INGENIEUR
INGENIEUR
earned for four levels of certification : bronze , silver , gold , and platinum . To track progress towards a specific certification level , one can develop a scorecard that shows the requirements and tracks progress against them . In this way , a project team can monitor that the desired certification level can be achieved .
The WELL Building Standard helps to approach the design and construction of buildings differently . WELL certified buildings often have a lower environmental impact due to the incentive of sustainable materials , but above all it is a powerful tool in designing spaces that promote a healthier and more productive indoor climate , that support positive mental and emotional wellbeing leading to happy and healthy users of a building . From improved air quality and acoustics to the incorporation of biophilic design elements , the WELL Building Standard is transforming the way we think about buildings , and ultimately , our own well-being .
South Korean Toilet turns Excrement into Power and Digital Currency – Reuters
Using a toilet can pay for your coffee or buy you bananas at a university in South Korea , where human waste is being used to help power a building .
Cho Jae-weon , an urban and environmental engineering professor at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology ( UNIST ), has designed an eco-friendly toilet connected to a laboratory that uses excrement to produce biogas and manure .
The BeeVi toilet — a portmanteau of the words bee and vision — uses a vacuum pump to send faeces into an underground tank , reducing water use . There , microorganisms break down the waste to methane , which becomes a source of energy for the building , powering a gas stove , hot-water boiler and solid oxide fuel cell .
An average person defecates about 500g a day , which can be converted to 50 litres of methane gas , the environmental engineer said . This gas can generate 0.5kWh of electricity or be used to drive a car for about 1.2km ( 0.75 miles ).
Cho has devised a virtual currency called Ggool , which means honey in Korean . Each person using the eco-friendly toilet earns 10 Ggool a day .
Students can use the currency to buy goods on campus , from freshly brewed coffee to instant cup noodles , fruits and books . The students can pick up the products they want at a shop and scan a QR code to pay with Ggool .
Connected Buildings Could Introduce a New Way of Working - McKinsey & Co
Communication between buildings and their occupants seldom extends beyond the occasional press of a button to call an elevator or flip of a switch to illuminate a room . A step change is on the horizon , however , with a focus on user-centric features that evolve the ways in which occupants benefit from their surroundings . A set of buildings are starting to bring these benefits to light , serving as test cases for the future of infrastructure technology .
Building automation has been propelled by a necessity to reduce the cost of energy and operation over the past decade . Motion sensors were introduced to switch off lighting in unoccupied spaces ; window treatments were automated to lower the impact of direct sunlight on air-conditioning load ; and intrusion detection were expanded from passive alarms to corporate-wide access controls that minimised manual security work . In each case , cost reduction was the main driver , with a straightforward calculation for return on investment ( ROI ). Although room for further cost improvement remains , user experience is rapidly emerging as the next focus .
Looking forward , businesses are increasingly recognising the link between the working environment and human capital , and ascribing value to a positive employee experience . Talent recruitment , performance , and retention are all affected by the building environment , which has the power to engender either positive or negative reactions . Although more difficult to quantify , the impact of employee surroundings on business performance is receiving increased attention . New use cases will leverage connectivity to improve the occupant experience , enabling the personalisation of space , bio-adaptability of the environment , and predictive awareness of individual needs .
Buildings that emphasise the user experience will provide occupants with greater personal control
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