is small, the results indicate that a ‘performance gap’ exists for all of these homes. Results obtained indicate that this gap appears narrower than that documented for new build UK housing. The results also suggest that the scale of the ‘gap’ may be more a consequence of the way in which the design intent of these homes has been determined, i.e. a ‘prediction gap’

Cabaran dalamm menguruskan promosi jualan dan sumber bahan mentah di Perbadanan Kemajuan Kraftangan Malaysia cawangan Pahang

This study examined the challenges faced by PKKM Pahang branch in managing sales promotions and raw materials. There are several obstacles such as lack of sales handicraft and source of raw mateial. The objectives of this research is to identify strategies for sales promotions and sources of high quality raw materials. The method of the research is focusses on the qualitative apporoach. The results of this study, will provide few recommendations for the organizations in terms of the strategic management to implement a sales promotions and sources of raw materials

The airtightness and air leakage characteristics of new UK holiday homes

It is estimated that in the UK, 200,000 residents live in park and holiday homes all year round, the majority of which are elderly and on low incomes. As these homes are often thermally inefficient and leaky, these residents are some of the most susceptible in society to fuel poverty. Despite this, there is a dearth of empirical data available on the in situ fabric performance of these homes. This paper presents the results obtained from undertaking a series of pressurisation tests and leakage identification on new build holiday homes. While the sample size reported is small, the results indicate almost a factor of two variation in the airtightness performance of the homes. In spite of this, all of the homes achieved an air permeability significantly lower than the default value incorporated within the industry standard Energy Efficiency Rating Calculator, suggesting that a much lower figure may be more appropriate. The results also suggest that the use of the air permeability metric within the Calculator potentially biases the performance of holiday homes due to their particular form factor, and that this bias could be mitigated against by adopting the air leakage metric within any future revisions to the Calculator

Post-construction thermal testing: Some recent measurements

In the UK, it has become apparent in recent years that there is often a discrepancy between the steady-state predicted and the measured in situ thermal performance of the building fabric, with the measured in situ performance being greater than that predicted. This discrepancy or gap in the thermal performance of the building fabric is commonly referred to as the building fabric 'performance gap'. This paper presents the results and key messages obtained from undertaking a whole-building heat loss test (a coheating test) on seven new-build dwellings as part of the Technology Strategy Board's Building Performance Evaluation Programme. While the total number of dwellings involved in the work reported here is small, the results illustrate that a wide range of discrepancies in thermal performance was measured for the tested dwellings. Despite this, the results also indicate that it is possible to construct dwellings where the building fabric performs thermally more or less as predicted, thus effectively bridging the traditional building fabric performance gap that exists in mainstream housing in the UK

Preparation and Evaluation of Silymarin β-cyclodextrin Molecular Inclusion Complexes

Silymarin is a hepatoprotective agent, having poor water solubility and oral absorption of about 23 – 47%, leading to low bioavailability of the drug. The aim of the present study is to improve the solubility and dissolution rate and in turn the hepatoprotective activity of the drug, by formulating its inclusion complex with beta (β)-cyclodextrin, using different methods. The phase solubility analysis indicates the formation of 1:1 molar inclusion complex of the drug with beta cyclodextrin. Apparent stability constant for Silymarin (Kc) was 722 K-1 with β-cyclodextrin complex. The inclusion complexes were prepared by four different methods, namely, physical mixing, kneading, co-precipitation, and solvent evaporation. The prepared complexes were characterized using differential scanning colorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, and x-ray diffractometry. The inclusion complex prepared by the co-precipitation methods exhibits an overall best result, with respect to the formulation of sustained release formulations

A UK practitioner view of domestic energy performance measurement

There is a growing body of evidence concerning the energy efficiency performance of domestic buildings in the UK, driven by policy-based agenda, such as the need for zero carbon dioxide homes by 2016 for new build homes, and Green Deal and energy company obligation for sustainable refurbishment. While there have been a number of studies funded and results presented in this area, little work has been done to understand the drivers, practices and issues of data collection and analysis. There are a number of major building performance evaluation (BPE) studies in the UK, yet behind many of these research projects are practical issues of data loss, experimental error, data analysis variances and resident issues that are common when studies move from the actual to the living lab. In this paper the issues of domestic energy are addressed by leading BPE practitioners in the UK. They identify issues of client demands, technical failure, costs and implementation. The work provides insights of both academic and industry-based practitioners and considers not only the practicalities of building performance studies, but also implications for these types of studies in the future

Assessing the airtightness performance of container houses in relation to its effect on energy efficiency

This study examines the airtightness performance of four types of commonly-used container houses (CHs) and its impact on their energy efficiency. One of the CHs was treated by sealing all junctions inside the container envelope. The airtightness levels of unsealed and sealed CHs were measured by using the fan pressurization method. The interior surfaces of building envelope were scanned by thermal imaging in order to locate the areas suffering from air leakages and thermal failures. The annual energy consumptions of unsealed and sealed CHs for their heating were predicted by energy simulation analyses. The unsealed CHs have poor airtightness features while performing in Energy Rating B category. The junctions of those houses, especially where wall, slab and roof panels come together and the edges of the openings also suffer from air leakages, thermal bridges and condensation. Sealing the interior surfaces of junctions and edges improves the airtightness level considerably while heat loss and condensation problems at the junctions still continue. An 81% improvement in airtightness performance of the CH Type B provided a reduction of 9.3% in annual energy demand which is not enough to step up its Energy Rating category. The results indicate that airtight jointing is needed at junctions while the use of thermal breaks at junction details has vital importance to eliminate thermal failures and to improve energy efficiency performance of CHs. The combined use of Blower Test Method and Infrared Thermography is useful for non-destructive assessment of airtightness features of building envelopes