In the near past we have been shelled with information about the benefits of green roofs, green walls, living walls. New systems and techniques are developing, aiming to provide different solutions, custom or tailored made, to accommodate all our needs for a better indoor or outdoor air, for a less polluted environment, for contributing to the wellbeing of the urban population. Furthermore, the living layer – the plant layer – brings new, extra functions to the building envelope: energy saving and, on a smaller scale, food. As we generally look towards the future, it may, occasionally, be interesting to take a glimpse into the past. A renown Romanian historian, Nicolae Iorga, said that ”He who doesn’t know the past can neither understand the present nor see the future”. He also said “He who forgets does not deserve”. This paper presents the contemporary living components of the building envelope from a historic point of view.

Keywords: buildings, green roofs, green walls, living walls

In the current work the operation principle of a new type of water turbine constructed by the authors is presented. This turbine which may utilize the energy of the sea and ocean waves is with fluctuating blades. The kinematic scheme of the turbine is presented and on its basis the main turbine parameters - revs and linear velocity, are defined. In addition to this a test rig for investigation of the turbine parameters is presented.

Keywords: turbine, fluctuating blades, energy from sea and ocean waves

During July – August 2015 sailing ship "Mircea" conducted an international training voyage departing from Constanța, Romania with stopovers in four ports. On this occasion there had been conducted a series of measurements on vessel’s draft, water depth below keel and ship’s speed when entering and leaving the ports because these areas showed, more or less, the characteristics of restrictive areas that could favor the emergence of squat phenomenon. This paper presents experimental conditions, equipments and methods used on board to determine parameters needed in ship squat calculations. After results interpretation there were identified several conclusions regarding the measurement methods used.

Keywords: ship squat, sailing ship, draft, camcorder, depth under keel

European Directives which establish energy targets for 2020 and 2030 are the main legislation when it comes to reducing the energy consumption of buildings. Energy efficiency is a large field of study, it doesn’t mean only energy consumption minimization by improving measures applied to building envelope and its systems. An efficient use of energy and spaces is very important too. Facility Management (FM) is a field of study that considers all the aspects of a building in this regard. Main pieces of software in the field were reviewed in order to find the better software to use for space management analysis. A well known software - ARCHIBUS, that can integrate Building Information Models (BIMs) was chosen. BIMs are files containing physical and functional characteristics of the building and linked data, which can be exchanged or networked to support decision-making. Using a Romanian office building and its digital plans, a BIM has been done. For this BIM, a space allocation in agreement with organizational company structure, with functional company structure and with a Romanian standard, SR 1907-2, relate to design indoor temperature, was done in ARCHIBUS software. From all space classifications the methods of energy improvement are discussed.

Keywords: energy efficiency, facility management, space structure, ARCHIBUS

A technology for restoring the coil pipe thermal insulation layer from the defective fuel system locator that reduces heat loss inside the moderator tank involves pneumatically transferring the thermal insulation powder inside the confined space between the coil pipe and the inner/outer walls of the equipment. Applying this technology aims to shorten the intervention, and more importantly, without replacing the equipment by cutting and restoring the connection pipes. The article briefly describes the problem generated by thermal insulation aging and establishes the technological conditions for its restauration, followed by a description of the device. It later establishes an operating pressure and presents a solution for the injector design followed by result analysis and conclusions.

Keywords: coil pipe, thermal insulation, aging, grain, pneumatic transfer

In current work a numerical modeling of hazards in room with ABrechargeable batteries is presented. The numerical modeling is done once with the integral method as well as via computer simulation with commercial software package Fluent. A comparison between the obtained numerical results is made and appropriate conclusions for the contaminants in the room are formulated.

Keywords: numerical simulation, computer simulation, CFD, integral method, pollutants

Perforated solar windows pre-heat the fresh air introduced in the building when the air is forced to pass through this solar heated perforated facade. The type of solar collector in this case is a perforated window, which has two attributes: let the natural light in and heats the introduced fresh air. The Plexiglas sheets form a heated cavity, collecting the Sun’s energy. An experimental campaign on an innovative solar window was performed in the laboratory of Building Services from Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest. The solar window with lobed perforations was analyzed against the one with round perforations and the results indicated that the systems can attain a high thermal performance.

Keywords: solar window; air heating; lobed perforation;

This paper is presenting one among the five prototypes of thermal manikins conceived at the Building Services Faculty (Thermal-Hydraulic Systems Laboratory) at the Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest and developed by the National Institute of Aerospace Research Elie Carafoli in the framework of the project EQUATOR. This particular prototype has an advanced anatomic shape, with 79 independent active zones, temperature sensors and its own in-house software for data acquisition and control of the zone’s surface temperature. The paper is presenting the all stages needed for the development of an advanced thermal manikin with neuro-fuzzy control for research purposes. All composing parts of the manikin and the validation strategy were presented.

Keywords: advanced thermal manikin, thermal confort, neuro-fuzzy control

Cladirea prezinta unele particularitati legate de activitatea desfasurata in spatiile de lucru. Instalatiile de incalzire ale incaperilor s-au realizat cu doua sisteme: incalzire cu aer cald in toate incaperile in perioada rece cu temperaturi exterioare in limitele temperaturii de calcul si cu corpuri statice in perioadele cu temperaturi mai scazute, considerata ca sursa de adaos. Sistemul de incalzire cu corpuri statice asigura si incalzirea de garda in perioada de inactivitate. O noutate in sistemul de incalzire cu aer cald prin introducerea unor unitati SDV pe canalele de distributie aer cu rolul de a compensa instantaneu modificarile de presiune ale aerului care pot produce cresterea sau scaderea debitelor in punctele terminale. De subliniat si solutia adoptata pentru sursa termica unde prepararea aegentului termic se face in doua cazane de apa calda cu combustibil solid ( peleti) si o instalatie speciala de depozitare si alimentare a cazanelor complet automatizata.

In this article is described the HVAC systems for a medical office building. Heating system in the building is primary hot air that is maintaining the zone or room temperature at the setting point for the outdoor design temperature and with secondary perimeter hydraulic heaters engaged when outdoor temperature is below the design parameters. The perimeter hydraulic heating system is used on night setback or un-occupied periods when the primary hot air system is off. The novelty of this particular system represents the VAV boxes with re-heat hot water coils installed in the ductwork that modulates the air volume for the designated ventilation zone to maintain the zone or room set-point. These units are used in the same manner to maintain the setting point for cooling as well the hot water for the heating system is generated by two pellet boilers and one LP gas boiler. The pellets delivery and storage system is completely automatic.